coffee

So, I had a great day today. Mostly because I have crossed the intimidating boundary of comprehension!! We did a coffee tour (in Spanish) and a little tour of an orchid farm (in Spanish) and cruised around freely visiting a couple of pueblos (towns) and chatting with various people (in Spanish). Woo-hoo! I can finally communicate!

I recorded some info about growing coffee in Guatemala. Guatemala is one highest producers of coffee in the world. Brazil is first. Here´s the synopsis of growing coffee at a little farm called Finca Santa Margantan (photos later) (PS- this account is subject to future revision):

The farm was founded in 1888 by a German man.

Young plants are grown under cover for warmth and protection in organic material from seed. After a year, they are transferred into plastic bags and into the ground. The second and third year there are fruit but it is a low grade (used for low grade coffee). The fourth year is high quality. Fruit is picked with it is a red or yellow color (depending on the variety of coffee). Workers are paid 50 cincuentas per pound (about 5 cents US) of coffee that they pick. Coffee is picked 5 times a year. Each plant produces about 5 pounds of coffee per year. After the fruit is picked it is soaked in hot water and then run thru a machine to remove the pulp (skin) from the seed. The pulp is later used for organic material that is used on the farm. The seeds are washed in water and then sucked thru a pipe and deposited in a long trough to separate seeds that float and sink. The water is running and the seeds that float are pushed out the end of the trough and collected-- these are the lower grade called ´nata´. The sinkers are called ´pergamino´ and are the high quality. Both varieties are laid out in the sun for about 2 days (?) on the concrete and turned over to dry properly. Then the seeds are stored in a dry shed in canvas sacks that allow ventilation for about 6 months. The skin is removed from the pergamino and the ´oro´seeds that separated by hand so that the best quality seeds are separated from bad seeds (seeds with more or less than 2 parts in one fruit, malformed seeds, etc). There are at least three types of quality: 1 gourmet, and 2 types of Americanos). Then the seeds are roasted in a machine at 200 celsius for 25 pounds for 20 min. Roasted coffee is called ´tostado´. More time is needed for darked roasts, ex. expresso. Then, it is ground depending on the type of coffee needed, ex. expresso is more fine. Ground coffee is called ´molido´). Here at the farm, mostly processed coffee is sold-- in Guatemala. Some coffee is exported and some of that is in the raw (unroasted) form.

There are about 6 main places in Guatemala for growing coffee. They each grow different varieties which are selected based on their body, acidity and flavor and these vary depending on the altitude, temperature, and soil of the location.

We saw a few varieties of coffee at the farm. Robusta is a lower quality and Arabica is higher. Arabica requires more shade. All of the coffee at the farm need a medium amount of both sun and shade. So, there are tall trees growing in the plantation with their branches cut off. There is also some sugarcane, guava, chili, all spice, avocado, cardamon, some kind of edible palm (papa...?), beans and banana.