Café del Canasto

In my last post I mentioned that I learnt how to make coffee, from the plant to the cup, on the farm I was staying at. Here's a sneak peak into the coffee-making process.

The coffee plant

First we picked the beans. The basket (canasto in Spanish), you see below, inspired the name of the coffee produced and packaged on Finca Bella Vista. Café del Canasto has been around for 20 years and is a family business which sells organic coffee. 

The yellow, orange and red beans are ripe

After skinning the beans and soaking them in water, the ones which stay on the bottom are ready for the next step!

The beans need to dry for 10 days.

Alexis explaining the coffee process 

Beans drying

Once they've dried, the beans are de-shelled. The shells are used as compost on our farm, but on other coffee farms they bag it and sell it. It could be used to make paper and bags (see below).

Then you roast the beans for 60min and grind the finished product, if you desire.

Here you can see Alexis manually roasting the beans

Roasted beans

Alexis takes so much pride in making his coffee, from picking the beans to sticking the labels perfectly onto the bags. You can certainly taste the love! 

Que Bonita Es la Vida

When you wake up singing "Que Bonita es la Vida" (How beautiful is life), you know you must have had a good few days. And how could you not when you get to wake up to watermelon smiley faces?

Today is my last day at Finca Bella Vista, a farm which uses an integrated system, which means that everything is recycled and there's almost no waste. Even the cow poop is collected and put into a biodigester - a contraption which converts it into methane gas, that runs through a pipe directly to the stove in the kitchen.

On our first day on the farm, we felt like we were on a reality TV show: four city-slickers thrown into farm-life, getting stuck in muddy fields, herding cows (and losing one) and being chased by chickens. We've come a long way since then, with help from a lovely couple, Hilda and Alexis, and a little granny.    

Herding  cows

                                       

When Alexis tried to tell us that the neighbour's cow had fallen into a ravine and broken its leg, it was one of those lost in translation moments, where we weren't quite sure who had the broken leg (the neighbour or the cow). Nevertheless, we followed behind like sheep, bringing another cow with us to guide the injured one, who had pretty much given up, out of the ravine. We managed to save the cow, much to our own surprise! 

In four days, I also managed to conquer my fear of horse-riding, and to ride one by myself. I actually thought that Alexis was on the horse with me, and was talking to him, but when he didn't respond, I peered over my shoulder and realised that I was alone.

New skills to add to my CV include milking cows, making cheese, compost and coffee from bean to cup. Compost is literally a "steaming pile of shit" (excuse my French!) when you move it around, because of the energy created by the microorganisms in the soil.

Living on a farm is hard work and there is always something to do, mix, feed or clean. I'm not sure whether it's the life for me, but I'm really going to miss this place - the quiet, the endless games of rummy and bottomless cups of homemade coffee.

Life is beautiful!

Finca Bella Vista