Yesterday, I gained a deeper appreciation for the art of crafting a good cup of coffee and the immense effort that goes into its harvest. It was my first experience picking coffee cherries, a task I've always emphasized with our associated producers as a key factor in obtaining specialty coffee for Desnudo.
Due to the topography of Colombia, coffee harvesting is a manual, labor-intensive task. I've often heard farmers speak of this, but it wasn't until yesterday that I truly grasped the difficulties when I had the opportunity to visit José Chivatá, a small producer from the Boyacá region. José was one of the first farmers we began working with in Boyacá, and he and his wife Carmenza stand out for their meticulousness in processing specialty coffee..
With clear instructions from José and Carmenza to only pick ripe cherries for the harvest, I stared out at sunrise filled with motivation and energy to make the most of the daylight hours. The weather was inclement, the mountain slopes made the work even more challenging, and we had to be cautious due to the presence of animals such as bees, wasps, and spiders.
Beans don’t ripen uniformly, demanding careful selection of only the ripest beans. After several hours of hard work, we managed to harvest a small bucket full of cherries, which filled me with deep pride. Upon reflecting on this experience, I understood that from that modest bucket, only about a sixth will turn into coffee. Truly, this is demanding work that, upon closer observation, made me appreciate even more the tireless effort of producers like José and Carmenza.
With love,
Manolo
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