Hola! Today, we visited the Doka coffee farms in Alajuela, and thanks to Pitt plus 3 we were lucky enough to tour the plantation. It is the oldest wet mill in Costa Rica and famous for its delicious coffee. Besides the brief summary from Dr. Teeter during the pre departure meetings, I had very little idea about the coffee making process. This tour was more than inciteful, it taught me everything from the coffee plant itself to the process of packing the beans. As a result, there were many things that caught me by surprise while on this delightful look into the coffee industry. In my opinion the most shocking thing to me was the fact that all of the coffee cherries are used in the process of making the coffee. The fruit itself can be used for manure and even sometimes made into whole beans for a specialty roast. They use the coffee’s shells for fuel for the roaster’s furnace, and obviously the bean is used for the roast itself. Another surprising thing I found was how nice a job for the Nicaraguans coffee picking is. Not only do they get job security season after season, but their children are given a free education and daycare to watch over them. On top of this, they get paid in US dollars, which is worth a lot in Nicaragua! Then came the machines.

Next, the machines involved in the coffee making process varied in complexity quite drastically and we’re all very cool in my eyes. I think learning about the engineering of the coffee picking process is one of the reasons I was able to pay attention so well. Each machine we saw was designed for a specific task. Still, some were cooler than others. Following this, one of my favorites I saw was, as I call it. “The float test”. Basically, the plantation has machines that sort the cherries based on its density. The high quality cherries sink due to their compact density, and the lesser quality cherries float into a vent to move on to the next section. The sunken cherries get suctioned up from a pipe due to the water pushing them down creating a vacuum to the pipe. This machine was one that I would deem complicated. Another gadget that I thought was quite fun were the baskets that the coffee pickers used. I just loved the design of them! Instead of holding the basket for hours or being bent over slowly picking cherries from bush to basket, they came up with the idea to tie it around their waist. This way back issues would be nonexistent and carrying the basket would be the least of their worries. An easy, yet genius system. Finally, the last gizmo that impressed me was the machine meant to peel the berries skin. The reason for doing this is to get the bean finally separated and sent floating down outside to dry in either the roaster or the sun. The machine is complex to say the least. It has various parts each with its own purpose. A cool part of the machine’s design is that it gives the “floaters” (the bad cherries) a second chance with a rotating section meant to pick only the best berries for the brew. This is the little factor that made me so intrigued with this machine. Finally, all these machines were some of the most interesting parts of the trip which really helped me change my opinion on coffee as a whole.

Continuing, before coming to the plantation I truly didn’t understand how much work it really takes to make coffee let alone high quality coffee. I just didn’t get the hype. I actually thought the tour would be quite boring. My thought process was somewhere along the lines of, “I mean I didn’t like coffee, so why would I like the tour?”. I couldn’t be more wrong. It blew my mind to see the people, machinery, and creative thinking involved all working in unison towards one project. Back home you just see a finished product, so you don’t really understand what that product goes through to get there. That’s why going into the tour I really thought of coffee as just a drink that people relied on to start the day, but it’s more than that. To these people it’s a way of life. People traveling from foreign countries for jobs in hopes of a better life back in their homes. The Costa Rican coffee industry supports each other like a family to ensure they all succeed. The tour guide whose passion for the product shines through her beaming smile. This is true science behind a good cup of joe. The quality, although I must admit amazing, isn’t the source of this business success. It’s the people. They care so much and it shows. This tour completely changed my whole view on coffee. I’m really grateful for this opportunity, because now I understand why coffee is the heart of Costa Rica.