Coffee: It’s Not a Drink, It’s a Lifestyle

12/28/2016

I don’t even know where to begin with today – so I guess start at the beginning. We woke up at a leisurely 8:30 this morning. We had beans, rice, and eggs for breakfast with – to appropriately kick off the day – coffee! The best coffee ever, Ken says. Ken got goose bumps (happy bumps, we call them) drinking it. Then Eligio asked if we wanted to go on a walk to see the coffee. Yes! Always, yes.

So we went out the back door, and bam! We’re in the middle of the coffee plantation. because Llano Bonito is in the middle of the coffee country. So we walk through this maze of coffee, led by the best guide ever. 

Eligio told us all about the different coffee varietals, the dangers to the coffee plants, how important coffee is to the culture and livelihood of the people here (it’s the only crop they export and the lifeblood of the community), and how long his family has been here (80 years!). It was so eye opening to see the work behind something I take for granted every morning. He showed us the different dangers to the plants – bugs, fungus, parasites, etc. – and how they tried to combat each different danger naturally (mostly by introducing a different varietal, which in turn introduced a different adversary).

Ken and I even had the chance to help pick the coffee! We strapped the baskets onto our hips and picked for about 10-15 minutes, and together, we picked (according to Eligio) about 26 cents worth of coffee – woohoo! Clearly we weren’t cut out for this. But he said that we did a good job, and we were very selective in our choices (we tried to only pick the super red ones).

One of the things that really struck me about what I learned today is how dependent this community is on coffee and how easily it seems that it could be wiped out. So many things need to come together, and so many things need to be avoided, in order for there to be a good coffee crop to be harvested in the TWO MONTHS that it’s able to be harvested. Yep, you read that right. They only harvest coffee in December and January. The rest of the year, they prepare. They take care of the plants, prune them, clear debris, etc. but only for two months do the harvest the berries and get paid - $2/basket, $6/bag.

Living in Silicon Valley, there’s such a giant diversity of jobs and sources of income available. Would it be a huge deal if Google went under? Yes. Would it destroy all of Silicon Valley? No. Here, coffee going under could destroy this community. What it could look like for coffee to go under, I’m not sure. But it sure makes me want to get back on my soap box about organic, fair trade coffee! It’s a soap box I’ve forgotten for a while, but I’m always happy to pull back out and stand on whenever I have the chance. Especially after spending a day with Eligio. So many of the troubles they’re up against could be eliminated with the introduction on harmful pesticides, but they choose not to use them because they want to be natural. I really admire that, and that’s something I want to choose to support! But even more important that the organic part (to me, at least) is the fair trade part. For those of you who don’t know, fair trade means that the workers involved in the production of a product are treated and paid fairly. These guys work hard. The mountains are steep and hard to walk on, let alone pick coffee on. The baskets are huge, and it takes a lot of hard work to fill them up. It takes a lot of work to carry them up the hill. It takes a lot of work to load them into the truck. It takes a lot of work to load them out of the truck. Gathering coffee takes a lot of work – hard work! And these are families that depend on the fruits of their labor. Eligio even said that it’s extremely tiring work, but it’s what you do to provide for your family. And I really admire that! So, standing up here on my soap box, I’m declaring that I’m really going to try to buy solely organic, fair trade (emphasis on the fair trade) coffee whenever possible – even if there’s a slightly higher dollar amount.

Going back to our day, though, (a bit quicker now, because there’s something else I want to get to), we came back after our long walks and had a delicious lunch. Then we loaded into the back of the pickup truck to head down to the reservoir. I was grateful to be driving, because the last time I went down there five years ago, we walked. And it was a long walk. But this time, we piled into the back of a pickup truck! Which, if we’re being honest, is one of my favorite places to be. I don’t have any pictures of us there, but here is a picture of how I distinctly remember feeling:

The reservoir was beautiful! It stretched beyond what we could see. 

From there, we went to meet and visit all of Eligio’s family. They all live together in a little barrio (neighborhood). His parents are in the 70s and 80s and look healthier than I do! They had awesome fruit (we had passion fruit), a million chickens, and even some pigs. The pigs were especially interesting because a) they were HUGE, and b) the family catches the gas released from the pig poop and use the methane outgassing from it for their stoves. Holy crap (literally), that’s resourceful.

After coming back, some other people came over to drop off the coffee they had picked. Eligio and Pachi (his wife) took note of how much everyone contributed, and then we went with Eligio to “help” (we were no help) drop it off at a drop off point, which I’m having trouble describing. Thank goodness for pictures. They dumped the coffee into big, metal measuring devices, and after the device was full, the opened the bottom and it dropped through the wire floor into the huge basin below. Then Eligio received a receipt for what he delivered, which I assume he can turn in somewhere for money.

I have another thing I want to write about, but I’m super tired. Ken is feeling cuddly, and I’m feeling sleepy, so I think I’m going to call it here. Tomorrow will be a great day!!! And I want to be ready for it. Goodnight!

12/29/2016

I still want to talk about the other thing I mentioned (spoiler: it’s about the intense generosity of the people here), but after today’s events, I think I’ll finish up my coffee thoughts. Today we had the pleasure of touring the Cooprativa – the Coop (“Co-Op”) where they produce the coffee. There were multiple steps where they divided the coffee into tiers of quality based on weight, size, and shape. There were silos where it was stored and ovens where it was cooked. The coffee was baked in multiple phases (this is even before the toasting that most people were familiar with). It was crazy to see all the different parts. What was especially cool, though, was that before we got the tour, we got some time to ask the head-boss all our questions and he told us about the production. He ended up being our tour guide as well, so we were able to continue to ask questions. But it was interesting to hear his thoughts about the victories and trials of their business. This is when I pull out my soap box again, which is why I wanted to include it in this post. It’s still the fair trade/organic soap box, but now with an emphasis on the organic. The price of producing coffee in Costa Rica is really high, especially compared to neighboring countries. Each plant (I think I’m remembering this correctly) costs about $180 to maintain and produces about $200 annually.  Often times, all the coffee is exported because nobody local can afford to buy it. I was really impressed with this Coop, because they’ve started program to make sure their associates (workers) get to keep some of the coffee they make. They’ve also created programs to re-plant any trees they cut down for wood (for the wood burning ovens), ways to compost the pulp of the coffee and give it back to the farmers to hopefully increase the harvest, and a bunch of other ways to make sure they’re supporting their workers, staying environmentally friendly, and making good business choices. What I admire about this company is that they do all three – it would be really easy to just do the last one. SO, last time on my soap box, I announced that I was going to try and buy only fair trade, organic coffee. Now, though, I encourage you to do the same in order to support operations like this. Most coffee shops have a fair trade, organic option (Starbucks, Peets, etc.). AND, if you’re feeling compelled, you can even buy from Llano Bonito HERE.

Another shameless plug: BUY HERE!! 

(dang it, I couldn't find websites to connect to those intended links. BUT mark my words, I will find them and spam you with them.)

Okay, it’s late again. By which I mean it’s 9:15pm, but that’s late here in this early-rising community! We’re waking up at 5am tomorrow (whew!), so I should get to bed. We’re happy and safe! Can’t wait to write more. J