Finca El Milagro, the property on which we live, was a coffee farm before we purchased it. However, the 80 plus year old coffee plants were barely producing. The property falls in a protected area for land conservation, so as the coffee plants aged out, we needed to replant.
Three years ago, we had some of the our summer teams help with planting 2500 new coffee plants. Overtime, the areas once filled with dying coffee plants sprung forth with new life. Last December, we harvested around 2000 pounds of raw coffee from the young plants. The coffee bean is inside a cherry and is picked when deep red and dried. Once dry, the cherry is removed and the bean is finally revealed. This is called the natural process.
The process of harvesting the coffee and allowing it to dry to 12% moisture content went into the time that the world pandemic hit. And so sat the coffee.
Recently, we were able to have the cherry removed from the bean. Next, the coffee beans are roasted. We began to experiment with different roasts to figure out which roast brings out the full flavor of the coffee. Although the land is not at the altitude that would produce the best coffee, tasters have have given the coffee a good review.
We are not ready to sell the coffee at this point, but with a new crop to be harvested in the next few months, we hope that we can soon offer our guests freshly roasted coffee from our farm. We anxiously await the time we can sit with you and enjoy a cup of coffee grown on the property together!
