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A Step by Step Journey of Coffee Planting, Picking, Processing and Production at Colombia Santa Barbara Estate

Michael Pollack recently journeyed to Colombia to view Santa Barbara Estate's harvest. In these photos, we will take you through the complete cycle of coffee at the estate. We are lucky enough to carry the Santa Barbara Estate's coffee, you can order it here.

IMG_2199From bean to bean.  An unroasted coffee seed about to be planted.

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_2198

Coffee trees in little planters, germinating under a cover to keep moist and warm. Each will turn into a full coffee tree.


IMG_2199New trees growing on the mountainside, aged about 5 months.


IMG_2199Pickers picking at the height of the harvest. The trees are filled with the ripest of fruit.


IMG_2170Bags of fruit being weighed. The pickers are paid by weight.


IMG_2174 After weighing, the coffee is poured into a collection tank.


IMG_2199Fruit collected in a collection tank.


IMG_2178One of two methods of getting down mountain after collecting is in these cable cars.


IMG_2124The other way the coffee is moved is through these metal tubes.


IMG_2154Fruit, now moved down mountain, at the beginning of the wet mill.


IMG_2128 Coffee fruit begins the wet process.

IMG_2134Fruit being depulped.


IMG_2086 At this point, the coffee fruit is now better defined as a bean or seed. These are beans during fermentation, before drying. This is the stage where the coffee bean is again plantable. The process continues to become roastable coffee beans.


IMG_2138Some beans are also discarded and dried to be used for fertilizer or coffee-tea.


IMG_2150Coffee beans in drying tank. Amount of time depends on the measured moisture content.


IMG_2134Isolated coffee beans, after wash. Not depulped, and dried for a natural process coffee. This is a new small scale method the Santa Barbara Estate is testing to maintain constant temperature and moisture content.


IMG_2148 Dried coffee beans bagged to be brought to the dry mill.


photoBagged beans where quality control takes place.  Fruit is ran through a spectrometer which helps attain even density and uniformly.


IMG_2063Coffee is then sample roasted and cupping takes place.