Visiting a Coffee Processing Plant

Costa Rican shade-grown coffee has a global reputation for quality.
Our last activity with the National Geographic trip was a visit to a coffee
cooperative where 300 farmers bring their harvest to be processed.
From the time it’s picked to the time it’s roasted, coffee undergoes a number
of processing steps, including hulling, drying, and fermenting.

Our guide began by describing the process of planting and cultivating coffee bushes, which are productive for up to 20 years.

The coffee is shade-grown, which protects the plants from too much sun.
The shade trees are also nitrogen-fixing plants, improving the coffee.

The raw coffee beans (or “cherries”) are sun-dried and then kiln-dried.
The surrounding seed-pods and fruit are made into mulch or burned
in the kiln to produce heat. Little is wasted! 

A farm truck delivering the coffee beans. 

One of many murals in the coffee processing plant — this explains the steps in the process, as we saw it.

Now that we are home again, I have lots of photos from our stay in Costa Rica to share.  It was really quite a wonderful trip to a beautiful and productive country. As one of our guides said — their agriculture mainly produces breakfast! The principal products of their farms are bananas, coffee, sugar, pineapple, and other fruits and vegetables. We saw many cattle farms, as they also produce beef and dairy products.