Coffee Time

Tis the coffee picking season. We live in coffee country, not just the country for coffee we actually live among the coffee plants here in San Ramon. I've been keeping an eye on the plants the past month and am starting to see the beans ripen. Bill and I have driven around a bit lately and have seen the coffee at different elevations ripening with some areas already being picked.

It's interesting to me this year as we now have time under our belts and can recognize the yearly routines come into play. For example, the coffee fields next to our house aren't picked for the first time until December while other fields we frequently pass start their first picks in November. Bill is becoming quite the expert at who does what when and often comments that "they always" do this or that at such and such a time. It's funny, seems like he's lived a lifetime here already.

For those who aren't aware, the beans for that delicious cup of coffee you're sipping are all hand picked. (OK, I'm sipping delicious, Costa Rican shade grown organic coffee while I'm writing) Whole families tie baskets around their waists and manually pick each ruby red bean at it's peak. The beans ripen at different rates so the same bushes are picked several times during the season. Talk about monotonous, tedious work. Work done for literally pennies. When the picking day is finished, a good six hours after starting, the beans are bagged and trucked to one of the collection stations. The beans are dumped in on one side. Later when the bins are full, the trucks hauling the beans to be processed pull up under the spout which is then lowered and voila, the beans are loaded and on their way to becoming your (OK, my) morning cup (or pot) of Joe. Yes, that's over simplifying but I've yet to take a tour of the coffee processing plants so it's the best I can do at the moment.

A plantation tour is on the short list of things to do on Callista's vacation but I'm guessing she'll veto it. After all, she doesn't drink the stuff.