Barista Magazine

AUG-SEP 2015

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43 www.baristamagazine.com harvesting and processing. Skilled pickers arrived precisely when we needed them most. Coffee produces fruit once a year, but, although we garnered acclaim for our quality in 2013, it took us four intense, fun, and exhausting years to produce high-quality and quantity. Only a farmer can truly understand this miracle. Typically, I've handled the majority of harvesting by myself. This has been the case primarily for two reasons: 1) I'm extremely meticulous about what's picked, and 2) there's very little coffee in our location, so this type of skilled labor is scarce. As you might imagine, these two factors reduce our odds of getting help in the field. But 2014 was different. The months and years leading up to this harvest would mean nothing if the coffee just rotted and fell off the trees. To my absolute surprise and delight, loads of people from the neighborhood stepped up and picked remarkably well for the duration of the season. I'm grateful for the hardworking folks who showed up every day and put immense focus and energy harvesting the best cherry from the shrubs. I cannot emphasize this enough. Ripe coffee came early, heavy, and fast. By late October, we'd exceeded our previous yield record from the 2012/2013 season, which stretched from late August to March. Through September and Octo- ber, the weather was dry and provided the perfect environment for natural and honey processing (two techniques that rarely succeed due to Puna's humidity and rain). By Thanksgiving, we had several tons of coffee in storage to be thankful for. In the second week of February 2015, we weighed in at just under 14,000 pounds. This season was a beautiful, rewarding culmination of the last four years' earnest efforts to learn everything about coffee from seed to cup. We were intimately close to three natural disasters which could have robbed us of our heaviest and best crop yet. Pretty thrilling but scary stuff, which is why we so lovingly ushered in each pound of ripe coffee cherry. Though we've come a long way in four years, there are hundreds of lifetimes of learning potential. A harvest experience like this, however, will inspire for years to come, especially in the cup. Big Island Coffee Roasters' tiny team of two: farmer Brandon von Damitz and roast master Kelleigh Stewart. Direct trade doesn't get more direct than this. (Photo by Kathrin Blaer) PHOTO BY KATHRIN BLATTER SUBSCRIBE TODAY! DON't MISS AN ISSUE! www.baristamagazine.com 11-/ʳÊ-*/ ,ÊÓä£xÊUÊ6"1Ê££É--1ÊÎ BREWS CHANGE IN AMERICA'S HEARTLAND Andr ea Allen COLD-COFFEE BREWERS THE NEW PHILOSOPHY ON TIPPING REPORTS FROM THAILAND, COLOMBIA, AND THE BIG ISLAND

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