So I made it to the supermarket and realized that the produce section consisted of very little produce. Even though I could have stopped at the market and check out the produce situation there, I opted instead to head to go buy a cell phone at a shop I had passed along the way. Somehow in broken Spanish I was able to procure a cell phone! Success! And it only cost $30. Not too shabby.
On my way back I realized that I didn’t know how to set up my phone, nor should I do so on a random Antigua street. So I asked a passerby the time, and I heard 2:20pm. Now in order to get to the coffee farm we were supposed to be picked up at 1:30pm. So I thought I had TOTALLY messed everything up, as I was traveling with some fellow Spanish students, and I had the map with the meet up point. So I half walked, half ran back to the guest house, along the way I asked another person who said the same thing. I was starting to panic. So I busted in, and started apologizing only to find out that I was not in fact late. It was 12:30pm. “Dos” and “doce” sound incredibly alike to the untrained, i.e. my, ear.
So other than the fact that it started raining, we were still able to check out the finca. The three of us departed for the meet up point, the run down San Jose Church. Finally our truck pulled up and we were on our way out of Antigua toward the finca. We passed another village that was seemed to be equivalent to a suburb of Antigua. With a market going on and a beautiful yellow Church. All in all the drive from our pick up point to the finca was approximately 15 minutes.
The plantation grounds were beautiful. Apparently coffee is really good business in Guatemala. They have a few fountains on the way in, superb gardens, and absolutely amazing views. They are right in the hills and the clouds still hung in the air just at the very tops. Our finca guide was Alex, a 23 year old who studies engineering in Guatemala City and works part time at the finca. I’m sure you are all dying to hear about how coffee is grown in Guatemala...kidding. But I will say that it was very interesting.
Some highlights include:
- Only women can perform the hybridization of the coffee plants because our hands have a slightly acidic pH and subsequently our hands do not burn the plants (men’s hands are slightly alkaline and therefore do, somehow, burn the plants)
- The red outer most layer, once taken off of the bean, reveals an inner layer which can be turned into jelly. It was quite tasty actually.
- Calculus is used in the roasting process of a “high quality” company. This means that they roast the beans at 180 degrees Celsius and slowly lower it until the inner bean is cooked. Then you start to turn back up the heat to you hit 180 degrees again. This parabola from Calculus is what apparently creates an amazing roast every time.
- They ship the beans un-roasted for export
- The medium sized beans are the highest grade coffee (provided they are arabica beans)
Personally my favourite part was talking to the other woman on the tour (there were only 5 of us total). She and her boyfriend were acting like “tourists” in their own native country, and they wanted to learn more about this product they export. Apparently, at least at this place, 85% of the coffee grown is exported. Only 15% remains in Guatemala. And considering how amazing the coffee is, it is surprising how many people drink instant coffee here. Likely because they cannot afford the high quality coffee beans. Which, as this woman said, is quite sad. Apparently one of the only stores that sells Finca Filadelfia’s beans is Walmart. And, as Walmart has impacted the local Ma and Pop shops in Canada, it has done the same here. All in all it sort of puts the coffee in your cup in perspective.
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