Process of making coffee

Our first day at the coffee farm Don Eli was definitely one of the most spectacular days we had.

We learned about the coffee-making process, starting with picking the coffee beans and ending with packing them so they could be sent to roasters around the world. In Germany, there are many roasters that are supplied by this coffee farm.

After a good breakfast (rice and beans, like every day), we went to work:

First, we went to pick the coffee beans from the trees. The beans are actually red and yellow and are very small, round balls. While picking, we had a contest about who did the best job. In the end, everyone was surprised, because not the fullest basket, but the one with the reddest beans won.

After picking, we dumped the beans into massive holes in the ground, where they were sorted. There was also an entrance to a pipe.

Inside the pipe was a mechanism that separated the fruit from the bean, and the fruit shells were loaded into a truck. The raw beans were filled into baskets and we then transported them to a place where they were spread out to sun-dry.

Using a trolley, we transported the beans to the drying place and put them on a table; however, it was no ordinary table.

It consisted of four table legs and a net to make sure the coffee beans dried evenly in the sun. The other tables were already filled with beans from the previous days, and we had to mix them with our hands so they would dry evenly. The beans sun-dry for two weeks in total.

The last step is packing. The beans are filled into very large bags, which are then exported around the world. Before that, however, the bags are stored in a barn for one month.

The rest of the day was very relaxed and we celebrated Louisa’s birthday a lot.

My personal highlight was when we ate a big bowl of cereal all together using one spoon. We could eat as much milk and cereal as we wanted, unlike on the ship. For the sunset, we hiked up a small hill to get a good view. Some of us even got some last bits of work done before joining us for the sunset.

We had to unload the peels from the truck we had loaded in the morning. Unfortunately, the sunset wasn’t that special, but we had a good time anyway.

In general, I can say that this day was definitely not a normal day on the Roald and I really learned a lot.

Greetings:

Olivia: Happy Birthday Lottchen!! Ich hoffe, Du hattest einen ganz tollen Tag. Feier‘ ganz schön und wir holen das irgendwann nach. Ich habe Dich ganz doll lieb!!!❤️

Louisa: Heyy, hatte einen wunderschönen Tag, hab‘ auch eure Briefe geöffnet, die Kette ist voll schön, dankeeee! Liebe euch
💗💕

Leonie: Hey Mia, happy Birthday!!! I love you sosososooso much and I hope you get super spoiled. Enjoy your special day can’t wait till I can call you ❤️🥰😘😍