Tags
coffee beans, coffee cherries, how coffee is grown, how coffee is processed, jama ecuador, roasting coffee and cacao, rural life in coastal ecuador
Manabi Ecuador
Last week after the coffee-picking trek, my friends and I stopped by a farmhouse on the way back to Jama. Enjoy the photos while listening to Frizztext’s updated version of “Calling Mississippi.”
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As in the last post, these images of Ecuador’s rural farmlife remind me of my childhood years in the Mississippi Delta.

Artfully hung, the corn dries beneath the house.

Brittany, a natural guide, greeted us and showed us around the grounds!

I was pleased to see that I could still call a turkey! This one approached then ruffled his feathers and probably called me a trickster!

The tall bamboo is called, ‘canya,” and is a versatile building material.

The building reminded me of a store from my childhood, where I rode my horse onto the front porch, leaned inside and requested a lemon cookie while fishing my nickel from my pocket!

“Arturo” told us about his family. His sister lives in the house we had just visited, and his brother was the photogenic “Antonio” from the coffee farm!

Cynthia and I were surprised that I captured this image as the mototaxi passed this trio on horseback!
Harvesting the coffee cherries required close attention to each fruit; after picking for almost two hours, we did not have a lot of cherries to show for our work! Squeezing the seeds from the fruit is not an easy task! Imagine squeezing a watermelon seed across the room. Now imagine that seed being the size of a marble with a thick grape-like skin. There’s just enough flesh between the ‘marble’ and the skin to make the seed pop out – IF the seed is ripe enough. I quickly learned that I should have left many on the plants to mature a while longer! Like watermelon seeds, many of the coffee seeds sailed out of my fingers in wild tangents!
A slippery pulp covered each seed; the shelled seeds then took a long soak in a container of water, which was changed daily. After two days, the seeds took a sunbath! (Those images are mysteriously lost!)
The seeds dried for three days under cloudy skies; next they will be roasted and ground. There’s one minor problem: I know nothing ’bout roasting coffee!
Cacao (chocolate) can be ‘roasted’ on the stovetop; if one can make a roux without burning it, surely one can roast the coffee beans! Yes or no?
I think I’ll do a little test! Perhaps I’ll also try roasting the cacao!
Wish me luck and stay tuned!
Z
Some of those faces – the expressions are priceless. Tony
thanks, tony! yes, their character burns through! they are so naturally comfortable when i ask to take their photos… antonio was a natural!
Wonderful photos–amazing portraits, and a great story. Thank you for sharing it.
thank you, naomi! it’s great to be in a new culture and to have so many things to experience!
Truly touching, as only untamed sincerity can be.
It just bothers my morning brew purchased from a multi-billionaire coffee giant, that those truly deserving the fruit of their labour, are barefoot…
Thank you again Lisa for this slice of reality.:-)
what an eloquent comment! thank you so much for your feedback! yes, the balance seems out of sync; there’s a vast difference between the producer and the consumer. i’d be willing to bet that the barefooted ones are happier than those who wear designer shoes and sip from trendy cafes!
You are very kind:-D
Actually, your reply fills in the missing part of my own comment, because while my heart saw exactly what you wrote, my mind somewhat refused to extend that into writing. Yes, barefooted happiness and joy over the small good things of life don’t fit in many of our designer outfits…
Thank you for being a portrayer of life, not of portraits about it… That makes your work so different:-D
thank you so much! yes, sometimes we hold our reins, and i am glad that we’re on the same page!
sometimes we have to have had that other life before we can truly understand that less is more… although, the people that i meet here are grounded and seem to have no desire for material ‘prizes.’ it’s refreshing to witness!
I am sure you will be an expert coffee roaster. You will have really earned a cup of coffee by the time you have finished the whole process 🙂
you are so right! i never realized how much work went into the mom and pop coffee operations!
Wonderful post, truly enjoyed it!
thank you so much! i wish i could send some beans to your table! z
Good luck with the roasting, I am sure the coffe will be an adventure. Like this trip. I can’t imagine your rode your own horse to buy a cookie as a child, or rather, yes I can. 😉
ha! yes, i remember those horse-riding moments fondly; the tiny neighborhood tolerated my horse-riding escapades!
thanks for your comment! z
great story and photos, hmm I can smell the coffee roasting 🙂
you surely have the imagination to smell the aroma from there!
have a great trip, and i’ll see you wednesday!
I love this inside look into where my coffee comes from! I know nothing about roasting coffee beans, but had a friend who roasted his own using an air popper designed for popcorn. Good luck!
jody, bobby’s wife, told me that they all but ‘blew up’ a popcorn popper while ‘roasting’ coffee!! hmmmm. this has been an interesting coffee education!
Thanks for the excursion — and the lessons about coffee!
you are so welcome! i hope that you’re feeling one hundred percent now! z
Much better, thanks. Lift one for me….coffee, of course.
i will, though this morning it will probably be tea! i don’t drink coffee often, and when i do, it’s usually i the evening! how backwards of me, right?!
A bit. But you seem full of surprises!
it doesn’t affect my ability to sleep at all! i have a gift of ‘easy sleep.’
There’s a couple here in town that buys their coffee beans green, then roasts them in small batches. They sell it through local groceries and their own little shop, and it’s quite good. I’ve given up on Starbuck’s entirely – they burn their beans rather than giving them a good, deep roast. We’re in the season now where I always keep some cold-brewed in the refrigerator for making iced coffee. Do you do that? It’s so good.
The fellow named Arturo reminds me of one of my favorite Mississippians – R.L. Burnside . There’s some physical resemblance, but they both seem to exude that solid, grounded feel that’s to be cherished wherever it’s found.
hey
i enjoyed the video – so many videos like that take me back to my early years.
i’ve never had starbuck’s coffee! ja! it’s good to know that you’re not too fond of it!
Few of us outside areas where coffee is grown think of red when we think of coffee.
it would be great to see how you’d capture the beauty of coffee!
As usual, a wonderful, inspiring post. I love it that you get “down and dirty” in relating to the citizens of your adopted country, and that you tell human stories without being maudlin or judgemental. Keep up the great stories!
thank you so much! i feel right at home with these beautiful people who have embraced me into their culture!
Living life is the best story and enjoyed this posting.
what a great comment! thank you so much!
Reblogged this on One Black T-Shirt.
How cool! Loved learning about the coffee cherries and how you get to the little bean – how funny! I picked fruit (sour and sweet cherries, and apples) in the local farms growing up and this beautiful post reminded me of that great time. Wonderful photographs of the locals, such a sweet guide and the lovely couple – always with great smiles. Every place has their local “corner” store and you found this with all it’s wonders.
yes, she was a precious young gal, and she was very poised. there’s something soothing about the simple act of harvesting fruits or vegetables. a neighbor had a cherry tree in mississippi, but they were quite unusual. i love the sour cherries!
I am sitting reading this post with a cup of java in my hand. Love reading about the coffee process. There is a lot of work to the process!!! Me….I just scoop a can of coffee off the grocery store shelf and brew it up.
how great that your coffee connected you to the post and to ecuador! yes, there’s a lot of work to get that cup of coffee to you!
lIKE TO READ EVERYTHING ABOUT THE PROCESS MAKING COFFEE
thank you! i’ve enjoyed learning about coffee as well! it was my pleasure to pass along what i’ve learned!
Interesting, Lisa. Good luck. Always good to take the time to stop and smell the java. Brittany looks so much like my niece, Keanna. I had to do a double take. Beautiful, smiling faces – yet again. 🙂
how interesting that brittany and keanna look alike! wouldn’t it be fun if they could meet?!
Keanna’s in Florida. She has a better chance of getting to Equador than I do 😦 but that would be fun. Probably around the same age too.
Calling turkeys Lisa. You are a woman of many talents. Also, I’m sure that all coffee addicts in the US take for granted how much work goes into making their brew. ~James
ja ja! yes, i learned to mock the turkeys when i was growing up!
even when i had taken coffee tours, i did not realize how difficult it was to pick each berry/cherry! i would have to ask a lot more for that cup of coffee!
Z, I absolutely love that you share the people in your life. It makes us all better connected. Thanks for the java show as well. Take care, BTG
how can i not share glimpses of those beautiful and kind people?!!! i also realized that many people attend coffee tours, but few get to actually pick and shell (?) the fruits.
thanks!
Fantastic pictures of the local children and families. You are right in there with them and I can see how this reminds you of the Mississippi Delta.I have learned that coffee is a lot of work and timing is everything. Thanks for sharing. Frizz’s music was perfect.
thank you! you would be right in there with us as well if you had the chance!
picking the coffee reminded me of picking lima beans.. you’d be in trouble shelling later if you picked the ones that weren’t mature!
Good luck roasting your coffee and cacao beans. I never realized how complicated the process is. I visited Selva Negra and took their coffee tour, but they have machinery and conveyor belts to process the coffee beans after they are hand picked. I laughed at your description of squeezing the seed out of the bean. jeje Did you ever have a seed spitting contest with watermelon seeds? Hmmm…I wonder if it would work with coffee beans?
yes, we have now walked in their shoes and will forever appreciate the picking and ‘seeding’ processes!
of course we had seed spitting contests! it would be funny to try with the beans!
Very enjoyable, and what a good idea to include Frizztext’s Mississippi music.
thank you! the music certainly fits the tone of the post!
Reblogged this on The ObamaCrat.Com™.
Simply marvelous Z. and I did so enjoy the music. Thanks for sharing and have a great week ahead
thank youi for your kind comment, and i’m so sorry that i’s so late in responding. yes, frizztext’s music adds a lot, and it was fun to include it! it’s about time for me to take another trip to the coffee country, though next month i’ll be back in the cloud forest for an extended stay… they have coffee there as well!
I full understand Z. I do hope that you have a wonderful stay and I look forward to the forth coming posts. Hope you have a great end to the week. J.
gracias, Lisa, for your fine art storytelling: “The building reminded me of a store from my childhood, where I rode my horse onto the front porch, leaned inside and requested a lemon cookie while fishing my nickel from my pocket!”
what a life! i feel blessed to have so many rich memories! thanks! z
Fascinating! Thanks for telling this story and taking me along on the tour.
I used to be a regular coffee drinker until my headache specialist suggested cutting it out as a daily beverage and using it for medicinal purposes. Caffeine is good for many of my migraines, and cutting back on it maintains a higher potency for me when I do drink it for migraines. I haven’t had to take migraine drugs for several years now since taking his advice. If I have a coffee outside of a migraine, it is a rare thing and a real treat!
i had a friend who suffered from saturday-morning caffeine withdrawal, and she would have horrid migraines.. it took a long time before they realized the trigger.
i read about a cold-brew for coffee that has much less caffeine. hmmmm.
I would love to go to a coffee farm and see for myself how it is all done. I love a good cup of Joe! 🙂
I love your site. This is a great piece. My wife and I are in the beginning stages of building a 62.5 ft. pontoon houseboat. I expect to launch sometime next summer; “Gawd’ willin’ and the crick’ don’t rise”.
I was forced to retire and we are seeking some peace and maybe little adventure long the way.
I would love to visit Ecuador. I have been looking at your site. The countryside is phenomenal and the people are beautiful. I never realized the diverse culture and abundance of products that originate there although over the years I have encountered many things from Ecuador. I am a great fan of the Panama hat. I always buy the original from Ecuador because somehow it seems…wrong to buy a copy.
I don’t like cheap knockoffs; of one of a kind products that require so much care and attention to produce.
Sounds as though I can afford to buy the best; huh?
Not at all. I just choose to not wear some things if I can’t afford the original.
Hell; I can get a cheap hat anywhere and I can wear it but I won’t spend more for a fake. Even though the original is still more expensive. If I want a Panama; I want a Panama; not a “Made in China” imitation. Loyalty to the few craftsman left today is one of my favorite bitches. A person works all their life to become skilled at creating a beautiful product; often since childhood. It is their only livelihood in some cases; then to save a few bucks Americans will shop for a piece of assembly line, look-alike, garbage and wear it as though it was real. The ingenuousness of it makes me angry. Not just about hats. Other things; any things that fit the profile.
Well this has turned into a bitter little rant hasn’t it. Sorry. Guess a button got pushed.
Love the site. Keep on keepin’ on.
no, this isn’t a bitter little rant! i enjoyed your feedback and am happy to know that you’re building a houseboat – that sounds like a great adventure!
i had no idea that ecuador was such a diverse country either, and i am so glad to be living here where the temp ranges from the 60’s (F) to the high 80’s, where food is still a good bargain, and where the locals are genuine and even the strangers SMILE A LOT! (here on the coast near the equator)..
thank you so much for your comment!
A fascinating tour showcasing the people and their lifestyles so well. It looks like they were very welcoming.
Those coffee beans look so fresh I can smell the coffee. Thank you for posting this wonderful story.
thank you, amigia! i never realized how time consuming the process was; i have renewed respect for those who hand pick the coffee!
Isn’t that the truth??? Once you see the process of anything that requires non-equipment for collection you gain a better appreciation for it.
I went to an apple orchard once and had the experience of seeing them picked and picking them, too. I treasure every apple when I purchase them. Although, I’m sure they must be done commercially now with machines.
Keep those wonderful posts coming. I have had a pleasure reading them.
Gracias mi amiga …
Isadora xo
Interesting about the similarities between the way of life of these people and my own people here. 🙂
hey amiga
lo siento, i am so sorry that i missed this comment, but so glad to see your smiling face today when all is quiet and calm at my house! i hope that seeing the post, the images, the kind and sweet people, the coffee gave you a smile! z
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