Coffee anyone?

As luck would have it we are only about a kilometer from a "branch office" of the Associación Alianza group of family farm organic coffee growers. Here they have a small processing plant for the locally grown coffee right on our normal commute route into town. We've come to know the owner, Pablo, well over the last couple of years. When it was available (which is now all the time) we'd buy whole beans from them. It's more expensive than the non-organic 1820 or Del Valle brands, but much less than the organic beans in the local supermarkets.

Little by little (poco a poco) they have made many improvements to their operation. This last year they completed a spiffy second floor cafeteria (coffee shop) that serves espresso drinks. You can sit inside or out on the balcony to enjoy the view of the mountains and town below. I noticed that among their syrup flavors there are a couple of bottles of liquor, too, but I haven't tried one of those yet!

At the beginning of the month they had their grand opening of the cafeteria, the drinks were free, and I rounded up most of our gringo neighbors to come down and have a drink and a tour of the operation. 

Follow the Read More link to see the rest of the story in pictures and captions.

Our tour guide (left) and the barristas (usually working in the plant)

The grinder for the roasted beans

The roasting machine

Trucks unload their beans in the shed above (there is a measuring box called a panga) and they enter the processing chain via the green chute

The chute has water spouts that help move the beans

This part of the process removes the husks from the raw beans and washes them

Part of our group. My sister is second from the left.

The abono (compost) shed. They use the waste materials from the husker and add crushed granite for added minerals

Our waiter!

Many thanks to Sandy for the photos!