2000 Hours
So I saw a statistic while checking out various coffee sites on the ‘net that I have incorporated into our training here.
From planting of the coffee tree to your first sip, 2000 man hours went into making that cup of coffee*.
2000.
125 solid 16 hour days. 83 24-hour days plus some change.
Coffee tree seedlings ready to plant. These trees will be ready to bear fruit in 3-5 years.
See this? Here’s the (just after the) start of that 2000 hour journey. These coffee trees will be planted and cared for. In three to five years, the trees will bear fruit: the coffee cherry.
Coffee cherries in various stages of ripeness.
The cherries, when ripe, are then harvested by hand (seriously! Only Brazil has mechanized the picking process!) and dried. They’re then de-pulped…
Hand de-pulping is a normal!
…then processed further.
Raking the parchment coffee in order to allow it to dry evenly
Once the coffee beans are ready, they’re bagged up and sent out into the world.
Exporters and importers get involved (usually) at this point, then it’s up to the roaster.
Here’s where our training kicks in with this sobering reality:
Roasters interact with the coffee for about 30 minutes.
Baristas interact with the coffee for about five.
Yet these 35 minutes are when the coffee is the most fragile: we can screw up 1999:25 hours of hard work.
Let that one sink in.
This is why our baristas go through 4-6 weeks of training. We respect the product in our hands. We want to do it right. We want to make it worth the time of all the people involved. We’re not breaking out in a rousing chorus of “Kumbaya” right now, but you get the point.
A dirty espresso bar, not cleaned milk steam wand tip, coffee brewed and roasted “sometime,” and an overall disinterest in the magical bean called coffee leads to espresso bars failing. Or at least not growing. Or caring. And if those bars can’t care about the hard work the farmers go through to get them that coffee, do you think they care about you coming in to buy it?
Do yourselves a favor: find yourself a quality-driven roaster and coffee bar, (we happen to know one!) and enjoy what coffee can actually taste like: bitter and burnt tones doth not a good cuppa make.
You’ll be happy you did.
*I have not had the chance to validate that 2000 hour claim, but considering all the steps involved, I think that number is pretty accurate.
Amen to that! A quality-driven roaster and coffee bar is one of life’s great joys! Thanks, Ryan, for the terrific beans you ship to me. Your fabulous beans combined with my careful preparation means my coffee drinks are a hit with all my friends, who wind down every weekend visit with a great cup of joe.