Trips
JAVA – The strength of the nature
Every trip, every Country and platation provokes beautiful excitements. In Indonesia, I saw some platations at the foot of important and “alive” volcanos; they seem to be big watchman! You will surely are afraid of them, but you feel an incredibly energy coming out of them. You really feel “wacthed by them” or sometime protected, it’s a really strange feeling!
All the land around the volcanos is very rich, the vegetation is luxuriant. It’s a garden. The coffee plants could grow among tobacco plants, with a sort of mutual Exchange.
What we love most in travelling is to meet the producers and their families. The Indonesians are very friendly and they welcomed us in a very touching way. And we surprisingly “recognize” these aspects in their coffee: sweet, soft, very well processed and selected.
We are very lucky in doing our job! After so many years, we are still excited in diving our hands in the raw coffees, in such a beautiful nature and in improving our knowledge by travelling through a lush biodiversity…
Trips
PANAMA – Crossroads of the world
In Panama City you have to watch out for fake cops. Criminality is common in these areas. In the profession I chose there are some inconveniences, but when I get to the plantations everything changes and I realize it was worth it. Many years after my first trip, seeing coffee plants still excites me. Its fruits resemble cherries for their shape and colour, sometimes they are yellow. The pulp is sugary, the peel is thick.
Trips
COLOMBIA – Where countries are called people
All the plantations are far from the cities, they are completely immersed into the nature. And in Colombia geography is arduous. This means long bus or jeep trips, or waiting at the pueblos traffic lights, where you may meet some hormigas culonas (a typical local snack) sellers. I have not tried them… for now I still prefer coffee to fried ants!
Trips
INDIA – The elegance of colours
Coffee flowers are white, they resemble jasmine’s for their intense fragrance. Their blooming is even more enchanting than that of cherry trees. My first trip to India was magnificent. I must admit that being surrounded by the scents of the plantations is the most exciting part of my job.
In India every work step is diligently performed and is also extremely elegant: women, with their colourful dresses, sit on the ground with such a natural posture we do not even know in the western culture, and carefully select the coffee beans, eliminating the broken or imperfect ones. It is a long and hard job that they transform in exquisite lightness.
Coffee farmers are a big family: the production processes can change from continent to continent, details and uses may vary, but the recognizable, palpable passion people have is the same everywhere. Getting to the plantation after a long trip is always a magical and welcoming moment. In India I have been hosted by the farmers that I visited and I have always had dinner with their family.
Bean drying can be eased by short passages in ovens powered by pruning branches from the plantations. This is what I saw in Brazil. In certain areas they perform ground drying in patios or outdoors, while in other areas I saw the so-called “African beds”, or raised meshes on which seeds are dried.
In India, plantations are surrounded by tea, cocoa, pepper and vanilla plants which have their roots in the same soil. Often, in India, indigenous farmers go barefoot into the flora in order to pick the coffee cherries. It is important to remember that among the flora there is the fauna: spiders, snakes, cobras and other nice beasts. I prefer to wear long-sleeved shirts… It is the price to pay for hand-picked coffee.
Filter Coffee
Manuals Filters
Also called “single server”, one of the most known is Hario® V60.
Preparing filter-coffee with this type of percolator first of all requires placing the specific paper filter into the filter holder, then pouring it with hot water in order to remove any smell and, at the same time, heating the percolator. Then add the roughly ground coffee into the filter and, once levelled, pour the water previously heated up to 90-95°C.
The first part of the poured water, almost double of the weight of the ground coffee, will be used for the so-called “blooming”, an operation mainly required to prepare the coffee powder for the extraction and to get a more aromatic drink. After one minute, you can pour the rest of the water until the ideal proportion between water and coffee powder is reached, in accordance with your personal taste.
After the percolation process, coffee is ready to be served.
No pressure
The “Napoletana”
Or this extraction coffee has to be roughly ground, in order to let water leach smoothly from the powder.
Fill up with natural mineral water the part of the coffee maker that will be put on the stove; it is better to pre-heat the water in order to reduce the permanence on the stove and “stress” the coffee less.
Insert the filter previously filled up with ground coffee, and then close with the spout this part of the coffee maker.
When some water starts leaking from a specific hole on the wall of the boiler, it is time to switch off the heat and turn the coffee maker upside down as the water will have reached the boiling point. After the time required for the water to leach from the coffee powder, it can be served. Low temperature and lack of pressure give a drink full and rich in its taste; even if it is less dense than the moka pot, most typical “burning” smells are avoided.
No pressure
Turkish coffee
Turkish (or Greek) coffee is prepared in the typical copper coffee maker called cezve or ibrik.
Coffee needs to be ground very subtly in this process, at the point to get a powder similar to icing sugar.
You have to put the coffee powder into the percolator, add natural mineral water and then bring it to a boil.
As soon as it boils, you’ll get a rich and very thick cream; then add sugar according to your taste and repeatedly heat to boiling. Serve directly from the ibrik, allowing the coffee powder to settle at the bottom of the cup before drinking.
