Magic Beans Origin Trip- by. Jake Bryant

After two flights, a night in San Jose, and a two hour drive up the side of a mountain, we found ourselves at Hacienda La Minita. The excitement that Sal, Zach and I felt was soon replaced with a cool, calming sensation. It was in Tarrazu, Costa Rica that we found ourselves surrounded by beautiful coffee, on a beautiful farm, with the most beautiful view.

It’s been a year later (although it feels like 4) and we are still trying to unpack all of the information gained from Magic Beans’ first origin trip. There are three lessons I've learned from the trip and have reflected on since. For anyone wanting to take a coffee origin trip, or just wanting to learn about an origin trip experience, hopefully these points share some perspective!

Lesson #1 - Learn The Language Of The Land

My biggest regret for the origin trip was that I didn’t practice speaking spanish before. Luckily for me, Zach practiced some leading up to the trip and Sal has been speaking spanish his whole life. Because of them, we were able to navigate our way through the city of San Jose and converse with some of the workers on the farms. But I had to rely on them heavily to translate what was being said, and the lack of understanding on my end limited my overall learning ability. Questions that I wanted to ask and any conversations I wanted to have had to be done through another party. That said, learn and practice the language!

Lesson #2 - Coffee Has Different Purposes

The Costa Rican coffee that Magic Beans roasts is an extremely close resemblance to the coffee that Sal, Zach and I had while we were on the farm. The smooth and subtly sweet coffee reminds me of a nice glass of bourbon. Whenever I have the coffee, I am immediately transported to the porch on the farm that overlooked the most beautiful valley (I took 14 pictures of this view, and none of them did it justice). However, I did not realize that on the farm would be the only place that would serve this high quality coffee. As an American barista, I view coffee as the end product. A product that is beautifully crafted and made solely for the enjoyment of the consumer. For people in Costa Rica, coffee is viewed as their cash crop. In other words, the coffee is not grown for their consumption but as a way of provision. Any coffee outside of the farms were more than likely the lower grade coffee that was not good enough for export. This definitely helped me appreciate the coffee that I was tasting while I was there on the farm.

Lesson #3 - Appreciate The Hands That Bring You Coffee

One of the biggest lessons learned from this trip was how many people/parts go into making a good cup of coffee. Starting with the coffee picked from the trees, to the weighing station, to the mill, to storing the different coffees, to picking out any deformations, to bagging the coffee, to shipping the coffee, to receiving the coffee, to roasting the coffee, to brewing the coffee, to serving the coffee, there are people involved with every part of the coffee process. One reason why this trip was so important was to build relationships with the farmers and establish a direct trade relationship. We care deeply about the quality of our coffee AND every hand that helps prepare the coffee to go from bean to cup. We will continue to strive to build more relationships like the one we have with Hacienda La Minita.

Lesson #4 - Appreciate Every Cup Of Coffee

This point is built off of the last, but when you think about all of the hands that went into preparing you a cup of coffee, every cup  you drink should be deemed as important. So much time, sweat, and care went into every part of the coffee process to make sure you have a cup of coffee you can enjoy. As a consumer, I try not to waste any product and I try to take my time enjoying the drink in front of me. As a barista and roaster, this also means that I want to treat the coffee with respect. This happens by taking time to learn about the origin of the coffee, as well as the profile it has. It means making sure that I prepare each pot of coffee, shot of espresso carefully so that the product is as good as it can be. 

Maybe you won’t be traveling to a different country to explore an origin coffee any time soon, but hopefully this blog post will help share some perspective of what an origin trip can look like. As someone who makes, delivers and drinks coffee in Lexington, Kentucky, I’ll conclude by saying this; Every cup of coffee is important. Every cup of coffee has a story.

 

Jake Bryant // Wholesale and Training Manager