Harvest Time

This is a great time of year to visit the central highlands of Vietnam. In the foothills of the mountains you will see coffee trees bearing their fruit. Nearing full ripeness the bright red cherries will be picked by farmers donning their iconic conical hats. Once the baskets are full, the cherries with the beans hidden inside, are ready to see the light. But it's a slow journey from the farm to your coffee cup.

In days gone by all coffee cherries would be picked at the same time. This would produce a poor cup of coffee. As some of the cherries would not be at full ripeness this would lead to a poor cup of coffee as half the beans would be lacking in flavour.

With specialty coffee and greater knowledge passed to the farmer this has now changed.

On this trip my friend introduced me to a Slovakian man who married a local K'ho woman.

His wife's family had been growing coffee for three generations. They sold a kilo of coffee cherries to traders for about a dollar. He questioned the amount paid and did some research. The farmers didn't realise that if they sold only the ripe cherries they would get a lot more. They could still sell the unripe for the same price which would be used for commercial grade coffee.

However, they went further and did the whole process themselves and he now sells coffee to Slovakia and Germany. He didn't know anything about coffee until he met his wife but has learned all there is to know in the past 7 years. I was really impressed with what he told me, leaving me with the impression that I knew next to nothing. He shared this knowledge with the farmers and they are producing a delicious specialty coffee. It really was a great tasting coffee, comparable to what you might get from somewhere like Rwanda or Costa Rica. If you're ever in the area you should pay a visit Zanya Coffee

In the photo above are the ripe cherries. They will be dried out for a few weeks. Everyday they will be turned to dry evenly and to avoid mould growing on the moist underside. They will then have the cherry removed for the bean*to further dry until it's ready to roost.

*well actually it's not a bean it's a seed, but we all call it a bean