How is coffee harvested on a Colombian finca?

From the cherry to the cup

1. la cosecha The harvest The main harvest runs from October to December, when the farm needs many pickers from nearby villages.
2. a mano Picked by hand, bean by bean Only the red fruits, called cherries, are picked. They start at six, in the fog.
3. el canasto A basket at the waist A good picker collects a hundred kilos a day; pay is by the kilo, not the hour.
4. lavar y secar Washed and dried in the sun In the afternoon the beans are washed and laid out to dry.
5. exportar The best is exported On the farm they drink the rest. Colombians joke that they drink the coffee nobody else wanted.
6. el jeep An old Willys jeep takes the sacks down The jeeps of the 1950s are still the trucks of the coffee region.

• The main harvest is from October to December; coffee is picked by hand, only the red cherries, with a basket at the waist, and pay is by the kilo.
• The beans are washed and sun-dried; the best coffee is exported and the rest is drunk on the farm.
• Old Willys jeeps still carry the sacks down to the village.

El café se recoge a mano, grano por grano.

Coffee is picked by hand, bean by bean.

Solo se cogen los frutos rojos, que se llaman cerezas.

Only the red fruits are picked, which are called cherries.

El mejor café se exporta; en la finca se toma el resto.

The best coffee is exported; on the farm they drink the rest.