HANDMADE COFFEE IN RANCHO IBELIA

Hello, today I wanted to bring you a great experiencie, the art of handmade coffee. In Rancho Ibelia we don't produce coffe, but some days ago a group of friends came from Loja with five pounds of dry coffee beans. These were a good gift for our family because we love coffee, especially if it came from the south of Ecuador. So, with that short introduction, let's see the process:

First: The beans were dry but also they had a lot of small impurities such as stones, twigs, shells waste, etc. So we started by hand cleaning the beans. Contrary of what people may think, it was a relaxing time, very enjoyable if it has this beautiful sunset like backdrop.

Second: the hard part of the process begun with the two hours that we expend stiring the coffee beans in a large clay pot; all of this, in order to roast the coffee. Recommendation: If you are working in a normal gas kitchen, you have to be sure to reach the highest temperature possible and never stop stirring. Also, how do we know when the beans are in the correct roast point? Well, it depends of your preferences, for example we do not like them too dark, we prefer to let them in a light brown color that allows the development of the "original" coffee flavor created by the enviromental conditions during its growing. However, the principal trick is to bite a bean, if it is ready it would crumble easily in your mouth with a soft "crounchy" sound; if it is not, it will be hard to break and the taste will be like a raw pea.

This is the color of the beans before the roasting process

The coffee beans already roasted

Finally, the roasted beans were grinded (oh surprise in a hand disc mill!).  

The result, a delicius cup of coffee with a delicate honey bouquet.