Here's for all those coffee lovers out there!

        One thing I have the pleasure to be a part of during my stay in the DR is to help make the coffee for Cafe del Rey. We often drink coffee without even thinking twice about the process that took place to bring this popular drink right in front of us. For all you coffee lovers, here is the process of how you get your beloved drink, well at least Cafe del Rey style!

               First of all, the ministry buys the beans from local farmers. They recently bought some trees, so they also will use some beans from their own supply in the future. After purchasing the beans, they are laid out on a tarp to dry and ferment for many days. The batch in this picture had been drying for seventeen days! After they are dried, they are sent to a mill to take the beans out of the shells. They are then put in 1500 kilo bags, and brought back to Ney's house.Six pounds of coffee at a time is then put into the roaster. Each batch takes around 15 minutes depending on the roast. After that, the beans are left to cool and are thrown into a tub to pick out unwanted objects. The beans go into the grinder and then are measured out into bags. They use a straightener (I know, clever, right?) to seal the bags, the label is put on, and the coffee is ready to go to Cafe del Rey! Pretty cool stuff, right?

1. The trees

2. Drying and fermenting beans

3. Beans sent to mill to remove shells

4. Beans are roasted

5. Beans are cooled

6. Unwanted objects sorted out

               

          

7. Off to the grinder!

8. Weighing the bags

10. And there you have it folks! Cafe del Rey's organic coffee!

9. Sealing the bags!