Roasting some coffee

This past weekend we had a chance to roast some coffee with our team leader Mike. The name of the coffee is "Bolivia's Best" and is one the business' that helps support our orphanages. Most of the unroasted coffee is shipped to the States where it is roasted and sent out to whoever buys it (look below the pictures for information on how to buy it). All the proceeds go to the orphanages. Anyway, we roast some of it here in Bolivia as well which I love cause we can buy it here and have it to drink.

If you know me, you know that I have worked in one coffee shop or another since I was 16 so I loved seeing the process of roasting. And for those of you who are also interested, here are some pictures...

Juan, our coffee roaster, has some coffee trees in his backyard.

The coffee cherries up close. Juan said that these cherries would be red in a few months.

Our unroasted coffee. These beans come from a different part of Bolivia called Yungas. They are shipped to the States to be roasted in Michigan and then some is shipped to Juan to roast here in Bolivia. They looked like peanuts.

First step: pouring the coffee into the roaster.

Then the roaster gets to work.

Once it's ready to come out it starts popping like popcorn. Then it's poured in this bin that helps spread out the coffee to cool quickly. It is really hot and steamy when it comes out.

Cooling.

The very beautiful finished product.

Last step: weighing and bagging. I felt like I was back at work.

Also, if you're interested in buying some of our coffee you can go to
www.boliviasbest.com
and buy some. And just so you know, it is very good coffee!