The primary focus of my trip to Guatemala was to discover if an American coffee company could make a positive social and economic impact in a country of origin simply by purchasing coffee in a socially responsible manner. The school I had visited on the first day was tangible proof that such a model could succeed on a localized and very meaningful level. The children at the school in Mataquescuintla were well nourished, healthy, and actively engaged in learning and growing. Once I had witnessed a roaster-initiated social development project operating successfully, I was ready to turn my attention to the second goal of my trip, which was to learn more about the way in which coffee is processed and milled after the harvest.

After leaving the school, we returned to the Gonzalez farm for an afternoon meal with the family. The table was set with lilies, bowls of homemade guacamole, and several bottles of Johnny Walker Black label. The meal consisted of grilled beef raised on the farm, homemade tortillas, black beans, grilled corn and carrots, homemade cheese, fresh fruit, and fresh bell peppers grown nearby. The Gonzalez farm not only produced coffee and raised cattle, but it also had a small dairy operation, and possessed a coffee wet mill next to a series of large, concrete drying patios. Because we had arrived during the height of the harvest season, the wet mill was in constant operation during our visit, and all the concrete patios were overspread with drying coffee beans. During the course of our meal and visit, coffee growers and coffee transporters, also called coyotes, would show up two or three times every hour to deliver a load of freshly picked coffee cherries. Sometimes the load filled the back of a pickup so entirely that the leaf springs were nearly dragging the ground, and sometimes the delivery was a mere bag or two of coffee cherries. Every delivery was weighed and then dumped into a large concrete tank. Once the tank was full, a water valve was opened at one end and the coffee cherries were washed and then funneled into a depulping machine. The depulper is a device that crushes the coffee cherry to remove the skin and separate it from the coffee bean within. The separated coffee beans were then channeled into a series of holding tanks where they were allowed to sit for a period of 48-72 hours, a process known as fermentation. It is the fermentation stage of coffee processing which allows the coffee bean to develop a more advanced degree of flavor complexity. This is presumably similar to the theory behind the aging of cheese or wine.

Once the fermentation is finished, the coffee beans are removed from the fermentation tanks and spread out to dry on concrete drying patios. These patios are essentially large slabs of concrete without a roof or walls. According to one of the farm owners, sun drying on exposed patios gives the coffee a further degree of flavor distinction, and is the process most desired by most north American and European green coffee purchasers. During their stay on the patio, the coffee beans are periodically raked and turned over by two or three laborers wielding very primitive looking wooden hoes. After the coffee beans have dried, they are then transported from the wet mill to another location to be mechanically separated, and then sorted, graded and bagged.