Guatemala is famous for its coffee, so while I visited there in January we decided to go visit a coffee plantation. We chose a place called Finca de Cafe La Azotea, and it was a great experience to see how coffee is grown, dried, roasted, and served... the taste and quality of coffee produced in Guatemala is world famous, and I am not a specialist in coffee or anything, but their hot chocolate and coffee were really something else. While we were walking through the fields, we ran into some children who were gathering the "coffee berries" in order to send them to dry and roast. I enjoyed taking some pictures of them, and the people there were very friendly and humble. The coffee market has suffered a great deal since the invention of "Nescafe" or powdered, ready-to-mix coffee. Even in the Middle East, where coffee was popularized in Yemen, "Nescafe" is erasing traditional ways of preparing coffee, simply because it is faster and cheaper. It is sad to see farmers dedicate so much time caring for the quality of their coffee suffer because of the public's urge for what's cheap and fast. Try buying fair trade coffee whenever you can and support these hard-working people. At Finca de Cafe La Azotea, they have a great gift shop with fair trade coffee and great chocolates, and really don't miss out on coffee tourism while visiting Guatemala  "tostaduria" is where they roast coffee  coffee drying up in the sun    packing it up    picking up the berries     |
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