Better than Starbucks

Friday we went on a tour of Finca Hamburgo, one of the coffee plantations outside of Tapachula. Arturo of Macaw Tours and his friend, Javier, picked us up at 7:00 am and we drove almost 2 hours to reach the plantation, “a half a block away from heaven”.

Finca Hamburgo was founded in 1888 by Arthur Erich Edelmann of Perleberg, Gemany. The fifth generation, Tomas Edelmann Blass, currently directs the plantation. Their land stretches almost as far as the eye may see over the ridge tops. The plantation is located at 4101 feet, a perfect setting for growing premium coffee or so we were told. We arrived and sat down to a wonderful breakfast at the restaurant, Perleberg, with delicious coffee and a gorgeous view overlooking the plantation, the rows of coffee plants on the steep hillside and across to the processing buildings. When the prices of coffee were depressed, plantations like Finca Hamburgo added the restaurant, boutique hotel and the spa to offset the operation and help keep workers employed during the off season, like this time of year, when the coffee plants are just blooming. Rich and I checked out the lounge chairs by the pool and the rocking chairs were you could sit in the afternoon, relax and have another cuppa’joe. Other plantations now grow exotic flowers and ship them around the world, such as the pink and red gingers, to offset.

 



Rows of coffee plant angle down the steep hillside

Coffee processing buildings

Rich and Elaine relaxing by the pool at the spa

Red ginger

We toured the original coffee processing area, where coffee fruit or cherry that has been picked off the plant would be weighed, first sorting, removal of the first husk, fermented to remove the second husk, second sorting and put in the sun to dry for up to 8 days. Every evening the beans would be swept into stalls so they would not be subject to the night time moisture and then swept out again the next day. The beans would go into dryers and then the third husks would be removed. The beans are sorted again this time by size. They also pass through machines that sort them electronically by color and finally a row of specially trained women do the final quality sorting. Arturo explained the whole process of coffee from plant to cup, all of which is done here at Finca Hamburgo. High quality coffee beans, prior to roasting, are sold all over the world from here.

Sweeping the drying coffee beans

The electronic sorting and the final quality sorting by women

Javier and Arturo

 

After our tour and another cup of coffee to implant the senses, we drove back to the marina. Arturo is a wonderful guide with lots of information and stories to tell. He is a former English teacher, turned tour guide. We look forward to our next tour with him on Monday, to find out about chocolate and Mayans.