Aquiares Estate
All Aquiares coffee is picked by hand by a special team of skilled harvesters who are paid well above the daily rate. The skilled hands of the pickers represent the farm’s most valuable asset. Pickers come from the community of Aquiares, nearby towns, and even from the neighbouring country of Nicaragua. The farm ensures that all workers have a safe work environment and a comfortable place to live. Workers coming from further away can live in on-site housing and have access to childcare
Harvesting
Each tree is visited up to seven times during the harvest to ensure that only fully red ripe cherries are picked.
Processing
Once picked the coffee cherries are moved to the Aquiares wet mill where the cherries are fully washed Any cherries that float are discarded
Then they are pulped to remove the fruit.
The coffee is then pulped again to remove the mucilage before being taken to tanks for partial fermentation.
After six hours the beans are sent for pre-drying in a Centriflux machine to remove any excess water. It is then dried for about 32 hours at a low constant temperature.
The beans then rest for a month in large silos to allow humidity and aromas to settle.
Finally they are returned to the dry mill where the parchment is removed, thensorted by size, weight, density, and colour before they are bagged for export.
