Q & A with Rafael Lara
What is your process of depulping, washing, fermentation and drying?
The cherries are picked carefully and depulped every afternoon, then the parchment is put into fermentation tanks where it is dry fermented for 16 hours. The parchment is rinsed into the tank with a lot of water four times before being put in the parabolic solar dryer for around 18 days. At this time, the drying parchment is sorted by hand to remove defective beans.
How did you get involved in coffee? What is your farm story?
I started to work when I was very young with my father, planting vegetables and corn. In 2000 my father gave me a plot of land, and I decided to plant coffee because it seemed to be more profitable than vegetables. For around 15 years I grew conventional coffee but the prices are very unstable and almost always low. So, in 2016, I started to prepare specialty coffee thanks to the help of neighbor and friend Benjamin Paz of San Vicente. Since then I improved my economic status thanks to specialty coffee.
What are your short and long term plans? What would you like to improve upon?
I want to plant a new lot with different varieties. I want to improve my wet mill with new fermentation tanks and a new solar dryer.