CAFE’ – Guatemalan coffee
The story behind your daily cup of joe, part 1.
This is the first part of a larger photo essay documenting the many labor-intensive stages coffee has to go thorugh on its way from the plants on the shores of lake Atitlan, in Guatemala, to your cup or mug. In the next instalment, we’ll see what happens to the beans after spending the night in the large concrete fermentation tanks.
All photos taken in San Pedro de la Laguna, Solola’, Guatemala.
Hope you found this interesting.
Alessandro Ciapanna
26 Responses to “CAFE’ – Guatemalan coffee”
Reblogged this on CyclingforRekko and commented:
Guatemala. Some beautiful photos coming from the camera of Alessandro Ciapanna.
Thanks for the reblog! š
Well what will that be, arabica or robusta?
good question – thanks for asking. I’m quite sure that would be arabica…
interesting……
I thought so, too – thanks, Lisa!
Your images are beautiful ā and your rĆ©portage is both compassionate and informative. Excellent post!
Thanks, Hmunro: I did haunt those places for several days, so i’m glad the images work well…
Awesome series – I love the behind the scenes look. I drink it every day so look forward to learning more. Are any of these places what we know of as fair trade? I really wonder if the fair trade practice truly benefits those who need it most.
Trade, yes. Fair? I don’t really know. What i am certain of is that coffee does provide lots of (hard) work for lots of (wonderful) people.
Thanks, Ann.
Interessantissimo!
Vero? Grazie!
Great series, fascinating.
Thanks, Nzsnapper – much appreciated.
I enjoyed this a lot. I tried my first civet coffee today but I suspect the Guatemalan is better. Looking forward to episode 2.
(Googles civet coffee) I don’t know… letting a civet do all the hard work does have its advantages… Thanks, Andrew!
wonderful photo-essay…looking forward to part 2 š
Thanks, Know-All! š
“Hope you found this interesting”: Yes!
Great! Time well spent, then… š
#6 is a great image, really gives the impression of how back-breakingly heavy the bags must be. Nice detail of the weather-worn hand with fresh beans too (#3).
Thanks, Rudolf. The sacks which are driven – rather than carried for long ways – are filled with around ninety pounds/forty kilos of beans.
Definitely interesting, Alessandro. I am a lover of coffee – it is always good to learn about where your ‘food’ comes from and the work that goes into it.
As always, your visual stories are strong and beautiful.
Thank you, Karen. It was like being in a slow-paced, wonderful fairy tale made of long days and hard but not stressful work. A story that was just begging to be told.
LOVED the series. What a story a bean could tell before its is ground & poured into my mug. Maybe it would whine. I’ll drink faster! š -amy
Frankly, the beans go through so much before they finally hit the mug, that they probably find it relieving to know all the hard work was worth it. Especially if you enjoy your cup š