Cover Art by: Nick Hafner Into song: Elijah Bisbee
Lucia:
Hi, friends. It's April and Harvest in Guatemala is finally done. I haven't sat down to record for several months because I found I couldn't keep up with processing coffee, running camps, and recording new episodes. And this used to be less of a problem because in Colombia, our harvest stretched out for almost nine months. Which meant that we had less coffee coming in and Nick and I were able to balance the workload. We were able to like Balance. He's kind of three separate entities over nine months because It meant we could host the three FTCs spread over nine months. And now that we live in Guatemala, in our area of Antigua, the harvest is incredibly condensed into three months. So it means that all of the work that used to get done in nine months still has to get done, but we only have three months to do it. And that includes FTCs because we can't host FTCs if there's no coffee cherry to process together. We actually are not able to do three anymore. We were only able to do two fermentation camps this year because of the condensed harvest. And this pace of harvest is something that I am used to from my previous life working in the wine industry, because the wine industry is a place where harvest is also condensed and it's very intense. It happens in this very marked period, once a year in the fall. but it's been 10 years since I was working at that pace and well, I found I was a bit out of practice. You might also be able to hear it in my voice. I've been sick. I think that, uh, my body was doing me a favor and holding on and keeping me healthy during this very intense period and then as soon as there was an open window, I think my body's like, Okay, now we can let you get sick. So I've also been delaying recording this because my voice has just been Uh, it disappeared for a little bit and now it's just a little bit stuffy. So apologies for the sound quality, but I definitely wanted to at least get something out before any more time passed because I don't know how long this cough can, can persist. And what I wanted to share was that, again, we couldn't do three FTCs in the year, in the harvest, like we were able to do in Columbia. We were only able to do two, but they We're really successful. I'm really glad for everybody that came and participated and it's been this tremendous effort this time of the year to do all of these things in this very short window. And I'm really glad that it's over. And as I was reflecting on that, I realized, well, that's not really true. Because, in a sense, for many producers, this next part, the part after all of the coffee seeds are off the patio and safely in the warehouse, is actually more difficult than what came before. Because now it's time to sell the coffee. And you have client visits, we have cuppings, we have quality control, sample shipping, lots of emails, lots of logistics. And this was also true when I worked in the wine industry. Uh, we would say that making wine is easy, but selling wine is actually really hard. So while harvest is over, there's still much to be done. Next month in May, Nick and I will be in London hosting a fundraising event for future FTCs and the next camp. I'm not sure if I talked about it on the podcast, but I've talked about it a lot on Instagram And my newsletter is that the next camp is in Kenya in October, and that's sold out. So that's really exciting. then we come back to Guatemala in December that still has some tickets available. and then Indonesia and India are on the list, but no firm dates yet. So if you want to get on the wait list and have the best chance of joining me for a future workshop, I recommend that you get on my newsletter because that's where we announce information first. Those are the first people that are able to, request a ticket. And that's really the only outlet I have to, to sell tickets for the workshops. So you can sign up on my website at lucia. coffee. It's L U X I A dot coffee. And if you hate receiving lots of emails, don't worry, I am not organized enough to send frequent emails. You might hear from me once a month or every few weeks with podcast updates and new workshop dates. And if you don't know what I'm talking about when I say FTCs, that's kind of why I wanted to post today's episode. I realize that not everyone is a completist like me. When I fall in love with a new podcast, I like to listen to every single episode. But I realize that many people start listening from where they found the podcast. And just sort of kind of move forward in time that way. So in case you've only listened to a few episodes, or maybe this is your first episode ever, and you're wondering whether or not you're gonna like this little corner of the internet, I hope that this episode will help you get kind of oriented to what we do here and what we talk about. And if you've been here from the beginning, gosh darn it, I really appreciate you. Thank you for still being here, and I think that today's episode will still be worth listening to. Because I hope that today's episode will serve as a nice reminder of the topics that we cover and the philosophies behind those topics. This podcast was meant to be predominantly a science based podcast, but Humans do science and therefore we cannot divorce our worldview and culture from the science that we look at. This conversation that you're about to hear was recorded for the Bosporista podcast earlier this month. I met host Ashley Rodriguez several years ago when we recorded our first podcast in person during the SCA Expo in Seattle. In addition to podcasting, Ashley is a freelance writer. She has been the online editor for Barista Magazine, and you can read her work in several coffee magazines like Standart, as well as her own Substack, which is linked in the show notes. And if you like, Thoughtful conversations about the coffee industry in general. Ashley does a lot more about workplace equity as well. And I really think that you'll enjoy her writing. I think she's an incredibly talented synthesizer of information and she covers a broad range of topics and a broad range of themes in the coffee industry. If you don't already know who she is, then you're in for a treat because Ashley is a delight and her podcast covers, a lot of really interesting topics. So if you're not already listening to it, I think you should definitely add Bosporista to your playlist. Okay. Let's listen to the conversation. Well, thanks for another day of hanging out with me on the podcast. special thanks to the Patrions who make it possible for me to make new episodes. And if you want to join our coffee community and join the office hours live and ask me a question or connect with other awesome listeners, go to patrion. com slash making coffee. That's where we hang out. Like I mentioned, I haven't been making new episodes, but I have been At least maybe twice a month, hopping on discord and just having, open conversations with you guys, having some guest speakers. So. That's always a lot of fun, the podcast after the podcast. If you see Coffee in a different way after listening today, consider joining Patreon and help me make more episodes. And Ashley also has a Patreon, and I think Substack is her preferred method for support. So you can check out Ashley's sub stack in the show notes, and I think there's a lot for you to explore there because she's a very prolific writer. Well, it's good to be back in front of the microphone. Good to be with you again. And I will be back soon, hopefully with a more recovered voice and a favorite podcast guest. Pranoy from Kerehatlu joining us. this is Pranoy's third appearance on the podcast, I know that you guys really enjoy what he has to share and this next episode will be really focused on processing and specifically how Pranoy has decided to process his coffee this harvest. And we do a little bit of compare and contrast to what I did in Guatemala and what he's doing in India. So that's going to be super fun. All right. Thanks for listening. And remember, life's too short to drink bad coffee.