They are picked by hand by people with a basket held around their waists by a rope. After the coffee is picked, the extra material is taken off from around the coffee. A yellow parchment is left on the bean if it is going to be planted. If not, that is removed, and only the coffee bean itself is left. It is very important not to roast the beans too long, because even an extra few minutes can make a difference, so the coffee beans are cooled immediately.
Every batch is checked for quality.
It is graded as top medium, or low quality. Only the top two are used for export. One of the tasters spoke to us and explained how he does it, smelling the coffee and then slurping it from a spoon so that the coffee mist goes up into the nasal cavity. He says that he tests about 150 batches of coffee a day. Today was our official city tour of San Jose.