What I Learned about Coffee

I wrote this to attach to a gift I gave my brother and sister-in-law. It turned out to be sort of a children's story. Enjoy!


Everything has a story…

Welcome to mine! This is the story of me, the coffee bean, and how I got here into your home.

I grew up on a farm in Sarchi, Costa Rica. Beautiful place, you should definitely visit. Here’s a picture of me and my family, hanging out at home. Each of those little pods has two of us beans inside, so you could say we’re a pretty close to one another. Most of us are mature and ready to be picked, though those little greenies will have to stay behind. Ahhh, and here comes a picker now.









Well, she looks nice. This might be fun. Ok, this is it…she’s coming in for the pick!





Ah, that wasn’t so bad. What soft hands she has!







Oooh, where to next? Looks like a colorful basket with a bunch of other travelers, and ooh…what’s that, a blanket? This sure looks cozy. Look at us, all cozying up together. This sure beats being stuck to a tree all day, creepy crawlers freaking me out all day.


















This next part was kind of embarrassing, so I shooed away the photographers. We were poured into a large pail of water, where we swam and just putzed around for a while. Then it got really weird. Soaking in that water made me kind of mushy and, uh, really really stinky. Next thing you know the nice soft-handed picker lady is pulling off my shell. Oh my gosh, suddenly I’m stripped down to my undies in front of everybody! Fast forward, fast forward.

After a got over the initial trauma, it wasn’t actually that bad. Before you know it, everyone else was naked too, and after a while, it didn’t feel so weird (gosh, maybe I’ve been brainwashed by society to be ashamed of my body). Anyhoo, all together and naked, we dried off in the hot sun and worked on our tans. That was one beautiful, toasty-warm day.

After we were nice and dry, turned out we had to lose the underwear too.


This time I went through a grinder. Guess this layer is tough to remove…














Wow, take a look at that. It’s me! Shiny, sparkly me! Am I a stunner, or what? Seems like a lot of work, but it looks like I’m worth it:)

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any more exciting, I’m whisked off to the airport, smuggled through Customs and on my way to the United States! Look at me now, I’m an international coffee bean. And organic to boot.

After a long flight, and a 3 hour layover in Denver, I finally arrive, totally exhausted, in lovely Carlsbad, California. And just in time for Christmas! Hung out here for a week or so, and then got roasted into the New Year. Well, I’m much much tanner now, a bit oily, but boy do I smell good.


Tomorrow I’m off to Portland, Oregon, where my story comes to an end. My life sure has been fabulous. Growing up on a beautiful farm, travelling the world, and ending up in your home, ready to be brewed and enjoyed. So have a cup of joe…it’s on me :)