Carolyn Saraceni Castillo inherited her 15-hectare farm from her father and has been working to improve it over the past eight years. She and her father oversee all the work on the farm, which is done by hand, and they employ members of the Ngöbe-Buglé indigenous community for the harvest and year-round crop maintenance.

 

The coffee from Carolyn's farm is sent to Creativa Coffee District (CCD) for further processing. CCD is a group dedicated to revolutionizing the coffee industry by incorporating contemporary art and providing agronomical and picking support throughout the harvest. The collaboration between the farm and CCD begins at the upstream level and extends until the coffee is commercialized.

 

For this specific lot, known as the Dynamic Cherry, the cherry is only picked when it has a brix level of 18 and a pH level of 4.5. CCD's processing method involves laying the coffee onto the patio in thin layers for two days before fermenting it in plastic bags. The average temperature of their patio is 32°C, which helps reduce moisture levels and minimize the risk of fungal developments. The coffee cherry remains "alive" for much longer, and the process can be extended for up to three weeks.

 

After processing, the cherries are dried on raised beds or the patio and moved every two hours to prevent uneven drying. Before nightfall, the coffee is piled into small cherry mountains and covered to avoid any rain damage. Once the cherries reach an 11% moisture level, they begin the dry mill process and are sorted by density. The dense beans pass onto the next step, while the lighter ones are separated due to being often defective.