There are only two ways to pick coffee cherries from the coffee trees: machine and handpicking. Let’s dive into the differences and why we choose handpicked every time. 

In machine picking, a farmer will drive a machine through the coffee rows to shake each coffee tree until all the coffee cherries fall into a basin. Although faster than handpicking, this process hinders the quality of the coffee and harms the trees in the long run. 

Machines are not selective about the ripeness or quality of a coffee cherry. It collects all of them, regardless of defects. While there are further processing methods that remove some of the defective beans, many of those underripe beans end up in your cup of coffee. When trees are aggressively shaken by machines, this causes stress to the tree and weakens the branches. The result? A stressed out tree will produce lower quality coffee that will have more acidity and bitterness. A weaker trunk will produce less coffee over time, the trees die faster, and new trees will need to be planted more frequently. 

Our pickers are trained to understand the quality requirements and ripeness each bean needs to meet in order to be picked for our standards. Trees treated with intentional yet gentle care and respect will produce a much smoother cup of coffee. Handpicking takes some additional labor and training, but we are able to get more crop from our trees over the long term. As a speciality coffee producer and stewards of this incredibly nutritious and sacred land, treating nature with the utmost respect is a priority.