Coffee

I promised Jon Galloway that I would send him some "geek acres" coffee. I thought I'd write a post about growing and processing coffee as a hobby...

Step 1: Live on the Big Island of Hawaii

Step 2: Have some coffee trees

Step 3: Pick the cherry by hand (better yet, have your wife do the picking):

Kona coffee has to be hand-picked, as our trees are a little more delicate than some and because the cherry comes ripe at different times. So you might visit the same tree three or four times over the course of a season.

Sadly-no-longer-possible-step: Transport the cherry from the trees to the house using a pack animal

(Oh what a beautiful dog she was...)

Step 3: Depulp the cherry

Step 4: Ferment the inner shell for 24 hours in order to remove the sticky mucilage

Step 5: Dry the seeds on window screens for several weeks until they become "parchment"

Step 6: Remove the parchment

6a -- separate the chaff from the green by using a hair blower and a colander

Step 7: Program your coffee roaster using custom roasting curves perfected over the years

Step 8: Take a whiff...

And that's how you can avoid paying \$2 for a cup of coffee at Charbucks!