Kagoshima | TYPICA Lab https://lab.typica.jp/en Thu, 15 Sep 2022 10:33:33 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Arriving in Bolivia before I realized https://lab.typica.jp/en/uncategorized/833/ https://lab.typica.jp/en/uncategorized/833/#respond Fri, 09 Sep 2022 10:24:00 +0000 https://lab.typica.jp/en/?p=833 After a series of long flights from Narita to Los Angeles to Lima, I finally arrived in La Paz, Bolivia. The clock strikes 4AM, local time.

The La Paz airport is located at an altitude of over 4,000 meters.

It took us a while to pass immigration control. As soon as we came out of the airport, we hopped in a car, guided by local tour coordinators, to head to our accommodation of the day, Nassia’s house.

After 5 hours of a bumpy ride through what is known as a death road, we found ourselves at an altitude of 800 meters.

We arrived at Nassia’s house. It has a spacious, neatly trimmed garden. Nassia is a young coffee producer taking care of her family farm with her parents and grandparents.

After we introduced ourselves, we had a lunch break together.

Nassia served us homemade juice made from naranja and mandarin she grows alongside coffee cherries. They were very sweet and delicious.

The meal consisted of river fish caught in the Amazon, served with coffee sauce, papaiya, and yungas potato. All the dishes tasted of nature and were delicious.

After lunch, we toured a station that processes commercial coffee cherries harvested nearby. We also visited a farm run by Hollando, a cousin of Juan of Nayra Qata.

The farm would be just a 20-minute or so drive away. But because of the winding, bumpy road, it easily takes more than 1 hours to get there. Our bodies rocked back and forth, right and left, we finally got to Hollando’s farm.

The farm has a good amount of shade thanks to tall shade trees.

It has a diverse range of varieties grown in different sections, such as Catura, Castillo, Mundo Novo and Costa Rica95.

harvested cherries are transported to Mr. Juan’s mill in La Paz. But the farm also has small pulpers and African beds of its own, which allows producers to process coffee themselves on an experimental basis. They are eager to learn.

You can see a beautiful sunset at Hollando’s farm.

This is my first time to see firsthand coffee cherries, parchment, pulpers, African beds and coffee leaf rust.

I’m emotional, seeing these things for the first time with my own eyes.

Coffee farms are beautiful. Very beautiful.

They are built on the dynamism of nature.

I might feel like I have already seen a lot. But this is still Day 1 of our Bolivia tour.

I’m sure we are in for more experiences I can’t even begin to imagine.

]]> https://lab.typica.jp/en/uncategorized/833/feed/ 0 Unimaginable Trip https://lab.typica.jp/en/bolivia/blue-beans-roastery/282/ https://lab.typica.jp/en/bolivia/blue-beans-roastery/282/#respond Mon, 22 Aug 2022 15:00:00 +0000 https://lab.typica.jp/en/?p=282
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My first visit to a coffee origin, my first visit to Bolivia.
I have hardly traveled abroad since I visited Busan, South Korea, 15 years ago.

But in just one month, I will be taking long-haul flights, with transit, halfway across the world to Bolivia.
I know nothing about Bolivia. Everything is unknown to me.
I have no idea what it will be like to be on a plane for long hours. I wonder if my neck can hold up.

When I explain to my family that I will apparently have 7 hours of transit, I’m like, “Transit? The travel magazine?”
I feel a little unsure about myself for being so naive. Still, I have increasing hopes for my first trip to a coffee origin.

I can’t speak Spanish, but where I lack in language skills, I cover up for with smiles and vibes.
I just want to breathe in the air of Bolivia.
I want to see everything with my own eyes.
That’s how I feel.

I do have my share of concerns, like motion sickness and toilets. But my hopes for what experience awaits me outweigh my concerns.

It will be no less stimulating to get to travel with other roasters with whom I have never met.

I wonder what I should say when introducing myself, (first impression matters)

or what I should do if they encourage me to drink alcohol when I can’t.

I’ve been making a list of things I want to do during the trip. But as I do so, I can’t even begin to imagine what is in Bolivia and what I can do there.

Everything is unknown to me. As the first purpose of the trip, I want to gain as much as I can and give back as much as I can after returning home. I expect to see unpredictable chemistry.

Here I come, Bolivia.

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