On our most resent weekend motorbike ride, my friend Ally and myself were lucky enough to come across the local coffee production in the process.
We were on the back mountain roads going from Doi Saket over to Chae Son National park when we first came across many trays of coffee beans drying in the sun at the roadsides in many of the small villages we passed through.
Then in one of the villages we saw a couple of people blanching and washing more beans for drying.
One guy was doing it by hand whilst his neighbours opposite had mechanical help.
The locals were very friendly and keen to explain the process. Once the beans are harvested they are blanched and washed and roughened before being laid out in the sun for several days prior to roasting.
At the house that was using the machine there was also a lovely little coffee shop where we were able to purchase a cup of their fresh coffee, which was just perfect.
I was so impressed that I bought several bags of their fresh ground coffee to take away.
I found it delightful that rather than one mass producer it seems that there are many small scale coffee farming operations going on throughout these hills.
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