Boquete coffee trip day 2

Soo another day in Boquete, today I had a visit on the Finca Neuvo Colorado. It’s a small finca very high up at 1800 m. The view where fantastic and the coffee looked good, so I am now the proud owner of a bag of their bourbon natural.

 

Afterwards it was roadtripping again, over to the quiet town of  Volcan on the other side of the Volcan Baru. Here I needed to get to Janson Farm to buy some more coffee plants. I covered them well for the trip back home so you cant see it but I bought 20 more Catuai plants ( that already have harvest on them ) and 5 more geisha plants. Since Janson farm has a huge vivero I also bought some fig trees and Guayaba. Now to get them home safely.

I made one more purchase at Janson farm, yes you see an old coffee bag, I see a trendy pillow for the lounge area of the bar.

Tomorrow is already the last day of the trip, but there is a lot more coffee to be bought and farms to be visited. I even found a Belgian owned farm, hopefully they give a discount to Belgians.

 

Boquete coffee trip day 1

Soo today was day one of a trip I am making to buy up coffee. Really need to stock up on some green beans before I open the coffee bar. I visited the beautiful finca Don Benjie in Bajo Mono today and put in my order for beans. Several variatals where selected and i am anxious to roast them and find out just how good they are.

 

On the  finca they produce a great bunch of variatals. I especially wanted to show my dear readers the Maragogype. Look at the size of the beans growing on this variatal and the size of the leafs.

After a tour of the finca Emilio also showed me the selection area. Selection which is all done by hand.

 

After working on a sunday I spoiled myself with other goodies that grow in this area: strawberries!! Tomorrow its a small drive to Volcan for more beans and a visit to Janson farm for more plant.

Progress even though I was on vacation.

Heei dear reader, last week I took a vacation to Aruba. Needed me some windsurf. When I got back I was glad to see that the work had not stopped. Thank you Sepia for all the progress. Its still going to take some work, mostly paperwork, but the bar is coming along.

 

Yeah it is all starting to look good and soon coffee will be there as well. Oke its going to be too little to supply a coffee bar, still I am very proud of my sea level grown caturra.

Almost there to open a coffeebar.

Well its been a while again since I wrote. A lot has happened even with a broken toe a lot got done. Windows have been cut, take a look inside the bar, furniture is there so now it is time to buy a stove, refrigerator,…. The kitchen counters are made out of the tree I helped cut down with Jungle James if you remember that from some posts ago. Yeah everything is getting together and soon this container will be a bar. I have just decided that it will take me two more weeks to get this done, after which I am taking a small surf holiday to Aruba. Then its opening time.

 

So glad we are getting closer and closer, soon i will be able to rigg up the coffee machine and load up the bar. That will leave me with a bit ore space in my house. Also super happy with my corotu counter, love that I managed to get it cut nicely.

 

I hope next time I write my speedster will be up and running. Rain is kind off slowing us down now but hey thats rainy season right.

From container to bar.

Heei all you loyal followers, sorry to keep you waiting. I have not been taking much time to blog, take pictures or be on social media. This does not mean that things have not been moving along. The team of SEPIA is going as quick as they can with this weather, because even for rainy season it has been raining a lot this week.  But as you can see in the pictures, they keep on building. Orlando( my helping hand) and me have been cleaning out the inside, sanding the floor, varnishing it and just take a look at the deposito side coming allong.

 

I have also been working on the corotu slabs I got from Jungle James making them ready to be my kitchen counters. After some cutting, sanding and a nose full of sawdust this is the result, well there is some more sanding to do though.

Then some of you might have already noticed on instagram, but work has slowed down because of health reasons. Nothing severe but i broke my big toe running at Playa Toro. Reminder; lift up my feet higher when running. See life lesson learned now onwards.

 

And this was somewhat longer ago but I have not posted the pictures of our mascot visiting the waterfall in Cambutal; which is breathtaking.

 

Getting closer and closer.

Well just a quick word here, because I am sill busy with the same work: getting that container ready to be a coffee bar. Posting some pictures so you can all see how it is coming along. Inside we have also finished the paint job so soon I will be cutting my bad boy open, making windows, I hope that by then the roof on top of the container will be finished, because rain season has officially started, buckets falling out of the sky now. Hopefully soon I will be able to enjoy the view of that other season that has started in Pedasi: whale season.

Now I have to go get ready for a last-minute training, this to get me 100% ready for the next triathlon, this sunday. Well jut duatlon for me as I have entered in a team so I just have to swim and run. And then I end with a picture to make you all jealous; the chocolat\ baleys cake I made this week.

 

Tasting beer, painting the container and my new toy.

So it has been a while since my last blog. This is mainly due to my busy schedule; baking pies, roasting coffee, brewing beer, bottling said beer and getting the container ready for the next fase of construction. Just typing these things out it feels like a lot to do. But never to busy to organise an evening filled with beer, fine food and good company. Thus the first beer tasting at coucoucrazy is a fact. Again all my thanks to the attending people for making this a success.

Furthermore I have been getting the container ready for the next fase of construction. Since I have finished the paint job on the roof today, SEPIA can go ahead with building a roof over my bad boy. Feels like I have been painting and cleaning for weeks, getting the oxidation away and putting on multiple layers of anti-corrosive paint ( 6 in total on the roof just to be sure).

And last but not least, with a minimum of problems I got my Danish designed, Taiwan assembled coffee roaster shipped to my door in Panama. I have tested my new toy and it works just lovely. Looking forward to many more roasts on my Bullet Allio R1. Hopefully soon coffee out of my own garden.

 

My own garden that now features its very own well and rainwater system by the way. As you notice I have not been lounging around doing nothing. Hope to write soon that the whole container is finished untill then take care all of my readers.

Soo what is going to happen now.

As the container is in its place I can start dreaming about the other builds. Helping me with this dream are the now finished plans that have already been entered into the procedure to get building permits. Soo here is the first look at what CouCouCrazy coffee-bar and Hostel will look like.

It has been moved, container in its spot!!!

It was a hell of a job, which was executed very well by Luiz and his guys from SEPIA. Two machines, pushing and pulling until that big container was where it needed to be. Now the cleaning can start. So happy that this job is done, its a milestone on the way to my dream.

 

Also a quick mention that I have received my white card, so I can now work with food in this country and I am on my way to getting my Cedula. Which is basically a Panamanian ID card for immigrants. Spend half a day waiting in the Tribunal Electoral, at least it’s an impressive building.

The brewery running overtime, first beer on sale visitors getting a surf instruction.

I wish I could be writing about the container being moved now but it got postponed a bit. We need a big machine to get the job done and the machine is not available right now. This does not mean I have been sitting still. I’m already building the pallet furniture for the coffee bar and the bar stools out of corotu.

I have also been brewing beer like a madman. The CouCouCrazy brewery is running non stop; 2 beers on bottle and 2 fermenting at all times. The brewery now also has its first beer on sale (limited amount off course) it is called the Jungle James’ Juice and is a seasoned ale with a maracuya finish. Very clear and sweet golden ale mmmm delightful. Soo you see we are working towards a Pedasi Artisanal Brewery. Just look at all that bubbling going on in the fermenting box.

 

More to mention; the coffee finca is doing great. Well 1 plant of the Caturra plants is dying for no apparent reason but the rest has started to bloom. All those beautiful white flowers will soon become berries, red berries, green coffee, brown coffee and then hopefully a great cup of coffee.

Last thing to mention is the super surf-instruction i had with two of my friends visiting from Belgium. It was a great test run for the boards and the beach choice. We chose to go to Playa Garita, just 5 minutes with the car and it was just perfect for lessons. Off course our mascot was also there just check the movie.