At Coope Llano Bonito, not all of the parchment coffee is dried in the big drying chambers that are powerd by macadamia nut shells and coffee cherry pulp. Some is dried by laying it out in the sun on these big patios, which are pictured above. The coop workers have to come out every few hours and turn the coffee, so that it dries evenly. This is not as scientific or precise a way to dry the coffee, but it does get the job done. While we were visiting one of these patios, I learned that one can "measure" the moisture level of the coffee bean by chewing on it. Beans that have a moisture level over 12% will still be chewy and elastic, and when they are very moist you can even bite all the way through them. Beans that have a "shippable" level of moisture, around 11%, will be hard and will try to break your teeth if you bite into them. This is how the cherries arrive at our roastery.

In this other picture, Caitlin and Sarah Dallas were standing near a chute that was full of hulled coffee cherries that were being propelled by a stream of water (Sarah Dallas has her hand in the chute) into the fermentation compartments, where they will sit for a few hours to allow the mucilage on the outside of the cherries to ferment and erode for easy removal.