Farmers dump their freshly-picked coffee beans at the local coffee-milling center in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, on October 22, 2019.
Scenes from Barrio Yayales in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. October 21, 2019.
Maria Milagros Mendez, 57, lost her farm in the wake of Hurricane Maria in 2017. She said the government had brought her—and other families—low quality coffee beans that never grew. After many months without fruit, she began growing coffee trees given to her by the local non-profit PROCAFE. Mendez is hopeful that it will benefit her income and farm. Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, October 21, 2019.
Scenes from Barrio Yayales in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. October 21, 2019.
One of the workers at the Alto Grande coffee milling center packs up a truck with coffee trees, ready to plant by local coffee farmers. These trees were harvested as part of Proyecto de la Montaña, or Project of the Mountain, to distribute 750,000 seedlings of coffee to coffee farmers and help boost the agricultural economy.
Ripe coffee beans at Barrio Yayales, after rainfall. Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, October 21, 2019.
Ramon Santiago, 68, has been picking coffee beans since the 1960s. Taken in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, on October 22, 2019.
Scenes from Barro Tanama in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. Coffee-tending usually happens between the hours of 6:00am to 12:00pm.
Axel Medina Carvallo shows his coffee trees to the Director of Proyecto de la Montaña. Carvallo, 39, quit his job in December of 2018 to tend to his farm, Barrio Limani, full-time and is currently building a house in the midst of his crops. He said his farms are his business and only source of income.
Erick Torres drives through his farm early in the morning to check on his crops. Before Hurricane Maria, his entire farm was mostly coffee trees. Now, he’s had to grow a variety of other crops, including plantain and citrus trees, in order to support himself while he works on rehabilitating a new harvesting of coffee trees. Barrio Tanama, Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, October 22, 2019.
A tractor carrying coffee seeds from PROCAFE is stationed at a local farm in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. October 21, 2019.
“This is generation by generation,” said Magaly, a seed-gatherer at Barrio Yayales, in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. Coffee harvesting and coffee farms are often kept within families.
Women tend to the coffee seedlings at a local “bibero” or seedbeds in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. In order to ensure healthy coffee seeds, agriculturers create a controlled environment for the seeds to grow.
The coffee beans are grinded and heated at the Alto Grande coffee-milling center in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico.
Dried coffee beans in sisal bags.
Yahaira Ramos, 36, prepares the soil using new bio-degradable bags, an initiative started after Hurricane Maria to efficiently harvest coffee trees. Ramos works at Puerto Rico Coffee Roasters, the largest producers of coffee, in Vega baja, Puerto Rico.
A coffee seed sprouts at a “vivero” or seedbed in Hayuya, Puerto Rico.
Rows and rows of coffee seeds. Hayuya, Puerto Rico.
Green coffee beans grow at Agustina Rosado’s farm, in Utuado, Puerto Rico. Rosado is one of the 400 farmers that received coffee seedlings from PROCAFE.
Fernando Alcover, 39, reaches for a packed coffee bag to distribute to stores around the island. Alcover is a sixth-generation coffee grower.
Neyshka Diaz, 25, starts up the expresso machine at Cuatro Sombras, a coffee shop in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico that serves 100% Puerto Rican coffee from the mountains of Yauco.
Coffee roasts at Cafe Lareño.
Luis Enrique Alcover, a fifth-generation owner of Cafe Lareño, poses for a portrait at his torrefacción, or coffee-roasting center. His estate covers all aspects of coffee production, from cultivating the trees to toasting the beans and creating a final product.
When 90% of his coffee trees were wiped out, they had to start from scratch. Alcover said they’re still in the process of recovery, as beans take up to 4 years to recuperate.
Coffee seed in the beginning stages of germination. Coffee Roasters, Vega Baja, Puerto Rico.
People sit at the Cuatro Sombras coffee shop in Old San Juan while drinking Puerto Rican coffee.
Café con leche at Cuatro Sombras. Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.