A Coffee Bean’s Journey

Natasha Bourlin Passport and Plume

Perhaps you’ve wondered how a little coffee bean can be so positively impactful to your day. What journey did it make to get into your cup?

Well, let’s ask a bean.

Hanging On

Here I am with all my friends. We’re hanging out, literally, from the branches of a thick plant. It’s warm here, I’ve got a pretty red coat on, and the environment is what they’d consider tropical, I suppose.

Eeek, they’re coming to pluck us! But I hear it’s the beginning of a fun journey. Guess I’m finally ready! That guy that’s always walking by finally took me off the branch and tossed me in with a bunch of new friends.

Sunbathing

How nice, I’m getting a bath!

Then they dropped me off for some sunbathing. It’s like bean beach around here! The humans keep flipping us around so we get a nice dose of sun all over. But the light is intense and making my coat dry up and fall off. Thank goodness it’s so warm.

Hey, there’s a woman picking me up, and I’m almost naked!

Maybe we’re going to school! My friends talk about being graded…but it’s not with A’s, B’s and C’s. My friends and I are being checked out to see if we’re good enough to make someone’s day in a cup.

The humans are chatting about grades one through five. I really want to be in Grade One, but we’ll see. Here’s hoping. They say that’s the very best grade.

Heading for the Cup

Yikes, it’s super-hot now! Something is making us sweat, we’re in a tight space with what must be a campfire nearby. But it’s nice being with everyone. Some friends are starting to pop, I assume they’re very excited.

I went in green, but now am turning a pretty shade of brown. The warmer it gets, the sweeter I become. I’m so happy, I’m about to burst. Ahhh, that felt good, like a release.

Wheee, now we’re on a slide! The sauna is over, but we’re all happy to be out, it was getting hot. Now we’re cooling down, and I feel a little funny, but in a good way.
Wait, what’s that? We made it??? We’re going to be drank??? First, we’re getting some sort of massage in what the humans call a grinder. It looks a little intimidating, but they say it’s the last step to making these humans smile really big, all thanks to little ol’ me!

Here we go! Well, that was fun. I’m a bit smaller now. Okay, a lot smaller. And now they’re pouring hot water over me.

This is it!!! I get to express all my fantastic qualities to this person putting me into their cup!

They seem thrilled. They’re making funny but seemingly happy noises as they sip on me and my friends. We’ve completed our journey. It was such fun!