00:00I'm Lucy Fink. I'm a video producer at Refinery29, but every so often I like to try other people's jobs.
00:06So I flew down to Costa Rica and I'm going to see if I have what it takes to be
00:10a gourmet coffee roaster.
00:12This is Lucy for Hire.
00:17It's no secret that Costa Rica is known for its coffee, and Cafe Brit, or Brit Coffee, was Costa Rica's
00:23first ever gourmet coffee roasting company.
00:25I visited their plantation and roastery to learn how a bean on a bush becomes a beverage.
00:32Your first challenge is picking coffee beans.
00:37So what are you holding?
00:39Ah, this is high technology.
00:41So let me show you.
00:43You see, the harvest in Costa Rica is in the dry season from December up to February.
00:48But in the same bush, not all the coffee berries arrive at the same time.
00:52The red ones are the ones ready.
00:54This is the best outfit ever.
00:57You see, you can go shopping like this.
00:59Yeah.
01:00And you have hands free.
01:02This is what they need at grocery stores.
01:05First, we walked through the nursery to gather our beans.
01:08All right, here I go.
01:09This is for small people, I know.
01:12And then you should pick the red ones only, and they will fall immediately in the basket.
01:16Oh, there we go.
01:17You have to pay very close attention and really squat down there to find the best beans.
01:21It's like a full body workout.
01:24You see, the good selection of the red beans is one of the most basic things to make a gourmet
01:30coffee cup.
01:31Right.
01:31You see, this one is very juicy.
01:34Wow.
01:38That is good.
01:51And since there might only be a few ripe ones per bush, we had to really get ourselves immersed into
01:57the nursery.
01:57We are just foraging for coffee beans right now.
02:02Well, you're doing a very good selection here.
02:06All right, I've got a basket full of beans.
02:09Yes, you did.
02:10So now, once you have your coffee, it's time to roast it.
02:13That's it.
02:14Yeah, let's roast it.
02:15Your second challenge is roasting the coffee.
02:21So these are ready for roasting.
02:23Those are ready for roasting.
02:24Let's roast.
02:24Very good.
02:25We could do a light roast, a medium, a dark, or an espresso roast.
02:29I'm really tired, so I'm going to go with espresso.
02:31Very good, very good.
02:33So that's what we're going to do right here.
02:34The roasting process takes between 8 to 12 minutes, depending on the type of roast.
02:39Move it a little bit.
02:42We closely monitored the beans by checking, and checking, and checking again.
02:49And finally, there were about 10 seconds left.
02:5310, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
03:02All right, check this out.
03:03Very good.
03:05Yes.
03:06So we're going to let the coffee right here repose for at least 8 hours, all right?
03:12And then we could try the coffee.
03:14So I'll see you in 8 hours.
03:15Very good, I'll see you in 8 hours.
03:17I didn't actually leave for 8 hours.
03:18He had some espresso beans that were already reposed and ready to go.
03:22And then it was time for my third challenge, coffee cupping.
03:26First, we took beans from each type of roast and ground them, and then we poured hot water
03:31directly onto the grounds to brew them.
03:33I thought it was weird at first that we weren't using a filter, but he explained to me why we
03:37do this.
03:38If you use a filter with paper or something like that, that's going to absorb every flavor of the coffee.
03:43So this is the right way to make a cupping of the coffee.
03:46Of course, you cannot drink this, right?
03:48So we're going to do this process.
03:49Oh, so we remove the grounds.
03:51Exactly.
03:53Coffee cupping is the process of deeply sniffing.
03:56Smells good.
03:57And then loudly slurping coffee to measure the different aspects of its taste.
04:02This allowed me to pull out all the different flavor notes in each type of roast.
04:06And after slurping, you spit it into a spittoon.
04:09Very dark.
04:11My first cupping experience.
04:14So your final challenge is going to make the cappuccino, the three-layer cappuccino.
04:18And we're going to make it with this roast.
04:20All right?
04:20Very good.
04:21Let's do it.
04:25Just add the flavor.
04:26First, I chose to flavor my coffee with hazelnut.
04:28There you go.
04:30Wait, wait.
04:30What are you doing?
04:31Oh, I thought you meant...
04:32No, no, no.
04:33That's going to affect.
04:34Oh, no.
04:35Should we get a new cup?
04:36Okay.
04:37And then I blew it.
04:39There you go.
04:40Perfect.
04:41Perfect.
04:42And then we steamed the milk to get foam.
04:44And added the foam as our first layer, followed by the liquid milk.
04:48I'm not a very clean barista.
04:51Next, we turned our espresso beans into grounds.
04:55Wow, that's silky smooth.
04:58Pressed the coffee.
04:59One.
05:01And brewed an espresso.
05:03And after carefully pouring it in...
05:06There you go.
05:07Keep going.
05:08Keep going.
05:08I touched the edge.
05:09No worries.
05:10Just don't stop.
05:11Okay.
05:12Not that carefully.
05:14I had my brutiful three-layer cappuccino.
05:18Wow, I did not know what to expect.
05:20This is beautiful.
05:22Damn.
05:25Would you hire me?
05:26I will hire you, yes.
05:27Perfect.
05:28It's official.
05:29Official.
05:29Very good.
05:30The newest employee of Brit.
05:34As they say in the coffee business, smell you later.
05:38Okay, they don't actually say that.
