The cool temperatures at night and the warm sunlight create a perfect microclimate to produce fine coffee.

When the weather and other conditions are perfect in the Valley of Panchoy (Antigua) for harvesting, the valley comes to life with laborers who come to help harvest the coffee beans.

Even though harvesting by machine is faster and cheaper, harvesting by hand yields more beans than harvesting by machine, because no unripe beans are inadvertently stripped from the plants.

Also, an expert coffee bean picker can fill up to six baskets per day. They're typically paid by each basket of beans that they collect, and unlike machines, you can instruct them to pick only ripe beans.

The first pickings usually start in mid January, Red cherries are delivered for the farmers own use for wet processing and drying.