Great Coffee Is Built Together

Before it reaches us, coffee has already been cared for by people who have spent years growing, tending, selecting and preparing it for what comes next.

We often talk about coffee in terms of origin, process, roast and flavor. But behind all of those things are people whose care and expertise shape what eventually reaches the cup.

Parisi Coffee's Robin Seitz recently reflected on those people in a letter to our Explorers Club members. His perspective is a reminder that great coffee is shaped over time, with each person contributing to work that began long before them.

Robin's story begins before there is even a coffee tree in the ground.

Young plants are tended in a nursery before moving to the farm, where years of care continue before harvest begins. Long before most of us think of it as coffee, people have already invested time, skill and attention in what it will become.

Then comes picking.

That line captures the human side of the work. Picking requires patience and judgment, cherry by cherry, with each decision becoming part of what happens next.

“It is hard, arduous, and done 1 bean at a time!”

— Robin Seitz

Once the harvest leaves the farm, another group of people takes over.

At the wet mill, workers monitor the coffee as it is processed and moved toward the drying patio. There, the work becomes more hands-on again, with people returning throughout the day to turn the coffee and protect it as it dries.

From there, the coffee moves to the dry mill, where others sort, inspect, pack and prepare it for shipment.

Each stage brings another set of people responsible for helping the coffee move forward and protecting the work that came before.

“And that’s all just to get it TO us!”

— Robin Seitz

By the time the coffee reaches us, a remarkable amount of care has already gone into it. Our responsibility is to respect that work and carry it forward.

Robin points to the people involved in roasting, blending, bagging, packing, shipping, quality control and compliance. Each role adds to the care already invested in the coffee before it reached our hands.

We are not where the story begins. We are entrusted with it. And eventually, that responsibility reaches the person brewing the coffee too.

“The labor that goes into getting a truly great cup of coffee is astounding.”

— Robin Seitz

His rough count found at least 37 people may touch a coffee before it is even ready to brew.

The number is striking, but what it represents matters more: years of work, shared expertise and people carrying the coffee forward from one set of hands to the next.

And perhaps that is the best reason to pause over a great cup: not just to appreciate the coffee, but the people who helped make it possible.

“Having a quality cup of coffee is really a miracle that should be celebrated.”

— Robin Seitz