Burnt Beans

La Esmeralda farm, in the mountains of Salento, Colombia, 11:20 pm. At 10:40 pm the harvest dryer caught fire and burned forty sacks of the special lot, the farm's best coffee in ten years.

It was no short circuit: the burner's gas valve was wide open, and there was a rag smelling of kerosene on the floor. The owner, Don Hernán Restrepo, is in Manizales and won't arrive until morning.

The dirt road closes at night with the gate locked. Three people were sleeping on the farm, and one of them went down to the dryer.

The main house kitchen, the wood stove out, the smell of coffee and smoke coming in through the window.