What I’ve learned... searching out the world’s best coffee
Thomas Haigh is head of coffee at Tate, sourcing beans direct from farmers for the art galleries in London, Liverpool and St Ives
Visiting a coffee farm is an amazing sensorial experience. Around harvest time, you get to taste the coffee cherries straight off the tree. They can be rich, sweet and tropical. You hear the pickers singing traditional songs as they work. But the irst thing that hits you is the pungent, jammy smell: cherries are left to dry and ferment on every available inch of patio and rooftop, even on cars.