![Farm Tour with Mr. Raymond Cal](/2018/jan/farm_tour/thumbnails/farm_tour.jpg)
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Location: Loboc (municipality), Bohol (province), Philippines
Meeting Mr. Raymond Cal
It was a non-chalant conversation I was having with Mr. Raymond Cal, the owner of Sapa Foods in Loboc proper, that drifted leisurely into his life and times. Mr. Raymond hails from Loboc and held many positions in his long career - PNP police officer, Barangay Kagawad for several terms, inventor of the river boat that's now the default design for the river cruise, tinkerer and largely curious about things can still accomplish. His stroke that left half his body semi-paralyzed didn't dampen that passion. He is still unstoppable in his pursuit and vision.
Cacao Grower
When our talk shifted into sikwate (hot dark chocolate drink), I learned that he was a cacao grower who was to try out his innovative drum cacao roaster for the first time. As good fortune would have it, he invited me to come along. Whoa!
The following day, we went up to his upland orchard near Cruz Daku where he has 500 cacao trees. He also had 33 kilos of dry cacao seeds ready to be roasted in 3 batches. The drum was new with its blue paint job - later to be covered in soot.
Drum Roaster
It was a virgin drum roaster - never been used for its intended purpose. Mr. Raymond already devoted a lot of thinking into its design. It's a hand-rolled drum turned at all times to prevent burning - very much like roasting lechon on a spit. The inside has blades to evenly spread the cacao seeds with every turn.
Trouble Shooting
The obvious issues were already anticipated, but nonetheless, there will always be problems that will only come up during the actual roasting. Two such issues were pegging the support structure firmly on the ground and keeping the rotating tube on rail - but we're only on version 1. For version 2, bearings will be added (instead of just grease) for easier turning, concrete foundation instead of the ground and a roof in case it rains. Optimum load has been determined to be 15 kilos for ease of turning.
Ending Thoughts
The fact that the first batch came out perfect is testament to the drum roaster's success despite a few trouble-shooting tweaks on the fly. Version 2 is bound to be perfect, addressing all known issues plus a few enhancements. But because heat distribution along the drum and heat consistency is always a variable, there will always be that human factor to determine when the roasting is done.
Congrats to Mr. Raymond for creativity, innovation and forward-thinking!
--- TheLoneRider
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