[Sumatra wet planing] coffee treatment that makes Mantenin unique but difficult to evolve

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The editor has previously introduced the Sumatran semi-washing method, that is, the wet stripping method (wet planing method). Because of the treatment process, it often produces many different flavors, such as wood, soil, mildew, spice, etc., these flavors may not be very pleasing to most people, but knowing this, why does Sumatra still use this method?

First of all, because of the climate of Sumatra and the high humidity here, it is necessary to adopt the method of short drying time. In fact, the bigger reason is that most of the raw beans in this producing area are purchased from different small farmers. That is to say, the small farmers in the middle turn coffee cherries into shelled raw beans and sell them to buyers on the first floor. The purchasers will then resell these raw beans to distributors, who will turn them into dried raw coffee beans and then sell them to traders. Why does such a trading process lead to the birth of wet planing? Mainly because the small farmers want to cash out soon.

(the processing and market entry process of traditional Sumatran coffee beans)

At present, there is no independent processing plant in Sumatra to buy coffee cherries directly, so small farmers have no choice but to use their own buckets as traditional washing fermentation tanks, and then immediately throw the coffee beans into the fruit shell machine (but because the raw beans are still soft, it will be squeezed by the machine, so it will show a sheepfoot shape), remove the pulp and shell of the beans, and the moisture is about 3040%, or higher. This is very different from traditional washing or tanning, because it is usually not treated until the moisture level is only about 13%. If you wait for the real drying before giving it to the acquirer, the time to cash will be lengthened (because the sun usually takes 27 to 30 days). Therefore, it is only after going to the traders that the sun or machine drying is carried out to reduce the moisture of raw beans to 13%. After that, the beans are screened and hand-selected, and the beans are sold in different grades according to the defect rate and the size of the beans, and the beans are kept clean for 90 days. so that the beans can have a good "rest and recuperation", so that the moisture of the beans can be consistent (this is called the activity balance of water).

The whole process is handled by different people at different stages, and the condition and quality are very difficult to control. In addition, the washing and fermentation of small farmers, in fact, there is no real fermentation, but only to wash and buoyancy to remove too bad beans, and does not have the role of traditional washing fermentation tank, so the flavor is more impetuous, the strain is difficult to control, and the taste is not so clean. In terms of sun exposure, unlike the traditional sun-drying method, the pulp is used as the basis for fermentation, which can produce fruity coffee beans. Therefore, Sumatra wet stripping method, in the global competition of high-quality beans, the flavor can only be "special" to compete, the long-term development is not very optimistic.

Manning is doing well in the global market only in countries that traditionally like Manning, such as Japan and Taiwan. But now more and more boutique beans, with their unique floral, clean or fruit flavor, are beginning to replace the love of Manning in these countries. The wet planing method, a special treatment, brings a special flavor, but it brings limitations for the development.