The purification and selection of Coffee: the treatment of Raw beans

The process of extracting a seed from a fruit, called refining, can be divided into three methods:

1, DRY-METHOD: spread the coffee fruit on the sun field for 2 weeks, rake and sweep it several times a day, so that the coffee beans can be dried more evenly. When dried, the coffee beans are separated from the skin, and the dried pulp and peel are removed by a sheller, then screened and divided into different grades.

Or the fruit will be baked for about 2 weeks to make it completely dry, and then use a sheller to remove the pulp. It can be screened and divided into different grades.

2, water washing (WET- METHOD): the fruit is concentrated in the pool and soaked for one day and night, peeled off by a peeling machine, then washed and sent to a drying plant for drying, and then removed with a sheller to remove the surface silver skin, which is called raw bean at this time. After fermentation, water-washed coffee will have a distinctive and clear flavor. The fermented coffee beans are then washed with clean water, then dried in the sun or dried by a machine, and finally the pulp and silver skins are removed by a sheller, which can be screened and divided into different grades.

3. SEMIWASHED- METHOD: peel off the pericarp first, then dry the seeds that stick to the pulp, finally wet them, wash the pulp and seed coat (silver coat) with a machine, then remove the moisture and dry it in the sun or with a machine, it can be screened and divided into different grades.

Note: both washing and drying can produce the best quality coffee. Generally speaking, washed coffee has distinct acidity and consistent flavor. Dry coffee has lower acidity and more varied flavor. Washing is used in Colombia, Kenya, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico and Hawaii. Most of the coffee produced in Brazil, Ethiopia and Indonesia is dried, but some water-washed coffee is also produced.