Coffee Bean Processing

After the plantation and harvest of the estate, the next step is the most important step besides the variety and planting area: "post-processing method." At present, most of the treatment methods are sun, semi-washing, water-based, and there are several special treatment methods: honey treatment, in vivo treatment, etc.; there are also many people sharing these treatments on the Internet, how the author writes is also similar, but their own preferences for treatment are also different, in addition to the treatment method according to their own humble ideas to write down, will add some of their own ideas in it, if these ideas are biased, please give me some advice.

However, the first thing to experience before processing is to select the mature fruit; there are two methods: first, the use of color distinction: usually mature fruit will be red skin for the ripening characteristics, at this time most of the sugar in the pectin layer has penetrated into the fruit, will greatly increase the sweetness, fruity; relatively if the immature fruit, will contain a lot of chlorogenic acid and high concentration of citric acid, so that coffee fruit add sour taste.

Second, all the picked fruits will be thrown into the tank: ripe and about to mature fruit will sink to the bottom, while immature fruit and bad fruit will float, but sometimes it will be found that a large number of ripe fruits are pressed under the tank.

Solarization:

It is usually used in countries where water is scarce, but in recent years it has often been used by some estates that pursue special flavors because of its unique flavor. After selecting the ripe fruit, spread it in the bean drying field for natural drying, turn the coffee beans at any time to avoid part of the humidity caused by mold, and the time depends on the climate, about two to four weeks after the fruit moisture content dropped to 12% below and hardened, and then use the shell machine to dry the hard pulp and sheepskin layer, take out the coffee beans. This treatment method is most afraid of rain moisture caused by mildew, every night also because of avoiding excessive moisture, need to move it indoors.

I like the flavor of this kind of treatment very much. Although I have drunk the horrible flavor of over-fermented, it is really fascinating in the case of moderate fermentation. The sun exclusive berry and wine tone can make it have a very beautiful flavor no matter what cooking method is used. However, there is an easy to be expressed miscellaneous flavor, which tests the ability of bakers and bartenders.

Half-sun method: divided into Brazilian half-sun, mechanical half-sun

Brazil half sun: After picking the ripe fruit, sift out the pods containing pectin; without fermentation, move to the outdoor drying field, because the climate in Brazil is dry, the pectin will harden in about one day, during which time the pods need to be turned to avoid moisture odor, about two to three days, the pods can reach a certain degree of dehydration, in the use of drying machine further drying, so that the water content reduced to 10.5%~12%, in the storage of beans for several days to further mature, before export, then grind off the sheepskin layer, coffee beans classification.

Mechanical semi-solarization: use in areas where water is scarce and moisture is heavy. After picking out the ripe fruit, sift out the pods containing pectin, pour them directly into the pectin scraper, take out the pods with smooth surface, and then take them to the outdoor sun until the moisture content drops to 12%.

In order to suit the degree of sun, I also like the taste of this kind of treatment method, with a little sun flavor, so that berry aroma and coffee bean sweetness with more layers; but if the treatment is not good, too much sun to reduce the moisture or insufficient sun time to make the moisture too high, sweetness and sun flavor will make the overall ratio of extremely high changes.

Washing method: general washing method, Kenyan washing method, Luanda washing method

Washing method can make coffee beans beautiful in color, good in appearance and high in quality; acid flavor and brightness are better, and there is no miscellaneous taste; but the water cost is extremely high, so it is not suitable in some countries with poor water resources.

General washing method: After selecting ripe fruit, move it to pulp screening machine, followed by the most important washing fermentation treatment to remove pectin layer; the causal layer is not easy to remove with water, so various bacteria in water are hydrolyzed to decompose it into pectic acid, during which it is necessary to constantly stir and wash the coffee beans in the tank with water to accelerate the pectin separation from the pods. About 12~36 hours, depending on the temperature and humidity, at this time the tank will naturally produce malic acid, citric acid, acetic acid, lactic acid, propionic acid, part of the acid fragrance spirit will also penetrate into the coffee beans; check the fermentation status in the tank at any time, check whether the pectin layer has fallen off, in order to avoid excessive fermentation to produce excessive fatty acids and butyric acid and emit odor; after washing fermentation, take out the coffee beans, dry and put them into the warehouse.

Kenyan washing: After the initial process of the same general washing method, the natural fermentation is first carried out for 12 hours (mainly pH value 4.5~4.8), and then 80%~90% of the pectin layer is washed away. After natural fermentation for 24 hours, it is cleaned, and then soaked in water for 24 hours, dried and then stored.

Luanda-style washing: After the initial process of the same general washing method, the natural fermentation is carried out for 12 hours, after cleaning, the fermentation is soaked in water for 24 hours, and the washing is carried out again. After soaking in water for 20 hours, the drying is carried out and then the warehouse is put into storage.

This washing method gives the coffee beans a clean and bright acidity, high moisture content, bright sour aroma in the case of coffee, high sweetness, clean taste. The author feels the most about this kind of treatment method, it is easy to have more easily distinguished layering, it is easier to find the unique taste of coffee, and the special flavor of the origin.

Honey treatment:

The honey treatment is to remove the peel of coffee cherries, leaving the sticky pulp part, then dry them, remove the pulp layer and pectin layer, and then put them into storage. During the drying period, it is necessary to stir frequently to avoid mildew caused by sticking between the pulp; and it is necessary to dry in a short time to avoid excessive fermentation. The above various reasons will cause the risk of easy deterioration of honey treatment, so it will require more labor and time costs than other treatment methods. The percentage of flesh retained was divided into several honey treatments: 80% flesh "black honey";60% flesh "red honey";40% flesh "yellow honey";20% flesh "white honey"; all with different flavors and presentations.