What is the Kenyan 72-hour fermentation washing method for the grading of Kenyan coffee farmers' cooperatives?

Kenyan treatment method

Just as honey is treated in Costa Rica and wet planing in Indonesia, why not mention Kenyan coffee [K72 treatment]?

[Kenyan 72-hour fermentation washing treatment]

Originated in Kenya, the cycle repeated treatment method of washing after fermentation was adopted to select the best quality cherries for peeling and fermentation. the fermentation time was 24 hours and washed with clean river water after 24 hours. Then, it was fermented again with clean river water for 24 hours, then washed, and repeated 3 times for 72 hours, so it was called Kenyan 72-hour fermentation water washing treatment, abbreviated as [K72].

First washing and fermentation

After the coffee cherry harvest, the beans will first be picked by the specific gravity of the water flow, the principle is that the coffee fruit itself is screened by the difference in density and quality; the coffee beans with high density (heavy weight) will sink into the water, while the coffee beans with low density will float. The coffee fruits with high mature quality have high density, so they are screened out for further treatment.

After the high-quality and ripe fruits are selected, the peel is removed, washed and soaked, and the pectin mucus attached to the outer layer of raw beans is fermented. Pectin has natural sugars and alcohols, which play an important role in the development of sweetness, acidity and overall flavor of coffee. The fermentation time is as long as 24 hours. after fermentation, 80-90% of the pectin can be removed, leaving only the flavor in the coffee beans.

The second washing and fermentation

Then enter the second washing fermentation process, the coffee beans in the previous stage are washed and soaked in water for 24-48 hours. This process increases proteins and amino acids, and the acidity of coffee beans creates complex and delicate layers of taste. Finally, remove all remaining pectin and move the coffee beans to a high shelf for sun drying.

The fermentation time is as long as 24 hours, and after fermentation, 80% of the pectin is removed, leaving only the flavor in the coffee beans.

Finally, remove all the remaining pectin and move the coffee beans to a high scaffolding for sun drying, depending on the weather, which usually takes about 10 days.

Small farmers are usually "attached" to neighboring cooperative collectives. as a member of a cooperative, small farmers usually sell coffee fruits or shelled beans to cooperatives, but there are exceptions.

Cooperatives are composed of hundreds to thousands of small farmers, have their own management and have one or more processing stations; in each production season, cooperatives will purchase coffee fruits from small farmers for processing, and the cooperative society will settle the accounts for small farmers at the end of the production season. when the settlement is made, the cooperative society deducts the administrative expenses of the cooperative, and the amount deducted by each cooperative can also explain the operation of the cooperative.

There are also a small number of small farmers with relatively good production and management conditions, which will slowly form a small manor, increase their acreage, have their own simple treatment facilities, and no longer sell coffee fruits to cooperatives. They will even buy good coffee fruits from surrounding farmers; they will also have relatively stable sales targets, most of which will be sold in the form of direct trade. Large-scale estates even have their own trading companies, market agents and shelling plants.

Marketing agent Marketing Agent, I think, is a very important role in production and marketing. Just like the function of a housing agency, all producers, whether they are small farmers' cooperatives or private farms, can sign a contract with a certain Marketing Agent to promise that the coffee produced will be sold by them as an agent for sales and promotion, then the Agent must ensure that every year of the contract, the producers' coffee can be sold at a good price. However, unlike houses, coffee is a crop, not a fixed asset. It needs to be regulated and invested in planting, harvesting and treatment every year in order to ensure continuous and good quality production. This is also what a good Marketing Agent needs to do, that is, to pay attention to every link of the producer's production of coffee and put it into the control of every link. The final coffee sold can maintain high quality every season, can continue to get a good market price, then producers have the confidence to actively cooperate with it.

Coffee producers on large estates have their own wet treatment plants, which can carry out front-end treatment on their own, and some with sufficient capital even have their own dry treatment plants, from coffee trees and fruits to the final raw beans, which are then transferred to the market agent Marketing Agent.

Farmers who provide coffee fruits in Kenya can be divided into two categories: small coffee farmers and large estates, which are generally defined by the number of plants. They have 20 to 4500 coffee trees, and the government stipulates that small farmers cannot Wet Milling, so they must send the coffee fruit to the wet treatment plant (Factory) and then to the dry treatment plant (Dry Milling) according to the number of coffee. And put it back into the auction.