I don't know how to buy coffee beans. What are the three processed flavors of coffee?

Coffee beans are the seeds of coffee fruit, which looks like a red jujube from the outside, and because the small red fruit of coffee fruit is also like a cherry, it is called coffee cherry (coffee cherry) in foreign countries.

In terms of structure, coffee fruits generally have peel, pulp, pectin layer and coffee beans from the outside to the inside, while coffee beans with different treatments will retain different structures, which will of course affect the flavor.

At first, coffee farmers will remove the immature fruit after collecting the coffee fruit, and then treat the coffee beans in different ways.

1. Solarization method

If coffee farmers evaluate the weather and adopt the sun treatment method, they will spread the screened coffee fruits directly on the main square, let the sun exposure for two to three weeks to dry the coffee fruits, and then remove the shell of the dried coffee fruits to get coffee beans. This kind of sun-dried beans will adhere to the dried pulp layer and pectin layer, so the coffee beans will be richer in flavor and tend to taste sweet.

two。 Washing method

Is to remove the peel and pulp of the screened coffee fruit through the shelling machine, and the remaining coffee beans containing pectin layer will be fermented for 12 to 24 hours by the symbiotic bacteria of the coffee itself, such as acetic acid bacteria and lactic acid bacteria. These strains will digest the pectin layer outside the coffee beans, and then the acid will seep into the coffee beans, making the flavor of the coffee beans sour, and then treated by water washing, so it is called water washing.

A study in 2001 explored the fermentation changes of washed coffee beans. The results showed that the pH value of coffee beans was about 5.7 before fermentation, and then decreased to 3.8 after 20 hours of fermentation, and their sugar content decreased significantly. The relative organic acid content increased significantly, indicating that there are indeed more acids in washed coffee beans that make their flavor sour.

Sun drying and water washing each have their own advantages and disadvantages in processing. Sun processing is simple, as long as the coffee fruit is dried by the sun, but it is limited by the weather because it is very dependent on the sun for several consecutive worship. If it rains for a few days, it may reimburse the whole batch of coffee fruits, so the price of good sun beans remains high in the coffee bean auction market. Washed beans also have processing restrictions, and they may not be able to use water washing in some countries where water is scarce or of poor water quality.

3. Honey treatment method

Honey treatment is popular in Costa Rica and belongs to the semi-washing method, but unlike the water washing method, the fermentation time is not long, so there are still some pectin layers on the coffee beans, which will form the color of beeswax (amber spots) after drying, so it is called honey treatment, which will give the coffee more flavor.