The processing of Coffee beans Coffee processing

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Once the coffee is picked, it must be processed as soon as possible to prevent the fruit from going bad. Coffee can be processed in two ways, depending on location and local resources:

Drying is an ancient method of coffee processing, which is still used in many countries with limited water resources. Freshly picked cherries are simply spread out on a huge surface and dried in the sun. To prevent cherries from rotting, people rake them flat and turn them during the day, and then cover them at night or when it rains to prevent them from getting wet. Depending on the weather, this process may last for several weeks until the moisture content of cherries drops to 11%.

The wet method is to remove the pulp of the coffee cherry after harvest, so that the coffee beans will dry, leaving only a parchment-like skin. First of all, the freshly picked cherries go through a pulping machine to separate the skin and flesh from the coffee beans.

Then the beans are separated by weight as they pass through the canal. The lighter beans float above, while the heavier ripe beans sink below. They pass through a series of rotating cylinders that separate them by size.

After separation, the beans are transported to a large fermentor filled with water. Depending on a combination of factors-such as the condition of the beans, climate and altitude-they stay in these containers for 12 to 48 hours to remove the smooth layer of mucus (called parenchyma) attached to the parchment. When resting in a container, naturally occurring enzymes dissolve this layer.

When the fermentation is finished, the beans feel rough. Rinse the coffee beans through an extra canal and then dry them.

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