Kenya 72 hours washing process Kenya washed coffee beans characteristics

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72-hour washing in Kenya

Kenyan coffee processing methods are particularly complex, which is why Kenya is famous for its unique, high-quality coffee. It consists of two separate fermentation stages and a long soaking stage to produce its coffee.

The first step is to determine the relative density of the coffee bean itself, which can be done by using a special McKinnon hair removal device. Density can well indicate the quality of beans is good and poor, because poor quality beans will float on the depilation device, while good quality beans will sink. This allows them to be transported through different channels, with lower-quality beans being transported separately and higher-quality beans sent directly to the fermentor.

The primary fermentation starts here and lasts for 24 hours. At this point, the beans are washed out of the loose mucus and sent back to the fermentor to ferment again within the next 12-24 hours.

Now, fermented beans take up to six hours to wash, in which bacteria, yeast mucus and other solids are removed. Any beans floating on the surface, indicating that they are of poor quality, will be lost and disposed of.

Finally, the beans should be soaked under water for 24 hours. As the content of amino acids and proteins in each bean increases, more complex acids are produced in the beans.

The device, known as the "skin bed", is used as a pre-drying process to quickly remove the large amount of water accumulated by beans outside the fermentation process through a complex cleaning and soaking process. The beans are spread thin in the sun, allowing natural factors such as sunlight and wind to quickly evaporate moisture. Leave them here for another 6 hours until they are completely dry.

During the final drying stage, the coffee is placed on a raised drying bed for 5 to 10 days. The total drying time depends to a large extent on atmospheric conditions such as wind, clouds and relative sunlight.

The difference with the Kenyan method is that it allows all coffee to breathe normally when it dries. They use "bodegas" to dry coffee in cages. In many other places, dried beans can be put in bags, which will make the beans sweat and give them an unusual taste.

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