The processing method of fresh coffee beans-- drying method

Drying method

The drying method, also known as the natural method, is the oldest and simplest and does not require any machines. This method involves drying the whole cherry fruit. There are also many differences in the implementation of this process, depending on the size of the farm plantation, the equipment available and the final quality required. The basic three steps are cleaning, drying and peeling, which are described in detail below.

First of all, harvested cherry fruits are usually sorted and washed, picking out the unripe, overripe and damaged ones, and removing dust, soil, twigs and leaves. This is usually done by hand, using a large sieve. Any unwanted cherry fruit and other substances can be left at the top of the sieve and picked out. Ripe cherry fruits are also separated by flotation in the sink, which is close to the stage of drying. The coffee fruit is spread out in the sun, on a large concrete floor, on a brick platform or on a straw mat lifted to the middle of the fork. As the coffee fruit dries, apply a hand rake or turn it over to make sure it is drier. It takes about 4 weeks for the coffee fruit to dry to the best humidity of 12.5%, depending on the weather. On larger farms or plantations, a dryer is sometimes used to speed up the process after the coffee fruit is exposed to the sun for a few days in advance. The drying process is the most important stage of the whole process, as it will affect the final quality of raw coffee beans. Overdried coffee beans become brittle and can lead to a lot of broken beans (which are considered bad beans) when peeled. On the other hand, coffee beans that are not completely dry will be too wet and can easily deteriorate quickly once bacteria invade.

Dried coffee fruits will be stored in special soil piles until they are transported to mills, peeled, sorted, graded, and packaged. These processes will be carried out there. The outer skin of all dried coffee fruits is removed in the steps performed by the peeling machine.

Ninety-five percent of Arabica coffee produced in Brazil is dried, and the vast majority of coffee in Ethiopia, Haiti and Paraguay is also produced in this way. It is also used to produce some Arabica coffee in India and Ecuador. Almost all Robster coffee is produced in this way. This method is not practical in areas where the air is humid or where the harvest season is often rainy next month.