The difference between sun-drying and washing coffee beans in the process of sun-drying coffee treatment

The solarization process can also be called a natural process, which is basically the oldest, simplest, and requires the least mechanical tools.

When the coffee fruit is harvested from the mountain, the next step is to remove the peel and pulp of the coffee beans. There are two main ways of treatment: washing and solarization. But the ultimate determining factor is whether there is enough water to use. Some special boutique coffees are both insolated and washed.

The first step is to sort and clean it up first. Immature, overripe, damaged coffee fruits will be singled out first. At the same time, the branches, leaves, mud and stones mixed in the fruit will also be removed. Sieves are usually used to deal with this preliminary classification.

Coffee fruit is dried in the sun, usually on concrete floor or on tall straw mats. The process of insolation is about 3-4 weeks. During the sun drying, a rake will be used to turn the coffee fruit several times to heat it and prevent the flesh from getting moldy. In the evening, it should be covered to reduce the moisture caused by morning dew. When the fruit has a moisture content of 12.5%, the coffee fruit is collected and stored in a storage bucket. Before being exported, the coffee fruit will go through the sheller to remove the sun-dried peel, pulp, parchment and silver skin at once. Finally, coffee beans will be graded and packaged manually or by machine.

Excessive sun-drying of coffee fruit will cause coffee beans to break more easily, resulting in too many bad beans. On the other hand, coffee fruits with too little sun are more prone to decay and insect pests because of their high water content.

The sun-drying coffee program is widely used in coffee exporting countries in Brazil, Africa and Asia. Sun-dried coffee beans can make coffee taste more mellow and full-bodied. After the sun, the color of coffee beans will be more light green to light brown. Sun-treated coffee is characterized by strong and smooth taste and sweet fruit.

Source:

The blog of the Global Coffee Corridor