Introduction to the processing process of coffee bean picking method

Introduction to the processing process of coffee bean picking method

1. Skin/Pulp: the outermost layer of coffee beans is covered with berry-like skin and pulp. In addition to the natural sun method, coffee beans treated by other methods must remove the skin and flesh within a few hours after picking. For coffee, peel and pulp are important by-products. In some places, people use the peel and pulp of coffee to make tea. People in the industry are accustomed to calling the skin and pulp of coffee "Pulp", while the machine used to remove the pulp is called "desizing machine".

two。 Mucous membrane (Mucilage): under the skin and pulp, a thick layer of mucus tightly wraps the coffee beans. Because this mucous membrane is extremely sticky and high in sugar, it is used to call it "Honey". Not only coffee, but also many fruits have a layer of mucus inside.

Coffee trees generally blossom in 3-4 years, about 2-3 months a year. The appearance and smell of coffee trees are similar to those of jasmine flowers. After the flowers bloom, they bear small green fruits, and after a few months they mature and turn red into pickable ripe fruits. The skin of the mature fruit is red. Because the shape and color are similar to cherries, mature coffee fruits are called coffee cherries (coffe cherry) in many places. Under the bright red pericarp, the pericarp, pulp and a sweet sticky yellow substance wrap the coffee, but not all the land located in this area can produce good coffee trees. The ideal planting conditions for coffee trees are: a warm climate with a temperature of 15-25 ℃, and a rainfall of 1500-2000 mm throughout the year, and the rainfall time should be consistent with the flowering cycle of the coffee tree. Of course, in addition to the coordination of seasons and rainfall, there should be fertile soil. The most suitable soil for growing coffee is a well-drained, fertile soil containing volcanic ash.

(1) hand picking

With the exception of Brazil and Ethiopia, most Arabica coffee-producing countries are harvested by hand. Hand picking not only removes ripe bright red coffee, but also sometimes along with immature cyan beans and branches, so these immature beans are often mixed with refined coffee beans, especially when they are refined by natural drying. If these beans are mixed with baking, they will produce a disgusting stench.

(2) shake-down method

This method is to hit the ripe fruit or shake the coffee branch with a random stick, so that the fruit falls and accumulates into a pile. Larger estates use large harvesters, while small and medium-sized farms harvest with a sea of people mobilized by the whole family. This method of shaking the fruit off the ground is easier to mix with impurities and defective beans than the hand-picking method, and beans from some places can be stained with a strange smell or fermented because the ground is wet. Producers of Robusta coffee beans such as Brazil and Ethiopia are mostly harvested in this way.

Countries harvested by shaking and falling method also adopt natural drying method to refine coffee beans. Coffee blossoms in spring, bears fruit in summer and harvests in winter, so it is very difficult to harvest and dry in places where there is no clear distinction between drought and rainy seasons. in the rainy season, it is impossible to use natural drying. Therefore, coffee is suitable for growing in areas with early and rainy seasons.