Coffee harvesting and processing methods-factory treatment of coffee grounds

The way coffee is harvested and handled-the factory's treatment of coffee grounds

The flavor of Robusta is more bitter than that of Arabica, and its quality is much lower, so it is mostly used to make instant coffee. In general, the coffee sold in fast food restaurants mainly uses Robusta coffee beans as the material. Because it is made in Africa, most Africans drink robusta coffee. It has strong resistance to disease and high yield, accounting for less than 30% of the world's total coffee production. Robusta has low acidity, high caffeine content, brown color, thick fat and less flavor than Arabica, which can increase the taste and gelatinous taste of coffee.

Liberian coffee trees account for less than 5% of the world's output. Liberian coffee trees are suitable for planting in the lowlands, and the coffee beans produced are highly fragrant and bitter.

"wet" treatment, which is more demanding and more difficult. Using this processing method, you can get coffee that is called "washed" or "soft". This approach has been adopted in Central America, Mexico, Colombia, Kenya and Tanzania. The processing steps are: cleaning, soaking, removing pulp, fermentation, drying and peeling, and finally removing residual impurities and polishing the beans.

The beans are then packed in sacks, usually weighing 60 kilograms (about 132 pounds), and then stored in special sheltered houses. They will begin their own journey-from sacks to bags-to consumer countries because coffee is a very delicate product and beans must be processed within a few days after harvest. This is to prevent the pulp and covered film from fermenting. There are two ways to process seeds:

"dry" processing, known as "natural" coffee; this method is mainly used in Brazil and West Africa. The fruit is laid on the ground to be dried by the sun and constantly turned so that the fruit is evenly exposed to the sun's rays. The 15-to 20-day cycle is harvested in different months of the year (depending on the geographical location of the producing country). Depending on the ripening of the fruit. The harvest time depends on the geographical location, climate and altitude, and varies according to the situation of each producing country.

Ripe fruit can be picked by hand, or raked with a small rake, or hit to the ground with a pole: the first two methods can be carried out by low-cost labor, who will operate more selectively; the method of hitting with a pole is faster but not fine enough. and requires further cleaning of the fruit. If the terrain permits, the harvest can be operated by a special automatic machine.