Coffee is grown on plantations all over the world, in warm humid climates that allows it to flourish and flower.
The two varieties most suited to the commercial market are Arabica and Robusta.
There are three main steps in coffee bean production.
1.
Harvesting The fruit of the coffee plant are small green cherries which when ripen, turn to a brilliant red.
This is when they are sweet to taste and ready to pick.
Since these do not ripen at the same time, most coffee is still harvested by hand.
Experienced pickers only pick the ripe red cherries, therefore picking can take a few weeks.
The Robusta tree yields twice as much as the Arabica tree.
2.
Processing Once the leaves and stalks are removed from the cherries, there are two methods by which the coffee cherries can be processed.
The method that is used is dependent on size and technical advancement of the plantation.
Dry Method This is the natural way to dry the cherries.
They are spread out on large drying mats in the sun.
The coffee beans dry in approximately one to two weeks, within which time, they are raked a few times every day.
This ensures that they dry out evenly.
Once dry, the dried husks, parchment and silver skin are removed in hulling machines.
The coffee beans are now ready to be sorted and graded.
Wet Method In this method, the cherries are fermented in large concrete tanks.
This will loosen the remaining pulp.
They are then thoroughly washed with water, drained and either dried in the sun or mechanically.
Once again the hulling machines are used to remove all the outer layers in preparation for the next step.
3.
Grading In order to match size and quality, the beans are passed through screens.
They are then subsequently graded for export.
They grade by checking for imperfections on the coffee beans as well as for small broken beans and any other defects, as these will affect the flavour of the final coffee product.
The two varieties most suited to the commercial market are Arabica and Robusta.
There are three main steps in coffee bean production.
1.
Harvesting The fruit of the coffee plant are small green cherries which when ripen, turn to a brilliant red.
This is when they are sweet to taste and ready to pick.
Since these do not ripen at the same time, most coffee is still harvested by hand.
Experienced pickers only pick the ripe red cherries, therefore picking can take a few weeks.
The Robusta tree yields twice as much as the Arabica tree.
2.
Processing Once the leaves and stalks are removed from the cherries, there are two methods by which the coffee cherries can be processed.
The method that is used is dependent on size and technical advancement of the plantation.
Dry Method This is the natural way to dry the cherries.
They are spread out on large drying mats in the sun.
The coffee beans dry in approximately one to two weeks, within which time, they are raked a few times every day.
This ensures that they dry out evenly.
Once dry, the dried husks, parchment and silver skin are removed in hulling machines.
The coffee beans are now ready to be sorted and graded.
Wet Method In this method, the cherries are fermented in large concrete tanks.
This will loosen the remaining pulp.
They are then thoroughly washed with water, drained and either dried in the sun or mechanically.
Once again the hulling machines are used to remove all the outer layers in preparation for the next step.
3.
Grading In order to match size and quality, the beans are passed through screens.
They are then subsequently graded for export.
They grade by checking for imperfections on the coffee beans as well as for small broken beans and any other defects, as these will affect the flavour of the final coffee product.
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