Processing the Coffee Beans.

Welcome back to Bean&Machine, as we discussed in out last post that we will be discussing the process of how the beans travel from the plants to your cup of coffee.

In the last blog we talked about Planting and Harvesting the coffee in this blog we will be talking about Processing.    

Depending on the location, technological resources coffee is processed in one of the two ways

Dry Method- This is an age old method which is still used in many countries where water resources are limited. This is a pretty simple way of processing coffee; the picked cherries are spread on huge surface and timely raked, therefore let in sun to dry. This process is done in batches as it might take a batch few weeks to dry properly. Process is carried out until the moisture level of the cherries drop to 11%, which is set moisture for a good coffee bean.

Dry Processing

Wet Method- In this process the pulp is separated from the seed, so as to only dry the beans. This process takes a lot of water and machinery like rotatory drums, rotatory belts and so on. The bad fruit keeps on floating whereas the ripped fruit sinks in the drums which are then sent through a machine and a screen to remove pulp. Then the bean goes through the process of washing which is done by 1:1 ratio with water so as to remove the remaining pulp. Later the beans are dried either in the sun or by machine (only if the place has high humidity and the place is at a premium).

Wet Processing

That’s it for this week make sure you guys come back next week so you can get to know what are the next steps. Have a good week guys!!

Fun Fact: It only takes 10 minutes to start feeling the effects of caffeine after you take your first sip!!