Preparation and Processing of Coffee
To prepare the green coffee beans for market, they have to be removed from inside the berries that have been picked off the coffee shrub.
There are two methods of removing the two hard and pulpy outer layers: “wet” and “dry”. In both methods the seeds are sifted though meshes of various degrees of fineness and then graded and sorted by size.
The WET method
This method is considered at produce a better bean. It is used for the handpicked, quality beans.
With this method, the coffee beans must be extracted from the freshly harvested berries within 24 hours. The berries are cleaned, the husk and pulp are removed, and then the seeds are steeped in fermentation tanks, washed and finally dried.
It is the fermentation stage that gives the beans a superior flavor.
Sometimes coffees made from beans prepared by this method are referred to as “washed coffees” due to the beneficial soaking of the beans.
The DRY method
This produce is sometimes referred to as the “natural” method.
The picked berries are spread in thin layers and dried in the sun or in heated dryers. Sometimes they are heaped first, for a brief period of fermentation.
Once the berries are dried, the pulp is the separated from the coffee seeds by a mechanical husker.
Preparation and Processing of Coffee
