From the
seed to the cup, the complex steps to making our morning aromatic coffee.
A coffee bean is actually a seed. When dried, roasted and
ground, it is used to brew coffee. Coffee seeds are generally planted in
large beds in shaded nurseries. After sprouting, the seedlings are
removed from the seedbed to be planted in individual pots in carefully prepared
soils. They will be watered frequently and shaded from bright sunlight
until they are hearty enough to be permanently planted. Planting often takes place
during the wet season.
Depending on the variety, it will take approximately 3 or
4 years for the newly planted coffee trees to begin to flourish fruit. The
fruit, called the coffee cherry, turns a bright deep red when it is ripe
and ready to be harvested. In most countries, the coffee crop is
picked by hand, though in places like Brazil, where the landscape is quite
flat and the coffee fields enormous, the process has been mechanized.
Whether picked by hand or by machine, all coffee is harvested in one of
two ways: Strip Picked - the
entire crop is harvested at one time. This can either be done by a machine
or by hand. In either case, all of the cherries are stripped off of the
branch at one time. Selectively
Picked - only the ripe cherries are harvested and they are picked individually
by hand, choosing only the cherries that are the ripest. Because this kind
of harvest is labor intensive, and thus more costly, it is used primarily
to harvest the finer Arabica beans.
Once the coffee has been picked, processing must begin as
quickly as possible to prevent spoilage. Depending on location and
local resources, coffee is processed in one of two ways. The dry method is the age-old
method of processing coffee and is still used in many countries where
water resources are limited. The freshly picked cherries are simply spread out
on huge surfaces to dry in the sun. In order to prevent the cherries from spoiling,
they are raked and turned constantly throughout the day, then covered at night.
Depending on the weather, this process might continue for several weeks
for each batch of coffee. In the wet method processing, the pulp is removed
from the coffee cherry after harvesting and the bean is dried with only
the parchment skin left on. There are several actual steps involved.
First, the freshly harvested cherries are passed through a pulping machine
where the skin and pulp is separated from the bean. The pulp is washed
away with water. The beans are separated by weight as they are transported
through water channels, the lighter beans floating to the top, while the
heavier, ripe beans sink to the bottom.
After separation, the beans are transported to large water
filled fermentation tanks. Depending on a combination of factors, they will
remain in these tanks for anywhere from 12 to 48 hours. The purpose of this
process is to remove the slick layer of mucilage (sticky plant product) while
resting in the tanks; naturally occurring enzymes will cause this layer to
dissolve. When fermentation is complete the beans will feel rough, rather than
slick, to the touch. At that particular moment, the beans are rinsed by
being sent through additional water channels.
They are now ready for drying. If the beans have been
processed by the wet method, the pulped and fermented beans must now be
dried to approximately 11 percent moisture to properly prepare them for
storage. These beans, still encased inside the parchment envelope can be
sun dried by spreading them on drying tables or floors, where they are
turned regularly, or they can be machine dried in large
tumblers. Once dried, these beans are warehoused until they are readied
for export.
Finally,
roasting transforms green coffee into the aromatic brown beans that we
purchase, either whole or already ground, in our favorite stores. Most
roasting machines maintain a temperature of about 550 degrees
Fahrenheit. The beans are kept moving throughout the entire process
to keep them from burning and when they reach an internal temperature of
about 400 degrees, they begin to turn brown and the oil, locked inside the
beans begins to emerge. This roasting process is what produces the flavor
and aroma of the coffee we drink. When the beans are removed from
the roaster, they are immediately cooled either by air or water. Roasting
is generally performed in the importing countries because freshly roasted
beans must reach the consumer as quickly as possible.
