What do terms like “cherry” and “selective picking” mean in the coffee world? Let’s take a journey beyond the cup and see how coffee is grown, harvested and processed.
Technically, a coffee bean is a seed, and there are several different coffee species. Coffee seeds that aren’t harvested and dried for coffee are planted and grown in either nursery beds or polybags. It can take up to four years for newly planted coffee trees to mature and bear fruit. Coffee trees grow best in countries located in subtropical or equatorial regions. The trees produce fruit called the coffee cherry, which, once ripe, does resemble a fruity cherry freshly plucked from a tree in Door County.
Once ripe, the firm red coffee cherries are harvested two ways: strip picking, which involves a machine that strips all the cherries off the branch. Hand picking, or selective piking, is the most common yet labor intensive method in which workers selectively handpick ripe cherries from the coffee trees.
The freshly picked coffee cherries must be harvested as soon as possible. Harvesters can use the traditional dry method of processing, a process that goes back centuries and involves the harvesters spreading the cherries out on large cloths or tarps to dry. The cherries are frequently raked and turned to prevent spoilage. As the cherries dry under the sun, the pulp separates from the bean, and the bean dries out.
There’s also a wet method of processing, which moves the cherries through a pulping machine that separates the bean from the pulp, leaving just a parchment skin on the bean. Wet method machinery also includes rotating drums that separate the beans by size. The beans are then transported to fermentation tanks, during which a layer of mucilage is removed from the beans. The beans are then rinsed and ready for the drying process. With the wet method, the beans are spread out on large screen-like structures to dry.
Beans processed through the wet method need to be hulled once they are dried. Hulling machinery removes the parchment layer from the bean. Sometimes the beans are also polished, an additional step that removes any additional skin on the bean. The beans are then sorted by weight, and any imperfect beans are removed. Sorting can be done by machine or by hand.
At this point, the milled beans are dull green in color and ready for exporting. The coffee is weighed and put into jute bags. But before being shipped, the coffee is roasted in small sample batches and tested for quality by cuppers—coffee tasting experts akin to sommeliers in the wine world. Then off it goes, on its way to national and local coffee companies for roasting, grinding and brewing for us to enjoy.
