The processing methods of coffee beans can be divided into four methods: sun-dried, semi-dried, washed, and semi-washed.

No matter what method is used, if the method is improper, the raw beans will be easily infected with mold, absorb odor and become inferior beans. In other words, when producing high-quality beans, we must carefully select varieties and choose good land. If so, the final processing technology and the three major processes must be perfect before they can be called fine beans.

Be sure to choose ripe red fruits for specialty coffee. Everyone knows that citrus, bananas, apples and other fruits are rich in organic acids. Unripe fruits taste sour and astringent, while ripe fruits taste sweet. Tasty because the fruit's organic acids turn into sugar. Coffee also needs to turn red and mature before picking. At this time, the sugar contained in the pulp and the pectin of the sheepskin layer completely penetrates into the beans, greatly increasing the fruity and sweet aroma of the beans. If the coffee farmers want to save trouble, picking the coffee fruits regardless of whether they are green or red will make the coffee taste sour and astringent. Therefore, you must choose ripe red fruits for specialty coffee.

1. Sun-drying method:

The sun-drying method uses natural sunlight to dry coffee berries and green beans, so it is also called the natural drying method. Due to the use of artificial and natural processing methods in the process, beans produced by the sun-drying method look less neat and less pleasing to the eye. However, its rich taste and consistency are preferred by some experts. The processing steps of the sun-drying method are as follows:

1. Select beans: Put the harvested fruits into a tank filled with water. Ripe fruits will sink, while immature and over-ripe fruits will floats up and can be removed.

2. Drying: Place the selected ripe fruits in the square and expose them to the sun for 5 to 6 days until they are fully dry. At this time, the fruit turns dark brown and the moisture content drops to 13%.

3. Shelling: After drying, the peel becomes brittle and easy to fall off, so it can be removed by machine. Enterprise-run farms usually set up their own shelling factories, while small farms leave the processing to processing centers.

4. Selection and grading: Exquisite farms will identify defective beans manually or mechanically, and then pick them out and throw them away. The manual picking method usually uses a conveyor belt about 1 meter wide, with several female workers sitting on both sides visually picking out the bad beans; in some excellent farms, it is even done several times until the defects are no longer visible. So far. The machine selection algorithm uses computer identification to eliminate defective beans. Next, there is the grading process, which divides coffee beans into several quality levels according to established standards. Good coffee enters the selected coffee market, while bad coffee flows into the commercial coffee market.

5. Polishing: The shelling process can only remove the outer peel and inner pulp. At this time, the silver film is still wrapped around the outer layer of the seed, and a machine must be used to polish off this film. Then, the coffee beans are packed into 60 kilogram bags and ready to be sold at a price. The bag weight varies slightly from region to region. Most use linen bags, with a bag of 60 kilograms. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is packaged in wooden barrels, with 30 kilograms and 70 kilograms.

2. Half-sun drying method:

Because the quality of the sun-drying method is difficult to control, the semi-sun drying method emerged. There are several types of transformations, the two most commonly mentioned being fruit puree sun-drying and honey processing. Some people say that the honey processing method is the Puiped Natural Process. We do not refute it because the two methods are too similar. However, we still believe that the honey processing method is a transformation of the Puiped Natural Process according to Los Lajones Estate, because it uses almost no water.

Honey Process:

Introduction to Coffee Honey Process: Honey Process is one of the transformations of Pulped Natural Process, and almost no water is used in the peeling process. After farmers use machines to remove the outer peel of coffee, they usually go directly to the sun drying process without rinsing. The raw beans are laid flat on the rack. Because the pulp and mucilage are very sticky and will adhere to each other or to the rack, farmers must often stir them with a shovel, which is very laborious. The whole process takes 10-12 days, and the moisture content of the green beans will drop to about 11%.

The honey processing method uses almost no water and avoids wastewater treatment. It is the most beneficial to environmental protection. The coffee has a very good flavor and is worthy of promotion.

3. Water washing method:

Water washing method is currently the most popular treatment method. Almost all Central and South America except Brazil use water washing method. The color of washed beans is blue-green and beautiful. The beans are neat and sell well, and the coffee is of the highest quality. Generally speaking, washed beans have better sour aroma and brightness, and the flavor is clean and free of impurities. It is the most common processing method for specialty coffee.

The processing steps of the water washing method are as follows:

1. Bean selection: Place the harvested fruits in a water tank and soak them for 24 hours. At this time, the ripe fruits will sink, while the immature and over-ripe fruits will float up and can be removed.

2. Remove the pulp: Use machines (PulpingMachines) to remove the peel and pulp, leaving only the coffee beans wrapped in the endocarp. At this time, there is still a layer of mucus on the outside of the beans, and the process of washing is to clean this mucous membrane.

3. Fermentation: The mucus has strong adhesion and is not easy to remove. It must be placed in the tank for about 18 to 36 hours to ferment and decompose the mucus.

There are two methods of fermentation, namely wet fermentation and dry and wet fermentation. As the name suggests, the former adds water and the latter does not. During the fermentation process, malic acid, citric acid, acetic acid, lactic acid and propionic acid are naturally produced in the tank. Interestingly, the green beans themselves contain almost no acetic acid, but the washing and fermentation process can increase the acetic acid concentration of the beans, which is beneficial to the flavor of coffee. These acidic substances can not only inhibit mold parasitism, but some sour aroma spirits will also be mixed into the beans (this is why washed beans have a stronger sour taste). However, samples must be taken at any time to see whether the sticky pectin on the pods has been removed before making a decision. Whether to stop fermentation and remove clean pods. Once it exceeds 36--72 hours, it may be over-fermented, producing too much fatty acid and butynic acid and giving off a foul smell. In addition, too much acid added to the beans will make the coffee too sour and astringent, which is considered to be inferior beans!

4. Water washing: Farms that use water washing must build water washing tanks and be able to introduce an endless supply of running water. During processing, the fermented beans are put into the pool and pushed back and forth. The friction of the beans and the power of running water are used to wash the coffee beans until they are smooth and clean. On average, 2-10 liters of purified water is consumed to wash 1 kilogram of coffee cherries, and only about 200 grams of coffee beans can be obtained from 1 kilogram of coffee cherries. It is difficult for water-scarce areas to afford such a water-consuming method of collecting beans.

5. Drying: After washing, the coffee beans are still wrapped in the endocarp with a moisture content of 50%. They must be dried to reduce the moisture content to 12%, otherwise fermentation will continue. Mold and rot. The better processing method is to use sun drying. Although it takes 1 to 3 weeks, it has a very good flavor and is quite popular. In addition, some places use machine drying, which greatly shortens the processing time, making the flavor not as good as sun-dried coffee. Therefore, farms that select coffee almost always sun-dry their green beans.

4. Semi-washing

Not all production areas can use the semi-sun drying method. In production areas with heavy humidity, take out the pods with pectin and then expose them outdoors. Not only It is not easy to dehydrate and harden, but it is easy to harbor mold. Therefore, in areas with heavy humidity, a mechanical semi-water washing method has been developed, which saves trouble and water.

First move the red fruits and half-green and half-red fruits that have sunk into the water tank into the pulp sifting machine to take out the pectin-covered fruits. There is no need to take them to the sun, and there is no need to pour them into the water tank for fermentation, but directly Pour the pectin scraper (Demucilager) next to it and only need a small amount of water. It can mechanically scrape off the sticky pectin chips, take out the pods with smooth surface, and expose them outdoors until the moisture content drops to You can enter the warehouse at 12%.