A huge amount of work goes into making the perfect cup of coffee – and its amazing journey from tree to cup can cover thousands of miles!
This month, we take a look at the process, from initial planting and harvesting, through the processing, blending and roasting, and into your cup!
The plant
Coffee beans come from the berries of the Coffee plant – a shrub/tree that can be grown across the tropics. There are two main types of coffee grown commercially, Arabica and Robusta.
Arabica makes up around 75% of the world’s coffee production. It’s harder to cultivate and lower yielding than Robusta, but more highly prized for its sweeter and more complex flavour. Robusta is higher yielding, cheaper and contains more caffeine. It’s also more bitter tasting, and tends to be found in instant coffee. It’s also used in some blends, to help improve the crema of the coffe.
Planting
Growing coffee starts with the seeds (beans), which are planted in shady nurseries, and once they reach about 50cm in height, they are transplanted to their permanent groves. They are then left to grow for between 3 to 5 years until they mature.
Upon reaching maturity, the coffee bushes start to bear fruit. These fruits are known as cherries, and house the coffee beans.
Harvesting
Once the coffee cherries turn a bright, deep red, they’re ripe and ready for harvesting.
Whilst the process is slowly being mechanised, in most countries, picking is still done manually, either by hand, or by using small rakes or poles to remove the cherries. A skilled coffee picker can harvest between 45 and 90 kg of cherries each day.
They harvest either by strip picking, where they take all the cherries from the branch at once, or by selective picking, when they only harvest the ripe cherries. Selective picking is usually reserved for the best Arabica beans.
Processing
After picking, the beans are ready to be prepared and separated from the pulp of the cherry. This is done in two different ways:
Dry
The traditional method of processing coffee is known as the dry method – because it doesn’t use any water. It’s still used in some areas, like Western Africa, where water is scarce.
In the dry method, the coffee cherries are simply laid out in the sun to dry, until the moisture content reaches 11%. Depending on the weather, it can take several weeks to dry each batch of cherries sufficiently.
Wet
The more modern way of processing is known as the wet method. First, the cherry is put through a pulping machine, before the beans are separated by size and weight.
Then, they are placed into water filled fermentation tanks, which removes the film that covers the parchment that covers the bean. The beans are then washed.
The pulped and fermented beans now need to be dried to around 11% moisture, either by machine, or in the sun, ahead of being stored in sacks (usually made from sisal or jute), ahead of being milled.
It’s widely accepted that wet processing produces superior coffee beans, as it is quicker, and preserves the intrinsic quality of the beans better. As a result, wet processed beans tend to command a higher price.
Milling
It’s now time for the dry husks to be removed from the beans. The beans are first hulled, and sometimes polished to remove the layer of parchment skin covering the beans.
They are then graded and sorted by size and weight, either by sorting machines, or by hand. They are then inspected for quality, and any unacceptable beans are removed and discarded.
Defective beans might include those that are:
- Undersize
- Under ripe
- Insect damaged
- Un-hulled
- Over fermented
Once the beans have been fully milled, the beans become known as ‘green coffee’. They are then packed up again, ready for export.
Tasting
Coffee beans are tested at this point. The green coffee is roasted and tasted by an expert in small batches, to determine the characteristics and flavour of the beans.
They are looking to determine the acidity, body, aroma and flavour, and do this by nosing and tasting the brewed coffee. A skilled taster can determine tiny flaws and differences in taste between batches – and will use this information to help with the blending and roasting process.
Roasting & blending
Green coffee doesn’t have a smell, so to release the flavours and aromas, and turn it into the recognisable brown bean we all know and love, it needs to be carefully roasted. This process is usually left until the beans have arrived in the country they are going to be consumed in, because once roasted, coffee beans have a limited lifespan.
Coffee is roasted at temperatures of over 200°C, in either a drum roaster or hot air roaster, to the point at which the oil inside the bean begins to emerge, and the beans start to swell. Once the desired roast has been achieved (light/dark), the beans are then quickly cooled using air or water to stop the roasting process.
A single type of bean may not have the complex variety of flavours needed to create a great cup of coffee, so the roasted beans are usually blended with other varieties to create the finished blend. Most blends feature between 3 and 7 varieties.
Grinding and brewing
One the blend has been created, it’s vacuum packed to preserve the flavour, before being set off to the consumer. The journey is over, and the beans are now ready to be ground and brewed, to create the perfect coffee!
Start your own coffee journey with Big Coffee
At Big Coffee, we’re here to help passionate people to establish and run their own successful coffee businesses.
From providing you with a superb, handcrafted coffee cart packed with high quality equipment, to supporting you with your business plan and providing you with the right barista skills and advice, we’ll help you turn your coffee dreams into a reality.
For further information or to start your journey today, call our friendly team of coffee experts on 01482 655020.
