Basic coffee Knowledge

Coffee Knowledge

From Harvest to Cup

Coffee is a plant. However, before it can be drunk it must pass through a number of stages and travel thousands of miles.

Harvesting

Coffee beans come from the red cherries of the coffea bush. Each cherry usually contains two seeds, or coffee beans. The exception to this is the Peaberry, where only one bean is produced. The flavour a bean produces is affected by where the coffea bush is grown. Soil, climate and altitude all alter the way coffee tastes; this is why, for example, coffee from Columbia will differ in taste from region to region and from year to year.

Most coffee comes from two species of the coffea bush: Coffea arabica, simply known as 'arabica'; and Coffea canephora var. robusta, simply known as 'robusta'. Robusta beans are cheaper to buy then arabica beans because they produce coffee with an inferior flavour, containing more caffeine.

Pulp and Skin Removal

When the red cherries have been harvested from the coffea bush, the outer layers of pulp and skin must be removed to reveal the green coffee beans inside. There are two common methods of doing this: the 'natural' or drymethod, and the 'washed' or wet method. The natural process of removal tends to give coffee a full-bodied yet mild aroma, whereas the washed process yields strongly aromatic coffee, with a fine body and a lively acidity.

The washed method involves removing the outer pulp by using a mechanical pulping machine before the cherry is immersed into a fermentation tank for between 12 to 32 hours, after which the remaining pulp and skin is washed off revealing the green bean. Finally, the bean is left out in a sunny area for between 12 to 15 days to dry.

In the natural method, the cherry is simply left to dry out in the sun for up to four weeks. During this time the pulp and skin become shrivelled and can then be easily removed.

Reference

Galla Coffee, Unit 3 Warwick Road, Fairfield Industrial Estate, Louth, Lincolnshire, LN11 0YB, UK,viewed27 April 2014

http://www.gallacoffee.co.uk/coffee-knowledge/from-harvest-to-cup.html                                                                                                                                                Tianxiang Wang