Getting the bean out of the berry

A ripe coffee berry consists of 2 beans surrounded by skin, fruit flesh and peel. There are 2 methods, wet or dry, to strip away all the layers & get to the bean.

The Wet Method

Soak and Clean

The berries first go through a water channel to soak them, removing dirt & debris. The unripe berries sink to the bottom and the ripe berries will float to the top.

Scouring

Next the berries are scoured in a machine to remove the outer fruit flesh. In the early days of coffee production, the pulp was thrown away, however we now mix it with minerals & reuse it as a fertilizer.

Fermenting

During the next stage the coffee beans are put into a large water vat & left to ferment for two days. This helps to remove more of the fruit flesh as well as the sticky outer layer of the coffee bean. It's during this process that the beans develop their rich aroma and special taste.

Parchment Coffee

When fermentation is complete, the coffee is thoroughly washed. At this stage beans still have an outer parchment skin, this is why it's often called 'parchment coffee'.

Sun Dried Coffee

The washed parchment coffee is then spread out on concrete slabs or drying racks and left out in the sun to dry. To ensure that the beans dry evenly they are turned over several times a day. Large scale coffee plantations often make use of drying machines, that way the drying process can be reduced down to just 24 hours.

Pergamino Coffee

Dried parchment coffee has a beautiful golden yellow colour and is called 'pergamino coffee'. After the drying process is complete the beans are then ready to be transported to a wholesale distributor or exporter.

Green & Blue Beans

In a peeling machine similar to that used during scouring, the remaining dried fruit flesh, the parchment skin and the outer husk of the coffee bean are removed. At this stage the olive green colour of the beans is revealed, some beans are a blue colour & these are particularly valuable.

Selection

The beans are sieved to remove any debris or damaged beans, then a machine sorts them according to their size & shape. After that specially trained staff sort the beans according to their quality class, however there are now machines available that can do this to automate the process.

The Dry Method

A Simple Technique

In Brazil & many parts of Africa, farmers use the dry method. This is often used for Arabica and Robusta berries of lesser quality, it is a simple technique that is less labour-intensive than the wet method.

Two Weeks of Drying

First all twigs, leaves, stones and other debris are removed. The berries are then simply lain out on concrete slabs & left to dry, they are regularly turned to esure they dry evenly.

Peeling the Beans

When the beans are completely dry, they are peeled in a similar machine that is used in the wet method. The beans are stripped of their pulp and the outer parchment skin.

Cleaning & Selecting

After peeling the beans are cleaned, the remaining debris is removed using a vibrating sieves, then the beans are sorted according to size. After this the beans are put in sacks & transported to wholesale distributors or exporters.