So professional coffee tasters are in charge of blending: the art of mixing different types of coffee to achieve well-defined flavours.Īfter being blended, the coffee beans are roasted through flows of hot air, gradually modulating the temperature, and thus obtaining different results depending on the type of preparation for which the product is intended: mocha, filter or espresso. Once the coffee beans have arrived at their destination, to attain the highest quality, the most attentive roaster can adopt further cleaning and sorting methods such as blowing, skewering, densimetric sorting and optical sorting. Green coffee ready to be shipped to the country of destination is packed in 60 or 69 kg jute sacks and is transported in containers. The coffee blends thus obtained are called ' semi-washed'. The third method, semi-washed processing, the cherries are de-pulped and demucillaged by a special machine, thus avoiding the fermentation phase, and the coffee is dried in the sun or in driers. From this process, washed or 'mild' coffee is obtained. However, with wet processing, the coffee cherries are stripped by a machine and the seeds are left to ferment in large tanks of water for 1-2 days. With this method, ' natural coffee' is obtained. In the first, the coffee cherries are spread out in thin layers and left to dry in the open air for 2-3 weeks. There are three coffee cherry processing methods: dry, wet and semi-washed. This is the process from which green coffee beans are obtained, ready to be exported. Stripping, on the other hand, is performed in a single step by workers or using special machines that pick all the coffee cherries, including those that are unripe, or which have already fermented.Īfter harvesting, the drupes are checked to remove unripe or overripe fruit, and the processing stage then begins. In this way, a homogeneous, high-quality harvest is achieved. The first method is carried out manually: workers select only ripe coffee cherries and return to the same plant a number of times over several weeks. The two systems used to pick coffee cherries are known as picking and stripping. In Brazil, harvesting takes place between May and September, in Central America from October to March, in Africa from March to September. Ripening is not simultaneous for all berries, so harvesting takes place over several weeks. The coffee cherry consists of a skin (outer exocarp) and pulp (endocarp) that enclose the two seeds or kernels, which, in turn, are covered by a parchment casing and a silvery membrane. Once ripe, it is similar to our wild cherries, from which it takes its name. The fruit of the coffee plant is a green drupe when still unripe, turning red after 7-8 months. The two cultivated species from which the cups of coffee we drink are Coffea Arabica and Coffea Canephora (Robusta). The coffee plant belongs to the Rubiaceae family and thrives in the tropical belt of our planet. The coffee beans we buy and grind to brew our favourite beverage are the result of a transformation process that begins with the harvesting of the coffee beans and goes through their processing, blending, and roasting.
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