Production and Roasting

Coffee Production And Roasting

The production and roasting of coffee are two of the more important aspects of producing coffee. Coffee plants have deep green leaves and can grow to a height of 15 feet, but are usually kept at around 10 feet for harvesting purposes. A coffee plant can be productive for as long as 20 years, even though the shrubs can live for up to 60 years.

Producing Coffee

When the coffee is ready to be picked, red ripe cherry beans, overripe ones, and green fruits can all be seen. To avoid picking overripe beans or green fruit, hand picking is the best way to harvest coffee. Hand picking the beans also allows the green fruit to stay on the tree, which lets these coffee beans ripen. There are also stripping machines that are used for harvesting coffee; with this method, however, whatever is on the branch, ripe or not, will be stripped off. The coffee is then harvested from the beans using either the dry method or wet method. The dry method is used for stripped beans, and the coffee cherries are laid out to dry and then put in a machine, which crushes the hulls as well as the parchment. This method is used for unwashed coffees and natural green coffees. The wet method is more time consuming and more complicated and is the method most used for handpicked coffee. The fruit of the coffee tree is put into a machine to free the coffee seeds from both the parchment and hulls, and then the beans are washed (fermented) to remove any excess pulp. This washing process takes several days. The chemical process during fermentation allows a chemical reaction to take place, which gives the coffee its flavor and aroma. The washing process is done for almost all Arabic varieties of coffee. After these processes have taken place, the coffee is selected and blended to make various varieties.

The Selection Process

No other product grown is put through more quality control tests than coffee. The coffee has to be given the green light from quality control, as buyers will only buy the best beans before they are blended. Most coffee buyers will then perform their own tests to make sure that they are only getting the best coffee.

Coffee Roasting

The most important aspect in coffee processing is the roasting, which gives the coffee its own unique aroma, color, and taste. Over 70% of the characteristics of coffee take place during the roasting period. As the temperature increases in rotating cylinders, the coffee beans will lose 20% of their weight due to evaporation. However, at the same time the beans expand by up to 60%, which then activates substances found within the cells of the beans, which is where the flavor of the coffee stems from. The temperature of the cylinders is controlled, as the higher the temperature, the stronger and more intense the flavor of the coffee will be. Various techniques are used for various flavors and varieties of coffee.