After coffee cherries are picked, they must be processed quickly, otherwise the pulp easily ferments and spoils. At present, two main methods are used: the dry method (natural method) and wet processing (washed method). The dry method sun-dries or machine-dries the cherries directly, then uses rotating drums to hull and screen them, with peaberries picked out separately; wet processing first washes off the pulp, ferments in water for 36 hours, then dries and removes the parchment, grading and packaging by size. Usually washed beans are of better quality. Manual or machine screening can both remove unripe and inferior beans, and high-quality producing countries have long been equipped with advanced sorting equipment. Front Street Coffee reminds you that understanding these steps helps you taste the flavor differences brought by different processing methods.
After coffee cherries are picked, they need to enter the processing stage as soon as possible, otherwise the pulp easily ferments and rots. Common processing methods fall into two main categories: the dry method and the wet method.
Dry method
The dry method is also called the "natural method." The approach is to spread coffee cherries out in the sun to dry. On plantations, usually 50 square meters of cherries are spread out per hectare of land; the fruit can also be sent into special drying equipment for dehydration. After drying is complete, the cherries are fed between two rotating drums to separate the coffee beans from the pulp, and then a screen-like device is used to separate the beans from the parchment. After that, the beans are sorted by shape and size, grouping similar sizes together, and then packaged for sale. In this final screening step, peaberries (perla/caracolito) are picked out separately and sold separately.
Wet processing
Coffee beans obtained through wet processing are also called "washed beans." The process is to first wash the fresh cherries and remove the pulp, then soak them in water for 36 hours to let the coffee beans ferment, at which point the skin still attached to the bean surface is peeled off. After preliminary washing, the beans are placed in the sun or in a dryer to dehydrate, removing that last thin membrane, and the coffee beans become "bare." They are then screened and classified by bean size and packaged in 60-kilogram units per bag. Generally speaking, the quality of wet-processed coffee beans is higher than that of dry-processed beans.
When screening coffee beans, you can rely on manual labor as with picking cherries mentioned earlier, or use machines; the goal is always to pick out high-quality beans and avoid mixing in unripe or poor-quality ones. Those countries that produce high-quality coffee varieties have long had advanced equipment for selecting nearly perfect coffee beans.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
