At the time you are enjoying a cup of coffee or a sip of our delicious BE ICED cold brew coffee, around 125 million people worldwide are working coffee for their livelihood.
Coffee Cherries
Cherries contain the coffee seeds or, more commonly, coffee beans. Each cherry usually contains two beans. Occasionally, in about 5% of coffee cherries, there is only one seed, known as a pea-berry.
Once the coffee cherries begin to turn red, they are ready for harvest. There is usually a large harvesting period between October and December. However, in countries such as Colombia, there is also a secondary harvest, which usually takes place between April and June.
Most coffee beans are harvested by hand, in strips or selectively.
Processes to obtain coffee flavor and aroma
Wet milling
Once harvested, the fruit must be processed quickly to avoid oxidation, as this can damage its flavor. Coffee that uses the wet processing method is known as washed coffee.
Dry Method
An alternative method is the dry method, also known as unwashed or natural coffee. It is an ancient method and is often used in countries where rainfall may be scarce. It is a much cheaper alternative to the wet process; however, the final aroma can be affected, creating a milder coffee.
Milling and dehulling
Dehulling is part of the milling process and is used to remove the parchment skin (parchment) and residues from the fruit. It can be done wet or dry and is done by machine.
Polishing / Aging / Decaffeination
Polishing, along with aging and decaffeination, are other optional stages used in coffee processing. Polishing is used to remove any remaining silver skin. Beans can also be aged, from six months to three years.
Cleaning and selection
Cleaning and selection can also be an additional step, especially for finer coffees.
Classification and cupping
Grading coffee is a process used to determine higher quality coffee and higher prices. Beans are judged from their visual appearance to their flavor on a scale of one to five.
Roasting of the beans
The beans are roasted, which causes chemical reactions within the beans. The starches are converted to sugar, the acidity is weakened and the beans become oily, which develops the aromatic flavor.
Milling and processing
The final stages are milling and brewing. The grains are milled to different levels of fineness. The finer the beans, the smoother the coffee. Coffee brewing consists of pouring hot water over the ground beans and allowing them to infuse.
Before reaching our morning cup, coffee undergoes a long and complex journey. There are eight main stages:
— The growth of the coffee tree. The story of every coffee bean begins with the growth of the coffee tree itself. To achieve this, agronomists carefully monitor growing conditions and create special conditions for the coffee plant to develop and bear fruit. In 9 months (for Arabica) and 10-11 months (for Robusta), provided the necessary conditions are met, the coffee cherry will ripen.
Harvesting . Ripe coffee cherries are ready for picking. There are two main harvesting methods. The first is selective picking, where only the ripe cherries are picked from the trees by hand. This method is very labor-intensive and time-consuming, but it also produces higher-quality coffee. The second method is full picking (or strip picking). It can be done either by hand or with machinery and involves harvesting all the coffee cherries from the plant—both ripe and unripe. This method ensures speed and cost savings, but is of lower quality.
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Coffee cherries processing. During processing, the coffee beans are separated from the rest of the cherries. There are two main processing methods: dry (natural) and wet. In the dry method, whole coffee cherries are left to dry on large platforms, constantly stirred. The dry skin and pulp are then peeled off, leaving the green coffee bean. In the wet method, the coffee cherries are placed in a tank of water, where the pulp and skin fall off. The clean beans are then dried.
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Sorting and packaging . Dry green coffee beans are cleaned and sorted, separating low-, medium-, and high-quality beans. The beans are then packaged according to their classification into large 15-50 kg bags.
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Evaluation (cupping) . To identify the coffee’s flavor characteristics, which must be taken into account when roasting and creating coffee blends, a specialized taster evaluates the coffee. An expert, like a sommelier, can sample hundreds of different coffee beans a day and still perceive the subtle differences between them.
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Roasting coffee beans . This delicate process takes place in roasting workshops by specially trained professionals. Their task is to maximize the coffee’s unique flavor by adjusting temperature, airflow, roasting time, and other factors.
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Coffee grinding . Roasted coffee beans must be ground to a size appropriate for the brewing method. There are three main types of coffee grind: coarse, medium, and fine, each with many subcategories.
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Brewing . Coffee can be brewed in a variety of ways, divided into groups based on how the water is added to the ground coffee.
Interesting fact:
The most expensive coffee—Kopi Luwak—originates in Indonesia, thanks to the help of palm civets, who consume the sweet coffee berries and, after passing through the digestive tract, release the undigested beans from the body at the sound of a cat’s call. This process is believed to contribute to the unique flavor of the finished coffee.
