You sit in your local coffee shop, take a sip of your latte or black gold beer, and relax. But have you ever wondered how Joe got into your cup? Freshly roasted gourmet coffee doesn’t just show up! There is a trip here. Before any roaster can wholesale coffee to any single-cup coffee, a lot must happen. Enjoy the trip!

A coffee tree produces a fruit that we call a cherry. These are small, berry-like and turn bright red when ripe, ready to pick. The skin is thick and bitter but the fruit underneath is extremely sweet. Its texture is similar to that of the grape. Then there is a slimy layer that comes next to help protect the bean. The beans inside are covered by another layer that protects the two halves which are covered by a last layer called silver skin. Yes, lots of layers! This is where we find the raw green coffee beans.

Each year, the coffee is harvested during the dry season, when the cherries are bright red, shiny, and firm. The actual time of year varies depending on the country of origin (actually, the geographic area determines when). However, in general, north of the equator it is harvested between September and March, and south of the equator it is harvested in April and May. Ripe cherries can be harvested by selective picking; that is harvested by hand. They can also be harvested by the pickling method; which is stripped from the tree with immature and overripe beans. Finally, some farmers use a harvesting machine. Picking the ripe coffee beans from the tree by hand will leave the coffee cherries unripe. This is the best way to harvest coffee and will maximize the amount of ripe coffee. The rest will be left on the tree to be harvested at a later time. This is also the most time and labor intensive way of harvesting, so not all farmers do it.

Processing is carried out below. The bean has to be removed from the cherry and this is done in various ways depending on the country of origin. The wet process is the process in which the fruit is extracted from the seeds (beans) before they are dry The wet process method is also called washed coffee. In this method the fruit is removed in water. The coffee beans can be dried in the sun or by machine but in most cases they are dried on patios in the sun.

The dry process is also known as the natural or unwashed process. It is the oldest method of coffee processing where the whole cherry is cleaned and then placed in the sun to dry on tables or in thin layers on patios, completely intact and the dried cherry is removed. after has been dried. Each method gives a different flavor profile to the final taste of the coffee.

However, before anyone can buy green coffee beans, the cherries are raked or turned by hand while drying to ensure even drying and prevent mold. Sometimes it takes up to 4 weeks before the cherries are dried to the optimum moisture content. Of course, this is all up to Mother Nature. Machine drying is sometimes used on larger plantations to speed up the process. This is usually done after the coffee has been pre-dried in the sun for a few days.

The dry method is used for most of the Arabica coffee beans produced in Brazil. Most of the coffees produced in Ethiopia and India also use the dry method. However, in rainy areas, it is not practical.

There is also another method that is used mainly in Brazil, but is also used on some farms in Sulawesi, Indonesia, and Sumatra. These are known as semi-dry processed coffee (also known as natural pulping and semi-moist process). Coffee is made by removing the outer skin of the cherry and drying the coffee with the sticky mucilage and inner skin still attached to the bean. This semi-dry process is what can be called a ‘hybrid’ process.

During the husking process, machines are used to remove the parchment layer from the skin of wet-processed coffee. Hulling dry-processed coffee removes the whole dried cherries. Remember, during the drying process, the beans are dried intact with the entire cherry intact.

Polishing is optional, but it removes most of the silver skin left on the green coffee beans after husking. The roasting process heats the remaining silver skin (straw) and literally peels it off in the roasting chamber and is collected in the chaff collector. However, not all green coffee is polished. In my experience, unpolished coffee has a much better flavor profile than polished, which is more of a mechanically produced coffee.

However, before any coffee is exported or sold, it must be sorted and graded. The coffee beans will be classified by size and weight. Each bean will also be evaluated for defects such as color, chips, and other blemishes.

Some high quality coffees can be hand cleaned twice, called ‘double picking’, or even three times. The latter is called ‘triple selected’. Most specialty coffees are cleaned and graded this way. Color sorting can also be done with machines, but they are very expensive. However, hand-grading coffee provides much-needed work for small rural communities.

At this point, the coffee is exported to buyers and resold by intermediaries or roasted by coffee roasters. The roaster then wholesales the coffee to suppliers and it comes to you through your neighborhood coffee shop or supermarket. You never thought it was so complex now, right? The next time you drink a freshly roasted gourmet coffee, think about the journey of the coffee bean. You will appreciate your solution much more!