Luxury Coffee: Production Process

Picking:
The coffee plant usually starts to produces white blossom flowers from which the fruit of the plant grows (usually known as coffee cherries) after around three to four years. Once the cherries ripen which usually takes around 8 months after they appear on the flower, changing from green to red they are ready to be harvested. There are two ways to harvest the cherries, strip picking and selective picking. Strip picking involves all the cherries regardless of the maturity being taken of the plant. This can be done by hand with a canvas being placed on the ground with the pickers with pull outwards on the plants allowing the cherries to fall into the canvas which is collected once all plants have been picked, this method can be aided using machines to pull the cherries of the plants. In relation to selective picking only the mature cherries are harvested by hand as pickers rotate around the tree every ten days picking only the cherries which are at peak ripeness.

Processing:
Wet Processing:
This process involved submerging the cherries to identify those worth processing as those which are ripe will sink with unripe cherries floating. Once the ripe cherries have been identified the skin and some pulp is removed by pressing the fruit in water through a screen using a machine. Once this is done the bean will still have a lot of pulp attached which is removed using either the ferment and wash technique or a newer technique called machine-assisted wet pressing. The ferment and wash processes involves the remaining pulp being removed by by breaking down the cellulose by fermenting the beans with microbes and then washing them with water. Dry fermentation can also be used where the beans is fermented in its own juices only. The fermentation process in general has to be closely monitored to ensure the beans don't developed any sour flavours. Pulp removal or mucilage removal through fermentation usually takes between 24-36 hours depending on the temperature, thickness of mucilage layer and concentration of the enzymes. The end of the fermentation processes is assessed by feel as the parchment paper around the processes looses its slimy texture adopting a rougher feel. Once fermentation is complete the beans are throughly washed. In machine assisted the pulp is removed by machine rubbing instead of fermentation, cutting down on water used and pollution as the water used in the fermentation processes can be a pollutant. However although machine assisted processing is easier it can remove an important part of the bean that mill operators use to influence the flavour of the bean.

Dry Processing:
This is the oldest form of processing, the cherries are cleaned and then left in the sun to dry out on long concrete or brick patios. The cherries are sorted by hand and cleaned in a process called winnowing, with unwanted cherries being picked out during this process. The drying processes is very important as an over dried bean will become brittle and produce too many broken beans with those not being dried enough become prone to deterioration caused by bacteria and fungi.

Semi-dry Processing:
This processes uses aspect from both wet and dry processes. In this processes the flesh of the cherries is removed using machines and are then stored for up to a day, the cherries are then washed and dried in the sun.

Milling:
the final step in the production process which involves removing the final layers of dry skin and fruit residue on the now dry beans. Hulling is the first step in this process and is usually done with machinery which varies from simple millstones to complex machinery that gently whack the beans to remove the skin. The beans are then polished in which the remaining silver skin is removed with a polishing machine. This is done to improve the appearance of the bean and remove a byproduct of roasting called chaff. The beans are then cleaned and sorted by the beans being blowed with air and then sorted based on quality which is determined by the colour of the bean. The beans are then graded based on size of the bean, altitude grown at, how its prepared and picked and taste.

Storage:
Green coffee is usually transported in jute bags or woven poly bags. While green coffee can be stored for years it can be vulnerable to quality degradation based on how its stored as jute bags are extremely porous, exposing the coffee to the elements. Coffee that's poorly stored can develop a burlap like taste known as bagginess. More recently a gas barrier liner has been introduce in jute bags to help preserve the quality of the coffee.

Roasting:
Although not classed as part of the production process, roasting is an important part of coffee production as this is where the flavours can be drawn out of the bean. There a three classifications of roast light or blonde, medium and dark. During the roasting processes chemical changes within the beans occur as they are rapidly heated to high temperatures. When they reach the peak of perfection they are rapidly cooled to stop the roasting process. It takes years to learn the art of reading the beans to identify when they've reached peak roasting as a few seconds can be the difference between a perfect roast and a ruined batch. 

Light Roast:
Beans are a light brown colour, usually used for milder coffee. The beans will have  on the surface as they are not heated long enough for the oils to break through the surface. 
Medium Roast:
Beans are a medium brown colour with a strong flavour and no oily surface, with a slight bittersweet aftertaste. 
Dark Roast:
Produces shiny black beans with an oily surface and pronounced bitterness. The darker the roast the less acidity that will be found in the coffee with dark roast coffees ranging from slightly dark to charred.