The coffee bean and its long road to paradise
Every day, several millions of people enjoy at least a coffee cup. However, only a few people know what a coffee bean passes through before it finds itself in your cup. Like every other plant, the bean must be planted, picked, processed, and purchased to get the best coffee. For those who want to know the origin of what they are drinking, below are the steps of a coffee bean from seed to cup:
Coffee farming plants
A coffee bean starts as a seed that is capable of growing into a tree. Farmers plant coffee beans in large beds and place them in shaded nurseries. Afterward, the planters water the seedlings frequently until they are strong enough to withstand permanent planting in their natural soil.
It is best to plant your coffee bean during the wet season because the soil is moist at that time. Hence, roots can establish themselves. Coffee seedlings spend about 15 months in a nursery before you can transfer them to a permanent place.
Fair Trade Coffee1
On average, a coffee tree takes three to four years to bear fruits (coffee cherries). When you notice that the coffee cherry attains its trademark bright, deep red colour, you know that it is time to harvest the cherry. In most cases, there is only one major harvest year. Most farmers handpick the cherries. Hence, harvesting is often challenging and labour-intensive.
You can harvest coffee in two major ways; strip picking and selective picking. In the earlier, farmers strip all the cherries off the branch at once, whether they are ripe or not. In the latter, you only pick the ripe cherries. Consequently, pickers go round the trees every ten days to pick the ripest cherries. A good picker could harvest as much as 200 pounds of coffee cherries a day. Afterward, the proceeds of the harvest go for processing.
Processing and drying
After picking, you must immediately process the cherries to prevent the fruit from spoiling. Based on your location and the resources you have at hand, you can process coffee beans in two ways; the dry and wet methods. The dry method is the traditional age-long way of processing coffee. It is useful where water conservation is paramount. Spread out the picked cherries to dry under the sun and turn them from time to time. Cover the cherries at night to prevent moisture from creeping into them.
Continue the process for several weeks until the moisture content in your cherries is less than 10%. For the wet method, remove the coffee pulp with a pulping machine and allow the cherry to dry with only the parchment skin. The coffee beans are then separated based on their weight in rotating drums and transported to water-filled fermentation tanks. Leave them for between 12 to 48 hours until the mucilage layer comes off.
The coffee bean becomes rough after fermentation, and you can rinse and dry afterward. Dried coffee bean (parchment coffee) is stored in sisal or jute bags until export-ready. Another way of processing coffee is the honey method. It is midway between the two methods above. Costa Rica mostly uses the honey method.
Milling
Your coffee bean needs milling before you can export it. Milling involves hulling, polishing, grading, and sorting. Hulling means that you have to remove the endocarp (parchment layer) from the wet coffee or the entire dried husk of dried cherries. Consequently, you might decide to polish by removing any silver skin left on the coffee beans. Afterward, grade and sort the beans based on size and weight. Usually, coffee bean sizes fall on a scale of 10 to 20. Subsequently, defective beans are sorted out by hand or machinery.
Exportation
Milled beans and green coffee mean the same thing. At this stage, it is time to load the green coffee in sisal bags or other storage containers onto ships. Over 150 million 60-kg bags of coffee enter shipment every year worldwide.
Tasting
Cupping is the process through which coffee needs testing and tasting again and again for quality. The event is carried out in a cupping room uniquely designed for the process. The first step is to evaluate the coffee bean for overall visual value. Next, you should roast the beans in a small lab roaster, ground, and put in boiling water with regulated temperature. The cupper or taster assesses for the aroma, and afterward, the coffee sits for a couple of minutes. Nosing is necessary before tasting begins.
When tasting, an experienced cupper slurps a serving following quick inhalation. The aim is to evenly distribute the coffee across your taste buds and allow you to weigh on your tongue before expelling it. Samples from different batches and coffee bean types are tasted every day for their properties and flaws and to come up with a perfect roast.
Roasting
Roasting converts your green coffee into the scented brown beans that we get from coffee shops. Machines used for roasting operate at a temperature of 550 degrees Fahrenheit. The beans need turning continually to prevent them from being burned. At 400 degrees Fahrenheit, they start to turn brown, and the fragrant oil in the coffee bean emerges in a process called pyrolysis.
Three main types of roast exist; light, medium, and dark. When the coffee bean pops at the first crack, it becomes a light roast if you do not go any further. This roast is more acidic than others and retains more caffeine and a light brown colour. Medium roasts occur at the second pop or crack. Hence, they contain lesser caffeine but a more balanced flavour. Dark roasts go beyond the second crack and come with a fuller body or smokey taste. They almost have a black colour and the least caffeine content. Cooling by air or water follows roasting.
Grinding Coffee
The aim of grinding a coffee bean is to get the most flavour out of the coffee cup. Having a coarse, medium, or fine grind is dependent on the brewing method. The duration of the grounds in water reveals the grade of coffee. A coffee maker prepares a finer grind faster, as seen with an espresso machine.
Brewing Coffee
The flavour of your coffee depends on your bean variety. Nevertheless, most of them have a pleasant taste. People brew coffee in different ways depending on the beverage of your choice. However, most brewing methods are divided into four major groups:
Filtration
This involves passing either hot or cold water through the coffee while being filtered simultaneously. Examples of coffee makers in this group are the electric percolator, Chemex, and Bee House Dripper.
Steeping
Another way to brew your coffee is through steeping. Steeping is also called the immersion method. It involves mixing the coffee in hot water. Afterward, the wet coffee grinds need separation from the coffee. Examples of coffee makers in this group are French Press and Siphon, soft brew, and coffee bags.
Pressure
This technique involves using pressure from air to brew coffee. Coffee makers in this group are Aeropress, Espresso, and Moka pot.
Boiling
Boiling is the oldest method of brewing coffee. It simply involves adding boiling water to the coffee. Examples of coffee makers in this group are Turkish coffee, Cowboy, and Café de Olla.
Final thoughts
The coffee industry is becoming more elaborate, and it has become important to know everything about your coffee bean. Hence, the need to discuss the various stages a coffee bean passes through from seed to cup. Therefore, when next you take that first sip from your coffee cup, you should remember that your coffee is a product of several processing stages before brewing.
This knowledge could be as relevant as your coffee cup itself. Over the years, coffee production and consumption have evolved. Hence, it has become necessary for farmers, coffee lovers, and everyone alike to understand their coffee more. Knowing everything about your coffee bean helps you to appreciate its power better. More so, you can enjoy your coffee cup more satisfyingly.