Coffee Harvesting Methods

Picking: the natural way of harvesting
This is a fully a manual procedure by which only ripe fruits are picked by hand. The method is characterised by:

• being slow
• giving high quality of the fruit picked
• providing evenness of the harvest
• relatively high costs

Stripping: the quick harvest
This is a procedure that can be performed by hand or machine, and involves stripping the plant of its fruit and leaves. The main characteristics of this process are:

• greater speed
• damage to plants
• unevenness of the harvest
• lower costs

SEPARATING THE BEAN FROM THE PULP AND LEAVES

The fruit and bean can be processed in a number of ways.

The washed bean method
This method is a water-based treatment after picking. The beans are processed through the following stages:

• cleaning
• depulping (mechanical separation of the pulp and bean by rollers)
• fermentation (with water to remove mucilage - 12/24 hours )
• washing (120 l/kg)
• sun drying for 9 - 10 days or in dryer
• hulling and glazing
• grading (large / medium / small / caracolito)

This method is:

• time-consuming
• costly
• technically complex

However, it ensures a high-quality coffee: even, aromatic and clean-tasting. The process also determines the final colour of the bean:

• Coffea Arabica becomes greenish-blue
• Coffea Robusta becomes yellowish-green

The ‘natural’ dry (unwashed) beans method
This method is a dry treatment after the plants have been stripped, and the beans are processed through the following stages:

• cleaning and washing (separation from leaves, wood chips, gravel or soil)
• drying (sun dried or in dryers -1-3 days at 45-60° C)
• hulling (separation skin/parchment from the bean)
• grading (large / medium / small/ caracolito)

This method is:

• rapid
• economical
• technically simple
• more ecological

The process means the sugar content is higher. Again, the process determines the final colour of the bean:

• Coffea Arabica is greenish
• Coffea Robusta tends towards