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