Coffland Corp: Know the Stages of Coffee Production

Learn how the production of coffee works with a fair-trade policy

How coffee travels all the way into your mug.

From the land to your cup, coffee comes a long way to please your cravings. Many think it’s an art because it is about technique, instinct and love for the land and the product itself. The selection of the best beans and the way they are processed is almost universal knowledge in the world of fair trade coffee.

The stages of coffee production depend on climate, weather conditions and soil. Plants grow perfectly in the mountainsides, especially those from tropical environments. At Coffland Corp, we are more than proud to say that our private label coffee and carefully selected beans come from Colombian farms.

How coffee is produced

Keep reading to learn about their long journey in order to appreciate the effort from everyone involved in this process.

Plantation of the seeds

The green beans are seeds. They are located in little planters during an activity that often takes place on the wet season in order to make them grow strong roots. They will turn into a tree in about five months, but depending on the variety, it can take between 3 to 4 years for the newly planted coffee trees to bear fruit. Then, it is time for the farmer to recollect the cherries.

Picking the cherries

Yes, coffee beans come from cherries. Coffee starts out as a blossom and develops a fruit gradually. When the trees are filled with the ripest of fruits which are bright and deep red, farmers collect them and harvest them with their own hands or by using machinery. Instinctively, they will pick the right ones in two flowerings annually; there is a main and secondary crop. Bags of fruit being weighed because the pickers are paid by weight.

Processing methods

The cherry must be removed from the seed and it has to be done as quickly as possible to prevent fruit spoilage. For this matter, manufacturers can use two different methods to obtain the bean. If water resources are limited, the dry method is the best, specially because this is how it has been done for centuries.

The freshly picked cherries are spread out in plain surfaces to dry in the sun, but if it is dried too quickly or at too high temperatures, it will lose much of its sweetness, aromatics, and tanginess. During several weeks, the fruits are covered at night or when it rains to prevent them from getting wet. At this point, the moisture content of the cherries has already dropped.

In the case there is enough water, it is used the wet method in which the pulps of the coffee are removed, and then sat under water for a period to degrade the sticky substance surrounding the seed. The beans are separated by weight as they pass through water channels inside a big machine to rest in various water-filled fermentation tanks where the layers finally dissolve.

Drying
If the wet method was applied, the beans must now be dried by exposing them to the sun or they can be machine-dried in large tumblers. But the ones that were processed with the dry methods are warehoused in jute or sisal bags. In both cases, the beans are parchment coffee because they have a very clear color, and then bagged to be brought to the dry mill.

How they are milled

In this stage, parchment coffee goes through a milling process. This will depend on the level of development within the country and the traditions that their citizens are willing to preserve. While there are ones that use machinery during the whole activity, others carry out with the help of individual farmers to do grading and sorting, in which beans are evaluated by size and weight, and are also reviewed for color flaws or other imperfections. Once milled, the beans are categorized as green coffee that is more than ready to export.

Its taste

The taster will have a word on the quality of the green coffee. Also known as cupper, this person is in charge to roast a small portion and brew it. He or she must smell its aroma, taste it, and then express how well and uniformly the beans get roasted.

Roasting process

At this point, the beans had come a long way and are ready to turn from pale color to a bright brown tone. Most roasting machines maintain a temperature of about 550 degrees Fahrenheit. They need to be moved constantly to avoid them to burn. When the oils begin to emerge, it’s a process known as pyrolysis because it produces the flavor and aroma that is served to us at cafés. Once it is done, the brown beans are cooled either by air or water. Then, it’s stored in packages and is sent to business around the world.

To each grind their brew

Depending on the brewing method, the coffee should be ground coarsely or finely. Most commercial grinders are usually roller mills that minimize the contact between metal and coffee beans, in order to preserve the flavor and aroma. Consider this a guide: The finer the grind, the faster the coffee should be prepared. Sometimes the result of commercial (industrial or semi-industrial) grinds is packaged and sold to all the coffee lovers out there, but most connoisseurs prefer to grind the beans at home.

After learning about its journey, brewing coffee every morning is surely more meaningful and pleasant. In Coffland Corp, we appreciate the human effort that is put into this ancestral process with modern techniques and fair trade policies. Contact us to find out how we can give you the best products for your coffee business!