Coffee Processing Methods – Indonesian coffee beans are well-known to have a unique and natural flavor compared to other countries. Many factors affect this unique flavor. Soil and the environment in Indonesia is one of them. However, the coffee processing method is the one that might contribute more to Indonesian coffee bean flavor.
What kind of processing method do those coffee farmers in Indonesia use? Here, you will find out about that.
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About Coffee Processing – Coffee Processing Methods
One important thing you should know is processing coffee from raw to ready-to-consume beans takes a long time. Therefore, many people see the coffee processing method as one of the forms of art. Because of that, people in Indonesia are appreciating the farmer who went through all these troublesome and complicated processes to give them delicious coffee in their glasses.
Indonesian Coffee Harvesting Method
The processing method starts from harvesting and preparing the coffee bean. For this part, there are at least four methods that a coffee manufacturer uses to get the coffee material they can process later. They are:
Stripping
This is the method where farmers take the coffee berries from its tree. Many traditional coffee plantations in Indonesia still use manual harvesting methods. However, that is the reason why the harvested coffee berries come in a good condition. In this step, many farmers also prepare to start a new planting season. Therefore, they also take the unripe berries and flowers in coffee trees.
Combing
This method is a more advanced harvesting method. Farmer uses a special comb that has smooth teeth with space. With this tool, the farmer can take the ripe red berries, which are ready to process into coffee beans. On the other hand, the unripe green berries will stay on the tree. It can grow and be ready for harvest when it turns red and ripe. This method helps the coffee plantation to have a longer cycle, which has financial benefits.
Mechanical
This coffee processing method is similar to the stripping and combing method. It uses a specially designed comb to harvest coffee berries. However, it uses a tractor to harvest, which saves more time and shortens the harvest period. However, this method has a flaw. It can’t differentiate between the ripe and unripe berries. It also takes all flowers, which means the coffee trees need much longer time to produce other berries to harvest.
Picking
It is another manual method to harvest ripe coffee berries. By using a hand-picked method like this one, the coffee manufacturer can get the best coffee beans that they need. However, it is much slower than other methods, which is not good in productivity and efficiency for modern industry.
Indonesian Coffee Processing Method
After you harvest the coffee by using one or more of those methods, the coffee is ready to process even further. Here is the method to process that newly fresh harvested coffee berries:
Dry Process
This method uses sunlight to dry. It is the most natural coffee processing method you can find on many Indonesian coffee plantations. However, it requires knowledge and skill from the coffee farmer to place the coffee berries in the right direction. They also need to flip it regularly to get an evenly drying process. Without that knowledge, the moisture and water inside the coffee berries will still exist. That can attract bacteria and fungi growth.
Semi-dry Process
The coffee beans are dried under sunlight. However, you don’t let it fully dry. This process left 12-15% of the moisture. Plus, you also use this method during the day. However, at night, all the coffee beans will be stored in bags to start the fermentation process.
Wet Process
This method requires a lot of water. The coffee beans are processed before it is dried out. Through this method, the farmer also can separate the bad beans from the good beans. Then, the good bean will go through to the next process, which is the peeling and drying process.
Conclusion Coffee Processing Methods
Even though many coffee plantations in Indonesia are still using the traditional coffee processing method, nowadays, they also incorporate modern equipment to improve their efficiency. We hope this article helps you to understand more about the coffee processing method.
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