Here at Alta Organic, we care deeply about the planet. Here's Part 2 of our newsletter talking about coffee, coffee farming and ways they are fighting to combat global warming. In this issue, we'll talk about the journey coffee makes and processing green beans.
There are two types of coffee beans - Robusta and Arabica. The Robusta bean grows in the lowlands and lacks the fragrance and flavor of the Arabica bean. The bean we are concerned with is the high grown, Arabica bean, growing at altitudes between 2,000 - 7,000 feet in the mountains of the tropics called the Coffee Belt. The Arabica tree cannot tolerate extremely high or extremely low temperatures. That's why it grows best in well watered mountainous regions of the tropics.
Provided a coffee seedling does not meet with climatic disturbances or disease, 3-5 years will pass before it begins to produce a crop. Once it has begun producing berries, it will bear coffee for another 20 years. Generally, rainfall and temperature determine the number of annual harvests. Regions with two distinct wet seasons, such as Costa Rica, usually have two flowerings and two harvests per year. One Arabica tree will yield between 1 - 1 1/2 pounds of coffee beans per harvest.
The coffee bean is really a seed that grows inside a berry. For the sweetest flavor the berries are picked when the fruit is red. Workers walk between rows of trees with baskets or bags around their waists, leaving both hands free to pick the ripe cherries. The workers must return to the trees more than once because all the cherries do not ripen at the same time. It is important to remember that there are no pesticides or synthetic fertilizers used on organic farms so the workers, including men, women and children, are not at any health risk. On "technified farms" the increase in birth defects and cancer due to chemicals used is astounding.
Green Bean Processing
Once the harvest concludes, processing must take place to remove the coffee beans inside each cherry. Two processing methods exist, the wet (washed) method and the dry (unwashed) method.
The processing method helps determine the ultimate flavor of the brewed coffee. For example, wet processed coffees tend to have a cleaner flavor, while dry processed coffees often exhibit a heavier body. In the wet method, a machine breaks away the cherries' outer skin, removing most of the pulp and exposing the parchment-covered beans. To remove the sticky coating called mucilage, the beans are placed in large tanks of water to ferment for about 24 hours and then are thoroughly washed. At this point when the water is released, it flows into nearby rivers so it is critical there are no chemicals in the berries that could end up in the water polluting the streams and rivers big time. The clean beans dry in the sun for up to six weeks or are dried by a machine. In the last step, a hulling (milling) machine removes some of the parchment and silver skin to expose the green beans. They range in color from blue/green or gray/green and tend to command higher prices because of the additional labor and equipment involved in the processes.
Some countries such as Sumatra and Ethiopia use the oldest and simplest method of processing - the dry method. In this method, the ripe cherries partially dry whole on the tree and then are spread out in the sun on patios. Raked and turned several times a day for another two or three weeks. Finally, the dried beans are put through hulling machines to remove the dried pulp, parchment and silver skin. Dry processed coffee tend to be greenish to brownish in color. These coffees are often referred to as naturals and usually have more body and earthy overtones after roasting.
Reference: Biological Conservation Newsletter #161.
