Processing Coffee

Processing

A Wet Processing mill

Immediately after picking, the cherries must undergo processing to prevent spoilage. Processing consists of drying and removing the two coffee beans inside each cherry.

There are two types of processing, wet and dry.


Dry Processing

Dry processing involves leaving the coffee cherries out to dry in the sun. It is important for the cherries to be dried to the optimal moisture content of 11%, since cherries that are either too dry or too moist will result in a lower quality coffee beverage. Then, the dried cherries are taken to a mill where the beans are extracted and cleaned.

Dry Processing Plant

Wet Processing

Wet processing requires the outer layers of the fruit to be taken off first. Fermentation removes the sticky residue that coats the beans through the use of bacteria. Finally, the beans are cleaned, dried in the sun or drying machines. In either case, the beans must be sorted to filter out the defective beans.

Wet Processing at a farm