The processing of specialized coffee is usually after the harvesting process and it is one of the most important development stage that affects the compounds and flavors of wet coffee seed before roasting. In this process, coffee beans are treated differently by the roaster man and the maker of coffee (barista) and according to the type of coffee processing where it affects the taste and flavor of coffee. It is not limited to the types and processing mentioned only, there are several types of processors for many specialized coffee that vary from country to country. Coffee processing is the stage that follows the stage cultivation after the picking process as according to the nature the method by which the specialty coffee beans will be processed, and the factors of their journey in the processing of coffee are affected. These methods vary from one country to another, and among the most famous
Coffee processing by drying method
Natural drying processing is the method of drying coffee cherries after picking them between five to six weeks often. The only ripe coffee cherries process of manual picking begins, then they are collected and placed in a large water container; the goal here is to process the coffee beans washed and purify the healthy cherries and filter them from impurities, then they are placed and spread on places dedicated to drying under the sun. It also needs to be stirred periodically to in order to dry from all sides, after which they are collected and peeled and sorted by size. After that coffe beans are washed and dried from the moisture of the water and put in bags dedicated to them.
Advantages of the dried method
- Coffee flavor “fruit”
- Heavy texture of dried coffee.
- More sweetness of coffee.
- It is considered a coffee with complex flavors
- Coffee life span is longer
Coffee processing by washing method
Coffee processing this way, the cherry peel is removed and the beans are washed; the coffee is filtered through a number of layers and dried for about two weeks or less. The ripe cherry is collected, served and placed in a water container sort the proper coffee bean from the damaged and filtered, then placed in machines to separate the “cherry layer” from the seeds of green coffee. Then passed to be replaced in another water container to be disposed of the last layer, and then the green coffee beans are put on high beds for a period of time between eight to ten days approximately and then ready for packaging in custom bags.
Advantages of processing washed coffee
- The difference is that acidity is higher than dried
- The texture of washed coffee is lighter
- Coffee flavor and intimations are obvious
Honey coffee processing
The processing of honey coffee is a new method that mixes the processing between the washing and drying methods, where the coffee cherry is removed but without washing the honey layer as the previous methods of picking the cherry manually, then sorting and filtering it using water containers and then peeling the coffee cherry where only green coffee beans will remain surrounded by the honey layer, and are put on beds to dry and branch out of them many types depending on the duration of drying.
Advantages of honey coffee processing
- The strength of coffee is considered between dried and washed
- Coffee flavor “fruit”
- Moderately acidic coffee
Anaerobic processing
This brewing step usually comes at the beginning. That is, when the coffee reaches the coffee processing station and before the coffee cherry is removed from the coffee bean. The process is fermented either in rust-resistant iron tanks or dense plastic bags, and there is a way to excrete carbon dioxide without access of oxygen. Moreover, there is intensive monitoring of the acidity rate in the anaerobic environment. Anaerobic processing is mostly characteristic, after the end fermentation phase in an anaerobic environment, processing coffee in any of the three known ways: washed, honey and dried is available.
What is the best coffee processing?
To answer this question you should know that these are the most famous three methods of coffee processors in the world, and when you buy any crop and from any roasting place you will mostly find the information about the type of processing of the crop on the bag, and then you can decide the type of coffee you want to prepare, and the price of the crop may lag behind because of the type of processing and most often dried processing is more expensive than washed processing, for example if the type of processing is dried, it will certainly be used as distinctive to prepare filtered or distilled coffee and may be distinctive. Also in the preparation of espresso, if the type of processing is mostly washed it will be better to prepare espresso than to filter or distill whereas; if the type of processing is honey you can prepare it with filtration or espresso. And in the latter, the difference in the type of processing is very important to prepare the coffee you want to prepare, before you choose the right type you must specify the type of drink you want to prepare, and on based on this the type of coffee processing is typed on the package.
Roasting coffee depending on the type of processing
The process of roasting coffee beans comes after processing. The seeds and the types of chemicals inside them are checked by experts, so that the roasting men can deal with them to the required level. Roasting is done in a specialized way which is roasting with hot air, after roasting is complete the type of coffee processing is written on the cover of the coffee package.
