Meet More Chances

Coffee is one of the world's most consumed beverage in the world,
making it an important agricultural commodity. The demand of coffee is
still increasing while there is a possibility that production may
fall.

Coffee is cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in Latin America,
Africa, Asia and Southeast Asia. Around 7 million tons of green coffee
are produced worldwide. There are 80 kinds of coffee trees but only
two of them are cultivated for human consumption. The Arabian tree and
the Congolesea tree.

Coffee grows in fertile soil and needs moderate amount of sun and
precipitation. Coffee tree can grow up to 6-15 meters but in
plantations, regular cutting of up to 3 meters for simpler gathering
process. And it will take around 4 years up to 6 years to bear fruit.

Fruits are called coffee cherries, they are berries with sweet pulp
and beans inside. The unripe berries are green, the maturing berries
are yellow and the ripe berries are red which are ready for harvest.
Most countries harvest manually,  but in Brazil they have a mechanized
process.

Planting the beans. Coffee beans are planted on seed beds in shaded
nurseries to sprout. They are then transferred to individual pots
until ready for permanent planting. During this process they need to
be frequently watered and shaded. Planting should be during the wet
season, possibly where higher trees are planted to avoid over exposure
to the sun.

Harvesting the fruits. It will take about 3-4 years for the trees to
yield harvest. Most countries that grows coffee only harvest once a
year. But for high-grade Arabica trees which is grown in Colombia is
harvested twice a year. If all the cherries are harvested at the same
time, it is called strip picked. But if only ripe berries are
harvested, it is called selectively picked. It is used to harvest
finer Arabica beans.

Processing the cherries. Fresh harvest must be processed right away to
prevent spoilage. It can be dry or wet method. If water resources are
limited then the dry method is used. Wherein the cherries are spread
on drying floors under the sun. Turned occassionaly throughout the day
and is cover at night in case it will rain, to avoid spoilage. For the
wet method, the pulp is removed. The beans are separated by weight and
size. Then they are soaked in fermentation tanks. After fermentation,
the beans are rinsed with only the parchment skin left.

Drying the beans. The beans that was processed by wet method must be
dried for storage. They can be machine dried or sun dried. Once the
beans are dried, they are packed in jute bags and stored until ready
for export.

Milling the beans. The dried husks of the beans are removed by
machine. The remaining silver skin are removed by polishing machine.
The beans are then sorted according to size and weight, color and
other imperfections like unhulled or insect-damaged.

Exporting the beans. The milled beans or green coffee, are those
machine and hand processed. They are of the finest quality exported
into shipping containers.

Tasting the coffee. The beans are tested for visual quality and taste.
The coffee is rigidly tested to determine proper roasting.

Roasting the coffee. The green coffee is transformed to brown beans.
Readied for purchase either ground or whole.

Grinding the coffee. This process will bring out the most flavor of
coffee in a cup.

Brewing. Finally, this is the time when you can enjoy the aroma of
coffee. Just the aroma itself stimulates the senses.