Farmer picks the ready cherries from the coffee plants and then deliver harvest to site collection centers within 8 hours. Cherries delivered by farmers must be also be soaked by the farmers themselves before weighing to ensure that only ripen and good quality are delivered to site collection centers. From site to coffee washing station, coffee is transported by truck, bicycles or by head. Upon delivery as cherry, the coffee receives a paper “ticket” that follows the lot through all its processing journey.
This ticket bears the date of harvest and the grade (A1, A2, etc.) of the coffee. For instance, if a coffee lot is called “Lot 1-06/04 -A1”, this means it was the first lot processed on 6th April and the grade is A1. This simple but effective practice is a crucial tool in controlling quality and ensuring the traceability of lots.
After weighing and name tagging lot, the cherries are re-sorted by weight (and any floaters are removed) by a Pinhalense machine that the washing station staff affectionately have named the ‘Umupolisi’ (police person) prior to pulping where light cherries are removed and processed separately as lower grade coffee.
The retained heavy beans go through a series of coffee de-pulping and grading to ensure the highest possible coffee quality. To ensure the coffee mucilage are reduced, the coffee goes through mucilage remover machine to reduce the time of fermentation. This practice saves beyond 6 hours that would be taken during fermentation. Dry fermentation last usually 12 hours and then the wet parchment is washed by high pressured water and grading is done throughout long channels to separate coffee by density.
During this grading stage, coffee beans pass through a series of canals that allow lighter, less delicious of coffee beans to pass through, while retaining the heavy, sweeter beans. The retained washed beans (the heaviest – or A1 – usually being the best) are moved from channels to pre-drying tables, where they are carefully sorted under shade for around 4 hours.
Next, the beans are taken on raised drying tables for around 14 days in warm days or 21 days in rainy days. The coffee is also sorted again for defects, any damaged beans and it is turned regularly by women (seasonal workers) and the latter are tasked to protect coffee from rain or the midday sun by using covers.
Almost every day, the coffee is tested for Relative humidity by quality controller for the period of drying and when the coffee reaches 11% relative humidity, the coffee is taken to store prior to final dry-milling processing.
With a lovely balance of sweet and bright, this coffee brings juicy clementine’s backed up by silky butterscotch and milk chocolate. Finishing with sweet lemon, that citrus hit keeps going with a lingering lime.
