The Coffee Plant

The Coffee plant is a member of the Rubiacee family and the wild can grow to 30ft but on plantations they are pruned to 6-8ft to make picking easier. They are botanically unusual because at any one time they can have flowers, immature green cherries and ripe red cherries all at the same time. The coffee cherry looks like an ordinary cherry but with a tougher skin. It contains a nut, and inside this two coffee beans covered in a thin, parchment skin. The coffee beans are actually the seeds of the coffee plant. The plant is also self-pollinating. A crop of cherries is produced 3-5 years after planting, and continues for 20 to 25 years afterwards depending upon care and conditions. A single bush generally produces only 1 kg of cleaned beans per year.

Coffee Species

There are sixty species of coffee but only two types which are mainly used in blending.

Coffea Arabica

This species of coffee makes up at least 60% of the total world coffee production and is prized for its quality. It has a greenish blue appearance and grows best at an altitude of 600 m above sea level in soil that is rich in minerals and in regions that have a constant temperature of 20 degrees Celsius.

Coffea Robusta

This species of coffee makes up the other 40% of the worlds production and is a small round brownish bean with double the caffeine of the Arabica coffee. It is grown in Africa and Asia where the climate is unsuitable for Coffea Arabica and because of its adaptability to the regions it is disease resistant and has high yields.

Ripened for the Picking

Harvesting

There is only one crop per year, with harvest times dependent on the geographical position of the plantation.

Strip picking the entire crop is removing the berries in one pass, thus there are cherries of all stages of development included. Selective picking ensures that only the ripened cherries are picked. This is very labour intensive and is used only for Arabica coffee beans.

Processing

There are two methods of processing. The "wet method" (washed) and the "dry method" (unwashed). After each method of processing the beans are known as parchment coffee and are stored like this in a stable atmosphere until shipping.

Wet Method

This method of processing requires greater investment and more care but helps preserve the bean. The cherries are placed in a pulping machine that crushes the cherries and removes the skin and pulp. The beans are then washed and the mature beans and immature beans are separated and stored in fermentation tanks to remove the slippery layer on the parchment. The beans are then dried in mechanical dryers or they are placed in the sun on large tables where they are regularly turned to ensure they dry evenly.

Dry Method

This method of processing is the most traditional and least expensive way. The harvested cherries are spread out over a concrete or brick surface in the sun. They are raked regularly to prevent fermentation. After about 4 weeks the moisture content will have fallen about 12%.

Milling or Hulling

The parchment is removed just before export and may be done using different types of machinery.

Polishing

There is no real need to polish the beans other than for giving the coffee a good appearance. This is done after the beans have been hulled so that any silver skin left on the beans is removed.

Grading and Sorting

Beans are graded by size and density usually using the human eye rather than machines. They are then sorted to remove any bad beans, over-fermented beans or un-hulled beans.

Exporting

Over 6 million tonnes of coffee are produced each year, then shipped all over the world. Generally the beans are shipped when in the parchment state, as this provides some protection for the bean.

Roasting

The process of roasting burns off any free moisture from the beans then forces any residual moisture out of the bean. When the beans reach a temperature of 200 degrees Celsius, the aromatic oils begin to emerge. These oils carry the flavour and the aroma.
The beans must be roasted carefully to ensure the oils have been brought to the surface without burning the bean. The beans are kept moving throughout the roasting process to ensure they are evenly roasted and to stop them from burning. The roasting process is stopped with cold water sprayed onto the beans inside the roaster to cool them down quickly and further cooling occurs with cold air passing through the bean over a tray.

Packaging

Roasted coffee beans must be protected from light, heat, moisture and air, all of which impair the flavour. The Coffee Club Signature Blend is packaged in a thick walled, vacuum sealed bag with a special valve that allows the carbon dioxide produced by fresh beans to escape, but prevents oxygen from entering.