Tesi Johnson, Gleaner Writer
A CUP of Joe, Java, or coffee-tea - call it what you may - starts out as a ripe red berry on the coffee tree. A series of processes transforms the seed within the cherry to the flavourful and aromatic brew that you have grown to love.
The ripe coffee berry is first hand-picked from the tree. The coffee fruit has three coverings that must be removed to get to the actual bean. These are the pulp, parchment and chap. Within 24 hours of harvesting, the pulp and skin are removed by a pulping machine, and then put through a process called
fermentation to remove the mucilage, or slimy residue, still left on the bean.
The beans are then moved to a barbecue (large concrete surface) where they
are sun-dried, or sometimes dried by a mechanical dryer. After the drying, the parchment is removed by a process called hulling.
At this point you are left with the green coffee bean. The beans are then sorted according to size, then by
density. Those beans intended for export, usually the biggest and best, are bagged for shipping. Note that coffee is usually shipped when 'green', not after having been roasted. Those that will be roasted are stored in a vat, and roasted only when a batch is ordered from the customer.
Roasting times and temperatures vary according to the type of roast the
customer wants. For example, roasting at 400°F for seven minutes gives a light roast, and for 23 minutes at the same temperature gives a dark roast. The beans are then passed through a magnetic
de-stoner to remove impurities. Here, the roasted beans may now be bagged for the customer, who will grind the beans themselves, or they are ground at the factory, and then bagged.
BREWING
The universal quality size for ground coffee is medium. If the grind is too fine there will be over extraction, that is, the hot water will remain too long, giving you a bitter brew. If too coarse, water passes through too quickly and the grind is underextracted. Note that, instant coffee is ground from the bad beans and the residue of processing, and thus gives the lowest quality brew.
Now onto the best part - the tasting. Every batch of coffee is tasted by a panel of cuppers, to ensure that the quality standards for the brew are met, and you end up with a great cup of Joe. After having passed the smell and taste test, the coffee is ready to enter your home, where you will be able to steep your own batch of the dark liquid delight, for drinking or to use in recipes.
