Harvesting and Selection
Twice a day pickers go up or down the hill on the way to the weighing facility at the farm, each sack of cherries weights approximately 80 kgs, Pickers rotate among the trees every 10 days to get more cherries at the peak of ripeness, this type of work is more costly since we are looking to harvest the finest Arabica beans.
Pickers are paid based on kilos picked during the day, amount is determined by picker’s efficiency an efficient picker can collect 100 kg of cherries per day in a good harvest an average picker between 70-72 kg.
During the Post-harvest the Coffee cherries are ready for pulping process as soon as is harvested to prevent fruit spoilage going them direct to the tanks for washing and fermentation, normally using the wet method where the cherries are passed through a pulping machine that removes the pulp from the coffee cherry so the bean is dried with only the parchment skin left on. Then cherries are selected through the water channel by weight where lighter beans float to the top and the heavier ripe beans sink to the bottom during the pulping process on the other side of the pulping machine we get the skin and it is used as organic fertilizer in the same lands or industry is giving other usages as for dry infusions for example known as “cascara”.
After the separation the beans go to a large water tank to fermentate, those beans will be in the tank between 12 to 48 hours to remove the mucilage that is part of the parchment, Brix level (sugar level) in the bean is measured during the process with a refractometer.
Moving the beans in the tank make part of the process to remove the slick layer of mucilage, when fermentation is completed the beans still feel rough to the touch then they are rinsed going to an additional water channel. As wet method is most used then after the pulping and fermentation the beans have to be dried to get between 10 to 12% moisture then it would be the right point to be stored.
To get the right point of drying it is sun-dried and needs to be spread and moved evenly on the floors to avoid mold. In Colombia driers called ” truck type” are the most commonly used which are raised having also vents spaces to have the right air flow, during this step, moisture is measured with a Moisture Meter to reach the right %.
