Post Harvest Handling
After handpicking the cherries, there are 6 steps to be observed for the production of specialty coffee.
Step one: cherries are “floated” in containers of water where cherries with “defects” e.g. by insects, are floating on top and fully mature cherries are sinking to the bottom. The floaters are scooped off.
Step two: the cherries are hand-sorted on trays to pick out any over-ripe ones, damaged ones etc. leaving only perfect cherries.
Step three: cherries are “pulped”, that is the fruit is removed and beans are left with their mucilage.
Step four: Then the beans are poured in containers with fresh water and left for 24-48 hours to ferment in order to remove the mucilage and leave them with the silver skin.
Step five: the wet beans are spread again on the trays and defects are removed.
Step six: the clean and sorted parchment is spread on African raised beds/trays for drying. It is essential to closely monitor the exposure to sunshine and heat through the regular movement of parchment and/or the use of shade nets so that the beans dry slowly and uniformly while allowing for air circulation. Overheating or lack of oxygen flow will result in damage to the beans and loss of quality.