All about how coffee is harvested

“Understanding how coffee is harvested is like uncovering the secret of your favorite beverage – the journey of each bean from plant to cup is an art in itself, filled with passion and precision.”

A journey through the coffee harvest

Coffee harvesting is an extensive process that extends from the ripe coffee berries on the bush to the finished beverage in your cup. To understand how coffee is harvested, we need to go through each step carefully. First of all, the coffee berries must ripen on the bush. Ripe coffee berries are usually reddish in color, but some varieties, such as Yellow Catuai or Yellow Caturra, turn yellow when ripe for harvest.

Once ripe, the berries need to be picked quickly and efficiently to ensure the best possible quality. The quality of the coffee can be affected by how the berries are harvested. For example, selective picking, a method where only ripe berries are picked by hand, ensures high-quality coffee, known as “Specialty Coffee”. It is important to carefully select ripe berries to avoid unripe or overripe berries that can impair the taste. After harvesting, the coffee berries undergo several processes such as sorting, fermentation, drying and roasting before they are finally ground and brewed into the coffee we enjoy.

The three main ways to harvest coffee

When careful fingers make the difference – picking by hand

Picking by hand is one of the most traditional and careful methods of harvesting coffee. This method involves workers picking only the ripe coffee berries from the bush, which requires a lot of skill and accuracy. The main advantage of this method is that it ensures high-quality coffee because only ripe berries are picked. This is particularly important for specialty coffee, where quality is crucial.

Picking by hand is mainly used in smaller, family-owned farms producing specialty coffee. It is a labor-intensive method that requires a lot of time and patience, but the result is often a high-quality coffee that has won the hearts of many coffee enthusiasts. Although time-consuming and costly, it is seen as a worthwhile investment to ensure the best possible taste experience.

Time efficiency versus quality – on stripping

Cleaning is a faster method than picking by hand. When weeding, all coffee berries, both ripe and unripe, are pulled off the branch at once. This makes the process much faster and more time-efficient, but it also affects the quality of the coffee. Since both ripe and unripe berries are harvested together, careful sorting is later required to separate the good berries from the bad.

Scavenging is often used in regions where labor is expensive or hard to find. Although this method saves time, it can lead to an uneven quality of the final product as unripe or overripe berries are also included. In order to achieve a higher quality standard, the berries need to be sorted later, which may involve extra work and resources.

When machines take over – the mechanical harvest

Mechanical harvesting is revolutionizing the coffee industry by using machines to automate the harvesting process. This method is similar to weeding, but is carried out by large machines that can harvest the coffee berries very quickly and efficiently. Mechanical harvesting is particularly useful in large-scale production where speed and efficiency are crucial.

But despite its advantages, mechanical harvesting can affect quality, as machines cannot distinguish between ripe and unripe berries as well as humans. The result can be a mixture of different qualities that then need to be sorted. However, automation has allowed larger farms to increase their production and meet the global demand for coffee.

The color that reveals the ripeness of coffee berries

Coffee bushes and their berries undergo a change in color that indicates when the berries are ripe for harvest. Ripe coffee berries usually have a reddish tone, but some coffee varieties such as Yellow Catuai or Yellow Caturra turn yellow when ripe. This color change is an important indicator for harvest workers to know exactly when the berries are ready to be picked.

Understanding how coffee is harvested means observing and interpreting these color changes carefully. Workers must have good knowledge of the specific varieties and their ripe colors to ensure that only the ripe berries are picked. This accuracy is essential to maintain high quality coffee and minimize the amount of unripe or overripe berries that can negatively affect the taste.

The harvest window – why harvest times vary

The harvest time for coffee varies depending on the region and climate. The coffee harvest period usually lasts several months and is often divided into main and intermediate harvests. This time window is influenced by many factors including weather conditions, altitude and the type of coffee grown.

In some tropical countries such as Colombia, the harvest time can be as long as eight to ten months due to the stable climate. While in other regions such as Central America, the harvest time is more concentrated in specific months of the year. These differences require growers to be flexible and adaptable to maximize the harvest and quality of the coffee berries.

Processing of the coffee berries

After the coffee berries are picked, they go through several steps to become finished coffee beans. First, the berries are sorted either by hand on tarpaulins or by semi- or fully-automatic machines to separate ripe berries from unripe or damaged berries. A water bath is sometimes used to identify internal defects; bad berries that float, so-called. “floaters”, are distinguished from those that sink.

The next step is to remove the pulp from the beans, a process called pulping. The beans are then washed and fermented to dissolve the remaining fruit residues. After fermentation, the beans are washed again and then dried thoroughly on drying beds or in mechanical dryers. This drying is important to prevent mold and preserve the quality of the beans.

After the beans have dried, they are peeled to remove the parchment skin around each bean. The final product is raw coffee beans, which are then re-sorted and packed for export. The process of removing defects and carefully processing the coffee beans is crucial to ensure that the final product is of the highest possible quality.

Looking to the future – technology and the coffee harvest

The advent of technology in the coffee industry has changed the way coffee is harvested. Modern methods and automation have allowed coffee producers to streamline the process and increase production without lowering quality. Mechanical harvesters, automatic grading machines and advanced drying methods are some of the technological advances used today.

However, these technological advances have both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, they allow large producers to meet the increasing global demand for coffee and reduce production costs. On the other hand, they can also challenge small producers who may not be able to afford the latest technology and instead rely on traditional methods to ensure quality.

The future of coffee production is likely to see an even greater integration of technology, with a focus on finding a balance between efficiency and quality. The discussion around the impact of technology on the production and quality of different scale businesses continues, and it is clear that the future of coffee is both exciting and full of possibilities.

Photo by Michael Burrows on Pexels

Photo by Michael Burrows on Pexels

Photo by Michael Burrows on Pexels

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