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     6 years ago 

    Coffee, from the plant to the cup.

    Today I start talking about coffee, its varietals and what they get from each one: planting, harvesting and processing. To achieve the best coffee in the cup are many factors that influence, and that must be respected, because it depends on the espresso that you are going to have personality or not. Within the most common varietals, we obtain Arabica and Robusta, which occupy between 95% - 98% of the coffee production in the world.
    The meters above sea level where it is grown is one of the factors that most influences the flavor of coffee, in the case of Arabica, it occurs between 800 and 2100 meters above sea level in cold weather; these factors make the grain more dense due to the longer time of grain formation and maturation and will give a cup with more acidity, more aromatic and tasty -this is my favorite-, for its part the Robusta prefers between 500 and 1200 meters above sea level. warmer climates, the grain will be less dense, it will form and mature more quickly, it will have a lower acidity and less character in the cup even with higher levels of caffeine than the Arabica.
    The climate must be constant without large temperature variations, therefore the most favorable zone for its cultivation extends in a strip of 5000 km along the equatorial line; South America, part of Asia and Africa are the best growing areas.
    Other influential factors in the quality and personality of the coffee are planting distancing of the plants according to the variety, shade management, adequate process of pest and disease control.
    From the sowing to the harvest, when harvesting the coffee cherry there are two methods that likewise influence the quality of the coffee, Picking or Selective, which is a manual process, where only ripe cherries are selected one by one , where a more homogeneous and higher quality collection is produced, and the Stripping or milking, which is a manual or mechanized process where all the fruits are removed once and where the cherries are harvested at different ripening points, because in the coffee tree in the same cluster they are found from the flower passing green cherries, ripe and even fermented, this process requires a later check to remove unwanted cherries and impurities.
    From the harvest to the processing of the grain, in this process you can find three types, dry or natural, wet and Honey;
    -The dry or natural: this process is the oldest and simplest since it does not require machinery, the grain is not extracted from the cherry, it is dried in patios extended to the sun or in African beds, these processes take approximately 20 days, In this way, he obtains a cup coffee with lower acidity, high body and vinous flavors.
    -The wet: the first step of this process is the pulping, where the grain is extracted from the cherry however they still keep the mucilage, in this process it is also sought to eliminate it completely, this process takes between 12 to 24 hours in tanks of fermentation, then proceed to drying in the same way extended to the sun in patios or tables of wire of fine maya, in large plantations you can use drying machinery with hot air until reaching the maximum humidity of 12.5%, In this way, he obtains a cup coffee with a lighter body, a fruity and floral flavor and more intense acidity.
    -Honey: This process in principle is similar to wet, the difference is that in this does not remove the mucilage, if not dry the grain with this substance coating the grain; unlike what is thought, in this process the coffee does not taste like honey, the name receives it because the grain feels sticky, you get a cup coffee with a unique flavor, fruity flavor, great sweetness and acidity balanced

    After the drying process follows the threshing where the parchment is removed leaving the green coffee bean and then the toast that in another post will talk about that.

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