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December 1, 2016

Processing My Home-Grown Coffee



In my last post, I promised to share my experience with making coffee from my own, home-grown coffee beans. I started with these pretty red coffee cherries.


Some of the cherries are still ripening on the tree. Since a few of the cherries had been nibbled by the birds, I decided to leave some on the plant for their enjoyment. I am still picking more of them, however, as they ripen. The first thing to do after picking, is to peel the red pulp away from the seeds inside. There are mechanical gadgets for such a task, but I simply use my fingers. I split each cherry open with my nails and pop the coffee beans from their sweet surroundings. They have a fruity aroma with a hint of coffee scent, and they leave a sticky, slimy film on the fingers.


The next step is referred to as fermentation. The beans are soaked in water for a day or two to break down the slippery mucilage surrounding the seed. 


I soak them about 24 hours and rinse them in a colander. If they still feel slippery, I put them in clean water another day and repeat the rinsing. When the beans are no longer slimy on the outside, I can proceed to the next step.


The coffee beans must be spread out to dry. This can be done on a screen in the sun or in a food dehydrator. Since the weather is humid and sometimes unpredictable, I chose not to place them outside in the sun. Instead, I spread them out on baking parchment to dry and stir them up every now and then. The air conditioner keeps the environment from being too humid. I have dried fresh herbs from the garden this way with success, so I figured this would work for coffee beans, too. It may not be the most scientific method, but this is an experiment, after all. When my coffee beans are good and dry, I will report back with the news and share the rest of the process. Meanwhile, I will sip on my store-bought Colombian coffee and look forward to satisfying my curiosity in the near future!




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