by Marc Warren
The harvesting of coffee beans is a huge industry. Coffee is second only to oil as a worldwide commodity.
Though there are dozens of bean varieties, the plants fall into two main classes: the arabica, first cultivated on the Arabian Peninsula, and the robusta which contains about twice the caffeine.
The fruit is not of any interest to coffee growers. It simply serves as a protective home to the valuable seed, or bean, that it holds inside. This beans is the start for the over 400 millions cups of coffee made worldwide on a daily basis.
The beans come in two main varieties, green and red, with the latter - with its higher aromatic oil and lower acid content - used to produce the finer coffees. Hence one of the most important stages in the life cycle of bean to shelf is the picking.
Must of the fruit is hand picked. This is a slow process. But it requires skill to be able to correctly distinguish between the beans picked and separate the red from the green.
After the fruit it is soaked and scoured to remove the beans from its center. After being removed the beans are cleaned to remove any excess fruit. The beans are then laid out on the ground to dry in the sun until almost all moisture from the bean is evaporated away.
Once dried the beans are separated. Some of this work is still done by hand, though machines are now more prevalent to do this part of the job. Once sorted, some beans are allowed to age from between 3 to 8 years, to be used later to make special types of coffees. Others are set aside to be roasted within the same year picked.
During the 400-degree Fahrenheit roasting the beans expand to about twice their dry size, crack and change color from green to brown as oil in the interior is released. It's this oil that gives the different coffees their basic flavor.
Once roasted the bags must be allowed to stand so that the carbon dioxide that they produce can dissipate. Roasting is done to different degrees to produce different flavors of coffees. Kenya and Java have a technique of lightly roasting their beans and this gives their coffee bean a unique flavor.
About the Author:
Are you looking for information about
making expresso or other coffee-centric subjects? You need look no further than the Coffee Poet blog, where we share your love of a great java. Visit http://www.coffeepoet.com for more great tips and advice.
Tags:
brewing coffee,
coffee,
coffee beans,
coffee drinker,
coffee maker,
coffee processing,
coffee roasts,
drinking coffee,
expresso maker,
java,
making coffee
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July 27 2009 | coffee | No Comments »
by Marc Warren
From its origins over two thousand years ago, coffee bean processing has grown to a worldwide market whose output as a commodity has a dollar value second only to petroleum.
The variety of coffee beans is staggering, but they have classified into 2 main types the arabica and the robusta. The arabica gets it name from its original home, the Arabian Peninsula. The robusta is different because it has a high caffeine content.
The fruit is not of any interest to coffee growers. It simply serves as a protective home to the valuable seed, or bean, that it holds inside. This beans is the start for the over 400 millions cups of coffee made worldwide on a daily basis.
The beans come in two main varieties, green and red, with the latter - with its higher aromatic oil and lower acid content - used to produce the finer coffees. Hence one of the most important stages in the life cycle of bean to shelf is the picking.
Since most beans are hand picked by laborers, at the rate of a few baskets per day, separating the red and green is a valued skill and has a large effect on the final product.
After the fruit it is soaked and scoured to remove the beans from its center. After being removed the beans are cleaned to remove any excess fruit. The beans are then laid out on the ground to dry in the sun until almost all moisture from the bean is evaporated away.
Once dried the beans are separated. Some of this work is still done by hand, though machines are now more prevalent to do this part of the job. Once sorted, some beans are allowed to age from between 3 to 8 years, to be used later to make special types of coffees. Others are set aside to be roasted within the same year picked.
The oil that is contained within the beans gives them their unique flavor and aroma. This oil is released during the roasting process where the beans reach up to 400F and burst to release the inner flavor.
Once roasted the bags must be allowed to stand so that the carbon dioxide that they produce can dissipate. Roasting is done to different degrees to produce different flavors of coffees. Kenya and Java have a technique of lightly roasting their beans and this gives their coffee bean a unique flavor.
About the Author:
Are you looking for information about
making expresso or other coffee-centric subjects? You need look no further than the Coffee Poet blog, where we share your love of a great java. Visit http://www.coffeepoet.com for more great tips and advice.
Tags:
brewing coffee,
coffee,
coffee beans,
coffee drinker,
coffee maker,
coffee processing,
coffee roasts,
drinking coffee,
expresso maker,
java,
making coffee
Related posts
February 18 2009 | coffee | No Comments »