Know the coffee way until your coffee machine

 Equatorial forests - origin of coffee

origin of coffee

Let's talk about the long journey that coffee makes from the time it is collected until it reaches our cup, which is nothing more than an exciting journey from the tropics to our lives.
 
Coffee is a tropical product that is produced in the equatorial forest at best and in deforested areas of this forest at worst
 
We will talk about coffee, going through its transformation. 
 
Firstly, we need to know that coffee is 100% natural and it is cultivated once a year. In order to measure the importance of coffee is needed to say that after petrol is the most exported product worldwide. 
Millions of people depend from coffee, and in many tropical areas it is a source of income for its habitants. 
Developed countries, in these areas, may count up to 50% of their country icons. 
 
To obtain a qualified coffee production it is required a number of specialized processes.
 
Stay and find more about coffee production. 
 

Coffee farming

As you all probably know coffee tree is not cultivated in Europe, it comes from tropical countries. 
Coffee farming is usually done in an area which is called Coffee Green Belt and it is located between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. 
Is in this land where coffee trees are sown. 

Now all the process will be explained:

  • Firstly, seeds or berries are sown in controlled hothouses.

  • After a reasonable time a shrub is obtained and moved to a final destination. 

  • The reasonable time referred above, is about three years.

  • After this, coffee may be produced for 50 years more. 

There are two kinds of coffee; Robusta coffee and Arabic coffee. The first one is more produced and hardier and it may be produced near to the sea level. 
 
Arabic coffee is less produced and always is placed at heights. It offers a higher quality, taste and softness than Robusta. 
 
It is important to highlight that organic coffee production is increasing every day. As a result are obtained coffees that respect the environment and the consumer´s body.
 

 

coffee picking

In some countries, and depending of the coffee tree sown, two harvests may be done.  Even three harvests can be done in some privileged areas. Normally, one harvest is done by year. 
After the bean maturation the harvest is done.  

There are two harvest methods: 

  • Mechanic or stripping which is used mainly in Brazil.  Collectors cut from a tree limb all berries not taking into account its maturation in order to get separated the more matures from the others after. 

  • Manual or picking which is used in Mexico, Central Etiopia, Kenia, India and in other countries. The collector goes between plants to collect, one by one, all the berries which have reached its maturation point. It is an expensive method but it guarantees a higher quality coffee. 

 
Them, the flower is detached from the fruit which contains the seed that after 6 or 7 months will became a coffee been.
 
The coffee bean will reach a red berry color. 
If you wish a high quality product it is better the manual selective collection and it will be even better if the green coffee been is gotten from an organic agriculture. 

Coffee benefits

What is the beneficiary or benefit of coffee?
It consists of the series of steps or stages of processing to which the coffee can be taken to remove or remove all its layers or covers in the most efficient way without affecting its quality and performance
 This is how is called, in America, the process which get divided the coffee fruit from the seed.
 
Once they are divided from the berry, these fruits must be separated in not more than 24 hours, otherwise, the bean can be fermented due to the pulp starch. At the same time, stones and branches are extracted.  

There are two ways of “benefit” coffee to extract green coffee beans. 

Wash: when the fruit is divided it is washed and then its seeds are dried. 

The wash method may be summarizing in the following way: Fruits are divided using special machines and then they are placed in tubs with water to get removed all the pulp using friction. That is called “wet benefit”.  
 

Natural method: the fruit is all dried. 

Coffee beans are dried, in a traditional way. They are spreader out in patios where they are dried by the sun or using drying machines. Is in this point where gold or pergamino coffee arises. 
 
Using this natural method, berries are dried by the sun for twenty days. Derailed machines, which get extracted beans, are only used when shells, pulps and seeds are completely dried
 

HONEY BENEFITED FROM COFFEE

It is an intermediate benefit between the previous two.
 
Basically it is a similar humid beneficiary but the one that does not remove the mucilage of the fruit in its entirety.
 
These coffees may be stored by long period of time, without lost its qualities. Also these coffees may be moved to other areas. That is called dry benefit. 
 
Using this natural method, berries are dried by the sun for twenty days. Derailed machines, which get extracted beans, are only used when shells, pulps and seeds are completely dried.
 

Worldwide trade may get coffee in pergamino or in green. 

The last process to reach the green bean coffee is the mortared method. 
Here is where coffee goes through toothed machines which delete shells or pergamino from coffee beans.
 
In consequence it will be ready to toast. 
 
In the end of the elaboration (both in wash method and in natural method) fruits are changed into green coffee which arrived to European- roasters where the process continues. 
 
But even before coffee is packed, coffee beans are classified following its shape and size because it is important that coffee beans are in the same size and color. That is important to avoid that beans get extra toasted, burned, undercooked in the toast process .
 
This classification is also used to delete or separate defective beans. 
 
 

World trade can buy unroasted coffee and send it to roast in destination countries.
 
The fact that it is roasted in the area where it is to be consumed is due to the fact that once roasted coffee loses aroma and flavor qualities much more quickly than green coffee.
Therefore, the coffee is generally sent to the countries of consumption and here it will be roasted either industrially in the case of lower quality coffees or in an artisanal way as we do in Sabora coffees with our coffees.
Coffee beans stay longer than toasted coffee but its life is limited. Being green it lives one year, maximum.
 
Obviously, from these classifications different quality coffee beans are gotten. 
 

Coffee toast 

 It is key to get coffee toasted in early coffee bean stages, that´s why it is important to have coffees that have not been stored for a long time.  
 Toast is one of the most special processes inside the coffee chain because it is here where aromas, tastes and smells will be obtained. 
During this time is when more than 800 substances will be key in coffee´s aroma and taste.
 
Is in this stage where Café Sabora does its best to get the best coffee for you.  
  • Firstly, green coffee is dried in a big rotating drum to remove wets, and it is kept at 200ºC. 

  • The toast first stage is about heat exchange: bean starts to absorb heat and it is dried slowly and taken a gold color. At the same time it is being produced a toasted aroma.  

  • In the second stage, bean acquired 60% of its volume and it is becoming brown. Here takes place the first coffee crack. Taste gets stronger and it become more spicy and acid, this is because coffee has not developed its properties, yet. 

  • Coffee grows reaching its size double and it lost 15% of its height. Once 220º are reached clearer coffees are obtained. Its smoke is white and it is made for carbon dioxide but its aroma is much nicer.  

  • Medium toasted coffees are obtained between 225º and 227º degrees and near to the 228º a second crack is obtained. This shows us that we are in the dark medium toast area. This toast level is considerate up to 230º and, inside this, there are subdivisions such as: Cuban, Italian and French toasts. The bean is losing height but gaining volume. 

CO2 is also lost, that is a process which continues after a few days. It lost acidity due to the body profit and it may get exposed its oils in the surface, getting the coffee a bitter taste. 
The toast level is important to get different coffee profiles to satisfy the costumer different tastes. 
The toast level is very important as it decides the moment where to get extracted beans to obtain the desired taste.
 
Without experience it is very difficult to get a good toast. 
 
Toasted coffee aroma involves the environment and it seduces to all of those who are near, inviting him or her to have a good cup of coffee. 
 
Once the toast level is reached coffee must be cooler. The cooler process is done using air. It does not touch aromas and keeps coffee away from wet. 
 
Regarding pack the best is the one which keeps safer coffee from air.
 
The main enemy of coffee are rusts and also wet and other smells which interfere in its aroma. 
 
In order to avoid this it is key to have a good packed coffee.
 
 Chilled processing in coffee roasting

Coffee grinding

Grinding is more important than the toast to preserve coffee qualities. Our recommendation is to buy a non ground coffee.
 
When grinding coffee its superficial area is increased; this is the area which is in contact with air. Hence, oxidation processes are really accelerated getting a ground coffee that just can be used for a maximum of 3 days. 
Preferably, coffee should be ground before make coffee. 
There are methods to preserve ground coffee for a bigger time.
 
One of them is vacuum packed, using this technique its aroma is kept and the air is isolated avoiding rusting.
 
Some coffee brands even inject nitrogen, a gas which does not affect the coffee natural decomposition process. Although, once the coffee box is open its aroma is lost. 
 
None of these methods may be compared with the freshly roasted coffee.
 
That’s why in Sabora we toast every day the coffee which is distributed to bars and restaurants and stores. 
 
It would be great to buy freshly toast coffee and one which have not been stored for more than 20 days. 
 
This is the way that how our coffee walks from tropical countries to our coffee cup.
 
If you like coffee, share this post on social networks. 
 

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