Seedling To Bean Tel UK: 0800 Coffee (263333) Ireland: 1 800 626220 Email: [email protected] www.matthewalgie.com
We need all of the beansto be around the samesize to ensure they roastat the same rate.
A mechanical sieve plate will separate the beans bysize and density, removingany defective beans in theprocess. Once they aresorted, the beans often gothrough an additional handsorting process, sometimessupplemented with an electronic sorting machine.
All coffee beans need tobe dried before they areroasted. The processdepends on the farm.
The coffee is settled in parchment prior to shipping to develop its final character.
We Know Co≠eeSeedling To Bean
There are hundreds of varieties of plants, and often the best oneis chosen for that region.
The majority of the coffee we buy is Arabica coffee, we also buy a small amount of Robusta coffee. The varieties of coffee we select include: Bourbon, Pacamara, Typica and Heirloom (traditionalvarieties from Ethiopia).
Once the beans havebeen dried, they arehulled. For wet andpulped natural coffees,this means removingjust the parchment, fordry process, the driedcherry is removed too.
If the parchment wasn’t removed, the final coffee would be very dry and astringent when roasted and brewed.
Coffee bushes all start off asseedlings. Green beans areplanted to create a seedlingwhich is then grown on untilaround 6 months old before it is planted in the main farm.
The best quality coffee will come fromwell managed plantations or smallfarms where new bushes are plantedregularly. It takes around 3 years for a bush to start producing cherries.
The highest quality coffee is grown on coffee bushes in equatorial regions. Grown at above 4000ft, but most typically above 6000ft, the high altitude means coolertemperatures which results in better tasting coffee.
The landscapes are incredible, and unlike vineyards which are rigidly laid out in rows, coffee farms tend to be more sprawling and natural information. Trees grown at height formshade for co≠ee bushes and act aswindbreaks – this protects the bushesduring windy, cool months. The shadealso protects the bushes from highdaytime temperatures.
All of our coffees are handpicked only when theyreach ripeness. It’s a labourintensive process.
Coffee cherries can be picked bymachine, but you lose the ability to just select the ripe cherries. Weprefer coffee that is handpickedonly when it is ripe.
Once coffee cherries havebeen picked, they are sortedby hand.
Green cherries are removed, alongwith any damaged cherries, sticks,stones and leaves.
We buy coffees that are either washed,pulped natural, or natural. The processingmethod gives a different character to thefinal green bean, ultimately affecting theflavour in the cup when roasted.
Washed coffees have the pulp (red fleshy part of the cherry) removed, before being fermented in tanks of water and washed to remove all of thegluey outer surrounding the bean, before being dried.
Pulped natural coffees have the pulp removed, but are then dried without being fully washed. The sugary outer leaves a sticky coating which makesthe finished green bean sweeter with honey noteswhen roasted.
Natural coffees are dried within the cherry before beingprocessed. Characterised by dried fruit flavours in theroasted bean, they add lots of body and complexity.
Coffee farmers takepride in their coffees.The bags (weighing 60-70kg) are handpainted and stitchedbefore being sent to a container.
It can take up to 12 weeks fora shipment of coffee to getfrom the farm or co-operativeto our warehouse, so planning is of the essence.
Seedling1 Plant2 Growing & Cultivation
3 Picking4 Grading5 Processing6 Drying7 Hulling8 Grading9 Bagging,Loading &Shipping
10
centre cutbean (endosperm)silver skin (testa, epidermis)parchment (hull, endocarp)pectin layerpulp (mesocarp)outer skin (pericarp, exocarp)
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