A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO COFFEE – A LONG PROCESS THAT BEGINS BY THE CHOICE OF SEED AND ENDS IN THE CUP

The seeds used for the production of coffee seedlings come from farms whose coffee trees present excellent yields, uniform maturation and extraordinary taste characteristics.

The tree nurseries on the farms are certified by IMA (the certification agency of the Ministry of Agriculture), in order to ensure quality, and seedlings are planted by hand.

After planting, the care of the plants follows a yearly cycle. These activities include fertilization, pulverization, management of vegetation, integrated management of pests and diseases, cleaning of the rows between plants and collection of soil and leaf samples.

After planting, the most important phase in the life of the coffee tree is the flowering. If germination is successful, the bean develops over 6 to 8 months, after which it becomes ready for picking.

The best quality is found in fully ripe cherries. The harvest usually begins in May, but reaches its highest point in July.

In the case of manual picking, the harvester lays a cloth on the ground and then strips the cherries from the tree onto the cloth. Using a large sieve, the harvester then “winnows” the coffee, so as to remove leaves and twigs. On the farms of the Brasileiro family, 20% of the coffee is harvested by hand.

Mechanical harvesting, in contrast, is conducted by machines that strip the trees and deposit the cherries in appropriate containers. More than 80% of the coffee is mechanically harvested.

After harvest, the milling process starts by the transportation of the harvested cherries to the service center. This phase is very important for the formation of coffee quality. After being harvested, the coffee must be washed as soon as possible in order to prevent the fermentation of the beans.

After arrival from the field, the cherries are unloaded and ventilated, in order to remove any remaining leaves and twigs. Flotation tanks are then used to separate the unripe cherries from the ripe, dry cherries (“floaters”).

In these tanks, the (lighter) dry cherries float and are separated from heavier ones. The ripe cherries are used in the first method of preparation, in which the floaters are directed to the drying patios. There they are laid out to dry in the sun and then put into mechanical driers for the final stages of drying. The Brasileiro farms are equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure for drying coffee.

The over-ripe and green (unripe) cherries, which sank in the flotation tanks, are sent to pulping machines. There, mechanical pressure is used to separate the over-ripe and unripe beans. The green beans are delivered to the drying patio, where they are sun-dried for five days and then mechanically dried. These green beans are used only in blends sold for consumption on the internal market.

A further method of preparation involves removal of the pulp, after which the pulped beans, surrounded by sticky mucilage are delivered to the drying patio. This method of preparation is called the pulped natural.

The entire process is closely monitored by experienced and qualified coffee cuppers, who are responsible for controlling cup quality, so that beans with similar characteristics are grouped together in distinct lots.

After resting for two months, the coffee is dry-milled and then graded by bean size. The last phase is electronic grading, in which defective and light-colored beans are removed. The beans are now ready for bagging and dispatch to their final destination – the consumer.