coffee farming in kenya(coffee from tree to cup)

eric

Coffee is considered as the second most valuable product globally after petroleum. Coffee takes a long journey before reaching the cup, a journey that starts by planting coffee beans which are actually coffee seeds in large shaded beds. After sprouting, the young seedlings are left to grow for a few days before transplanting them into individual ports with formulated soil for optimal growth. And for newly planted coffee bush to bear fruit, it will take 3-4 years depending on the specific variety.

HARVESTING: the coffee fruits known as cherries are harvested depending on the degree of ripeness that turns from green to bright or dark red. Cherries ripen faster at low altitude and high temperature. There are two methods of harvesting coffee cherries, the first one is strip picked which could be done using hand or machine, the method involves striping off all cherries from the branches. Another method is selectively picked, in this method only hand is used and it involves only picking of ripe cherries by hand.

PROCESSING THE CHERRIES: after picking the cherries, processing is required to start as fast as possible in order to avoid spoilage of fruits, this could be done by either using dry method or wet method. With dry method coffee cherries are dried using sun, where by they are raked, spread and turned throughout the day to allow even dryness of cherries, and they are covered at night or during rain in order to prevent them from getting wet. This should continue for several days till moisture content of cherries drops to 11 percent. Another method is wet dry, this method involves removing the pulp from coffee cherries after harvesting so the beans is dried with only the parchment skin left on.

DRYING THE BEANS: here pulped and fermented beans must now be dried to approximately 11 percent moisture to properly prepare them for storage if only it have been processed using wet method

MILLING THE BEANS: this involves two methods that is HULLING and POLISHING. Where by hulling is the removal of parchments layer(endosperm) from wet processed coffee. With dry coffee it involves removal of the entire husk(exocarp, mesocarp and endocarp) of dried cherries. Polishing becomes optional since only silver skin that remained on the bean after hulling is removed by the machine.

GRADING AND SORTING: this is done by size and weight and the beans are sized by being passed through series of screens and also they are sorted pneumatically by using air jet to separate heavy beans from light beans

TESTING THE COFFEE: the process of testing coffee is called CUPPING and the person responsible for testing coffee is called CUPPER. Cupper also evaluates coffee beans for their overall visual quality.

ROASTING COFFEE: This transforms green coffee to aromatic brown beans that are purchased from different favorite stores and café. The roasting temperature should be 550 degrees Fahrenheit.

GRINDING COFFEE: Espresso machine should use 132 pounds per square inch of pressure in order to extract desirable coffee.

TYPES OF COFFEE: There are different types of coffee served, like cappuccino, latte, mocha, Americans, espresso/doppio, lungo, house coffee/brewed coffee, and many more.

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