My name is Alex E.B. Trapp and I am working on ways to transition monoculture coffee crops to more sustainable agroforestry systems. In 2013 my wife and I bought a small piece of land in a coffee growing region of Colombia, and immediately began learning new things about coffee and its production chain.
We continue to learn about and grow coffee at Finca Buena Vista. Our delicious, dried in the fruit coffee is sold at qetamerica.org and shipped internationally.
Part 1: From Planting the plants….
This is Part 1 of an anticipated 5 part series on the TRUTH about coffee. This series will culminate with a 1lb of coffee giveaway, which I will send to anywhere in the world. Please upvote, follow and/or resteem to become my friend and show me your interest in the topic!
Where does it come from?
Coffee comes from the fruit, or berry of the Cafea Arabica or Cafea Robusta plants. Coffee bushes have very hard wood and long thin branches along which they grow leaves, flowers and fruit. The flowers of the coffee plant are as beautiful as they are delicate; any damage to these flowers will damage next year’s harvest.
The fruit has a pulpy red flesh surrounding a mucous covered pit in the center. This pit is what we roast and grind to make our morning beverage. The mucous or murcilago plays an important part in the coffee process. Its fermentation process gives most Colombian coffee its smooth flavor. The flesh of the fruit is made into a beverage in Peru, called cascara. http://www.freshcup.com/what-is-cascara/
These fruits are hand-picked and selected to continue into the supply chain and become a beverage. Coffee plants have cycles in which not all of the beans mature at the same time and so care must be taken in harvesting. Twice per year the main harvest occurs, and it is most pleasurable to pick coffee in this time. Outside of main harvests, coffee plants should be reviewed once or twice a month to pick only the ripest fruits.
Hand Picking the Mature Fruits
The best coffee is hand-picked, this is due to the fact that only the most red and ripe fruits should go into any batch of coffee. Beans that are green are under ripe and will not have as well developed flavor. This is not ‘green’ coffee beans, which also can refer to the unroasted dry bean after it is shelled. Again, this phenomena is caused by the fact that coffee beans do not all mature at the same time.
In some parts of the world, attempts at automation have occurred, with car-wash like machines attempting to batter the ripe coffee into falling off the plant. Unfortunately, this also generally removes green beans, flowers and buds and so this technique diminishes from multiple harvests to only one harvest per year or even once every 18 months.
Truly then the highest quality coffee is handpicked, for only with the watchful hands and eyes of humans can we maintain a high standard where only the ripest beans make the cut. I also highly encourage the tendency towards origin coffee, for this reason.
The Difference between Arabica and Robusta
Arabica and Robusta are not just varieties of coffee, they are actually different species of the Cafea genus. The Arabica species is better in every measure of quality, but it is harder to grow. Arabica coffee is very susceptible to plagues that affect coffee plants, such as Coffee Rust and boring insects. Robusta coffee on the other hand is very resistant to plagues and pests, but has a much harsher and acidic flavor.
Globally, this has resulted in mixing, adding small amounts of specialty coffees or flavors to less savory Robusta coffee; this helps the bottom line for large coffee distributors. But the highest quality of coffee will be 100% arabica bean. In order to be sure your coffee is actually 100% Arabica, it helps to buy straight from the origin.
Call to action!
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