The tale of how a coffee cup is produced should be one of those stories that the ones who live in coffee lands already know. Or at least they have the opportunity to experience it every single morning. However, the people that live in parts of the world do not know those secrets behind a coffee cup. They little suspect the whole process of planting, cultivation, and processing coffee. Therefore, in Café Primivo we want to tell you which are those phrases that we should learn during the year. Furthermore, we want to give you the best of our coffee culture.
First phase: the plantation. It is the moment in which we take the seed with care and plant it. It is done respecting its natural cycle until it has a necessary height to transplant it. We know this germinated seed as colino. We transplant it in another field, suitable for the necessary conditions for sowing and cultivation. The process of growth and generation of fruit takes between 16 and 18 months, and each plant gives us 4 to 6 harvests. Also, its flowers become a seed, which is why we are very careful during this first moment because the quality of the grain depends on it.
Second phase: the harvest. It is time to collect all the ripe cherries, and we do it traditionally. We choose the fruit at an optimal ripening point and then carry out a selection process in African beds. There the grains, in general, must go through three selection moments. Doing that we make sure that the fruits that are going to be processed already have optimal conditions.
Third phase: its processing. First, we identify if we are looking from its processing or if we want a washed, honey, or natural coffee. If it is washed, we pulp the cherry, and we wash the grain in a good way. Then we take it to drying beds. In other cases, it goes through a fermentation process in which we measure the time the process takes, its temperature, and pH; accordingly, the flavor of the grain may vary. It takes 20-25 days to dry, which depends on the weather conditions. When it is honey, after manual selection in the African beds, it is pulped, but we do not wash it, we leave it with the "slime" characteristic of the grain. Sometimes we ferment it aerobically or anaerobically. That process also changes and defines other characteristics of the coffee cup.
Fourth phase: threshing. When it comes to washed coffee and honey, the parchment is removed, and if it is natural, we remove the "coconut cherry."Thus, we obtain the green or "almond" bean. We select the grains again, but this time individually, eliminating the lower quality, and then we taste it.
Sixth phase: cupping. The tasting process that we carry out at different times in the process. This process is to know its flavor and quality, and for establishing what type of roasting we are going to make: dark or light, in other words, the roasting curves.
Seventh phase: roasting. This phase is the most anticipated throughout the process because it gives you its most characteristic flavor and aroma. And there is when we expose the grain to high temperatures. Consequently, the coffee loses a bit of its weight, caffeine, and finally acquires that particular brownish hue.
Eighth and ninth phase: grinding and its preparation to take it to the cup. Grinding the grain reduces it to powder, making it easier to consume. And if we prepare a good cup after this process, we get a better smell and an intense flavor.