Milling and Sorting!

After the coffee has reached a moisture content between 9-11% in the drying room, the beans are sent off to rest for a stage called ‘Reposo’.  It is suggested that coffee sit at least 30-60 days, in parchment, and in a humidity and temperature controlled location.  During this time, the bean’s contents are stabilizing.  It also will ensure the green bean a longer, more defect resistant shelf life. The next step, of which for those who are lucky enough to do right before roasting, is the dry mill. This green machine unleashes every bean’s own greenness, and rids it of it’s pale yellow parchment robe.

Next step: Sorting

Today, we sorted Makana Garden’s first batches of harvested coffee. The coffee drinking season is finally in sight!

  

Defects

First run through is to toss out the unwanted beans.  Above is a picture of a few different types of ‘bad’ beans, mixed in with some good ones.  The yellowish, stale looking beans (left top) are what faded, buttery beans appear like.  This defect is caused by an iron deficiency in the soil.  The brownish beans (top right) are likely sour, caused from a rotted cherry and inflicts a very apparent grassy and sour flavor in the cup.  The beans just below those, that appear to be a faded emerald green, are known as ‘quakers’ and are underdeveloped.  These probably should have shown up in the floating stage, post de-pulping, but its presence in this phase proves the need for multiple sorting. The defected beans will result in a loss of aroma, flavor and acidity. Finally, the healthy, sugar filled, well-developed, 9-11% moisture content coffee beans are the darker shaded beans that run through the middle.

Here is a picture of one of their not-so-concerned about quality clients batches of coffee to be roasted (to repeat: not Makana Garden’s coffee beans).  Take a look at the Coffee Bean Defect Chart and tell me what you can point out! Tip: you may find many.

Bean Grades

  

Their farm is unique in that it is has a wide variety of tree varietals which effects flavor, ripening cycles and basic health of the tress.  And it also seems to have affected their appearance of special grades of beans such as: ‘peaberry’ and ‘fancy’.  These two grades are typical to Hawaii, and are classified differently in other regions.  Peaberry is rounded, with no flat edge and is a result of being the lone bean inside it’s cherry.  All of the characteristics are therefore concentrated into one bean.  This grade of coffee is usually sold for much more than a regular grade (rightfully so).  Fancy is a slightly larger bean than the rest, and as jollier, more robust bean, it packs in more ‘personality’ as well!  There are metal sheets used to sift the two out from the rest, and the stragglers must be picked out by hand.

Our total sorted peaberry batch, after 5 hours of sorting equalled a solid 5.25 lbs out of roughly 22 pounds of green bean.  Yes, there is a faster way to do this, but it involves a machine that is not present at this farm.  The patience, time and attention expended on an activity like this makes coffee even sweeter!

Above are two pictures: left – peaberry, right – fancy.

All in prep for: ROASTING!!!