Processing the coffee beans

After you have harvested the berries, do not let them rot.

42. Drying the berries

Many African coffee beans are of poor quality, because the berries have not been well dried. To dry the berries well, spread them out in a dry place, either on very clean ground or on planks. Protect the berries against rain by building a little shelter.

43. Pulping the berries

When the berries are dry, pulp them.
We have seen that the berries consist of skin, pulp and two coffee beans.
To pulp berries means to separate the beans from the pulp and skin.
Pulping can be done by hand with a pestle, which breaks the skin and pulp, or with pulping machines.

A berry cut in two

44. Winnowing

To winnow means to separate the coffee beans from all the bits of pulp and skin.
You can winnow with a sieve.

45. Drying coffee beans

Dry the coffee beans in a very dry place, either on hard and very clean ground, or on planks.

The layer of beans should not be too thick.

Stir the beans often.

46. Sorting coffee beans

In order to have good- quality coffee which can be sold at a good price:

· Put to one side all the whole beans, for which you will get a good price;
· Put elsewhere the broken beans, for which you will get a lower price;
· Throw away black beans, which bring down the quality a lot.

In order to earn a lot of money, the grower must sell many coffee beans, and these coffee beans must be of good quality.
In order to have many coffee beans, the grower must prune his coffee trees well and apply fertilizer.
In order to have good- quality coffee beans, the grower must harvest the berries correctly and process the coffee beans wolf.