Coffee Harvesting & Processing

But wait, it's not done! The bean must then be laid out in the sun for several days to dry and remove the last layer of skin. It also must be turned several times throughout the day. Once this process is done, the bean is then finally ready to be roasted and then consumed. Most farms do not do the roasting themselves. Some farmers also do not do most of the processing, but sell their crop as cherry. No wonder good coffee is so expensive!
Then it sits in water for at least a day and ferments to get the next layer of skin off.


And comes out the bottom like this, with the red skin left over.


Then it is milled or pulped in this neat contraption to get the outer red skin off. It goes in the top of the machine as cherry.
And the fruit looks like this before it is processed. This is called cherry. The beans are inside.

First it is picked and bagged.



Coffee is the main cash crop on this farm. Harvest season is pretty much over, but we arrived for the tail end of it and got to help out with some of the processing. It's pretty cool, but also labor-intensive. I don't like coffee, but I love coffee ice cream, and I have a whole new respect for the people that grow it!