Another harvest season in Puerto Rico's Coffee Industry. Another year filled with hope for continued improvement in our Coffee Industry, despite the challenges we face. But as I once heard from Jean Giuliani, a coffee farmer from Jayuya, "Agriculture is a labor of faith." A faith that undoubtedly requires action, especially in our sector.
This year, we undertook the task of visiting several producers before and during harvest season to see how the harvest was shaping up. We didn't limit ourselves to observing the harvest process; we also visited Alberto Méndez's wet and dry processing facilities and this is precisely what we want to discuss today.
Coffee has a cycle since planting it in the coffee plantation until its first harvest, which can take three to five years. It all depends on the variety and the condition of the coffee plantation. When harvesting coffee, we shouldn't wait more than eight hours to begin the pulping process. This timeframe is important because if we exceed eight hours, the coffee begins to over-ferment. We must remember that coffee begins a degradation process as soon as it's on the tree, which is why it's important that the cherry is picked at its optimal ripeness, when it's a deep red, wine-colored. After harvesting, the farmer sells the coffee cherries to the processor.
The processor's job is to prepare the coffee fruit to transform it into the raw material ready for roasting. There are several ways to process coffee, but today we'll talk about the most common in Puerto Rico and the world: the washed process. This process consists of pulping the cherries, fermenting them (for 48-72 hours), washing the coffee to remove the mucilage, and then drying it in the sun or mechanically. Finally, when the coffee is completely dry, it will be left with a husk called parchment. In this state, it is stored in jute sacks inside hermetically sealed Grainpro bags. It is at this point that the coffee is ready for sale and/or export.
On the other hand, the processor faces several challenges and the most important is to avoid over-fermentation of the coffee at all costs, as this will contribute to undesirable dry and vinegary flavors. Maintaining humidity control during storage and rigorous daily cleaning of machinery are also crucial. A coffee processor constantly striving to improve quality should invest in pulping machinery, bean separators by density and color, and, if possible, a quality control laboratory to ensure product traceability and maintain consistent quality control.
Ultimately, the processor's job is to create the foundation of the coffee bean. That is, to develop a bean that, in the cup, has the right balance of sweetness, acidity, and bitterness so that the roaster can develop the flavors in the best possible way. This is the right way to honor such a difficult job as producing coffee.
