• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

I Need Coffee

By Coffee Fans, For Coffee Fans!

  • Coffee Brewing Guide
  • About INeedCoffee
You are here: Home / Coffee Business / Coffee Process From Plant to Roast

Coffee Process From Plant to Roast

July 18, 2019 by Allen J Pais

Coffee Process From Plant to Roast

This article will serve as a basic guideline for the different stages a coffee plant goes through as it makes its way from plant to ready for roasting.

Depending on your climatic condition and elevation, you can expect your picking time to be 7-9 months from the date of your first blossom. This will happen after you have picked your coffee, pruned your plant, and experienced the first rain with a substantial blossom.

Note: The blossom to picking dates may differ between various countries, we have typical experience between India and Queensland, Australia.

Coffee bean cycle

Coffee Bean Plant to Cup Cycle

#1 Blossom

The blossom takes place in the month of February or March each year in countries like India and lasts for 3 to 4 days. The sight of blossom is beautiful with the plants covered in lovely white flowers that are fragrant.

coffee plant blossom

#2 Green Cherry formation

The blossom flowers after pollination will then slowly turn into small green cherries in the month of April or May and then will start growing into firm green cherries. During this time the coffee farmer will be pruning his plants. The pruning method is to remove only the non-productive parts of the plant so as to divert the energy into the productivity parts. Overgrown trees will have a few branches cut to provide the plant with sunlight.

Weeding and manuring will be carried out during this time when the soil is moist after a few showers.
Arabica farmers will be berry borer tracking during this time. Coffeeberry borer is an insect that lives in a coffee cherry and has to be eliminated. Robusta is less subjective to berry borer attacks.

green coffee cherry

#3 Orange Cherry Formation

The green cherry will start changing its color into orange-pinkish in the month of June to August. During this time the coffee farmer will be weeding around the plants and de-suckering.

De-suckering can be done twice a year, which is the removal of branches arising from the main trunk. Coffee farmers will take this opportunity to plant new plants all around where there is sufficient space to protect the plants with mild shade.

orange coffee cherry

#4 Red Cherry Formation

Gradually the cherry will turn into a blood-red color in the month of September to November. During this time the coffee farmer will continue with centering work, borer tracking (Arabica plants), weeding, and manuring.

The centering method is the removal of the vegetative growth up to a 15 cm radius from the center and up to the first notch of all primary branches.

red coffee cherry

#5 Coffee Cherries ready for harvesting

During the months of December to January, the coffee cherry will be fully ripe and ready to pick. This is the time the coffee farmer will be busy preparing for picking by continuing to weed the area so it is clear to start picking.

Coffee Cherries

#6 Wet pulping

Once picking has been completed the coffee farmer has to decide how he will process the picked coffee beans. He can use the dry method or the wet pulping method. The dry method uses the sun to dry the coffee cherry. Wet pulping is the other option.

Wet pulping is mechanized and the process is faster than sun drying. The disadvantage of sun drying is the bean loses weight. The advantage of the wet method of pulping is a higher weight but it is more expensive than sun drying due to the motorized equipment used in the pulping process.

wet pulp coffee

#7 Sun-drying coffee beans

After the cherry skin has been separated from the bean manually, washed and the slimy coating is removed, the bean is sun-dried for 2 to 3 days on a clean surface.

In large-scale pulping, the washing of the bean is part of the pulping process.

Each day the beans have to be either covered or removed to a shaded area so that the dew moisture does not get into the coffee bean. After three days, the coffee beans are ready for removal and storage.

Sun drying coffee

#8 Hand milling-removing of the parchment cover from the bean

Once drying is complete, the next step is hulling. This process removes a thin membrane on the bean known as parchment. The parchment can be removed manually by using a pestle & mortar manually by gently rotating the pestle over the beans.

This process is mechanized on large scales and is done faster in large quantities, under the process of hulling.

coffee ready

#9 Ready for Roasting

Once the coffee beans are polished (Milling) and clean, they are ready for roasting.

Article Video

Coffee Process Method (YouTube 6 minutes)

Last Words

I hope you all have enjoyed this article. I’d like to dedicate this article to my late mother Mrs. Dorothy Phelomena Pais (1944-2005).

Resources

EcoFriendlyCoffee.org – INeedCoffee’s sister site that goes into greater detail on the agricultural side of coffee.

How to Hand Pick Coffee Cherries – YouTube video

How to Hand Pulp Coffee – YouTube video

How to Sun Dry Coffee Beans – YouTube video.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Allen J Pais
Allen J Pais
I am a coffee planter in Siddapur Coorg INDIA. The name of our Coffee estate is Providence (PAIS Estate) which is next to the Dhubhare Forest. I also work for the Oil & Gas Industry as a Maintenance & Asset integrity Manager for an Australian Company in Brisbane. I was inspired by seeing the work done by Dr Anand Titus Pereira and Geeta N Pereira. My intention is to protect Coffee cultivation for the growth of our environment globally.
Allen J Pais
Latest posts by Allen J Pais (see all)
  • How to Brew Coffee With Fresh Chicory Root - September 26, 2020
  • How to Make Pour Over Coffee Using a Cloth - June 2, 2020
  • How to Brew Fine Drip Over Coffee With a Stainless Steel Filter - November 22, 2019

This article first appeared on INeedCoffee.com. Filed Under: Coffee Business

Primary Sidebar

Search

Connect

  • RSS
  • Twitter

Newsletter

Sign up here to receive our newsletter delivered by Follow.it.

Recent Posts

  • Life is Coffee Comics #42
  • Life is Coffee Comics #41
  • How to Brew Vietnamese Iced Coffee
  • Life is Coffee Comics #40
  • Vietnamese Iced Coffee Brewing Tutorial by Inanimate Objects

Popular Posts

  • Coffee Grind Chart
  • French Press Coffee Tutorial
  • The Upside Down AeroPress Coffee Brewing Tutorial
  • Stovetop Espresso Brewing Tutorial
  • How to Brew Vietnamese Iced Coffee
  • Cold Brew Coffee is Not Rocket Science
  • Coffee Brewing Guide
  • Brewing Espresso in a Moka
  • Chemex Coffee Brewing – History and Tutorial
  • Making Green Bean Extract Beverages at Home
  • Making Cold Brew Coffee in a French Press
  • Buying a French Press – Picking the Right One

Sections

  • Brewing Coffee
  • Cafe Culture
  • Coffee and Health
  • Coffee Business
  • Coffee Comics
  • Coffee History
  • Coffee People
  • Espresso
  • Grinding Coffee
  • Recipes
  • Roasting Coffee
  • Tea
Copyright © 1999-2023 INeedCoffee is a project by coffee fanatic Michael Allen Smith. User Sitemap | Privacy Policy