Coffee beans drying

After the water washing process, the coffee beans are preserved in the inner skin shell so that the inner skin still contains about 15% moisture. The endocarp must be dried to a moisture content of approximately 11%, at which point the coffee beans are in a stable state and are easy to store. Moisture content is quite critical. If Arabica coffee beans are over-dried to a moisture content of 10%, they will lose their original blue-green color and their quality will decrease.
Coffee beans covered with endocarp are spread on concrete, slate, on a dry table or on a plate, which is similar to the sun exposure method.

Larger plantations or where rainwater may disrupt the drying process, sometimes using a dryer, the coffee beans are placed in an air-conditioned box, and dry wind is blown on the surface of the coffee beans. The drying process can also be done by sun exposure, and the coffee beans should be turned over regularly to ensure complete drying. This process takes 12-15 days. The most important thing is that the endocarp can’t be broken. If the sun is too strong, you must cover the coffee beans.
At this point, the whole process is completed, and the coffee beans become the well-known “parchment coffee” (the inner end of the coffee beans is quite like parchment). In general, coffee beans are kept in this form until they are exported.
Since the country producing coffee beans needs to export coffee beans throughout the year rather than just about three months of harvest, the coffee beans are stored in the form of “parchment coffee beans” in an absolutely stable environment. High temperature is the enemy of coffee beans, and it is easy to destroy coffee beans when the humidity reaches 70%. For this reason, “parchment coffee beans” are generally not stored in the farms of the production site (although there is no choice in some places) . Coffee beans grown in highlands should be stored at the same or similar elevations as their location, as they are particularly susceptible to humidity. In this environment, Arabica coffee beans should not be stored for more than 12 hours, and Robusta coffee beans can be stored for a long time.
The coffee beans treated by the water washing method are a bit: the high degree of refinement, basically no or very few cowpeas, generally the acidity is obvious, the quality is good, the flavor is clean and bright.