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The “green” coffee is the precious fruit of the tropical weathers.
The coffee beans are the seeds of a evergreen, in the Rubiaceae family, Coffee type. They are divided in two kinds: Arabica Coffee, better known as Arabica and Canephor Coffee, called Robusta.
The plant is a small tree that can reach 8-9 meters high if left to grow naturally, but they are often cut to 2-3 meters in cultivation. The fruits are, for shape and colour, similar to cherries, with a thin layer of sweet pulp closet to the pip.
The seed of the Arabica kind is green or green-blue, oval cut, while the other one, the Robusta type is rounded, yellow colour or yellow-brown. This Robusta one is better for hot weather, high rain and resistant to diseases.
The principal countries producing coffee are articulated in four geographic zones in the humid weather area, between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
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THE PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES PRODUCING COFFEE
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Central America
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South America
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Africa
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Asia
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| Main production: Washed Arabica Coffee: Guatemala, Colombia, Costarica; a small quantity of Strong Coffee. |
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Main production: Natural Arabica Coffee: Brazil, Washed Arabic Coffee.
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Main production: Robusta Coffee in the central-western areas and Arabic Coffee in the central-eastern areas.
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| Main production: Arabica and Robusta Coffee in India, Indonesia and New Guinea, and only the Strong one in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam e Cambodia. |
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THE COFFEE MANUFACTURING IS DIVIDED IN SEVERAL PHASES
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The harvest
It can be done by hand or using special harvesting machines with shaking shovels |
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The preparation
After the fruits harvest, the product’s preparation can begin and it is done in two different ways:
Dry Method
The “cherries” are left to dry for about 20 days (2 or 3 in special drying boxes), then the berries so dried up can be put in machines for the stripping. The coffee you get with this dried method is called “natural”.
Humid method
The fruits are washed and ripped off with specific machines and then put to ferment for 36 hours. After a big wash the beans can be sun-dried and stripped, in this way they take away the parchment film and the coffee becomes naked. This coffee is called “washed”. |
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The coffee roasting
In order to use the coffee, to drink it, the beans have to be roasted, in Italian “Torrefazione” (from the Latin "torridum facere" to take to high temperature), which means to take to beans to 200-220° and well shaker. After the roasting the coffee weight looses 18-20%, due to the lost water.
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The packaging
At the end of the roasting process, the finished product, as coffee beans, can be vacuum-packed with special packing material or it can be grinded.
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The grinding
This phase is very important, only the coffee grinding just before the final use gives the best result, the best scent of aroma for the best espresso coffee. The ideal granulometry is thin and it has to make the coffee in 22-30 seconds to obtain a drinking volume of 20-35 ml. A good espresso is made of 7-7,5 g of product.
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