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Updated 25/04/08

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Green Coffee Beans

green coffee beans imageThe basic form of the coffee beans after being processed is the green coffee beans. Green coffee beans can be preserved for more than one year without losing their characteristics.

Roasters buy raw green coffee beans in bulk and roast them using professional roasting equipment. Home-Roasters buy green coffee and roast it using cheap roaster DIY machines which are very easy to build and use. These include woks, corn poppers, heatguns, convection ovens (turbo crazy), barbecue drums and so on. If you’re interested in green coffee beans check out the varieties offered at The Fresh Coffee Shop!

Buying Green Coffee Beans

Green coffee beans can have "defects" which can harm the result in the coffee cup.  You can tell a great deal about the processing conditions of a coffee by looking at the appearance of the green coffee, touching it and smelling it.  Although cupping is the definitive way to check for problems, the green coffee appearance is a good prognostic tool.

1.  The green beans should be of nearly equal size, be similarly shaped, and have a similar color.  The more even the coffee the more easy and even the roasting process.  Very uneven coloring hints toward drying problems, whereas uneven shapes may indicate a mixing of different coffees and qualities...

1.  Washed Arabica coffees should be even and bright.  The green coffee beans should not have an uneven or dull color.  If they do, it is likely have been dried or processed incorrectly.  If the green beans look faded, the cup quality will be faded.

2. Improper drying on patios or in mechanical dryers can usually be observed visually.  Rapid drying in mechanical dryers results in dull or brown coffees.  Beans that are mottled (or quakers when roasted) result when the coffee is dried too quickly, spread too thin on the patios, or not rotated as frequently as recommended. If the temperature used on the dryers is over 42°C you can expect a dull or baked cup.

3.  If coffee pulp is present in the tanks during processing it can result in brownish tinges on the green beans.  This is also indicative of harvesting over-ripe cherries.

4.  Natural (dry) processed coffees will often be covered in brown silverskin which has attached itself to the bean.  In Brazil they call this a fox bean and it is not considered a defect.  Novice classifiers might expect this type of bean to be a defect, but if you can remove a portion of the silver-skin by rubbing on the black sorting mat it is not considered a defect.  Green (under ripe) coffee also has a silver-skin attached to it, but this cannot be removed by simple rubbing.  In a washed coffee, fox beans may indicate sour, fruity, or Rio tastes.  This should be confirmed in the cup and not visually.

5.  Do the coffee beans have a little pink skin covering them or inside the crack of the bean?  In some areas this is a serious defect which most people do not consider to be a defect.  Since it is not a part of the green coffee classification, these beans could be passed on to the buyer as specialty grade.  These beans should be separated and cupped to determine if the defect is serious.

6.  If the coffee beans are whitish or faded around the edges then  this is likely a result of insufficient drying or storage in humid conditions.  The cup will be bland and ordinary.  These white marks are also observed in coffee that has not been dried evenly.  The part of the bean that has a whitish tone has higher moisture than the other parts of the bean.  Whitish or discolored beans can also result from oxidation, contact with the earth, or polluted waters.

7. Smell the green coffee beans. Ferment and smoke damage can be easily detected at this point, whereas they might be more subtle when roasted.

8. Pick up the green beans. How do they feel? If they feel glass-like and fragile they have been over dried or dried at too high of a temperature. If they are pliable they have not been dried sufficiently and should be rejected since mold growth at this point is unavoidable.

Processing and Flavor Characteristics of Coffee

Dry-Process: The dry-process produces coffee that is heavier in body, sweet, fruity, and complex.  The dry-process is often used in countries where rainfall is scarce and long periods of sunshine are available to dry the coffee properly.  Most coffees from Indonesia, Ethiopia, Brazil, and Yemen are dry-processed. It is more risky than the washed method and off-tastes may result in the cup.

Wet-Process: Wet-processing results in a coffee that is lighter in body, cleaner, and brighter.  Most countries with coffee valued for its perceived acidity, will process their coffee using the wet-process, like Costa Rica and Kenya.

Pulped Natural: The pulped natural method consists of pulping a coffee, but emitting the fermentation stage to remove the silverskin.  This results in a beverage that has characteristics of both a dry- and wet-processed coffee.  It is often sweeter than wet-process, has the body of a dry-processed, but also retains some of the acidity of a wet-processed coffee.  This type of processing can only occur in countries where the humidity is low and the silverskin can be dried rapidly without fermenting.  Brazil has made this method famous and produces some of the best pulped natural coffees in the world. A hybrid method is also used in Sumatra.

Where to Buy Green Coffee Beans

If you’re interested in high quality fresh green coffee beans at fantastic prices check out the varieties offered at The Fresh Coffee Shop!

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