STORY

Natural super basics [Coffee Fanatic Hitomi 's Deep Coffee World No. 9]

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Hello! ! Coffee Fanatic Hitomi ! !

Up until the last time , I had finished explaining the washed type, so from this time I would like to talk about the non-washed type, called Natural.
 
 

Natural, which is harder to sort than washed

Well, it is the oldest and most primitive production process, so on a commercial basis, I wonder if the original would be Yemen. That's what it feels like. This is a production process in which the harvested fruit is dried and threshed to extract the green beans.

...It's very easy! ! (*'▽')

I previously mentioned that washed is ranked higher than natural , but this can also be said to be due to the fact that it is easy to see differences in quality from the perspective of production processing.

In the case of the washed type, the pulp is removed first, so if there is any abnormality in the parchment coffee inside, you can immediately identify it. Furthermore, by sorting by specific gravity using water channels or siphons, it is possible to carefully select (grading) the grapes.

In the case of the non-washing type (Natural), the pulp is not removed, so for example, even if the fruit (cherry) looks fine at first glance, it may be unripe parchment or eaten by insects. Unable to determine.
 
Also, as the drying progresses, both green and red fruits turn Shin black, making it impossible to tell the ripeness level in the later stages. Furthermore, because the drying period is long, there is an increased risk of bacterial activation and foreign matter contamination due to moisture such as rain.

In the case of natural beans like this, the only option is to use a dry mill just before export to increase the precision of the beans rather than using a wet mill to extract good quality green beans.
 
Children who were rejected by Dry Mill. (It's originally a specialty spec, so it's pretty clean)

So, in terms of quality, natural products are a little difficult. Coffee, which is a valuable source of foreign currency income for producing countries, must of course be exported to a high quality export standard, so products with a risk of quality are destined for domestic consumption, and high-risk natural products are avoided. So, basically, there are no export standards for natural coffee in coffee producing countries in Central and South America, with the exception of Brazil.
 
With the rise of specialty coffee, the production of natural coffee for export has become more active in the specialty industry over the past 15 years.

Now, let's take a look at the natural process!

Basics of non-washable (Natural)

Although the production process is simple, there are surprising variations. It all looks like this.
 

On the other hand, Specialty looks like this:
 


Let's look at it in order

[For domestic consumption]

 
This is the most disappointing grade. In countries where water-washing is the main method, we turn coffee that is not worthy of washing into natural coffee. During screening before pulp removal, fruits that are too small and hard fruits that have shrunk due to excessive dryness (Boia) are removed, and these fruits are targeted. Fruits that cannot be peeled by the pulp remover are also passed through this line.

These unfortunate fruits are left to dry on concrete patios and are threshed without any special treatment. The coffee made in this way has a strong astringent taste (super dry), and has a harsh, earthy taste, and in some cases, a chemical smell such as phenol. ...You can't drink it as it is, so in Costa Rica, for example, they use a special oven that can add sugar and roast it (I wonder if it won't burn (;・∀・)?) to make the coffee sweeter. We are finishing it and sending it to domestic distribution. ...In a sense, it can be said to be the most combative coffee (death).
 

[For export standards]

 
It's what you would call a normal natural. Well, it is a process that is taking place in Brazil, Ethiopia, etc. The process is not that complicated, but you can feel a little care taken at key points. The basic flow looks like this.



The production process will take approximately 30 days. This is because fruit with pulp has a high moisture content and is difficult to dry. In the case of Brazil, the output of the harvesting machine is adjusted and the ripeness is adjusted using a color difference sorter. In the case of Ethiopia, farmers hand-pick the grains, and then hand-pick them again at the collection site to select ripeness.

After this, in Brazil, they are spread out on a concrete patio to dry. In Ethiopia, they are dried on raised drying racks called African beds or sunspended patios. Stir at a set frequency to ensure even drying, and if it rains, cover with a black vinyl sheet to prevent water from getting wet.

Once drying is complete, store it in a grain bag in a silo or warehouse. In the case of Brazil, wooden silos (which make it easier to control humidity) are sometimes prepared, creating a good environment for resting.

After this, it will be the Dry Mill process.

Basically, these traditional, orthodox natural products have a strong sweetness and body, but do not have fruity or fermented odors. On the contrary, I am careful not to let these flavors adhere. I talked about this in a previous article.

・・・・・・・・・

Is it basically like this?

It was the basics of naturalness.
Next time, I would like to talk about natural in specialty products!

Hello everyone.

 
2023.9.2
Fanatic Hitomi
Ryo Mikami

Ryo Mikami

After graduating from university, due to certain circumstances, he worked at Starbucks and encountered the potential of coffee. After many twists and turns, he joined a trading company specializing in specialty coffee. He opened his eyes to the Fanatic path and has been involved in a wide range of work from commodities to specialty products, including market price analysis, production site visits, product fair reviews, competition coaching, extraction, roasting, and equipment proposals. CROWD ROASTER advisor.