At Green Coffee Monaco, we know that to make quality coffee, all the steps are essential:

Let’s look at the coffee cherry harvest, because like the origin of the beans, the harvest has an essential role in the quality of our drink.

WHY IS THE COFFEE HARVESTING METHOD IMPORTANT?

There are several methods of harvesting coffee. Depending on the one used (traditional or intensive, for example), the quality of the coffee may vary.

Why ? Simply because the coffee tree, the shrub at the origin of coffee, requires patience and real know-how.

Know first of all that it is necessary to wait 5 years after its planting for the coffee tree to give its first fruits. Once this long stage has passed, the shrub will give what are called coffee cherries, which will ripen for a period ranging from 6 months to a year. Unlike other plants, the coffee tree will also be able to flower 8 times during a year. Within a coffee plantation, each shrub will therefore not have the same maturity. Worse still, on every coffee tree, it is possible to find fruits whose stage of maturity is not the same. Reason why the coffee harvest is important. If too many cherries are picked when they are not fully ripe, the coffee will be either too bitter (if the cherries are not ripe) or pungent (if the cherries are too ripe).

THE DIFFERENT METHODS OF HARVESTING COFFEE

You now understand why the harvest fully conditions the quality of the coffee.

- The first technique, namely destemming, consists in picking all the fruits by hand, by pulling on the twigs.

- The second method, mechanical destemming, uses the same process, but using tractors fitted with brushes.

In both cases, all the fruits are picked, including those that have not yet reached maturity.

- Finally we have selective harvesting. This method of picking by hand or with a comb allows only the ripe fruits to fall.

For an exceptional coffee, some brands, like Green Coffee Monaco, opt for "picking", or harvest by hand: This technique consists of picking the ripe fruits, manually and one after the other. Although it takes longer, this process is the key to delivering coffee of exceptional quality.