Did you ever wonder what the journey from farm to cup looks like for your coffee? Here are the 10 most common steps in a simplified form:
- Planting - A coffee bean is actually the seed of a cherry. Once planted it takes 3-4 years for the new coffee tree to bear fruit.
- Harvesting - Coffee cherries are usually harvested once a year, and most often picked by hand. Lower elevation farms may use mechanical harvesting methods.
- Processing the Cherries - Removal of the outer cherry fruit from the seed (coffee) is done either by Dry Method on patios or raised tables, or by Wet Method using a pulping machine and systems of water.
- Drying - Wet Method coffee beans require an extra step of manual drying on patios or tables, or machine drying in large tumblers.
- Milling - In preparation for export the outer parchment layer is removed from the beans using hulling machinery.
- Grading and Sorting - Size, weight, color flaws and other imperfections are considered as the green coffee is sorted and prepared for sale.
- Exporting - The green coffee is either bagged in jute or bulk-shipped to the import country.
- Tasting & Cupping - The coffee is repeatedly sample-roasted and "cupped" for quality and taste. Cupping is a formal process for determining character, flaws and blending potential.
- Roasting - The green coffee is transformed into the aromatic beans we are familiar with in stores and cafes.
- Grinding & Brewing - A proper and consistent grind is aligned with the brewing method to extract the optimal flavor of the fresh coffee.
As a reference, world coffee production for 2018/19 is estimated to be 175 million 60 kg bags. This includes everything from lessor commodity-grade coffees all the way to up the top 5% that we call Specialty Grade coffee. And this is your Sky Mountain coffee..Specialty Grade.