The drying process of the coffee beans

No matter how the coffee is processed, at some stage, it needs to be dried. For washed coffee, drying occurs after the coffee cherry removes the pulp and mucus. For honey-treated coffee, drying occurs when some or all of the mucus still remains on the parchment. For sun coffee, it is dried with the pulp and mucus.

There are two main ways to dry your coffee. The first method is to put the coffee beans on the sun bed and dry them naturally. The second is by using a dedicated coffee dryer.

Coffee drying is a process after harvesting coffee cherries that usually maintains coffee quality rather than improving coffee quality. Washing, sun-drying and honey-treated coffee beans must be dried at some stage in processing.

There are two main factors affecting coffee drying: temperature and airflow. These will reduce the moisture in the raw coffee beans over time.

It is important to remember the temperature limits of each processing method throughout the drying process. Coffee beans with parchment should not be dried at temperatures above 40℃, while sun-exposed coffee beans should not be dried at temperatures above 45℃.

Water content should also be regulated to avoid mildew from coffee beans. The moisture content before drying is between 40% and 50%, and it should be reduced to between 11% and 12% after drying.

When using a mechanical dryer, the coffee is usually pre-dried in some degree of sunlight. The dryer will be used to complete the subsequent drying process with higher accuracy and accuracy.

Coffee drying is also the most time-consuming part of the whole process, so it is a key point. Drying time varies among many factors, including weather conditions and processing methods.

When dried only in sunlight, washed and semi-washed coffee takes less time to dry (6-9 days), while sun-baked and honey-treated coffee takes longer (10-14 days).

While heat and airflow are the two main factors affecting coffee drying, it is also important to focus on the extent to which water escapes from raw coffee beans. If you dry in a humid environment and the water cannot escape, then the coffee will not lose its moisture.

Humidity is an important issue when coffee beans are mass-dried in sunlight. It delays the drying process and causes inconsistent water levels in a batch of raw coffee beans. Sun-drying is usually restricted to very small plots where space and capacity allow.

With newer, smaller volume rotary dryers on the market, even small volume coffee production can use mechanical dryers.