December 31, 2021
Did you know that around 70% of a coffee’s quality comes from its genetics, with the remaining 30% influenced by where and how it’s grown? Even so, what ends up in your cup isn’t just about the coffee plant itself. The way coffee is harvested, processed, dried, and roasted plays a huge role in its final flavour.
Before coffee ever reaches a roaster, it passes through several important stages. Each step affects how the coffee tastes, smells, and feels in the cup.
Here’s a simple breakdown of the journey coffee takes before it’s roasted.
Coffee plants grow best in warm climates with plenty of rainfall, often at higher altitudes. Traditionally, coffee is grown under shade alongside taller plants, which protect the coffee cherries from direct sunlight and help them ripen more slowly.
In some regions, like Brazil, coffee is grown using intensive farming methods. These farms rely on mechanised harvesting and irrigation to produce coffee on a much larger scale. Both approaches influence the character of the coffee, from sweetness to body.
How coffee is harvested has a major impact on quality. There are three main harvesting methods:
This method uses machines to collect large volumes of coffee quickly. While efficient, it often gathers ripe and unripe cherries together, which can affect consistency.
A fast manual method where all cherries are stripped from the branch at once. Like mechanical harvesting, it prioritises speed over selectivity.
The most careful method, where only ripe red cherries are hand-picked. This produces the highest quality coffee and is commonly used for specialty-grade lots.
Once harvested, the coffee cherries are taken for processing. First, the outer skin of the cherry is removed in a process called pulping.
The beans are then fermented in water-filled tanks to break down the sticky layer (called mucilage) that surrounds them. This stage usually lasts no more than 30 hours - too long, and the coffee can develop unwanted flavours.
Once fermentation is complete, the beans are thoroughly washed to stop the process and prepare them for drying.
Drying reduces the moisture content of the coffee beans and helps preserve them for storage and transport. This stage is often done naturally using sunlight, although some larger farms use mechanical dryers.
Common drying methods include:
Coffee is spread across large cement or brick patios and turned regularly to ensure even drying.
Beans are dried on raised mesh beds, allowing air to circulate above and below. This method helps prevent moisture build-up and promotes even drying.
These structures protect coffee from rain while allowing warm air to flow through, combining sun-drying with added control.
Each method influences how evenly the beans dry and can subtly affect flavour clarity and sweetness.
Once dried, coffee goes through threshing, where the remaining outer layers are removed to reveal the green coffee bean. At this stage, beans are sorted by size, weight, colour, and appearance.
Green coffee typically has a fresh, grassy aroma and a moisture content between 10–12%, making it stable and ready for roasting.
Roasting is where coffee’s flavour really begins to develop. Green beans are exposed to high heat for a carefully controlled amount of time, transforming their chemical structure and unlocking aromas and taste.
Lighter roasts highlight origin characteristics like acidity and fruit notes
Darker roasts develop deeper flavours, with sugars and oils rising to the surface for a richer, bolder cup
Every coffee requires a specific roast profile to bring out its best qualities - there’s no one-size-fits-all approach.
From cultivation to roasting, coffee passes through many hands and processes before it reaches your cup. Each step shapes the final result, which is why great coffee is always a combination of good genetics, careful processing, and thoughtful roasting.
