In 2015/16, we new designed and built a state-of-the-art wet and dry coffee processing mill on one of our farms, Cuatro Caminos. Ideally located on a paved road with easy access to electricity and running water, it was the perfect location.
With top-of-the-line equipment from Pinhalense, we built a modern, environmentally friendly mill that operates a complete “closed-loop” system. This system means that no bi-products produced during the post-harvest process enter or negatively affect our environment.
During harvest season, the coffee cherries arrive from all the producing farms in our network to this centralized location. Although our farmers are carefully trained to select only the perfectly ripe cherries, you still end up with some under-ripe and over-ripe cherries along with some leaves and twigs. The first step is to separate the good cherries from everything else we just mentioned, leaving just the perfectly ripe cherries.
For the Natural process, these cherries are go to the drying stage, with the pulp/skin in tact.
In the Washed process, the mucilage is stripped off, and then the golden beans are washed and then passed to the dynamic dryer. Here they dried to a specific moisture content before they are stored in our hermedically sealed storage room, where it can be rested for up to 90 days. This resting period is a crucial step and is when the coffee developed its unique and complex flavor profile.