The Process

At the Olam Cherry mill,  have several options as to how they can process washed coffee. The beginning of the process is the same for all: strict picking and reception standards (picked ripe with less than 3% of greens), cherry floatation, de-pulping and screen sorting to remove any remaining under-ripes. From this point, there are two paths that the coffee can take.

Path 1: The coffee is fermented for 14 hours using a Fermaestro to determine the end of the fermentation, washed, dried on the patio and finished in a mechanical drier.

Path 2: the coffee is sent straight to the mechanical washers (removing the mucilage), sent through a Centriflux to remove excess water, then dried at low temperatures mechanically.

Natural factors, along with the two paths above, mean that the coffee can exhibit subtly different profiles. One profile tends to be more acidic, and the body is a touch lighter; this exhibits the winey character that cuppers often catch on fruity lots, so we call this ‘Vinoso’. The other profile is sweeter and a little more body-driven – this is the standard top-washed profile for Santa Rosa, but sometimes we call it ‘classic’.