Mel Coffee ETHIOPIA Guji G1 Rasta Fully Washed

① Smallholder farmers deliver the harvested coffee cherries to nearby washing stations or collection points and place the ripe cherries into the factory's water tanks.

② The coffee cherries are pulped by a Mackinnon Disc Pulper, and the parchment coffee is then density graded using water flow into P1, P2, and P3 (P1 being the heaviest and of the highest quality).

③ The parchment coffee is guided to fermentation tanks for approximately 36 to 48 hours of fermentation.

④ Once the mucilage (pectin) on the surface of the parchment coffee is completely removed, it is washed in water channels.

⑤ After about half a day of soaking, the parchment coffee is drained and then spread out on African Beds for sun drying.

⑥ During the drying process, workers continuously turn the parchment coffee and remove defective beans. The drying process takes 12 to 15 days.

⑦ The parchment coffee is sent to a dry mill for dry processing (Dry Milling), where it undergoes impurity removal, hulling, density grading, and hand-picking. Finally, the finished green beans are packed into burlap sacks, ready for export.

Drying Process and Details

Between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., when the sun is most intense, workers cover the parchment coffee with plastic tarps. This protects the parchment coffee and prevents excessive moisture evaporation. This region is located below the equator and at a very high altitude; if the sunlight is too strong, it can damage the coffee cherries and parchment coffee, leading to off-flavors in the final cup.

Furthermore, while typical drying takes only 8 days, here they opt for a slow drying process (Slow Drying) lasting 12 to 15 days. This allows the moisture within the coffee beans to equalize more thoroughly, resulting in complex flavors with a clean mouthfeel. Research has also confirmed that a slow drying process significantly impacts the shelf life (preservability) of green beans after they are exported to consumer countries.

After drying and hulling, the green beans undergo mechanical sorting, followed by meticulous hand-picking to achieve high-quality Fully Washed (FW) coffee. Although the method is traditional and simple, the human labor hours invested are crucial in determining the quality.