From grain to cup
To be able to enjoy the great little pleasure of having a good cup of coffee, you have to keep in mind that there are countless factors that can directly affect the flavor of the final drink. From the selection of the seed to the preparation of the drink, including roasting, there are many small steps that we will have to take care of if we want to have an exquisite coffee that awakens our senses.
Incapto Coffee, divides these factors into three stages. That is why we say that the coffee “is cooked” or transformed in each of these phases. So all of us who participate in any of them must be aware that we are responsible for the final flavor of the drink.
Coffee growers and logistics providers are responsible for the first stage related to raw materials. Roasters are responsible for the second stage: Roasting. Finally, you, as a consumer, are responsible for the third stage: Preparation. We have to do this work as a team, since if there is any failure in any of the phases, it will be noticeable when we drink our cup of coffee.
First Stage: Coffee, the raw material
The coffee tree must be planted and cared for with care in what is known as nurseries, for approximately 3 or 4 months, and then be transferred to the cultivation field where they will finish their process. During the first year, fruits will be obtained, however, these cannot yet be marketed. The future of the harvest will depend 100% on the botanical variety that the coffee grower adopts.
The total maturation of coffee, is reached between three and five years after being planted, once this time has passed, marketing can begin. A curious fact about coffee flowering is that in addition to having a short time, it is a gardenia family and when it sprouts it gives off a magnificent smell. After about four days, the flower begins to fall and that is when the grains finally begin to be seen.
Those greenish fruits that we see on coffee bushes change their color to a reddish hue. When they are completely ripe and are called cherries, they can sometimes look a little yellowish but this depends on their botanical variety.
Inside the coffee cherries we can find two beans, these are covered by several layers of skin which are:
-The silver one
-The parchment
-The exterior of the cherry
It should be noted that there are 60 species of plants so the grain size will depend on this. The coffee tree can have a long life of approximately 50 years, in fact it is capable of producing between 800 and 1200g of green coffee annually.
Care that provides quality coffee
As the faithful consumer of this natural drink, you should know that the process it goes through before reaching your cup requires many methods, especially the demanding care to which the crop fields are subjected.
You're probably wondering: how much should farmers do? These people have the responsibility of locating the plant in an area where it receives sufficient light and with an ideal temperature that would be between 24 and 29 degrees.
Tropical countries whose lands and climate are suitable for cultivation they are:
-Latin America: Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Peru, Panama, where washed Arabica coffee and a small portion of Robusta are mainly produced specifically in Guatemala.
- Africa: On this continent, the cultivation of robusta coffee is more common, primarily in Angola, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Cameroon, while Arabica flourishes in the lands of Mozambique, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia.
-Asia: It is another potential producer of Arabica and Robusta coffee, especially in the countries Vietnam, Sumatra, Indonesia, India, Laos, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, New Guinea.
Collection methods
The season is once again in charge of saying when the fruits that are only ripe will be picked. A process carried out manually and meticulously, which would help at the same time prevent damage to the other berries.
In some cases they apply what is known as scraping, a procedure that consists of taking all the cherries from the coffee tree regardless of their state of maturity, and then carrying out a careful selection.
After the grains have been previously reviewed, they are subjected to the processing method which is classified as follows:
-Wet (Gentle washes)
-Semi-moist (pulped natural)
-Dry or natural
But what does each of them consist of? It is very simple to understand, for example, when the wet mode is applied, the coffee must be pulped, then fermented or demucilaginized, after which it is washed and dried. When the coffee is dried inside the cherry, it is known as the natural method.
While Semi-humid is characterized by pulping and drying the beans, a step that in the coffee industry is known as semi-washed or natural pulping.
Second stage: Roasting
Like any other food that is cooked, the flavor and aroma will depend on how we do this process. Important things to take into account at this stage are: the temperature with which we preheat the machine. How we regulate the power of the flame, what air flow circulates between the beans, at what temperature and at what time we take out the coffee.
We first study the optimal point of each coffee in a sample machine. Subsequently, we do several tests until we find the greatest potential for each variety. And of course, we roast each coffee alone, since depending on the density of the bean it will need different roasting conditions. In this phase we can make the coffee more acidic, sweeter, have more body or be more bitter.
Third Stage: Preparation
Although it is the last stage, this is just as important as the rest. In this phase what we do is dissolve part of the coffee solids in the water. The first thing that will vary the final result is the method we use. The most common are the espresso machine, filter methods, the traditional mocha or the super automatic coffee makers. What basic concepts do you have to keep in mind when preparing a coffee:
-The proportion of coffee and water. That is, amount of coffee and amount of water.
-The extraction time or the time that the coffee will be in contact with the water.
-The grinding point of the coffee, whether it is coarser or finer.
-The temperature of the water and the type of water, whether it is harder or softer, will also vary the flavor.
-If you use the espresso machine or the super-automatic, the pressure is also important.
Quality Incapto Coffee
As a brand specialized in coffee, we take care of buying clean beans and they are of origin defects. Thanks to this in, Incapto Coffee, We do not need to do a new phase of cleaning the coffee beans, we do not bring defective beans.
In our product catalog the customer will find premium and specialty commercial coffee. Our purpose is to bring to every corner of Spain a coffee that is flawless, natural and does not allow itself to be encapsulated.
Regarding storage, the grains are usually placed in a “grain pro” bag and later in another jute bag.
Now what's left is tasting! In this way we will know if we are offering a quality coffee, a verdict that can only be given by the Q Grader, a taster certified by the Coffee Quality Institute, and applies the protocol of the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) where it is responsible for verifying sweetness, flavor, balance, fragrance, among other factors.
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