Coffee processing · Ethiopia
Cup profile is decided at drying.
Specialty coffee is bought on cup profile, and cup profile is substantially determined at the drying stage.
Processing challenges
- Traditional sun drying is vulnerable to rain and requires large bed areas and continuous turning.
- Variable results across a large producer base.
- Wet-season humidity brings mould and phenol/ferment taints.
- Rising specialty-buyer quality expectations.
System configuration
- Low-temperature 35–45 °C operation preserving volatile aromatic compounds.
- Gradual moisture reduction preventing case hardening — which in coffee shows up as uneven roasting later.
- Gentle air movement avoiding physical damage to parchment and bean.
- Progressive multi-stage drying for proper development.
- Continuous bean temperature and moisture monitoring.
Product applications
- Washed process — post-washing moisture management, controlled initial phase, over-drying prevented.
- Natural process — extended low-temperature cycles, cherry integrity, fruit-character development.
- Honey & pulped natural — mucilage drying, sticking prevention, uniform colour development.
Outcomes
- Final moisture at 10.5–11% with tight consistency.
- Origin characteristics preserved in the cup.
- Phenol and ferment defects minimised.
- Green-bean storage stability and process documentation for specialty buyers.
Explore further
- All drying applications — parameters and quality metrics for this product class.
- Hot-air generators — the indirect-heat core that keeps combustion off your product.
- Industrial tunnel dryers — the 1,500 kg-per-batch chambers this configuration uses.
- Worked use cases — fully engineered example configurations across West Africa.
Processing coffee in Ethiopia?
We’ll match temperature, airflow and hygiene design to your product and validate parameters by trial before quoting outcomes.
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