Harvest time — coffee-picking techniques 1.0
At first glance, choosing a coffee-harvesting method might not seem creative or particularly engaging. Nothing could be further from the truth. How cherries are picked on a farm can influence the flavour of our coffee as much as the processing stages that follow. Today we have prepared a slightly technical but fascinating guide to coffee harvesting.
Harvest time
Before choosing a method, we need to know when green coffee cherries on our farm will become ripe, deep red and wonderfully fleshy. In the northern Coffee Belt, harvesting can begin in September and continue until March. That is when our aromatic Mexico Altura SHG Arabica is harvested. Southern Hemisphere farms generally begin in April and finish around August.
There may seem to be plenty of time, but experienced growers know that fruit collected at the beginning or end of the season may be under- or overripe. Roasteries seeking the highest quality therefore favour beans picked at the season's peak. Once we know when to prepare, it is time to choose a technique that may determine success or failure at a coffee auction.
Stripping — fast and efficient
Put simply, coffee can be harvested manually or mechanically. Two manual methods are stripping and picking. Stripping means shaking or pulling all the fruit from a branch, a popular approach on small and medium-sized farms.
Collecting fruit in one pass speeds up work but can mix unripe, overripe and lower-quality cherries into the harvest. In a Q grader's assessment, these may reduce cup quality through astringency or fermented-fruit notes.
Picking — the art of selection
For only the best fruit in the basket, growers choose selective hand-picking. Perfectly ripe cherries are picked as they reach the right colour, with workers returning at intervals of around ten days.
This careful, time-consuming work supports a sweeter aromatic profile from well-ripened fruit. It also gives workers time to inspect plants and look for signs of disease.
Like Edward Scissorhands
There are also two main mechanical approaches. Growers can play Edward Scissorhands with a handheld derriçadeira, or feel like a large-estate owner driving a specialised harvester.
The handheld tool has two vibrating arms that shake branches and dislodge fruit. It is popular where productivity matters alongside early quality control. It is often used on Arabica farms: Arabica likes altitude, and fields may lie on narrow, steep mountainsides, such as those associated with our organic Honduras SHG in the Montecillo range. Such terrain is unsuitable for large, unwieldy machines.
Bigger can do more
A harvester that knocks fruit directly into collection containers can cover a hectare much faster than manual workers. But the method has limitations: the equipment is expensive to operate, needs servicing and requires trained operators. Buying even one machine is beyond the reach of many small farms.
A question of choice
The harvesting technique is one of a grower's most important decisions. It affects bean quality, production costs, the surrounding environment and even local relationships.
As the owner of several hectares, would you rather employ more people from nearby villages to harvest slowly but carefully by hand? Or fund training for a smaller team capable of operating more complex machinery?
These questions must be answered when planning farm work, before turning to an even more complex subject: coffee processing.