Red picking for the excellent taste of brewing coffee

1. Overview of the coffee harvest

The quality of the harvest of coffee cherries is one of the determining factors for the quality and taste of brewed coffee. The quality and taste of good coffee begins with picking ripe coffee cherries. Coffee cherries ripen within 9-12 months depending on the type. Arabica coffee ripens in 9-10 months, robusta 10-11 months and liberica 11-12 months. In Indonesia, in general, the coffee fruit harvest season occurs from April or May to September or October. The quality of coffee from Indonesia is still relatively low because it contains many defective coffee beans due to the process of picking coffee cherries such as black coffee beans, raw coffee beans, broken coffee beans, and so on. Quality improvement during harvesting can be done by selectively picking coffee cherries.

2. Coffee Picking

There are two methods of picking coffee, namely selectively pick and strip pick. Selective picking is the process of harvesting red coffee cherries, this method is also known as red picking. Selective picking is the process of harvesting red coffee cherries, this method is also known as red picking. The advantage of red picking is that the quality of the pliers picked is only good, so that the dried seeds are of good quality. Red picking has its own challenges, among others, having to pursue the right ripeness of coffee cherries. The coffee cherries will not be left unripe and the unripe ones will not be picked. Red picking requires a lot of labor because each worker has to really choose ripe coffee cherries on each tree, so the maximum working capacity of picking coffee cherries is 100 kg of coffee cherries/day.

3. The condition of the coffee cherries when picked

Although selective harvesting or picking red produces the best quality and taste of brewed coffee (if processed with the right processing) and promises a better selling price, the reality in the field is that it is very difficult to do selective harvesting or picking red. Therefore, before determining the method of picking coffee, it is very important to consider potential buyers who are willing to pay for the quality of the beans produced and any changes in physical quality and taste during harvesting. More specifically the quality of the coffee cherries produced in each picking process can be seen in the table below.

Coffee Fruit Maturity LevelInformation
Fruit is still young The color of the fruit is still green Acidity and coffee body the brew is weak. Flavor defects : grassy, bitternes very high and astringency very highCannot be picked
Yellow fruit The color of the fruit is mostly still green – yellowish The color of the coffee beans is grayish to pale greenAroma, Flavour, Acidity and body the brewed coffee is weak Flavor defects : grassy, bitternes high and high astringency Better not pick it
Yellowish red fruit Most of the fruit is red (although there are still some that are yellowish) Physically, the fruit is yellow – reddish. Good aroma and taste,bright acidity, heavy body, bitterness medium and astringent currently. Flavor defects : –Better to pick
Full red fruit Full red fruit color Fresh red fruit physiqueAcidity and body the brewed coffee is weak, the aroma and taste are good, bright acidity, heavy body, medium bitterness and medium astringent. Flavor defects : –Must be picked
Overripe fruit The color of the fruit is black, some have dried on the tree. Physical of the fruit: black is not fresh (even until it dries up) Aroma, flavour, acidity, medium body, Flavor defects : earthy, moldy, stinkMust be picked soon.