Growing coffee

[Elvis3577]

Graham said :There is a risk is that if you get bad beans, or what are sometimes called "stinkers" they can actually ruin the whole roast batch, so I don't think its worth taking the risk personally.

Well , no risk there. As I tried to hull them they virtually pulverized in my hands, and turned to dust....

In the mean time I've done two roasts in my new popcorn machine.
First one was quite a light roast because I didn't want to charcoal them like I did before. Let it degas for about 18 hours and had a drink.
I thought it was drinkable , and my wife kind of liked it quite a bit. No idea how to describe the taste , but it's very different to what we buy....
Did a second one yesterday afternoon, bit darker, and it's in a glass jar on the benchtop degassing as we speak. That's for tomorrow morning. ;-)

Got a third batch sundrying on the porch. Straight from the plant onto the net.( after getting the floaters out that is ), so in a weeks time or so I'll find out if it tastes differently.

Ta.

[GrahamK]

Well , no risk there. As I tried to hull them they virtually pulverized in my hands, and turned to dust....

"Natural Selection" doing its job :-)

GrahamK

[Elvis3577]

I left my drying tray outside last night by accident, and it must have been about elevenish when I thought about it.
Well, ... it seems that slugs and snails like coffee too !
Don't worry about pellets anymore to catch them, crikey....
I won't let that happen again. Just hope it won't affect the taste all that slime...

[Kevo]

I imagine with all those coffee beans in them, they'd be too hard to catch anyway!

[RayTCoffeePro]

Depulping coffee cherries is your job

[Vinitasse]

Depulping coffee cherries is your job

RayT, please think a couple of seconds before submitting a post cuz you're coming across as rather otherwordly and nebulous

[RayTCoffeePro]

Vinitasse, Other wordly ??????

This is getting weird

[Vinitasse]

Vinitasse, Other wordly ??????

This is getting weird

You took the words right out of my mouth

[Divey]

Let's get back onto subject. When do you consider that the cherries are ready to be picked ?? As soon as they turn red or older ??

[GrahamK]

Let's get back onto subject. When do you consider that the cherries are ready to be picked ?? As soon as they turn red or older ??

I find its a range of ripeness really, as they are not at the same stage at the same time. A deep red ripeness is what I aim for, but while I am picking some will not be as ripe as others. For convenience, and to ensure I get them before the possums find them, I'll pick some that are more pink than deep red. So basically once a fair proportion are getting to that target ripeness, I'll start picking across the range. The riper they are the easier to pulp, especially if you are doing them by hand.

I'm currently on about my 5th batch of picking this year, and still have quite a lot of green cherries left to ripen. In fact I think they may start blossoming again before I have finished picking the current batch.

GrahamK

[Divey]

I find its a range of ripeness really, as they are not at the same stage at the same time. A deep red ripeness is what I aim for, but while I am picking some will not be as ripe as others. For convenience, and to ensure I get them before the possums find them, I'll pick some that are more pink than deep red. So basically once a fair proportion are getting to that target ripeness, I'll start picking across the range. The riper they are the easier to pulp, especially if you are doing them by hand.

I'm currently on about my 5th batch of picking this year, and still have quite a lot of green cherries left to ripen. In fact I think they may start blossoming again before I have finished picking the current batch.

GrahamK

Okay, I'm happier now because what you have described you are doing is exactly what I am doing at present. However, as I don't have a problem with possums I could leave them much longer but I'm buggered if I know how long is too long.

[Elvis3577]

Kevo said : I imagine with all those coffee beans in them, they'd be too hard to catch anyway!

Yeah , they were going like a zyrtec !

[Elvis3577]

I concur with Graham.
That's what I do too. Selective picking.
I depends a bit on the size of the batch you've already picked, but I tend to leave them as long as possible.
I found three yesterday that I must have overlooked previously, and they were past their red/ maroon stage and were positively looking purple almost. I guess the next 'stop' would have been black ( raisin ). But they were fine !
There is a fair bit of play in it. I'd say a week / 10 days extra or so isn't going to kill it, depending on the weather of course.

[Elvis3577]

I'm out of red cherries at the moment as well, it's all fairly dark green on the branches and no new blossom.
Had a couple of mugs yesterday from the 'honey' batch and it was the best tasting cuppa yet.
Thinking I might stick to that procedure...

Thinking back of all the waiting, growing , all the work etc. and it resulted in no more than 10-12 mugs of coffee, and I'm out of it again for a little while at least...
The 'return -on -investment ' is quite small, but was it worth it ? ABSOLUTELY !!

PS That Popcorn machine doesn't produce a very even roast. Some beans would be more like 'milk chocolate' while others have already some black spots on them, so I might have to rethink that.

[GrahamK]

I found three yesterday that I must have overlooked previously, and they were past their red/ maroon stage and were positively looking purple almost.

Not difficult to do, they hide under the leaves, and when you look from a different angle, they suddenly become visible. Then when you are picking on the other side of the tree you notice all the ones you missed previously. Reckon once you have enough trees to keep you going, the trick is to prune them so they are easier to manage. Height is also an issue, so another reason to prune. Kees from MTCP recommended a severe pruning every now and then, but currently I don't have enough trees to allow a recovery season as yet.

GrahamK