Growing coffee

[Luke_G]

I personally leave my cherry on the tree till it is dark red-maroon in color and soft to touch. Sometimes i'll let mine to dry on the tree and remove it a few weeks after the rest has been picked.
I found that i got a lot of floaters when i picked cherry that was lighter in color or still had slight green patches. The darker, the better for my taste.

[Elvis3577]

Kees from MTCP recommended a severe pruning every now and then.
GrahamK

I rang him on the phone the other day when I needed some quick advice on something , and he told me ( correct me if I'm wrong ) that he cuts them back to 500mm height ! Which sounds awfully severe to me.
So instead, I carefully cut the top out of one of mine at 1800mm, just to see over time what the consequences are...

PS Surprise , surprise he's not really a Dutchy, but NZ born !
Very Nice and extremely cooperative !

[Elvis3577]

Luke G said : I found that i got a lot of floaters when i picked cherry that was lighter in color or still had slight green patches. The darker, the better for my taste.

I still had quite a few floaters amongst my dark red ones btw....
So I'm guessing there's more involved besides color when it comes to floaters...

Ta , E.P.

[GrahamK]

I rang him on the phone the other day when I needed some quick advice on something , and he told me ( correct me if I'm wrong ) that he cuts them back to 500mm height ! Which sounds awfully severe to me.
So instead, I carefully cut the top out of one of mine at 1800mm, just to see over time what the consequences are...

PS Surprise , surprise he's not really a Dutchy, but NZ born !
Very Nice and extremely cooperative !

Yes he cuts them right down, and I've seen them after such a pruning, but then has plenty of others to fall back on until they recover. And yes a Kiwi, with a Dutch name and lovely guy who is very willing to share his knowledge.

GrahamK

[RayTCoffeePro]

So how do you guys process the cherries....

It's not like anyone here has got a depulper or mechanical demucilager.....

Just dont make human luwak.....

Anyways, there's this natural drying proccess.......

Seems economical really.....

[Thundergod]

I gave mine a severe pruning and they've thrived since because of it.

[Elvis3577]

I gave mine a severe pruning and they've thrived since because of it.

How long did it take for the shrub to 'recover', in other words , when did the advance become noticeable?
Did you cut them right down as well or did you get rid of the (sub) laterals, to make it more 'airy' ?
Thanks, E.

[Elvis3577]

Ray TCP said : So how do you guys process the cherries....It's not like anyone here has got a depulper or mechanical demucilager.....

Mine are made of flesh, blood and bone...;-)
For the drying process I use a nuclear source. ;-)

[RayTCoffeePro]

Elvis,.....

Processed by the hand, Like it

[Divey]

Now that this seasons harvest has just about come to an end I have a question. Is it necessary to polish the Silver Skin off the coffee beans OR can you go ahead and roast them with the Silver Skin still on them

My two little trees produced about 300 grams of Coffee Beans this year which I'm really pleased about and both trees are absolutely loaded with flower buds right now. Next year should be a ripper.

[chokkidog]

Hi Divey. Can you post a pic of your beans?

Not sure if you're referring to the husk/hull (which is removed prior to commercial bagging up in mills ) or silverskin aka chaff ( removed during roasting)?

[Divey]

Okay, I hope this photograph is not too large.

The top bean is before hulling. The next two beans are showing the Silver Skin. The last bean has been polished without any Silver Skin showing.

[chokkidog]

I'd give them a bit of a polish, Divey.

[Divey]

The beans that you can see with the Silver Skin have not been polished at all which is quite obvious, however, it seems to me that the majority of the beans have a fair bit of the Silver Skin on them even after giving them a bit of a rough up and rub between the palms of your hands. Some beans, the Silver Skin seems loose and is easy to rub off, others, it's rather tight to the bean and difficult to rub off. Anyway, I'll give 'em a good rub and see how we go.

[GrahamK]

You may even release the bean genie