by Bertie_Doe » Fri Sep 16, 2005 11:02 pm
Hi Terje, I also roast Yirg, so I looked in my book 'Coffee' by Banks, McFadden & Atkinson, under the section 'Harvesting & Processing.'
It seems there are 2 methods of removing the pulp from the newly harvested coffee cherry : Dry and Wet Processing.
1. Dry Process. The cherries are cleaned, sun-dried and then hand-turned for three weeks.They may then be finished in a hot-air machine
Then off to a hulling mill and the pulp is removed.
2. Wet process. The cherries are forced down water channels, which loostens the skin, then thru a hulling machine, where some of the pulp is removed and then into water tanks, where natural enzymes, ferment the remainder of the pulp out. They are then sun and/or machine dried.
The book also states that most Ethiopian beans are sun-dried. It is therefore possible that Yirg is the exception to the rule and may be wet (fermentation) processed ?
BTW, you may also find the E Longberry Haraar, Djimmah and the Indian Monsooned Malabar to your liking.
Pete