How a coffee is processed after harvest can have a dramatic affect on the resulting cup, so it has become an increasingly important part of how it is described and sold.

We dry our coffee beans by ‘Sun Drying’. This method achieves the highest quality and flavor for the coffee, and is the method we practice. A square meter of sun dry beans will yield 100 pounds of parchment beans. To dry the beans in the sun a drying system is required.

Manual aeration, turning the beans, is required to dry homogeneously and prevent fermentation which will damage the beans. The African Bed is a wood frame stretcher with a suspended netting holding the beans above the ground outside in the open. The stretcher allows air circulation above and below the beans. Both the clay tile patio and African Bed require manpower to constantly rotate the beans in an effort to achieve an even and uniform drying.

These systems are very dependent on weather conditions. Moisture from dew or rain can hinder the drying process and can damage the quality due to mildew. Creating a green house by placing plastics over the drying patio or African Beds prevents weather moisture from affecting the beans.