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Expertise
How coffee beans become a flavorful
cup of NESCAFÉ Classic
June 2007
THERE are many ways to enjoy a good cup of NESCAFÉ
Classic, but there is only one method that assures coffee
drinkers that they are getting the best coffee there is. From
the careful selection of the beans to its patented roasting
process, NESCAFÉ makes sure that its consumers enjoy
quality-from the bean to the cup.
NESCAFÉ's first step to quality coffee begins when
coffee farmers carefully handpick the beans. Handpicking allows
the meticulous selection of ripe berries from the cluster,
helping avoid the selection of unripe green cherries.
The cherries also undergo a post-harvest treatment in the
farmers processing facility. Here, they are poured into a
floatation tank of water to separate the "floaters"
from the "sinkers." Floaters are insect-damaged,
unfilled coffee berries and berries with defects, while "sinkers"
are good quality, fully-filled ripe coffee berries that are
free from defects.
The sinkers go through a drying process to prevent microorganisms
from growing during storage. They are then rid of foreign
matter, such as dirt, stones and twigs. The dried cherries
then undergo a de-hulling process where the coffee beans are
separated from the hulls. After de-hulling, the green coffee
beans are finally dried down to 12% moisture content.
The beans then undergo a cleaning process. Here, the defective
beans like black beans, broken beans, immature beans, moldy
beans and other foreign matter are segregated from the rest
of the good beans. This will ensure that the best tasting
coffee brew will be produced from the green coffee beans.
The green coffee beans are then brought by coffee farmers
to any of the NESCAFÉ Buying Stations in Davao City,
Iloilo City, Dumaguete City San Francisco, Agusan del Sur,
Tuguegarao, Solano, Nueva Viscaya and Silang, Cavite where
they are then shipped to the Nestle Coffee Factory in Cagayan
de Oro. Here, they are graded according to defect count, cup
taste, and moisture content.
The roasting process is a procedure that NESCAFÉ has
mastered to perfection. It is an important and integral process
in bringing out the flavor and develop the characteristics
of the coffee beans. Roasting can be described as a balance
between science and art. In NESCAFÉ, computerized roasters
are used to ensure consistency and quality of the roasted
beans. With almost seventy years of experience with coffee,
NESCAFÉ roasters rely on their sight to see the various
physical changes during the roasting process.
Here, the coffee beans expand and undergo density and color
changes. They turn to yellow once they absorb heat and then
to brown as the beans lose their water content. They further
darken in color while undergoing chemical change and release
the oils, which give coffee its flavor. NESCAFÉ roasters
also rely on smelling the aroma produced during this process
to know if the coffee beans are being roasted properly.
After roasting, the beans are then grounded and brewed. Spray
drying then follows. Here, the concentrated brew is sprayed
through a nozzle from a high tower into a hot air chamber
after which dried coffee powder is left at the bottom of the
chamber.
The high quality NESCAFÉ is then ready for packing
in jars and sachets and is shipped nationwide. |
