Journey Of Coffee Beans. Helena’s coffee estate is halfway up the hills, more than 1000 meters above sea level. Coffee beans can only develop optimally when they reach a specified height and climatic and soil conditions. In Cau Dat – Da Lat, we work with over 100 farmer households with typical coffee gardens.
Born from the fragrant coffee blooms, the coffee is meticulously plucked by hand by the farmer until the fruit is ripe on the branch to avoid injuring the fruit. After the harvesting process, the coffee is transported to the plant to be processed.
Helena processes the fruit using Honey Processing and Full-Washed Processing. These relatively sophisticated coffee processing procedures necessitate a high level of technique and rigor in the implementation process to provide a rich coffee flavor.
The mature fruit will be placed in the peeling machine after being gathered for the honey processing procedure (Honey Processing). However, even after peeling, the coffee beans cling to the slimy flesh of the beans. As a result, the seeds are still scattered on natural sun-drying platforms. It usually takes around 12 hours for coffee to achieve the necessary humidity of 12%, depending on the weather.
Full-Washed Processing is more complex and is usually reserved for Arabica coffee. The coffee cherries are passed through a peeler, similar to the Honey technique, to separate the pulp and mucous membranes from the beans. However, the coffee beans are still unsatisfactory throughout the separation process since the outer layer of the coffee beans is still there, reducing the quality of the beans.
Coffee beans must be cleaned for another 24 to 36 hours by brewing natural enzymatic fermentation. The coffee beans’ mucilage loses its sticky texture after fermentation and is easily removed by water. The coffee beans are then dried till they have a moisture level of 12.5%. That’s all there is to it for the coffee filling.
Despite numerous difficulties, rain, and sunshine, the voyage of coffee beans is not yet complete. Green coffee is still being brought to the Helena coffee factory in Saigon’s east for roasting. The crackling of coffee beans may be heard here, along with the sounds of the roaster. At this point, the roasters will “care” for the coffee beans by regulating the temperature, and observing and recording the temperature difference every minute to guarantee the roasting temperature is permanently stable.
Temperature regulation is critical. If no action is taken quickly, the coffee beans will burn and lose their natural flavor when the roaster temperature suddenly rises. Helena’s coffee is freshly roasted every day to provide consumers with the most excellent coffee flavor.
It is a long trip from the Cau Dat green coffee estate to the tasty coffee. We work with all our hearts to create that miracle because Helena thinks that the genuine value of coffee comes from the caring of the people who make it. Helena would like to give you stories written in a cup of coffee and ask you to join our generous coffee community starting now.