Come December and all the green coffee plantations of Kodagu or Coorg are abuzz with activity.The red cherries are waiting to be picked, pulped and processed as the migrant labour from the neighbouring villages pour into the district.

Coffee Plantation

Kodagu accounts for over 50 per cent of coffee production in Karnataka and 40 per cent in the country. The coffee here is broadly classified into two varieties – Arabica and Robusta and the picking season begins with Arabica. If you happen to be in North Coorg, which is considered as traditional Arabica territory, you will find the pickers as early as 7 am plucking the ripe cherries from the plants. South Coorg, though not left behind, is traditionally a Robusta stronghold and the season starts a month later. The picking season for coffee lasts until end February after which pepper takes over.

Coffee cherries

A day in a plantation during picking season starts early where the labourers begin to collect the cherries in their bags .The session continues through the day as only the ripe cherries are picked. The coffee beans eventually have to be removed from the cherry and dried before they are extracted. In one method, the cherries are put in a pulping machine where it is washed and the pulp removed. The washed coffee is later spread over the drying yard and are left to dry. The washed bean is called parchment coffee and it is ready to be further processed. In some plantations where the pulper is absent, you get unwashed or cherry coffee that is pulped and dried as a whole.

Workers with plucked coffee cherries

As you sip that hot brew, it is interesting to note these various processes the bean goes through before it adds to the flavor.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 at 5:00 pm and is filed under Plantation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.