Coffee starts inside the ripe Cherry on the hillside of Mt Elgon, we are at 2300 metres above sea level and the quality and complexity of flavour is determined by the volcanic soil and the high altitude. The colder the temperature, the longer the fruit takes to develop the sugars and flavour. This is why we can call this speciality coffee. It is grown with great care by highly trained farmers.
The Red cherries are sorted and selected, then they are floated in a large tank to separate the good from the bad, the ripe from the unripe.
After floating we put them the pulping machine to separate the seed from the fruit
After pulping the seeds are returned to the tank for fermenting for two days,
Then washed and left in the green house to remove the moisture.
When ready, the coffee is transported down into the town (Mbale) where it can be processed in large a large drying warehouse where further quality checks are made.
All along the processes involved there is quality control managed by the QC manager
This is stage one of the coffee journey - I will share the rest of the journey next time where we explore the complications and logistics of getting this wonderful coffee into the UK!
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