Because we have long-term relationships with our farmers and actually import ourselves, we also have good control over the quality standards used during the coffee cherry processing and milling. We will not work with poorly run processing mills.

The ripe, red cherry of Arabica trees are harvested by hand, so only the ripest, highest quality beans are processed. Indeed, since coffee trees have cherries that are in various stages of development, this is the only way to insure consistency and quality.

After harvesting, the coffee beans (actually the seeds of the cherry) are processed to remove them from the cherries. This is either done by a "dry" method shown here (where coffee is dried on large concrete drying "patios") or by a "wet" method at a factory.

After being separated from the pulp of the coffee cherry, the two halves of coffee seed, called "beans," are then sorted both by machine and by hand. This sorting process removes imperfections and separates the beans into grades.

Unroasted but processed coffee is called “green coffee,” and it is in this form that the coffee is exported from the origin countries in 60 or 70 pound burlap bags. Green coffee beans can be stored in warehouses for about a year before losing the top end flavors.

Next comes roasting! When coffee is roasted, its lifespan will decrease especially when exposed to air. This is why the roaster must be close to the consumer and package the coffee as quickly as possible.