Coffee Harvest: Why Selective Red-Cherry Picking Defines Quality
When and how coffee cherries are picked decides how many defects reach the warehouse. These are the harvest practices we ask of our partner farmers.
Coffee quality cannot be fixed at the warehouse. Cherries picked too early or too late carry their defects all the way to the cup, so we pay attention to harvesting from the start.
Selective picking
Ripe coffee cherries are deep red and slightly soft to the touch. Selective picking means only ripe cherries are picked, one by one. Green cherries stay on the tree until the next round.
Green cherries produce pale beans and an astringent taste. Overripe or fallen cherries mould easily and give a musty flavour.
Picking in rounds
Cherries on the same branch do not ripen at once. Farmers usually harvest the same plot several times per season, one to two weeks apart. It is slower, but the result is far more uniform.
Same-day sorting
After picking, cherries go into a bucket of water. Floaters are usually empty, damaged, or insect-bitten, so they are removed. The sinkers are processed promptly, ideally the same day, before they start fermenting on their own.
Harvest season in North Sumatra
The main coffee harvest in the North Sumatra highlands generally runs at the end of the year, with a smaller harvest mid-year. See our harvest calendar to plan your purchases.
What we check at the warehouse
Every delivery is weighed and checked for moisture and defects. Deliveries with many black, broken, or insect-damaged beans are downgraded, and the farmer receives feedback to improve the next harvest.