Postharvest Processing—Revealing the Green Bean

The quality and flavor of a coffee cup are a result of the variety, the environmental offer, the agricultural practices, as well as the process followed to obtain the green beans that are finally roasted and ground. Coffee has many opportunities to vary both dry and wet processes, and the combination of the two emphasize some attributes that satisfy customers regarding new flavors and tastes. This chapter describes the processes used to obtain a stable product, some variations discovered by scientists and growers to achieve some special characteristics and well-known types of coffee, and the tools and methodologies to produce them in a consistent way. This chapter also has as an objective to encourage the creativity of scientists and growers to continue to investigate original ways to process coffee in a qualitative and sustainable manner. The socioeconomical aspect is implicit as specialty coffee has better prices in the market.