Kokoda Coffee

The wet parchment is now resting in large vats. The vats are filled with fresh water. Once the vat is full, a gate at the bottom end of a wall is opened and the parchment and water is pumped through.

A vat filled with wet parchment ready for washing

It flows down a channel to a second vat. While in the channel the parchment rubs against itself and the walls and floor of the channel, removing almost all of the loose mucilage. Once in the second vat, the coffee is rinsed once more to remove any extra wet mucilage.

Wet parchment being rinsed in a second vat (you can see the parchment channel from the first vat just behind the worker)

It is essential to pulp and wash the parchment coffee quickly so the drying process can begin as soon as possible. This minimises the fermented taste present in a lot of coffees that are not processed properly. A fermented coffee will have a sickly sweet taste which can be likened to the smell of over-ripe or rotting fruit.

A parchment washing station on a plantation in Papua New Guinea

The parchment is then transported to the huge drying fields.  Normally trucks with perforated trays are used to transport the wet parchment.  The perforation lets any excess water drain off on the way.

Once correctly washed, we move on to the Drying stage of the Journey of Coffee. Click here for more information.