Washing the coffee beans is the next step. All the beans, which are really the seeds of the fruit, are covered with a sugary mucilage. This must be removed or it will slowly ferment and change the taste of your coffee. The washing machine works on the same principle as the clothes washer you have in your home. The coffee spins inside a cylinder while a bit of clean water is added. Friction rubs the mucilage off the bean. The mucilage is collected in a tank and sent to a USB reactor or biodigester where anaerobic microrganisms digest the sugars leaving fertilizer and methane gas as byproducts. We have used this gas for cooking for many years! The Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) presented us with their prestigious ecological award for our closed system of wastewater treatment. Previous | Beginning | Next