The cleaned coffee is deposited into fermentation tanks where it sits completely submerged in water for a few hours. The old-fashioned way of removing the mucilage from the bean (which we still do when we have too little fruit to merit cleaning the machine!) is to ferment it in these cement fermentation tanks. Overnight the coffee should be ready to wash at which point the water is drained and replaced with clean water. The coffee then is vigorously stirred and rinsed a few times until the coffee beans are clean. Why do we let our coffee sit in water after washing it mechanically? A few years ago the coffee borer beetle (broca) made its way to Costa Rica. This insect bores into the fruit during its larval stage leaving the bean hollow and useless. Immersing the coffee in water for a few hours drowns any larvae that may be present. Though Finca Cristina does not have a problem with this pest, we believe this simple preventative measure is worth the effort to break the insect's lifecycle and control its spread. Previous | Beginning | Next