It is at the sorting stage that
bags of "peaberry" beans are collected. They are
also know as "pearl" or "caracol" beans, and they come from cherries
that by chance contain only one bean instead of the normal pair.
Thus the peaberry's shape is much rounder than an ordinary
flat-sided bean, and for some reason, although it was alone in the
cherry, it is much smaller than the average bean of its variety.
Peaberries are thought by some connoisseurs to have a better flavor,
and they command a slightly higher price. If they produce a better
cup of coffee it could be attributed to the fact that they undergo
more scrutiny at the sorting stage, where a defective bean is more
likely to be noticed and removed from the batch, rather than that
they individually produce a superior taste.
Before they are sold and shipped,
the bags of beans are both sampled by sight and taste and assessed by
government officials, who ensure that the quality matches the
grading specification on the label, and the certificate of origin.
Coffee bags are made of jute, with an average capacity of 60 kilos,
although Colombia traditionally employs 70 kilo bags. Most coffee
intended for international sale will be shipped before further
processing, mostly because roasted beans are extremely vulnerable to
spoilage and must be packaged immediately to retain their freshness,
and because the soluble process require expensive technology often
not available in the producing country. So the bags embark on their
journey around the world, destined for such coffee ports as Trieste,
Hamburg, Le Havre, London, New York, New Orleans and San Francisco
After being unloaded, the sacks of
beans either will be stored in warehouses, or they will go directly
for processing. The blending, roasting, grinding and packaging can
all be done within a few hours. Once the beans arrive at the
factory, a sample will be tasted, since coffee can be
adversely affected during shipping. Green bean, although extremely
hard, would be ruined, for example, by contact with condensation.
The beans go into great silos while the blending formulae are
determined. A relatively small number of bags will go to small
roasters, who have purchased them from a trader in the country of
origin, or to coffee importers/wholesalers who buy in bulk for
smaller firms.
