The journey of a coffee bean

Nescafe Classic has been a part of Philippine culture so much so that when one mentions coffee, it is the brand that immediately comes to mind.

However familiar we are with its taste and aroma though, not many of us know the strict and rigorous process that coffee beans used in Nescafe Classic undergo.

From the planting and propagation of the Robusta coffee cherries to their careful selection by coffee farmers and the special roasting process that they undergo, coming up with a rich and flavorful cup demands a lot of hard work and quality control.

The first step to quality coffee is good farming. And with the Nestle Experimental and Development Farm (NEDF) in Tagum, Davao del Norte, coffee farmers are trained with modern farming systems and are given access to high quality and high-yielding Robusta coffee planting materials. To date, the NEDF provides 80 percent of all Robusta cuttings used in the Philippines.

"A coffee is a 50-year crop," says Zenon Alenton, resident agronomist for NEDF. "If you plant a bad coffee tree, it means harvesting 48 years of bad coffee."

The next step involves the practice of good harvesting methods. This involves the physical removal of the coffee cherries from the trees, one of the most important stages in coffee production as it, along with roasting, contributes to good coffee taste and aroma.

"It is best that the cherries be carefully handpicked by the farmer because this allows the selective removal of ripe cherries from the cluster," explains Alenton. "Harvesting green berries with red ones will result in immature beans after processing. Green cherries yield flat beans, which burn fast in roasting, thus producing a bitter taste. Overripe cherries, meanwhile, produce an acidic taste."

Alenton says red coffee cherries are more fragrant and smooth because they have higher aromatic oil and lower organic acid content.

The coffee cherries then undergo a post-harvest treatment. Here, they are poured into a flotation tank to help separate the floaters from sinkers. Floaters are insect-damaged or unfilled cherries, while sinkers are good quality ripe cherries that are free from insect damage.

The coffee cherry sinkers then go through drying and sorting

"Drying is necessary to prevent microorganisms from growing during storage," explains Alenton. "The coffee cherries can be dried in the sun or in mechanical driers."

The coffee cherries are then sorted. "This involves the selection or taking out of undesirable foreign materials or broken pieces of coffee beans that can degrade or bring down their quality," says Alenton.

After sorting, the beans are delivered to the Nescafe buying stations. Currently there are 11 coffee buying stations nationwide by Nestle Philippines Inc. Here, they are graded according to moisture content, percentage triage, and cup taste. "Coffee with moldy, fermented and or foreign taste is immediately rejected," says Alenton.

The chosen coffee cherries are then stored, where equilibrium between the water inside the bean and the humidity of the ambient air is maintained.

The final and most integral part in the processing of the Nescafe Classic is the roasting.

"Nescafe has mastered the art of roasting to perfection. Its special roasting process brings out the fresh, flavorful taste and rich aroma of the coffee cherries. And this is the reason why its rich taste and aroma is very distinguishable from other coffee brands," says Alenton.

During the roasting process, the coffee cherries expand and undergo density and color changes. They turn to yellow once they absorb heat and then to brown as the beans in the cherries are pushed out. They further darken in color once they release the oils, which give coffee its flavor.

These are the stages that the Robusta coffee cherries used in the Nescafe Classic undergo and these are the processes that make it the most popular coffee choice in the country.