Introduction

A ripe coffee cherry and a cup of coffee look nothing alike. Between them lies a chain of careful steps: removing the fruit, drying the seeds, stripping away their protective layers, sorting them, roasting them and, for coffee premixes, turning them into a soluble powder that dissolves in seconds. Each step affects flavour, and a mistake at any stage can spoil good coffee.

We grow coffee on our own plantations, and our harvest goes into Desco, our coffee premix brand. Our coffee plantation guide explains how we grow and hand-pick our coffee. This article follows the coffee after picking.

It explains how cherries are sorted, the three main processing methods (washed, natural and honey), drying, hulling and grading green coffee, storage, roasting, how instant coffee is made for premixes, and how a Desco sachet is put together. It ends with answers to common questions.

Why processing matters

A coffee cherry is a fruit: sweet, wet and quick to ferment. The aim of processing is to remove the fruit and dry the seeds before they spoil, while protecting, or deliberately developing, their flavour. Processing affects:

• Flavour: sweetness, acidity, fruitiness, body and cleanness in the cup;
• Consistency: whether every batch tastes the same;
• Storage life: how long the green coffee keeps without losing quality; and
• Safety: whether mould and defects are kept out.

Processing has to start quickly. Ideally, cherries are processed the same day they are picked.

Step 1: Sorting the cherries

Even with careful selective picking, a basket of cherries contains some fruit that should not go forward: a few green or overripe cherries, cherries damaged by insects, leaves and twigs. Sorting removes these.

• Hand sorting. Cherries are spread out and workers pick out unripe, overripe and damaged fruit.
• Floating. Cherries are put into water. Ripe, dense cherries sink. Underdeveloped, damaged or insect-attacked cherries, which are lighter, float and are skimmed off.

Good sorting at this stage is one of the simplest ways to improve cup quality.

Step 2: Processing the cherries

There are three main processing methods.

The natural (dry) method

This is the oldest and simplest method. Whole cherries are spread out to dry in the sun, on raised beds, mats or drying yards, and turned regularly so they dry evenly and do not ferment or go mouldy. Drying can take two to four weeks, depending on the weather. When the cherries are dry and hard, the dried fruit is removed.

Natural coffees often have a heavier body and fruity, sometimes wine-like flavours, because the beans dry in contact with the fruit. The method uses little water, but it needs careful turning and protection from rain.

The washed (wet) method

In the washed method, the skin and most of the pulp are removed first, using a machine called a pulper. The beans are still covered in a sticky layer of mucilage. They are placed in tanks, where natural fermentation breaks down the mucilage over about 12 to 48 hours, depending on temperature. The beans are then washed clean with water and dried in their parchment layer.

Washed coffees usually taste cleaner and brighter, with clearer acidity. The method needs more equipment and water, and good management of the wastewater, which is rich in organic matter.

The honey (pulped natural) method

The honey method sits between the two. Cherries are pulped, but some or all of the sticky mucilage is left on the beans as they dry. The name refers to the sticky, honey-like feel of the beans during drying, not to any honey being added.

Honey coffees often combine the sweetness and body of naturals with some of the cleanness of washed coffees.

Comparing the methods

Many coffee-producing countries, including Sri Lanka, use more than one method, depending on the coffee type, the weather and the market. Robusta is often processed by the natural method, while Arabica for brighter, cleaner cups is often washed.

Step 3: Drying

Whatever the method, the coffee must be dried to a safe moisture level, usually around 10% to 12%. Over-dried coffee loses flavour and becomes brittle; under-dried coffee can go mouldy in storage.

Coffee is dried in the sun on drying yards, raised beds or mats, or in mechanical dryers. Sun drying is slow and gentle but depends on the weather; raised beds allow air to circulate under the coffee and keep it clean. During drying, the coffee is turned regularly and covered at night and when rain threatens.

Step 4: Resting, hulling and polishing

After drying, the coffee is rested for a period, which helps moisture even out through the beans and stabilises flavour. Then it is hulled: machines remove the dried fruit (for naturals) or the parchment layer (for washed and honey coffees). What remains is green coffee, the raw, unroasted bean. Some coffees are lightly polished to remove the thin silver skin.

Step 5: Grading and sorting green coffee

Green coffee is graded and sorted before it is stored or sold:

• Size. Beans are sorted through screens with holes of different sizes. Screen sizes are measured in sixty-fourths of an inch: screen 18, for example, means the beans do not pass through holes 18/64 inch wide. Larger beans of even size roast more evenly.
• Density. Denser beans, often from higher elevations or slower ripening, are separated from lighter ones.
• Defects. Black, sour, broken, insect-damaged and mouldy beans, and foreign matter such as stones and twigs, are removed by hand or by machine.
• Colour. Electronic sorters can remove off-colour beans quickly.

Coffee buyers often judge green coffee by counting defects in a standard sample and by cupping, tasting brewed samples under standard conditions.

Step 6: Storing green coffee

Green coffee keeps far longer than roasted coffee, but it still needs care. It is stored in breathable jute bags, sometimes with protective inner liners, in a cool, dry, ventilated store, off the floor and away from walls and strong odours. Well-stored green coffee can keep its quality for many months.

Step 7: Roasting

Roasting turns green coffee into the brown, aromatic beans we recognise. In the roaster, beans go through several stages:

1. Drying. The beans lose moisture and turn from green to yellow.
2. Browning. Sugars and amino acids react (the Maillard reaction) and sugars caramelise, creating hundreds of aroma and flavour compounds and turning the beans brown.
3. First crack. Steam and gases build inside the beans until they crack audibly, and the beans expand.
4. Development. After first crack, the roaster decides how far to take the roast: lighter for brighter, fruitier flavours, or darker for bolder, more bitter-sweet flavours. Very dark roasts reach a second crack.

Roasting reduces the weight of the beans by about 15% to 20%, mainly through moisture loss. Arabica and Robusta are often roasted separately, then blended, so each reaches its best.

Step 8: Making soluble (instant) coffee for premixes

Coffee premixes such as Desco use soluble coffee, often called instant coffee, which dissolves instantly in hot water. Soluble coffee is made from roasted coffee in an industrial process:

1. Grinding. Roasted coffee is ground.
2. Extraction. Hot water under pressure extracts the coffee’s soluble flavour and colour compounds, producing a strong coffee liquid.
3. Concentration. Some water is removed to concentrate the coffee liquid.
4. Drying. The concentrate is dried into powder or granules, either by spray-drying (spraying it into hot air) or by freeze-drying (freezing it and removing the ice under vacuum). Freeze-drying is gentler on aroma.
5. Aroma recovery and packing. Aromas captured during processing may be added back, and the soluble coffee is sealed in airtight containers, because it absorbs moisture from the air.

Robusta is widely used in soluble coffee because it gives a strong, full-bodied cup and good yield of soluble solids, while Arabica adds aroma and smoothness.

Step 9: Making a Desco premix

A Desco premix combines soluble coffee made with coffee from our plantations, non-dairy creamer and sugar. The spiced range adds Ceylon spices. The ingredients are blended to a consistent recipe, then filled into single-serve sachets and sealed. Sealing each serving separately keeps the premix dry and fresh until you open it.

The Desco range includes:

• Desco Classic 3-in-1, a smooth, balanced everyday cup;
• Desco Cappuccino, with a creamy, foamy top;
• Desco Ginger Coffee, part of our Ceylon spiced range; and
• Desco Iced Coffee with Milk, made for cold drinks.

Desco is produced under local and international certifications covering quality and food safety. You can see the full range on our World of Coffee page, including Desco Classic 3-in-1 and the Desco Spiced Range.

What is in a typical 3-in-1 sachet?

Typical values for one 20 g sachet of a classic 3-in-1 coffee premix are about 85 kcal, 2.5 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 40 mg sodium, 16 g carbohydrate, 0.6 g protein and around 50 mg caffeine. These are typical values for this type of product; the values for each Desco product are shown on its pack.

Quality checks from cherry to sachet

Good coffee depends on checks at every stage. The table below shows the main checks along the way and why each one matters.

Making use of coffee by-products

Coffee processing produces large amounts of material besides the beans. Handled well, much of it can be reused:

• Coffee pulp removed in the washed and honey methods can be composted and returned to the plantation as organic matter, feeding the soil.
• Dried cherry husks, removed from natural coffee during hulling, are sometimes used to make a fruity tea known as cascara, or used as mulch or fuel.
• Parchment, the papery layer removed from washed coffee, can be used as fuel or mulch.
• Wastewater from pulping and washing is rich in organic matter and can harm streams if released untreated. It should be settled, treated or used carefully, never discharged directly into waterways.
• Spent coffee grounds from soluble coffee production can be used as fuel or compost.

Returning pulp and husks to the soil is one of the ways coffee farms close the loop, as our guide to sustainable plantation management explains.

How to make the perfect cup of Desco

Desco is designed to be quick and easy, but a few simple tips make every cup better:

• , allowed to cool for a few moments. Water that is too cool won’t dissolve the premix fully.
• Use the right amount of water. Around 150 ml to 180 ml of water per sachet gives a balanced cup. Use less for a stronger, creamier drink, or more for a lighter one.
• Stir well until the premix has fully dissolved.
• For iced coffee, dissolve Desco Iced Coffee with Milk in a little hot water, then pour it over plenty of ice and top up with cold water or milk.
• Store sachets in a cool, dry place, away from steam and moisture, and use an opened sachet straight away.

For spiced coffees such as Desco Ginger Coffee, let the cup stand for half a minute after stirring so the spice aroma opens up.

Illustrative example

The following example is illustrative and does not describe a specific batch or figures.

On a busy harvest day, pickers bring baskets of ripe red cherries from the plantation. The cherries are tipped into water, and the floaters are skimmed off. The best Arabica cherries are pulped, fermented overnight, washed and spread on raised drying beds. Robusta cherries are dried whole as naturals on a drying yard.

For the next two to three weeks, the drying team turns the coffee several times a day and covers it whenever rain clouds gather. When moisture readings reach the target range, the coffee is bagged and rested. A few weeks later, it is hulled, screened by size and sorted to remove defects. Samples are roasted and cupped, and the green coffee is stored until it is needed for roasting and soluble coffee production for Desco.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between green coffee and roasted coffee?

Green coffee is the raw, dried bean after processing and hulling. It has a grassy smell and keeps for months. Roasted coffee has been heated to develop its aroma and flavour, and it should be used within weeks.

Which processing method is best?

None is best in every case. Washed coffees tend to be clean and bright, naturals fruity and full-bodied, and honey coffees sweet and balanced. The right choice depends on the coffee, the weather and the taste you want.

Is instant coffee real coffee?

Yes. Instant coffee is brewed coffee with the water removed. It is made from roasted coffee beans by extraction and drying.

How much caffeine is in a Desco sachet?

A typical 20 g 3-in-1 coffee premix sachet contains around 50 mg of caffeine, roughly half of a typical cup of brewed coffee. Check each Desco pack for its values.

Is Desco made from your own coffee?

Yes. Desco premixes use coffee from our own plantations.

Can I buy green coffee from your plantations?

Green coffee may be available to trade buyers, subject to season and availability. Our bulk supply guide explains our bulk supply.

Why does coffee need to rest after drying?

Resting lets moisture spread evenly through the beans and allows their flavour to settle. Coffee that is hulled and roasted straight after drying can taste flat or uneven.

Does processing change the caffeine content?

Not much. Caffeine content depends mainly on the species: Robusta beans contain roughly twice as much caffeine as Arabica. Roasting changes caffeine very little by weight.

How long does a Desco sachet keep?

Unopened sachets keep until the best-before date shown on the pack when stored in a cool, dry place. Because each sachet is sealed, opening one does not affect the others.

Conclusion

Processing turns a perishable fruit into a stable, flavourful bean. Sorting, washing or sun-drying, careful drying, hulling, grading, storage, roasting and, for premixes, extraction and drying each play a part in the taste of the final cup.

Because Desco starts with coffee from our own plantations, we can follow it from ripe cherry to sealed sachet. That is how we make sure every Desco cup is consistent, convenient and full of flavour.

Want to taste the result? Explore the Desco range.

Discover Desco Coffee

Sources

• Specialty Coffee Association, coffee processing and green coffee grading resources: https://sca.coffee/research
• National Coffee Association USA, how coffee is processed and how instant coffee is made: https://www.ncausa.org/About-Coffee/10-Steps-from-Seed-to-Cup
• Sri Lanka Export Development Board, coffee from Sri Lanka: https://www.srilankabusiness.com/blog/coffee-from-sri-lanka.html
• The Palladium Group, Sri Lanka’s bean-to-cup specialty coffee journey (May 2025): https://thepalladiumgroup.com/news/Sri-Lankas-Bean-to-Cup-Specialty-Coffee-Journey
• FatSecret and FairPrice product listings for 20 g 3-in-1 coffee premix sachets (typical nutrition values), as used on the Desco page