Specialty vs. Ordinary Coffee Processing

For simplicities sake, there are basically two ways to process coffee in Rwanda; specialty and ordinary. Specialty coffee is processed at the wet mill (or washing station) using large machines and tanks to de-pulp the cherries, ferment and clean the coffee. The beans are then dried on tables and hand sorted for quality and size separation. The process is expensive but allows for more careful quality sorting.

Ordinary coffee is usually processed by farmers at home. Pulp is removed using old, obsolete machines or rocks, (as shown in the pictures below); the beans are cleaned and then dried on tarps and mats on the ground. All beans, regardless of size, are processed together. The process is very time consuming and sorting for higher quality beans becomes challenging. However, if the right cherries are picked, and with proper equipment, care and technique, coffee processed at home can be ‘specialty quality’.

At the consumer level, ordinary coffee is sold in large volumes or bulk with unknown traceability. Specialty coffee is sold in individual lots with verification of origin. Rogers Family Company buys specialty grade coffee from Rwanda.