Questions and Answers
From: Win Wan Nur - Indonesia
To: Dr E. Illy - illycaffé s.p.a. Italy
Question: How far does humidity impact on taste of coffee?
Answer: A condition of <13% of moisture in the green bean stops the survival of moulds and bacteria. Enzymes are activated at higher moisture contents too. Green bean is more resistant to moulds and bacteria at <11.5% moisture. 11+\- 0.5% moisture is the ideal. Stinkers or smelly beans will develop at high moisture contents and 1 in 50 is enough to affect flavour and taste. Atmospheric humidity is usually more manageable at higher elevations.
From: Gregory Love - Myanmar
To: Dr E. Illy
Question: What is the lower limit of moisture in green beans?
Answer: Below 10% beans become fragile and shatter. Need ISO standardised equipment and methodology to measure moisture content.
From: Jaques Op de Laak - Thailand
To: Dr E. Illy
Question: Why is the Catimor variety of Arabica coffee so poor?
Answer: I suggest you do not plant Catimor as it has essentially 25% Robusta genes, which convey rust resistance, but are dominant in flavour aspects still. It has had disastrous consequences in Costa Rica and Colombia.
Follow - up: Catimor derivatives can produce high quality Arabica with good rust resistance and high yield.
Answer: Other Arabicas, e.g. EC-2 (Campanis) and Cowerie (derived from Liberica base) in India perform as well as Catimor without quality problems. In my opinion no Catimor gives a good cup. Good coffee should be not bitter, not astringent, rich in flavour, fruity and flowery. The selection process must start with perfect cup quality before proceeding to other attributes.
From: Mrs S. Menon - India
To: Dr E. Illy
Question: Can you please describe the semi-washed process for coffee used in Brasil?
Answer: Semi-washed coffee has brought about a revolution in coffee processing in Brasil over the past 10 years. Illycaffe has offered a trophy in Brasil for best expresso coffee and Cascado is a semi-washed coffee that out of 619 entries in 2000 was a clear winner. In fact all winners were semi-washed coffees. With a semi-washed you get 2% more complex sugars and a powerful surfactant to give a better extraction of oils, better body and a better emulsion, better foam and a flavour very close to full wash coffee. The drying time is shorter at 7-10 days versus 3 weeks. After pulping, extraction and a short wash, coffee is left for the mucilage to form a crust in the mass-this makes the coffee non-sticky. If moved at the beginning, the mucilage will form a crust. After a crust is formed, the coffee is easy to move and turn for sun-drying which gives the caramel/toasty flavours.
From: Mrs S. Menon - India
To: Tony Marsh - East Timor
Question: What is the Grade Standard for East Timor Coffee?
Answer: Coffee is exported as whole green bean, with a standard down to screen No. 12. Coffee has <10 defects/100g of beans and is clean, good looking coffee. Coffee is separated into 3 lines/grades:
|
Liquecia |
< 100 m.a.s.l. - less body less acid |
|
Aifu |
100-1200 m.a.s.l. |
|
Malbesi |
>1200 m.a.s.l. - more body, more acid, more intense
flavour |
To: Dr Illy
Question: What is the step-by-step process for semi-washed coffee processing?
Answer: Berries must be mature. Separate mature and immature cherries first. Then pass through a machine that removes pulp of the mature cherries. Next remove more mucilage with rubber disk machine. Then wash for one hour with running water-minor water usage (about 1 L/1 Kg of cherries). Then allow the mucilage to dry to form a crust. Then dry as usual in the sun with turning and covering at night. Raised sacking or mats are usually used and covered with plastic sheets at night. Process is complete in 7-10 days. It is a good process for areas where rain is received at harvest time.
From: Pablo Dubois - ICO
To: Dr E. Illy
Question: Coffee is consumed as Expresso coffee, which is a soft coffee with a residual sugar, so semi-washed coffee may be more appropriate, while Filtered coffee is of higher acidity and fruitness and wet processing is favoured for the latter.
Answer: Expresso coffee is polyphaseic, being an emulsion, foam and effervescence. Filter coffee is a solution. Fermentation does not contribute to flavour and fruitness, which are genetic traits. Bad fermentation can give off-flavours. Thus the semi-wash or full wet processing can produce good quality coffee.
Comment: K.Chapman - FAO/RAP. With wine, fruitiness and higher acidity are dominant in areas with warm days and cool nights at during vine ripening to maturity. Perhaps the same applies to coffee? Environment simply switches on and off gene expression.
From: Dr Alastair Hicks - FAO/RAP
To: Dr E. Illy
Question: Does sugar/acid ratio have any significance in coffee?
Answer: Not really. Coffee ferments, unlike fruit juices etc., and acetic acid is the main detectable acid in coffee giving a sour off-flavour smell. Malic, citric, oxalic are present. Chlorogenic and decaffennic acids also give sour aromas. Tannic acid (also present) can impart a drying and shrinking of the mucous lining of the mouth. Linalol is present in Typica Bourbon coffee and it is the base for Chanel No. 5 perfume!
From: Dr Buntoon Warit - Royal Project Thailand
To: Dr E. Illy
Question: Should we proceed with plantings of Catimor or not and should it be destroyed?
Answer: To save Catimor we need to find a plant with exceptional cupping quality and clone it. India has lines from Liberica and Arabica with exceptional resistance and high cup quality. Thus they do not need Catimor.
Comment: K. Chapman - FAO/RAP. Thailand is up to F6 generation selection with 26 Hibrido de Timor and non-Hybrido de Timor hybrids, including crosses with Catimor. Promising two lines, H420/9 and H528/46 are hybrids with Catimor, while a further two, H361/3 and H47/13 are non-Catimor hybrids. All have high rust resistance and high cup quality. Every plant is cup tested as well as tested for rust resistance and this may indeed be the way forward. Cupping quality is high at 6.8. It is a truly remarkable selection programme championed by Mr Arporn Tummakate formerly of DOA Thailand and now with the Royal Project foundation in Chiang Mai.
From: Mrs S. Menon - India
To: Mr Khamlek Boungnavong - Lao - PDR
Question: What are the shade trees used in the Boloven’s Plateau in Lao?
Answer: Gliricidia, Leucaena, Albizzia and Erythrinas.
From: Keith Chapman - FAO/RAP
To: Mr Khamlek Boungnavong - Lao - PDR
Question: How is coffee marketed in Lao?
Answer: Coffee is marketed as green bean. There are 15 companies associated with export. There is also a lot of cross border trade, with Thailand mostly. No Specialty or Organic coffee is marketed as such.
From: Keith Chapman - FAO/RAP
To: Mr Khamlek Boungnavong - Lao - PDR
Question: Can you tell us more about your varietal improvement in coffee in Lao?
Answer: We have planted 46 varieties at different altitudes on Boloven’s Plateau and seven have been selected for good disease resistance. Details can be provided later. At lower altitude disease is more serious.
From: Mrs S. Menon - India
To: Mr Khamlek Boungnavong - Lao - PDR
Question: In Lao, how is organic coffee produced and what methods are used in processing?
Answer: Coffee is organic simply because there is no chemical use. Providing credit to farmers for inputs is difficult. This coffee is not certified as organic coffee. Arabica coffee is wet processed while Robusta coffee is dry processed.
From: Keith Chapman - FAO/RAP
To: Mr Khamlek Boungnavong - Lao - PDR
Question: What are the important issues concerning coffee in Lao?
Answer: 1. Low prices. In the past 1 kg coffee=5 kg rice, now 1kg coffee=1.5 kg rice. 2. Occasional frosts above 900 m.a.s.l., and we need to establish shade over the coffee to reduce this risk. 3. At lower altitudes of around 600-900 m.a.s.l., rust, Cercospora and dieback are serious problems. 4. Need to establish both temporary and permanent shade, preferably from fruit trees to earn extra income for small farmers.
From: Gregory Love - Myanmar
To: Dr Alastair Hicks - FAO/RAP
Question: How long and how often is a rest period required in the drying process and how can you hold fresh mature cherries at the processing site?
Answer: The break each night is sufficient in the drying process, but coffee should be covered at night or brought inside to prevent re-wetting and mould/bacterial development. Cherries may be stored in water at the processing site to remove field heat and slow respiration. Generally, try not to hold for more than 12 hours.
From: Keith Chapman - FAO/RAP
To: Dr Hoang Thanh Tiem - Vietnam
Question: What do you think are the main key interventions to be made in the coffee industry in Vietnam?
Answer: 1. Quality improvement in terms of cupping and freedom from Ochratoxins. 2. Marketing improvement with reward for quality. 3. Developing high quality Arabicas involving Typicas/Bourbon/Mocca cultivars and others at altitudes above 1000 m.a.s.l. 4. Developing Organic coffee project areas.
From: Mrs Menon - India
To: Dr Hoang Thanh Tiem - Vietnam
Question: Will you continue to aim for an Arabica planted area increase in Vietnam of 100,000 hectares or will the process slow?
Answer: No. It will probably slow and reduce to perhaps 40,000 to 60,000 ha.
From: Mrs Menon - India
To: Dr Hoang Thanh Tiem - Vietnam
Question: Are current plantings of Robusta shaded?
Answer: Some use peripheral shade and inter-plantings with fruit trees such as durian and cashews. Most are not shaded. The main aim is to reduce fertiliser use on Robusta coffee as the current production systems are not sustainable.
From: Pablo Dubois - ICO
Comment: Back crossing Catimor to Ethiopean Arabicas can produce a highly rust tolerant, high quality coffee, but production of F1 hybrid is costly. It is possible to clone good F1 lines and graft on to Robusta stock. This is still risky of course, relying on a single clone. Generally Eritrean coffee is of high quality but low yielding.
From: Mrs Menon - India
To: Dr Hoang Thanh Tiem - Vietnam
Question: How many flowerings do you have in Vietnam with Arabicas?
Answer: Only one, but it can extend over three months as no there is no distinct dry season in Arabica areas, as opposed to Robusta areas.
From: Dr Vijit Thanormthin - Royal Project Thailand
To: Dr Hoang Thanh Tiem - Vietnam
Question: How do you control stem borer in coffee in Vietnam?
Answer: We increase the planting density.
From: Dr Alastair Hicks - FAO/RAP
To: Dr Hoang Thanh Tiem - Vietnam
Question: With coffee you mentioned drying space is a constraint. How do you manage this problem?
Answer: We try to reduce the amount of drying needed. For each hectare of coffee we need to dry between 1.5-5 MT for Robusta. Wet processing needs a lot of drying so Robustas are mostly dry-processed.
From: Dick Mann - Thailand
To: Dr Hoang Thanh Tiem - Vietnam and Mr Khamlek Boungnavong - Lao - PDR
Question: In Thailand there is no central board for coffee quality control, extension or R&D so coffee quality varies widely from farm to farm. How do you overcome these problems in Lao and Vietnam?
Answer: In Vietnam it is easy to improve quality, but difficult to maintain because of the export traders system and incentive for quality is not paid in the market place. Thus quality is unstable.
In Lao we have the right conditions to produce high quality coffee, but intermediate buyers pay the same for good and bad quality coffee. Quality improvement has to go right through the complete system to the consumer to get a good result.
Comment: Tony Marsh - East Timor In Sulawesi Indonesia, Toraga coffee producers sell wet parchment to cooperative buyers who then dry and sell green bean. Central cooperative processing improves quality. There has to be a desire, incentive and clear mechanism to motivate production and sale of quality coffee.
From: Dick Mann - Thailand
To: Tony Marsh - East Timor
Comment: Such fragmentation in Thailand gives problems of product quality and processing. There is no cooperative setup like Brasil.
Answer: The size of the Arabica coffee industry in Thailand is too small to professionally run cooperatives such as we have in East Timor for processing and marketing.
From: Tony Marsh - East Timor
To: Gregory Love - Myanmar
Question: Why do you process coffee naturally using the dry processing technique?
Answer: Naturally-processed Myanmar Arabica coffee has good body and fullness of flavour, and commands good prices in Japan. Water availability and disposal are problems for wet processing and wet processing infrastructure costs are high. The market should be for high quality Specialty Coffee from Myanmar. Coffee production is expanding and there is a hold on promotion of lower quality Catimor at the present time. Export of coffee from Myanmar is easily set up and cooperation between private and Government sectors is good.
From: Jaques Op de Laak - Thailand
To: Gregory Love - Myanmar
Question: Where is the coffee production located in Myanmar?
Answer: Most is in the Northern and Southern Shan states and Chin state.
From: Dr E. Illy - Italy
To: K. Arporn Tummakate - Royal Project, Chiang Mai Thailand
Comment: Congratulations on the very intensive rust and quality selection programme with Catimor in N. Thailand. Professor Patiosi of the University of Trieste and an international group and French group of researchers are trying to find the genes responsible for quality expression in coffee. It is suggested that their search be extended to include rust resistance also and that K. Arporn may wish to follow this up and link to his programme.
From: Win Wan Nur - Aceh, Indonesia
To: K. Arporn Tummakate - Royal Project, Chiang Mai Thailand
Question: In Thailand do you have an ant problem when bananas are grown as temporary shade for coffee? We cannot do this in Aceh, because of ants and associated insects and sooty mould on the plants.
Answer: No. We do not have the same ant problem in Thailand. We can use many different shade trees including local species such as Pakea spp.
