The wash or wet process as its called is the most common of the three drying processes of coffee. In this process the coffee cherries are picked and directly transferred to a water tank.
The beans are then sorted by observing and removing beans that float. Since coffee beans are denser than water, the best beans sink, and the beans that are defective due to cracks and air inside float. Once this process of sorting is completed, the coffee cherries are processed through a machine called a coffee pulper. This removes the pulp from the bean. The beans are then transferred to a tank to ferment for 18-24 hours. This fermentation process creates an enzymatic reaction which adds various notes to the coffee. After fermentation, the coffee is placed on a raised drying mesh table under the sun that allows air to circulate around the entire bean to facilitate drying. The beans are frequently rotated to ensure uniform drying and are considered dry once they reach the required humidity. This completes the most common process in drying coffee.
