The Coffee Producer Toolkit #2: Processing

In this second episode, we show you how to stop losing coffee to a badly calibrated pulper, why chasing 100% ripe cherries is actually costing you money, the $480 fix that lets a small farm sort cherries perfectly well, how to keep your coffee under 40°C during drying without spending a fortune, why a mechanical dryer isn't the villain everyone says it is, the cheap instruments that will deliver consistent quality across harvests, and ways to treat your wastewater. The Coffee Producer Toolkit is the podcast that helps you run a more profitable coffee farm. Hosted by coffee journalist James Harper (Filter Stories podcast) and fermentation specialist Lucia Solis (Making Coffee with Lucia Solis podcast), it's built for farmers who want to run their farm like the business it is. Over two years we interviewed 50+ producers and experts across 20 countries. Each episode takes one part of the business — agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales — and lays out what the best farms are doing. Related podcast episodes: Lucia: Making Coffee with Lucia Solis — How to De-Funkify your Naturals Making Coffee with Lucia Solis — Germination: A Close Look at Coffee Drying James: Filter Stories: Why One Colombian Farmer Chose Specialty, and the Other Walked Away Follow us through our newsletters and Social media: Lucia’s Newsletter James’s Newsletter Lucia Instagram James’ Filter Stories Instagram People mentioned in the episode: Lester Lerner, Old Willow Coffee, Colombia Orlando Osorio, La Primavera, Colombia Astrid Medina, Tolima, Colombia David Velásquez, Los Naranjos, El Salvador Jesús Antonio Chala, Finca El Silencio, Colombia Victor Chala, Palma Rosa, Colombia Melissa de Gasperín, Rancho San Felipe, Córdoba, Mexico Norberto Suárez, Boquete, Panama César Marín, Chacra D'Dago, Peru Manuel Matta, Santa Maria, Colombia Resources: Innovakit: canguaro (picking sleeves) Pinhalense Cherry Floater Pinhalense Vertical Pulper Pinhalense Mechanical Dryers Tolva — Plastic Vertical Hopper Moisture Meter (Mid Tier) Moisture Meter (High End) Cenicafé Low-Water Wet Milling (Ecomill-type systems) Flávio Borém Drying Research DIY Moisture Maths (weight + fixed volume) Lucia's Favorite Tools: Temperature Gun Ambient Temperature Sensor Temperature Probe pH meter & buffer solution Cover Art: Nick Hafner The Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations: The Coffee Quest | BWT | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainPro Support the show