Treatment processes and systems for improving the taste characteristic of green coffee beans
Treatment processes and systems for improving the taste characteristic of green coffee beans are disclosed. One of the treatment processes includes a) providing an aqueous solution of water and inorganic salt, the aqueous solution having a salt concentration of at least 0.1 mol/L; b) exposing the green coffee beans to the aqueous solution until a mass of the green coffee beans has increased c) drying the green coffee beans with a bean dryer to produce dried green coffee beans comprising at least 0.3% inorganic salt by mass; and d) after said drying, storing the dried green coffee beans in a storage container.
1 . A treatment process for improving a taste characteristic of green coffee beans, comprising the steps of:
providing an aqueous solution consisting essentially of water and inorganic salt, the aqueous solution having a salt concentration of at least 0.1 mol/L, wherein the inorganic salt is one or more of sodium chloride, potassium chloride, magnesium chloride, and calcium chloride;
exposing the green coffee beans to the aqueous solution until a mass of the green coffee beans has increased, wherein said exposing comprises immersing the green coffee beans in a pool of the aqueous solution;
drying the green coffee beans with a bean dryer to produce dried green coffee beans comprising at least 0.3% inorganic salt by mass and less than 10% moisture by mass; and
after said drying, storing the dried green coffee beans in a storage container.
2 . The treatment process of claim 1 , wherein said immersing is performed for an immersion duration of at least 15 seconds.
3 . The treatment process of claim 2 , further comprising, after said immersing, separating the green coffee beans from the aqueous solution.
4 . The treatment process of claim 3 , wherein said immersing comprises immersing the green coffee beans in a salt exposure tank containing the pool of the aqueous solution and said separating comprises draining the aqueous solution from the salt exposure tank containing the green coffee beans.
5 . The treatment process of claim 2 , wherein said immersing comprises immersing the green coffee beans in a salt exposure tank containing the pool of the aqueous solution and continuously stirring the green coffee beans and the aqueous solution within the salt exposure tank.
6 . The treatment process of claim 1 , wherein said exposing comprises immersing the green coffee beans in the aqueous solution at least two times.
7 . The treatment process of claim 6 , wherein said immersing comprises submerging the green coffee beans in the aqueous solution and then separating the green coffee beans from the aqueous solution after a submersion duration.
8 . The treatment process of claim 1 , wherein said exposing comprises the green coffee beans absorbing at least some of the inorganic salt of the aqueous solution.
9 . The treatment process of claim 1 , wherein before said exposing, the green coffee beans have a Q-Score below 80.
10 . The treatment process of claim 1 , wherein said drying comprises exposing the green coffee beans to air having an air temperature between 50° C. and 200° C.
11 . The treatment process of claim 1 , further comprising, after said storing, roasting the green coffee beans in a bean roaster to produce roasted coffee beans.
12 . The treatment process of claim 1 , wherein:
said exposing wets an exterior of the green coffee beans with the aqueous solution; and
said drying begins while the exterior of the green coffee beans is still wetted with the aqueous solution from said exposing.