Here’s one of the steps we take when analyzing natural processed coffee samples when they arrive at Sweet Maria’s. In this case we are grading a natural that cupped really well but had a good amount of quakersA quaker is an industry term to describe under-ripe, undeveloped coffee seeds that fail to roast properly.: A quaker is an industry term to describe under-ripe, undeveloped coffee seeds that fail to roast properly. These More
. Natural coffees don’t get the same level of machine sortingCoffee is sorted by size, density, and color in its preparation for export.: Sorting refers to several steps performed in the preparation of coffee for export. Coffee is sorted by size on a grader or More
that washed coffees do and there’s usually a mechanical way to remove green, unripe cherries during the washed coffee process that would result in quakers. In the natural coffee process, they must be spotted visually and removed manually. When roasting, it’s difficult to tell them apart from light roasted coffee.