Chapter 247

The coffee trees blossomed, Qing Mengzhu spent several days in the orchard.

In addition to taking care of the coffee trees during their flowering season, he also takes care of other fruit trees.

During this process, the bees finally produced coffee honey.

Coffee honey is much more fragrant than regular honey, with a complex aroma of jasmine and lemon. It tastes very sweet and is great for making honey water and fruit tea.

After receiving the honey, Qing Mengzhu and his family gave a few bottles to Ming Lexin and some to relatives and friends, but didn't give any more; they kept it all for their own consumption.

The flowering period of coffee trees is very short, but the growth period of coffee berries is very long.

They waited from March to December, until all the coffee honey made from the coffee flowers was consumed, before these coffee berries, soaked in sunshine, rain, and morning mist, finally ripened and turned into red or yellow berries.

These are the first batches of ripe coffee berries from their coffee trees; the quality of the coffee they grow depends on this harvest.

Qing Mengzhu attached great importance to this batch of coffee and specially brought people to oversee the picking of coffee cherries.

Ming Chunxi also specially put aside her work to come and see their coffee berries with Qing Mengzhu.

Zhao Hexi was also with them.

Zhao Hexi was very curious about the coffee berries and insisted on coming to see them.

The coffee trees belong to Qing Mengzhu and have nothing to do with the company.

However, coffee cherries are a labor-intensive industry, so he specifically asked the company to hire a group of people to help pick the ripe coffee cherries.

Before picking the coffee, they stood in front of the coffee tree.

Zhao Hexi: "Why do I feel like these coffee trees have grown even taller after a few months of growth?"

Qing Mengzhu: "You're not mistaken, it's quite big, even taller than us."

Zhao Hexi turned to look at them. "Right? There are more coffee berries than I expected. I read in the data that a coffee tree only yields a few kilograms of berries, but judging from your coffee trees, they should yield more than ten kilograms of berries."

Qing Mengzhu estimated that there were approximately eleven or twelve catties of coffee cherries on average.

Zhao Hexi stretched out her arm and picked a coffee fruit. "These coffee berries look really good, are they edible?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Theoretically, yes, but I don't know how it actually tastes. You'll know once you try it."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Hexi didn't stand on ceremony. She wiped the round little fruit on her clothes and then put it in her mouth.

The next moment, he revealed his pained expression. "Good heavens, it's so bitter and astringent! Aren't coffee berries supposed to be a little sweet?"

Qing Mengzhu also picked a yellow fruit, wiped it, and took a small bite. "It's probably a little sweet, but the bitterness is much stronger; you can't taste any sweetness at all."

Zhao Hexi: "If you put it that way, it does make some sense. These coffee cherries feel like sour plums."

Underneath the skin of a coffee fruit lies a thin layer of pulp, so little that it has no sweetness and tastes only bitter and astringent.

Looking at the bitten coffee cherry, Qing Mengzhu was a little skeptical about whether the coffee beans inside would really be as described in the product details, producing a very mellow and smooth coffee with a rich floral and fruity aroma.

However, the Interstellar Mall is generally not dishonest; they've bought so many different kinds of plants from Interstellar Mall and have rarely had any problems.

This coffee shouldn't be a disaster.

It's at least a "Fine Grade+" coffee.

Qing Mengzhu tasted it and then looked at Ming Chunxi, asking if she wanted to try some.

Coffee berries don't taste very good, but they look really beautiful. They're round and either red or yellow, and they look like sweet berries, which is very tempting.

Ming Chunxi is a bit of a germaphobe. Although she has overcome much of it in recent years, she still has no interest in wild fruits that cannot be washed with water, and expresses her refusal with her eyes.

Qing Mengzhu, seeing that there was nothing wrong with the coffee, let everyone start picking it.

They have to pick bunches of coffee berries and put them into barrels before sending them for processing.

Zhao Hexi asked, "How should we process this year's coffee? Should we try all three methods: sun-drying, washed, and honey processing?"

Qing Mengzhu nodded. "The doctor I consulted said that all three methods can be tried."

Qing Mengzhu: "Customers will like coffee beans processed using different methods, and different coffee beans can be used to make different kinds of coffee, so we can make several different flavors."

Zhao Hexi: "Then we'll send it to the processing plant later?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Yes, it's all been arranged. They're just waiting to receive it."

There are quite a few people growing coffee in Qiongwei City, and there are also quite a few coffee processing plants.

Qing Mengzhu personally inspected the area some time ago and specifically chose a medium-sized processing plant.

After their coffee cherries are delivered to the processing plant, they are divided into three portions for washing, sun-drying, and honey processing, respectively.

All three processing methods involve fermentation and require the assistance of an experienced chef.

Qing Mengzhu had great confidence in the master they had hired. The master they had paid a lot of money for was an "expert" level expert, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, the coffee beans he processed would definitely be excellent.

Qing Mengzhu watched as coffee cherries were continuously sent to the processing plant, and waited for half a month to a month before she could drink coffee.

Author's Note:

I originally planned to put the parts after the "Time Manipulation" in the side stories, but after thinking about it yesterday, I think it's more appropriate to put them in the main text. So the next few chapters will have a lot of rewarding content, and the main text will be finished in a few days.

Chapter 247

Coffee is ripened in batches, and just as Qing Mengzhu and his team were finishing their coffee harvest, the fermentation process was also complete.

The master chef that Qing Mengzhu hired said that fermentation was almost complete, and asked them to come and take a look.

This was Qing Mengzhu's first time experiencing the coffee fermentation process. Upon hearing the master chef's invitation, he excitedly dragged Ming Chunxi along and ran over.

The coffee processing plant was located in the suburbs on the other side of Qiongwei City. It took Qing Mengzhu more than half an hour to drive there after they got off the plane.

Before even entering the factory, they could smell the coffee.

Qing Mengzhu opened the car door, sniffed, and said, "It smells so good."

Ming Chunxi: "Besides the fragrance, it also has a slight bitterness, but the flavor is quite mellow."

Qing Mengzhu suddenly remembered. "It looks a bit like the coffee candy I used to taste when I was a child?"

With that thought in mind, Qing Mengzhu pushed Ming Chunxi's shoulder and led her into the factory.

The factory workers all knew them, so there was no obstruction, and they were able to meet up with the head foreman without any problems.

The head chef asked, "Which type of fermented beans would you like to see first?"

Qing Mengzhu's eyes lit up even more. "How many kinds of fermented beans are there in total?"

Master Chef: "Broadly speaking, coffee beans are now mainly divided into sun-dried coffee beans, washed coffee beans, and honey-processed coffee beans."

Qing Mengzhu: "I understand. The finished product now is made from washed coffee beans, right?"

The head chef nodded. "But the honey-processed coffee beans are almost ready."

Honey processing refers to the process of removing the skin from coffee cherries while retaining a significant amount of pectin, and then fermenting and drying these pectin-containing coffee beans.

Honey-processed coffee beans typically require several weeks to continue this slow process, allowing them to develop sufficient flavor during fermentation.

Comparatively speaking, coffee processed using sun-drying and washing methods is simpler.

Sun-drying mainly involves fermenting the coffee beans during the sun-drying or oven-drying process. After thorough drying, the skins, pulp, and silver film are further removed to obtain clean coffee beans.

Washing removes the pulp from the coffee cherries, leaving the beans in the vat to ferment and break down the mucilage. Once fermentation is complete, the beans are washed with water and then dried and dehulled.

Qing Mengzhu was quite interested in all of these processing methods. After a brief consideration, they decided to go look at the honey-processed coffee first.