Processing coffee is a big thing and it is extremely important in determining how the coffee comes out as a finished product. We use the word processing to refer to every stage of the coffee making process. From harvesting the coffee cherries by hand picking them off the plant to the time when the coffee beans are finished off so that they can be shipped. The coffee bean is actually a seed inside the coffee cherry and the cherry fruit must be separated from the bean properly. For this we can use one of these methods which are neutral and washed. This is a method that brings out an extraordinarily clean cup with delicate yet crisp flavours and a marked acidity to it. In order to bring out the best flavours in the coffee beans being processed coffee cherries must be separated from the beans as soon as possible after they have been hand picked. Beginning this part of the processing method the day after the cherries were picked can negatively affect the flavour of beans. So therefore it should always be done on the same day. From here the coffee cherries are washed using vast quantities of water and some very particular equipment leading to the maximised preservation of the potential of coffee beans. The coffee produced by this method is strikingly similar to others of its batch and green. Very few beans that are determined to be waste product are to be found. The coffee may be dried by mechanical means by a manmade dryer or by the sun or by both. When sun drying is used the beans are laid out on brick or concrete patios. Sometimes these are not available and the beans are instead laid out on netting made of fine mesh wire which is preferable. Frequent turning occurs so that the drying is even all over the bean and takes anywhere from eight to ten days to complete. This is of course dependent upon humidity and temperature both of which can help or hinder this method. Hot air drying machines make this process much faster especially for large coffee farms where many coffee beans require processing at once and there may not be enough patio space to sun dry all the beans. However it can be easy to accidentally damage the coffee beans and ruin their cup quality. So monitoring the machines and beans inside them carefully is a necessity. Jam like fruit flavours accompany coffees processed using this method. The method is also known as neutral and as one of the most dated methods around. It does not necessitate the use of much machinery. In the dry method the entire hand picked coffee cherry is dried. This process has a number of differences depending on which group of people is carrying out the task what facilities can be used and the entire size of the plantation. Sorting must first take place in order to eradicate any damaged or unripe or otherwise defective cherries. Since the cherries are not washed in the same way as they are in the wet method. Excess waste like soil and twigs is usually removed by hand using a sieve. After the cherries have properly dried they are then held by large coffee silos and sent to a mill.