English Reference

Word

hand picking

Phoneticshand-pick-ing

US/hænd ˈpɪkɪŋ/

UK/hænd ˈpɪkɪŋ/

Definition

compound. a way of collecting coffee by choosing only the ripe, red fruit by hand to make sure the beans have the best possible flavor

compound. a labor-intensive harvesting technique involving the selective manual retrieval of ripe coffee cherries, prioritized by specialty producers to ensure batch uniformity and cup quality.

Examples

“Hand picking is better for coffee quality than using big machines.”

“Because the farm uses hand picking, their specialty beans have a much sweeter and more consistent taste profile.”

“The arduous process of hand picking allows for meticulous selection at the source, effectively eliminating under-ripe cherries that would otherwise introduce astringency into the final roast.”

Examples

simple

“Hand picking is better for coffee quality than using big machines.”

contextual

“Because the farm uses hand picking, their specialty beans have a much sweeter and more consistent taste profile.”

complex

“The arduous process of hand picking allows for meticulous selection at the source, effectively eliminating under-ripe cherries that would otherwise introduce astringency into the final roast.”

Real-World Examples

“Harvesting methods are often split into two types: selective/hand-picking and mechanical.”
Perfect Daily Grind · 22 Oct 2018
“The coffee cherries are hand-picked and sorted and then transported to the Nyarusiza coffee washing station for washing and processing, which is located in the region of Ginkongoro in the south of Rwanda and ran by entrepreneur Epiphanie Muhirwa and her son Samuel.”
Perfect Daily Grind · 16 Apr 2015

Etymology

A compound formed from the Old English 'hand' and the verb 'pick,' which entered English from Middle French 'piquer.' It gained technical significance in the coffee industry during the 20th-century rise of specialty standards.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry

Level
B1 · Intermediate
Updated

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englishreference.com/q/hand-picking

English Reference