Drying is made in two stages: the beans are initially sun dried, to bring the moisture content down to approximately 20%. After this point the parchment, which is the inner husk that protects the coffee beans, becomes fragile and must not be worked repeatedly in the patios. The drying is then finished in mechanical dryers. In these machines, air that is passed through heat exchangers which are heated by steam produced by a boiler, finishes the process, bringing the moisture content of the beans to a maximum of 11%.

The sun drying may be made in paved patios, where part of the area is covered with plastic greenhouses. These are used to protect the coffee from the deposition of dew during the night and also to protect the coffee in case of an unseasonal drizzle, as any exposure to a moist environment at this stage may damage the quality by the development of undesired fermentations.

Some special lots are dried in suspended platforms that guarantee constant ventilation and a slower drying process.