Is a Coffee Bean Actually a Cherry?
There are a great plenty of coffee lovers and enthusiasts out in the world today, but very few know the history of coffee. There is so much to be told, and so much that could be taught, but yet few people even realize how much work was put forth even before they received their bag of Freshly Roasted Coffee from their local coffee roaster.
Walking down this path of coffee growing, harvesting, shipping, receiving, roasting, grinding, brewing, & sipping there are a lot of hard climbs, heavy lifting, easy sorting, fun washing, and the best part of all is brewing & sipping the coffee.
In this blog, I wanted to share with you some of the history that is behind coffee, and some of the fun facts that you may not have even known was part of the coffee industry.
We rely on our coffee in the morning to boost our energy, and get us started for the day. All the coffee I brew is either by "Pour Over, or French Press!" Do you want to brew a better cup of coffee with some of these great brewing methods? Here is a list of the brewing equipment I use! Check them out, and be sure to get your very own brewing set to brew a better cup of coffee. If you want to learn how to brew a better cup of coffee by some of these brewing methods, CLICK HERE!
I’ll be covering:
How Coffee was founded and became an industry
What is a coffee bean?
The initial process of getting that coffee to your cup
Purchasing the right coffee for you
How Coffee was Founded and Became an Industry
Today there are several myths about what brought coffee into the world and made it the second-most widely traded commodity in the world, but many say & believe it was discovered after an Ethiopian Goat Herder noticed a change in his Goat's behavior after they had chewed on the leaves and fruit of a coffee plant.
The earliest knowledge and good found use of coffee were used as a medical substance, especially the leaves & fruit used in healing rituals. It is also said that soldiers chewed on the fruit for sustenance and energy before they headed off to the battlefield.
Later on, throughout the years, the coffee industry grew more and more and soon it was being sold all over the world. It is now being sold in stores, coffee shops, online, and many other places.
If you are looking for a delicious cup of coffee to boost your energy and mood, check out some of my Freshly Roasted Specialty Coffee! I highly recommend it, along with many other clients of mine. It has a full flavor, a rich body is very smooth, and is not bitter like other coffee is. If you would like a free sample, enter our email list to get notified when new posts hit the site, and many other fun emails full of information.
What is a Coffee Bean?
Now, this is the real question! Is Coffee a cherry? Yes, it is! It is a stone fruit, almost like cherry, plum, or a peach. This brightly colored cherry is better known as a “coffee cherry”. It has an outer skin and a juicy pulp. Under the pulp there is a sticky mucilage layer, a layer of parchment, and then the husk surrounding the stone or (seed).
Each fruit or (Coffee Cherry) has two seeds, that are split apart and then are called coffee beans. There are occasional circumstances where the seeds will not split off from each other, and it then is called a pea berry because of their pea like shape.
When the coffee plant is in the growing/maturing stage, it pulls its energy from the sun which then gives it the energy to pull sap up through its roots into the leaves & fruit. After the sun has disappeared behind the clouds, it exchanges sugars along with other contents back into the soil, in the meantime the coffee plant is continuing to develop.
Throughout the growing season there are always wet seasons, and dry seasons which will continually affect how the coffee will be in the end of the process. When the growers are going through a dry season, the coffee plants are converting the starches into sugars as this is the sugar peak for the ripening fruit. All these sugars that are in the coffee cherry will later affect the taste of the coffee bean as it is being roasted. The more sugars that the coffee bean contains, the more the coffee will caramelize and brown during the roasting process.
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The Initial Process of Getting that Coffee to Your Cup
There is a long hard process that the coffee has to go through before it reaches your cup and you are able to drink it. The first initial step of the coffee growing path starts at the coffee plantation where the coffee is grown on Coffee Cherry Trees. These coffee cherries are grown through out the season with constant care of the coffee growers watching it day in & day out.
As the coffee cherries get closer to the ripening stage, the coffee growers will soon gather their supplies to begin the picking process of the cherries. There are several ways that coffee is picked on the many different plantations, but one of the common ways is just hand picking the cherries off the trees. When the cherries become ripe, they will begin picking the cherries off the trees, and transporting them to either the farmers plantation where he will dry the coffee cherries, or to the co-op or mill facilities.
After the Cherries have been picked, they are dumped in water to separate the ripe cherries from the unripe cherries. The ripe ones always will sink, while the unripe ones typically will float allowing the farmers to skim them off the top of the water.
Depending on the curing method, there are several ways the cherries could be processed next. The different processes are: Wet, Dry, or Honey Process. Through each process, the cherries are processed differently which then impacts the final taste profile of the coffee.
Dry Process
In the Dry or Natural process, there is a fermenting stage where the cherries wait in a holding area for a few hours. After they were held back for a few hours to ferment, they are then taken to get dried out in the sun. In this process, the sugar & nutrients are absorbed into the bean itself giving it a sweet flavor. When the fruit is dry, the fruit portion is mechanically removed from the bean revealing the green coffee bean. The beans are then laid out to dry a second time.
Wet Process
The wet process is a little bit different than the dry process. In this process, the cherry is washed to remove the fruit & pulp portion of the coffee cherry. The beans are then put in covered trays outdoors to dry.
Honey Process
During the honey process, they will leave the skin & pulp on during the fermenting and drying process which will enhance the sweetness of the coffee when it is being roasted. The final processes after the beans have been dried and fermented is the same as the other processes.
During the drying stage, the beans must be stirred frequently so they dry evenly. After the moisture content is down to 11% or lower, they begin to bag the beans, and get them ready to be milled to remove the outer parchment layer. After the milling process is finished, the coffee beans are bagged up ounce more to be shipped to the roaster.
Now that the farmers are done with the beans, they will be transported across the country to the many coffee roasters. The coffee roasters will begin running test roasts setting the flavor profile they want for each coffee.
Roasting is the definition which means applying heat to green coffee beans to convert them into a brew able form that is familiar to us. There are so many different roast profiles, and flavorful notes we want to bring out that it can become a science to get the coffee roasted to the flavor profile we want for our customers.
After the coffee is roasted, it is bagged up and shipped out to the customers. Often, the coffee is also roasted for coffee shops providing them with fresh coffee right at their location. When the coffee is shipped out, the customer will then receive the package, and begin their part of brewing the coffee.
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Purchasing the Right Coffee for You
When it comes right down to it, purchasing the right coffee is just as important as the brewing process. Why do I say that? Because we all like certain tastes, and each coffee has its own unique taste profile, notes, & nuances. We also want to look for a good quality coffee that we will be satisfied with. It sometimes just takes trial and error until we find the perfect kind of coffee we like.
As I just said, purchasing the right coffee for you is very important. We dont want to be spending our money on a low quality coffee that has been sitting on the shelf for a long period of time. In this particular circumstance, price is not a factor of quality. It is important to know where the coffee is coming from, and how it is being sourced. It is also important to know a little bit about the roaster to know exactly what their goals are and why they are striving for when roasting your coffee.
There are some times you can find a cheap coffee that is great quality, and has wonderful flavors. While other times, you may find a bad quality coffee for a very high price. The price all depends on the process it went through during harvesting, along with what region and origin the coffee came from.
As always, i want you to enjoy your fresh cup of coffee as much as i do. I dont want you waisting money on coffee that isnt good quality, or has been sitting on the shelf for a long period of time. If you want to get your bag of freshly roasted coffee CLICK HERE and get 30% OFF your first order by using code: FRESHCOFFEE22 at checkout. Life is to short for bad coffee, so drink the good quality beans while you can.