Coffee Beans

Coffee beans are really seeds. A coffee plant produces a berry like fruit containing the beans. Once harvested and roasted they make their way through a grinder, into a coffee maker, and eventually into the cup that wakes you up every morning.

Coffee is only grown in about 50 countries around the world. The conditions for growing coffee are pretty specific, and unless you plan to grow the trees in a greenhouse, you need the right weather and conditions. Basically you need to be within 23 degrees of the equator to effectively grow coffee.

Of all the countries on the planet that grow coffee, Brazil leads, followed by Columbia. A lot of countries’ economies depend on the success of their coffee production. The only place in the United States that grows coffee is Hawaii, even though Americans consume over one third of the coffee grown around the world.

During the dry season, the red coffee cherries are ripe and ready for harvesting. In many countries, harvesting is still done by hand. There are several steps between harvesting and the beans you buy at the grocery store or Starbucks. Once the beans are removed from the cherries, an extensive process of drying and roasting turns the beans into the product that is ready to be ground and brewed. The roasting is actually the point at which flavor is developed. A longer roasting time will produce a darker, deeper taste. Lovers of French Roast coffee are enjoying coffee from a bean that has been roasted longer than the beans that go into the classic Folger’s or Maxwell House. If you like a lighter taste, you want a bean that has a shorter roasting time. Most producers of coffee offer a wide range of flavors, and of course offer decaffeinated coffee as well. A little bit of trivia—it’s impossible to remove all caffeine from a coffee bean. Even those drinking decaf are having a teeny little bit of caffeine.