Did you know that coffee is a fruit and it grows on trees? Even though we call them coffee beans, these coffee beans are actually seeds of a cherry-like coffee fruit. During the harvest, the entire fruit is picked and is sent to a pulper to remove the fruit, or the seed is dried inside the red outer layer.
FROM SEED TO CUP: THE PROCESS
1. PLANTING
A coffee bean is actually a seed that grows on a coffee tree. Coffee seeds are typically planted in large beds in shaded nurseries. The seedlings will be watered frequently and must be shaded from bright sunlight until they are big enough to be permanently planted into the ground. The planting will take place during the wet season (May-June), so that the soil remains moist while the roots are established.
Since the coffee is planted, it requires a lot of attention and care. For instance, it needs to be fertilized from the very beginning, it needs a lot of shadow, and the soil has to be constantly cleaned from weeds.
2. COFFEE FLOWERS IN BLOOM
Coffee plants will actually begin to produce beautiful, white flowers between the months of April and May. For the coffee trees to bloom and grow, the region needs to receive a heavy rainfall. Buds will then begin to blossom about two weeks after the season’s first downpour.
The blooming is a delicate process and absolutely essential to the health of the plant. Each blooming flower is a symbol of the coffee bean that will come months later.
3. THE RIPENING
After the flowers have fallen, the carpel that is left eventually will turns into the coffee cherries once it matures. Depending on the variety of coffee that is planted, it will take approximately 3 to 4 years for a newly planted coffee tree to bear fruit, or the coffee cherry. Once ripe, the coffee cherry is harvested.
There are two types coffee while it is ripening, there is café uva, and café verde or café perico. The ripe coffee (the red cherry) is very sweet which signifies that it is ready to be picked, and the green coffee is very acidic.
4. HARVESTING THE CHERRIES
Once the coffee cherries are ripe, our campesinos, or coffee farmers, will come and hand-pick the cherries when their ready to be harvested. The coffee cherries will either be strip-picked or selectively-picked.
Our pickers will typically begin working at first light, and be done after lunch. A typical picker will average approximately 100 to 200 pounds of coffee cherries a day, which will produce 20 to 40 pounds of coffee beans. Each worker's daily haul is carefully weighed, and each picker is paid on the merit of his or her work. The day's harvest is then picked up and transported to the local Cooperative.
5. PROCESSING THE CHERRIES
After the coffee has been harvested, processing will quickly begin to prevent fruit spoilage. The coffee cherries are transported to a local Cooperative (Coperativa de Cafetaleros Los Ausoles de R.L.)
At the Cooperative the freshly-harvested coffee cherries are de-pulped, which removes the skin and most of the fruit around the bean. Then the coffee is dried on raised beds or patios.
6. DRYING THE BEANS + STORAGE
During the drying process, the coffee is dried on raised beds or patios. Coffee drying has taken on many formats, here you see the traditional patio and terrace drying method where the coffee beans are spread out under the sun. To facilitate even drying it is necessary to constantly rake the coffee throughout the day.
The average time needed to completely dry natural coffee is between 15 and 20 days. To complete the drying process for washed coffee the average is between 8 and 12 days.
When coffee is dried, it's time to bag and store it until it's roasted.
7. ROASTING AND PACKAGING THE BEANS
Roasting is what transforms the coffee into the aromatic beans that we are used to getting at our local coffee shops and grocery stores. The most simple explanation for this process is turning green coffee beans into brown coffee beans. After roasting, the beans are immediately cooled and then packaged.
8. THE PERFECT CUP
Whether you brew your own coffee or go to a local coffee shop, it’s always good to start the day with a hot (or iced) cup of coffee. A good cup of coffee is a simple pleasure, and there is no greater joy than enjoying that delicious small-batch roast in the company of friends and family.