Coffee is the elixir of dawn and dusk. It goes on an amazing journey before it reaches our cups. This voyage goes from seed to sip. It unfolds in a carefully crafted sequence of stages. Each stage is pivotal. They transform a humble seed into the rich, aromatic drink we cherish.
Coffee: A Journey from Seed to Cup
Coffee isn’t just a beverage; it’s a journey that starts as a humble seed and ends in the rich, aromatic cup we cherish. Here’s how it unfolds:
- Germination & Growth: Begins in shaded nurseries, where seeds sprout into plants, later transplanted outdoors.
- Fruitful Harvest: After 3-4 years, plants bear fruit, the coffee cherries, handpicked with care.
- Cherry Processing: Cherries are processed to extract the beans, using dry or wet methods to influence flavor.
- Drying: Beans are sun-dried to the ideal moisture content, a crucial step for flavor development.
- Milling and Sorting: Beans are hulled, polished, and sorted, ensuring only the best are chosen for export.
- Global Journey: Beans travel worldwide, offering a taste of their native soil in every cup.
- Tasting and Roasting: Upon arrival, beans are tasted and roasted, defining the coffee’s final taste profile.
- Grinding and Brewing: The final steps before brewing tailor the grind. They highlight the coffee’s best traits, making it ready for the perfect cup.
This captivating voyage goes from seed to sip. It involves tradition, careful work, and craft at every stage. They change a seed into the beloved drink known worldwide.
| Step | Description |
|---|---|
| Germination & Growth | Coffee begins as a seed planted in nutrient-rich soil within shaded nurseries. These seeds sprout into vibrant plants, later transferred to their permanent outdoor locations. |
| Fruitful Harvest | After 3-4 years, coffee plants bear fruit, known as cherries. People often harvest by hand to pick only the ripe cherries. This reflects a tradition of labor and care. |
| Cherry Processing | After harvest, coffee cherries are quickly processed. This is done using either the dry method for a fruit-forward flavor or the wet method for a cleaner, brighter cup. This processing prevents spoilage. |
| Drying to Perfection | The beans are dried to the ideal moisture content. They are dried under the sun or by machines. This step is crucial for developing the coffee’s flavor. |
| Milling and Sorting | Beans undergo hulling, polishing, grading, and sorting. These steps ensure only the best beans are selected for export. |
| Global Journey | Known as green coffee, the beans are shipped worldwide, offering a taste of their native soil in every cup. |
| Tasting and Roasting | Upon arrival, experts taste the coffee. Then, they roast it to unlock its full flavor. This process defines the coffee’s final taste. |
| Grinding and Brewing | The last change happens with grinding and brewing. They are tailored to highlight the coffee’s best traits and make it ready for the perfect cup. |
Producing Coffee: 7 Steps From Seed to Cup
In the morning, we scoop ground brown-black powder into the coffee maker. Water boils and the thick aroma permeates the house. We sip the liquid that starts our day. It comes from thousands of miles away.
Workers in Central America, South America, and Africa toil to bring that coffee to our cup. This slideshow will walk you through the process of how coffee comes from seed to our cups.
Step 1. Planting
What we call a “coffee bean” is actually the seed of the coffee cherry, or the fruit of the coffee plant. If the seed is dried, roasted, and ground, it can be used for coffee. If not, it can be planted and will grow into a coffee tree.
Coffee seeds are usually planted in shaded nurseries. But, at this plantation, they started the seeds in a greenhouse. After sprouting, the seedlings will be put in pots in shade. They will stay there until they are strong enough to be planted permanently.
Brazil has been the world’s biggest coffee producer for over 150 years. It currently makes a third of the world’s coffee. Vietnam, Indonesia, and Colombia produce the next largest amounts of coffee. Costa Rica and Hawaii produce less coffee. But, they are known for having very fine, high quality beans.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Global Share | Brazil produces about a third of the world’s coffee, the largest by any country. |
| 2020 Production | Brazil produced 63.4 million 60-kg bags of coffee in 2020. |
| Top 5 Producers | Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia, and Ethiopia produce over 75% of the world’s coffee. |
| Introduction to Brazil | Coffee was introduced to Brazil in 1727 from French Guiana. |
| Historical Dominance | By the 1840s, Brazil became the global leader in coffee production. |
| Farms and Area | Over 300,000 coffee farms cover 27,000 km² in Brazil, mainly in Minas Gerais, Sao Paulo, and Parana. |
| State Contributions | Minas Gerais leads with about half of Brazil’s coffee production. Other significant states include Espírito Santo, São Paulo, Bahia, Rondônia, and Paraná. |
| Coffee Types | Approximately 80% of Brazilian coffee is arabica, and 20% is robusta. Brazil is known for both natural/dry processed and washed coffees. |
| Technological Advances | Mechanization, irrigation, and processing advances have kept Brazil dominant. Its global share fell from 80% in the early 1900s to about 30% today. |
| Climate Change Impact | Climate change is a big threat. Projections show that many current coffee areas in Brazil may be unsuitable by 2050. Adaptation strategies include migration to new regions and agroforestry techniques. |
Step 2. Harvesting the Cherries
Depending on the variety of coffee, it takes around 4 years for the newly planted coffee trees to bear fruit. The fruit is called the coffee cherry and appears in profusion on single branches. When the fruit turns a bright deep red, it is ripe and ready to be harvested.
In most countries, people pick the coffee crop by hand. This is because the fruit ripens at different times, as seen in the picture above.
This requires harvesters to come through the fields many times during the season. They must laboriously pick each berry from the tree.
At a Fair Trade certified coffee plantation, such as Doka Estates in Costa Rica, workers pick about 8 baskets per day. This happens during the high season. Each basket is filled to about 20 pounds. They will make $0.75 to $2.00 USD for each basket.
The average worker makes $6 to $16 per day and picks about 160 pounds of coffee berries. Though these wages may seem low by American standards. But, Doka supplements the workers’ income with free housing, schooling, and health insurance.
Brazil has a flat landscape and vast coffee fields. The plantations there use machines to strip all the cherries off the branch at once.
This process creates more waste and a worse final product. This is because not all the cherries will be evenly ripe when picked.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Time to Bear Fruit | Approximately 4 years for newly planted coffee trees to bear fruit. |
| Coffee Cherry | The fruit, known as the coffee cherry, turns bright deep red when ripe and ready for harvest. |
| Harvesting Method | Mostly picked by hand due to uneven ripening of the cherries. Harvesters may need to pass through the fields multiple times. |
| Hand Picking at Doka Estates (Costa Rica) | Average worker picks about 8 baskets a day, each weighing around 20 pounds. Workers earn $0.75 to $2.00 USD per basket, totaling $6 to $16 per day, for around 160 pounds of coffee berries. |
| Benefits at Doka Estates | Despite low wages, workers get free housing, schooling, and health insurance. These are extra benefits. |
| Harvesting in Brazil | Machines strip all the cherries from the branches at once. This is due to the flat land and large coffee fields. But, this leads to more waste and a worse product. It’s because the cherries are unevenly ripe. |
Step 3. Peeling and Processing the Coffee Cherries
Once the coffee cherries have been picked, they must be processed within 15 days. This is to prevent spoilage. The cherries are usually processed using the wet method. In this method, the cherries are dumped into huge vats to rinse and soak.
The rinsed cherries pass through a pulping machine. It separates the skin and pulp from the seed. When the berries are peeled and the pulp is removed, the seed looks like this.
Recognize that? Yep, the coffee beans we grind are actually the seeds of the coffee berry.
Most coffee berries have two beans/seeds. But, certain berries will only have one. These are called peaberries. Peaberries have a stronger flavor and are prized as premium coffee blends.
The pulp is washed away with water. Then, it is dried and usually used as mulch or compost. This is done at Finca Rosa Blanca resort in Costa Rica.
The beans then sit in a water-filled tank for 12 to 48 hours. Once fermentation finishes and the beans feel rough, not slick, they are rinsed again.
In some countries, water is scarce. There, they dry the coffees for weeks until the cherries’ moisture drops to 11%. Then, the pulp and skin come away from the husk.
| Processing Step | Wet Method | Dry Method |
|---|---|---|
| Timing | Must be processed within 15 days of picking to prevent spoilage | Dried for several weeks until moisture content drops to 11% |
| Initial Treatment | Cherries are dumped into huge vats to rinse and soak | Cherries are laid out to dry in the sun |
| Pulp Removal | Cherries are rinsed. They pass through a pulping machine. It separates the skin and pulp from the seed. | Pulp and skin come away from the husk as the cherries dry |
| Bean Appearance | Peeled seeds with pulp removed are the coffee beans. There are usually two beans per cherry. Peaberries are an exception. They are single beans with stronger flavor. | Dried whole cherries are hulled to remove the outer layers and extract the beans |
| Pulp Usage | Pulp is washed away with water, dried, and used as mulch or composting | Dried pulp and skin are discarded |
| Fermentation | The depulped beans sit in water-filled tanks for 12-48 hours. They sit there until they feel rough. Then, they are rinsed again. | No fermentation step |
| Drying | Fermented beans are dried after rinsing | Whole cherries are dried from the beginning as the sole processing method |
| Water Usage | Significant amounts of water used for rinsing, pulping, fermentation, and final rinsing | No water needed as cherries are dried naturally |
| Regions Used | Most common method worldwide | Used in countries with limited water resources |
Step 4. Drying the Beans
If the beans have been processed by the wet method, beans are then dried. Good coffee must dry outside. But, worse coffee may dry in driers.
The beans are fully dried when they turn gray-blue or contain about 10-11% moisture. By the time the coffee beans reach this point, they have lost about 80% of the volume they had as berries.
These beans still have a thin parchment outside their shell. It protects them long term.
At this point, the coffee beans can be stored for two to four years without losing any flavor.
| Characteristic | Details |
|---|---|
| Drying Method for Premium Quality | Sun-drying outdoors |
| Drying Method for Lesser Quality | Mechanical driers may be used |
| Optimal Moisture Content | 10-11% moisture |
| Color Change | Beans turn gray-blue when fully dried |
| Volume Loss | Beans lose about 80% of their original volume as berries |
| Protective Layer | Thin parchment layer remains outside the bean shell |
| Storage Potential | Properly dried beans can be stored for 2-4 years without losing flavor |
Step 5. Removing the Parchment/Milling and Export
Once ready to be sold, the dried coffee beans go into a pressurized air chamber. It separates the parchment from the outside of the bean, leaving a blue-skinned seed.
Most coffee plantations export the beans to roasters. The roasters then roast the coffee to their own specs. A coffee bean without its parchment can last one year without losing any flavor.
| Process Step | Details |
|---|---|
| Parchment Removal | Dried beans are placed in a pressurized air chamber |
| Mechanism | Pressurized air separates the parchment from the bean exterior |
| Bean Appearance | Blue-skinned coffee seed is revealed beneath the parchment |
| Export Timing | Most coffee plantations export beans at this stage |
| Reason for Export Timing | Allows roasters to roast the coffee to their own specifications |
| Shelf Life without Parchment | Coffee beans without parchment can last 1 year without losing flavor |
Step 6. Roasting the Coffee
Roasting transforms green coffee beans into the aromatic brown beans we know so well. Roasters listen for one or two “cracks.” The beans make a slight popping noise when they reach above 200 degrees Celsius. It happens again at 224 degrees Celsius.
Wikipedia has a great picture of what coffee should look like. It shows different roasting temperatures.
Once roasted, coffee can remain in your freezer for up to one year.
| Roasting Stage | Temperature Range | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| Green Beans | Unroasted | Hard, dense, grassy aroma |
| Drying | Up to 160°C (320°F) | Beans turn yellow, grassy aroma |
| Browning | 160-196°C (320-385°F) | Beans turn light brown, bread-like aroma |
| First Crack | 196-224°C (385-435°F) | Popping sound, beans expand and turn medium brown |
| Development | 224-230°C (435-446°F) | Beans continue to darken, oils begin to surface |
| Second Crack | 230-240°C (446-464°F) | Snapping sound, beans turn dark brown, shiny with oil |
| Dark Roast | 240°C+ (464°F+) | Beans turn very dark brown to black, smoky aroma |
Step 7. And You Have a Cup of Coffee!
The last step is to grind and brew your coffee. Experts recommend grinding your coffee in small batches so it doesn’t become stale. It’s hard to believe that months and years of work across thousands of miles result in a simple cup of joe.
| Step | Details |
|---|---|
| Grinding | Coffee beans are ground into small particles |
| Grind Size | Varies depending on brewing method (e.g., fine for espresso, coarse for French press) |
| Grinding Frequency | Experts recommend grinding in small batches to maintain freshness |
| Brewing | Ground coffee is combined with hot water to extract flavor and aroma compounds |
| Brewing Methods | Many methods exist, such as drip, pour-over, French press, espresso, cold brew |
| Brewing Variables | Water temperature, coffee-to-water ratio, extraction time affect final flavor |
| Serving | Brewed coffee is poured into a cup and enjoyed, often with additions like milk or sugar |
Suggested Reading:
- Kansas City’s Best Coffee Shops: A Simple Guide
- Exploring New Flavors: The Benefits of Private Label Coffee Capsules
- The Health Benefits of 3 Different Brews of Coffee
Iskra Banović is our seasoned Editor-in-Chief at Blufashion. She has been steering the website’s content and editorial direction since 2018. With a rich background in fashion design, Iskra’s expertise spans across fashion, interior design, beauty, lifestyle, travel, and culture.
