The amount of time and effort that goes into your morning cup of coffee is astounding. The plants take 3-4 years of growth before producing any fruit. The berries take around 9 months to develop before being harvested.
From here, the hard, green seeds are separated from the fruit pulp and sorted according to size and quality. After 7-10 days of carefully drying in the sun, they’re packaged and shipped all over the world.
Once the green beans arrive at a roastery, they’re roasted, bagged, and sold to the end consumer. The roasting process takes just a couple of hours, but are often allowed to rest for 1–2 weeks before they reach peak flavor.
The whole process takes many years, over 20 individual steps, and the expertise of countless skilled workers.
Here’s the story of where your morning Joe actually comes from.
The Coffee Plant
Coffee thrives in cool-to-warm tropical climates. That’s the main reason why most coffee-producing nations are spread out around the equator. You’ll be hard-pressed to find coffee farms in places like Norway, for example.
Different species of coffee plants prefer different growing conditions. For example, Coffea arabica plants grow best at 60-75ºF (16-24ºC), while Coffea robusta prefers higher temperatures closer to 77-86ºF (25-30ºC).
Factors like altitude and annual rainfall are important, too.
Arabica produces the best coffee at high altitudes (over 2,000 feet), while robusta thrives best at altitudes between 0 and 2,600 feet.
Both species require at least 1500 mm of annual rainfall per year and consistent exposure to intense tropical sunshine.
Coffee Growing Conditions:
|
Coffea arabica |
Coffea robusta |
|
|
Ideal Temperature |
59-75°F (15-24°C) |
75-86°F (24-30°C) |
|
Ideal Altitude |
2,000-7,200 feet (600-2,200 meters) |
0-2,600 feet (0-800 meters) |
|
Water Requirements |
Moderate, 1,500-2,000 mm annually |
High, 2,000-3,000 mm annually |
|
Ideal Soil pH |
6.0-6.5 |
5.5-6.0 |
|
Countries with Ideal Growing Conditions |
Ethiopia, Colombia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Guatemala |
Vietnam, Brazil, Indonesia, Uganda, India |
Growth Stage
Coffee is a tropical flowering shrub, which means its lifecycle relies on the production of flowers, which are pollinated by bees before turning into a pulpy fruit (called cherries). This fruit is primarily eaten by birds, which consume the delicious fruit without damaging the seed contained inside. Their droppings spread the coffee seeds intact to new locations where they can begin the process all over again.
Coffee is a patient plant found only in the tropics. It has the luxury to grow slowly, unconcerned about the hardships of seasonal freezes or changes in day length. The coffee plant waits up to 6 years (sometimes longer) before producing a single fruit.
Coffee farmers have learned techniques to speed up this process but still need to wait an average of 3 years before harvesting their first crop.
Summary of coffee’s lifecycle:
- Seeds sprout in 4–8 weeks
- Seedlings require 3–6 years to reach maturity
- Once fruit begins to form, it takes 9 months for them to ripen.
Coffee Farming Practices
Coffee farmers select coffee plants that match the landscape of their farm (arabica for higher altitudes and cooler weather or robusta for lower altitudes and hotter weather).
The seeds are grown in greenhouses until they're strong enough to survive on their own and transplanted into sloped fields to allow for maximum drainage.
These plants are kept safe from predators and bugs, watered when rainfall is scarce, and cropped to keep them short and stout (which makes them easier to harvest).
Some farms plant companion crops that grow in between the coffee plants to protect them from particularly intense tropical sunlight. Bananas and plantains are the most common choice.
After a few years, the plants will begin producing cherries — which takes us to the next phase of production.
Harvesting Stage
Like with many things during the coffee-making process, harvesting the beans is an art form.
The goal is to pick the ripened cherries when they hit the perfect shade of red. If the fruit is overripe or underripe, the flavor starts to suffer.
Unfortunately for coffee plantation owners, coffee cherries don’t ripen at the same time. On any given plant, you’ll find several ripe cherries mixed with unripe ones — so harvesting must be done by hand, and numerous harvests must be performed on the same plant over the course of a season.
Manual harvesting is labor intensive, with top pickers collecting around 100-200 pounds of coffee per day.
Some larger farms invest in mechanical harvesters that sit on top of the coffee rows and pull the fruit loose. Although you get more fruit overall with this method, the machine can’t differentiate between ripe and underripe/overripe fruit, so you still need to sort the coffee afterward and much of it will go to waste.
When is Coffee Harvesting Season?
For most coffee-growing nations, you only get one harvest season per year. In Asian countries, this tends to fall between September and December. However, robusta beans tend to be harvested earlier in the year than arabica — their harvest season is between June and September.
Colombia is a little different in that it typically enjoys up to three harvest seasons throughout the year — which contributes to it being a top producer of high-quality coffee.
In Africa, coffee harvesting season is even earlier — with the farms in Rwanda harvesting as early as March.
Processing Stage
Once the coffee is picked, it’s time to process the beans. During this stage, the pulp is removed to expose the hard bean inside, which is then sorted according to quality and size and dried to avoid rotting.
Coffee that has been infected by bugs, over- or underripe, or damaged during harvesting will impart an off flavor and need to be separated from the higher-quality stock. This process is meticulous and time-consuming. At the best of times, the average harvest produces around 20% high-quality, perfect coffee. Droughts, insect invasions, and poor weather conditions can all further reduce this percentage.
This is why high-grade coffee is so expensive. It accounts for only a tiny fraction of every harvest and requires a ton of work and attention to detail to produce.
Coffee Processing Methods
There are two main ways of processing coffee once it’s been separated by the fruit pulp — dry processing and wet processing.
The preference is personal, with the dry method being a lot more traditional. On the other hand, the wet method is claimed to produce a much clearer and more bright acidity from the bean.
Dry Processing
Once the cherries are picked, they’re spread out on large drying racks and left in the sun for several weeks to dry. This process allows the cherries to dry naturally, absorbing flavors from the surrounding environment.
Modern methods include using machines to speed up and control the drying process, reducing dependence on weather conditions.
The dry method often results in coffee with complex flavors and a rich body.
Wet Processing
The wet method involves an additional step before drying. The cherries' skins are removed, allowing the beans to ferment in their mucilage. This fermentation process, facilitated by natural bacteria and enzymes, enhances the beans' flavor profile.
After fermentation, the beans are thoroughly washed to remove any remaining pulp and then dried using traditional sun-drying methods or mechanical dryers.
This method generally produces coffee with a cleaner, brighter taste.
Roasting Stage
Once the beans are dried, they’re typically bagged and shipped to roasters around the world. Most roasters will roast beans in smaller batches to ensure they’re as fresh as possible. After roasting, the beans will continue to improve their flavor as gases are released for about a week. From here, they maintain peak flavor for about 6 weeks before gradually losing its flavor and becoming more ___ and acidic.
There are two main techniques used to roast coffee:
- Drum roasting — Involves a metal drum over a heat source. This method is the most traditional but can be inconsistent due to chaff burning and uneven heating.
- Hot air roasting — Convection air is used to suspend beans in a hot chamber for even roasting. This method separates chaff to avoid burnt flavors and employs precise computer-controlled temperature regulation for a more consistent flavor.
Grinding & Brewing Coffee
After the beans are roasted, they’re finally ready to be ground and brewed into coffee.
The grind size is super important as some brewing methods demand finer or more coarse grounds to get the best extraction.
For example, espresso machines need fine ground coffee; otherwise, you won’t get that delicious smooth flavor. Too coarse and the water will pass straight through and produce weak, acidic flavors. Too fine and the machine will simply clog up.
For detailed guidance on how to grind and brew coffee using various brewing systems, check out our coffee brew guides:
- French Press Brew Guide
- Espresso Brew Guide
- Cold Brew Brew Guide
- Moka Pot Brew Guide
- Drip Coffee Brew Guide
- Chemex Brew Guide
- Aeropress Brew Guide
- Phin Filter Brew Guide
- Hario V60 Brew Guide
Storing Coffee
If you’re looking to keep your coffee in great condition, you need to store and handle it properly.
There are a few pieces of best practice know-how that you’ll want to follow:
- Always keep coffee in an airtight container.
- Avoid keeping coffee in direct sunlight.
- Keep coffee out of moist environments.
- Grind your beans just before use.
- Keep your beans away from strong smells.
- Use small batches to keep the flavor profile correct.
FAQs: Coffee Production
So, now that we know everything there is to know about the coffee-making process, let’s finish things off with a few quick, frequently asked questions.
1. What is the difference between Arabica and Robusta coffee beans?
The main difference between Arabica and Robusta beans is that Arabica beans are sweeter, with a softer taste compared to the stronger, more robust flavor of Robusta beans. Robusta beans also have higher levels of caffeine, which provides a punchier flavor profile. Most of the world's beans are arabica as they have a more accessible, crowd-pleasing flavor profile.
2. How long does it take for a coffee plant to start producing beans?
It generally takes 3 to 4 years for a coffee plant to bear fruit. However, most plants take up to six years before you can start harvesting the beans.
3. What does 'single origin' mean in coffee?
Single-origin coffee is sourced from one single producer, crop, or region in one country. This makes it easy to pinpoint where the coffee comes from and also shows it’s not blended with other beans or crops.
4. Can coffee beans be harvested year-round?
Depending on the part of the world, yes, you can harvest coffee beans all year round. Some regions have specific harvest seasons, while others, like Colombia, have year-round harvesting or multiple harvest seasons throughout the year. For the majority of the year, there’s a coffee harvest season going on somewhere in the world due to the different seasons for different coffee-producing nations.
5. What is a peaberry, and how does it affect coffee flavor?
Peaberry is a type of coffee form that comes from a natural mutation. This is where a coffee cherry develops a single bean instead of the usual pair. Peaberries are often considered to have a more intense flavor, so are often blended with more traditional arabica or robusta beans for a more appealing cup.
6. Why is the roasting stage crucial in coffee making?
The roasting stage of coffee making is crucial because it develops the flavor and aroma of the coffee beans, transforming them from green beans into the brown beans used for brewing. This also dictates the flavor profile of the coffee, ranging from a light roast to a dark roast.
7. How does the altitude affect coffee taste?
Coffee grown at higher altitudes tends to have a slower growth rate, allowing more complex flavors to develop. This is down to the oxygen supply needed for plant growth and photosynthesis, as well as the cooler temperatures that are often found at higher altitudes.
8. What is the impact of processing methods on coffee quality?
The processing method can greatly affect the taste, acidity, and body of the coffee, influencing its overall quality. The main two processing methods are hand-picking and machine harvesting, each with its pros and cons; however, machine harvesting brings in all the fruit regardless of their ripeness, which can affect the overall flavor profile and quality of the coffee.
9. How should coffee be stored to maintain freshness?
Coffee should be stored in a cool, dark place in an airtight container away from moisture and heat. It’s also important to grind your beans just before use to maintain the intended flavor profile of the coffee.
10. What are the environmental impacts of coffee production?
There are many environmental impacts of coffee production. This can include deforestation, water pollution, and biodiversity loss if not managed sustainably. That being said, efforts are being made to promote more sustainable coffee farming methods across the world, with traditional methods like hand-picking cherries and the drying method being ultimately more sustainable.
11. How does roasting affect the flavor of coffee?
Roasting style significantly influences coffee flavor. Drum roasting releases the oils, creating a heavier, denser flavor profile, while hot air roasting produces a sweeter, cleaner taste. The preference between these methods is subjective. Additionally, roasting levels impact flavor: light roasts have floral and citrus notes, while darker roasts offer richer, caramelized, and more complex flavors. Professional roasters use precise controls, such as temperature settings and ideal roast times, to ensure consistency and even roasting across batches.
