What is coffee … other than the beverage of choice for people with excellent taste, that is.
An even more accurate question might be what is coffee made of? Coffee beans, sure – but did you know those are actually seeds found inside the cherries (also called the fruit) of coffee trees? They grow in more than 40 countries around the world, and when dried, roasted, and ground, the seeds are used to brew coffee.
The lifespan of a coffee tree
100 years: How long a coffee tree can live
Nearly 1 year: A coffee cherry matures (after first flowering)
3 years: A coffee tree begins producing cherries (approximately)
5 years: A coffee tree reaches full cherry production
7-20 years: The time when a coffee tree is generally most productive
Inside the coffee cherry
While the characteristics of different coffee trees can vary widely, their cherries share a similar structure – and each part plays a role in the coffee you drink.
Outer skin (exocarp): The outermost layer of the coffee cherry. It is generally thin and smooth, and as it ripens, it transitions from green to yellow to red.
Pulp (mesocarp): The juicy pulp around the coffee beans. This layer gives the cherry its sweetness, contributing to the overall flavor profile.
Parchment (endocarp): A thin layer that covers and protects the beans as they develop within the cherry.
Silver skin (testa, epidermis): The outer layer of the bean. This tissue supports the bean in its early development.
Bean (endosperm): The core of the coffee bean. It contains carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids that influence the flavor and aroma of the coffee beans when brewed.
Know your species of coffee
Here are a few key facts about coffee’s botanical classification. No biology textbook required! The Coffea genus of plants includes over 6,000 species of tropical trees and shrubs. However, of these, experts estimate that there are only 25 to 100 species of coffee trees.
Why the variation? Well, you met the coffee tree above; it can vary widely. Naturally, botanists have been debating the exact classification of coffee trees for centuries. Since 1753, in fact—when Carolus Linneas, a Swedish botanist, described the Coffea genus in his Species Plantarum, a two-volume book that laid the foundation for our modern system of naming plants and animals.
There’s a lot more interesting coffee history where that came from! But, back to the species of coffee we drink today, most coffee drinkers only need to know the two that show up most frequently in your cu
p: arabica and robusta.
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