Coffee bean

A coffee bean is the seed of the Coffea plant, and it’s what we brew to make coffee. The plant’s fruit is called a coffee cherry, but unlike a regular cherry, which has one pit, the coffee cherry usually holds two seeds pressed together flat side to flat side. These seeds look like beans, so that’s what we call them, even though they aren’t true beans. About 10% to 15% of coffee cherries contain just one seed, known as a peaberry. Some people claim peaberries taste better than normal beans, but there’s little solid proof for that. Like Brazil nuts and white rice, coffee beans are mostly made of endosperm.

The two most important types of coffee plants are arabica and robusta. Arabica makes up about 60% of the world’s coffee, while robusta accounts for roughly 40%. Arabica beans have 0.8% to 1.4% caffeine, and robusta beans have 1.7% to 4.0% caffeine. Coffee is one of the most popular drinks on the planet, so coffee beans are a major cash crop and a key export. For some developing countries, they bring in over half of all foreign exchange earnings. In 2023, Brazil was the biggest producer of coffee beans. Other major exporters include Colombia, Vietnam, and Ethiopia.

Legend says the coffee plant was discovered in Ethiopia around 850 AD by a goat herder named Kaldi, who noticed his goats got more active after eating the beans. The first cultivation in India happened in 1600, in Europe in 1616, in Java in 1699, and in the Caribbean (Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico) between 1715 and 1730. It reached the Dutch East Indies in 1720 and South America in 1730. Roasted beans were first sold in a retail market in Pittsburgh in 1865. Various coffee extracts and powdered instant coffee were developed in the late 1800s.

Brazil produces about 45% of the world’s coffee exports. Coffee plants grow only in a band between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, called the bean belt or coffee belt.

The word “coffee” likely came into European languages from Turkish *kahveh*, around 1600, possibly through Italian *caffè*. The Arabic *qahwah*, pronounced *kahveh* in Turkish, originally referred to the drink. Arab lexicographers say it meant “wine” or a type of wine, from the verb-root *qahiya*, meaning “to have no appetite.” Another theory is that the name comes from the Kaffa Province in Ethiopia, where the plant may have originated.

The coffee tree grows fruit called coffee cherries, which usually contain two seeds. The seeds are called beans because of how they look. Peaberries—cherries with a single seed—make up 10% to 15% of all beans. Some claim the single bean develops a better flavor because it doesn’t share nutrients, but there’s little evidence for this; peaberries might just be selected from high-quality beans. Coffee trees range from 5 to 10 meters (16 to 33 feet) tall. As they age, they produce less fruit and lose resistance to pests and diseases. The beans come from seeds of trees and shrubs that originally grew wild in African forests. People make coffee by roasting, grinding, and brewing the raw green beans.

Farmers often grow coffee plants in rows, with spacing based on desired density. Some plant shade trees or cash crops like orange trees nearby, or grow coffee on hillsides to create the right conditions. Arabica beans do best at temperatures between 15 and 24 °C (59 to 75 °F), and robusta between 24 and 30 °C (75 to 86 °F). They need 500 to 3,000 mm (20 to 118 inches) of rain per year, with more rain early in the season when fruit develops and less as it ripens. Two lesser-known species grown for consumption are *Coffea liberica* and *Coffea racemosa*.

When the fruit is ripe, it’s almost always picked by hand. Selective picking removes only the ripe fruit, while strip-picking takes all the fruit from a limb at once. Selective picking gives higher-quality coffee because the cherries are at their ripest. Strip-picking collects unripe, ripe, and over-ripe fruit, so sorting is needed afterward. Two main methods are used to process coffee berries. The wet or washed process, historically common in Central America and parts of Africa, separates the flesh from the seeds, then soaks the seeds in water for about two days to soften the sticky pulp, which is then washed off. The dry process, cheaper and simpler, was once used for lower-quality beans in Brazil and much of Africa but now can fetch a premium when done well. Twigs and debris are removed, and the fruit is spread in the sun on concrete, bricks, or raised beds for two to three weeks, turned regularly for even drying. In Asia, a third method is sometimes used: the Asian palm civet eats coffee berries and excretes the beans. The civet picks only the ripest cherries, and its digestive system breaks down the mucilage.