The Coffee Process From Plant To Mug

Lachlan F. - 7th Grade

Art made by: Athena L.

Coffee is an internationally loved drink that is brewed from roasted coffee beans. It is one of the three most popular drinks in the world, along with water and tea. But where does this wonder drink come from? 

Coffee grows in a myriad of countries, but Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Ethiopia, and Indonesia grow the bulk of coffee in the world. Coffee beans aren’t really beans at all, because they are the seeds of a coffee tree. They are often called coffee cherries, and are small, red, and carry 1-2 seeds. When coffee cherries are harvested from the trees, they go through a  process that allows them to be turned into what we know as coffee. Processing involves removing the seeds from the cherry and drying them. They can be processed wet, where shortly after harvest, the pulp and skin are removed and they are left to dry, or processed dry, where they are dried in the sun, and then the pulp and skin is removed. Coffee seeds have a thin membrane around them called the parchment. The last step in processing the seeds is called hulling, which is the removal of the parchment. Then the beans are sorted by weight, size, and other categories. They are then shipped to the coffee roasters, where they become the familiar dark brown beans. To be roasted, they are churned around in a large heated cylinder for 8-14 minutes. This results in the aromatic, delicious, and recognizable beans.

After learning this process, you might appreciate your morning coffee a bit more. Coffee is such a normal part of people’s lives, so it can be rewarding to find out how it got in your mug each morning. Starting out as seeds in the coffee cherry, to being removed and dried, to being roasted to their familiar bitter taste, coffee beans go a long way before grinded and brewed to a steaming hot cup of perfection.