Coffee Beans, You Say?

Coffee beans aren’t actually beans!

It turns out that the name you’re familiar with for those tiny pods that are ground and brewed for a fresh cup of joe is a misnomer.

Coffee “beans” are actually the seeds found within coffee cherries, a reddish/purplish fruit harvested from coffee trees. Farmers remove the skin and flesh from the cherry, leaving only the seed inside to be washed and roasted.

Coffee farming is a major time investment. On average, a tree takes three or four years to produce its first crop of cherries. In most of the Coffee Belt  — a band along the equator where most coffee is grown that includes the countries of Brazil, Ethiopia, and Indonesia — coffee cherries are harvested just once per year. In many countries, the cherries are picked by hand, a laborious process.

Thanks so much, Interesting Facts! Who knew?

Enjoy that cuppa joe which came from a cherry!