It’s a long journey from that first inspiration of opening a coffee shop to the grand opening, and it’s no different for the coffee bean itself.  Below you’ll learn how these dark red berries go from the treetops to your caramel macchiato. 

From tree…
Coffee trees are evergreens with shiny, dark green leaves and an abundance of crimson berries, each of which contains two coffee beans. Trees vary in size from dwarf to 20' or more in height, and the tall trees are often trimmed to 5' or 6' in order to make it easier for farmers to reach the fruit. Coffee trees are most productive between the ages of five and ten, and because they’re autogamous (ah TOG ah muss), they pollinate themselves from their own stamens.

There are two types of coffee plants: Arabica and Robusta. Arabica coffee is a much higher quality bean found in specialty coffees. Robusta coffee is of a much lower quality, has a less appealing flavor, and is used mainly in commercial supermarket coffees. Surprisingly, Arabicas account for about 75% of the world’s coffee population.

…to planting…
Coffee grows best in the volcanic soil and moderate sunshine found in mountainous tropical regions. A rule of thumb is that the higher the elevation at which the coffee is planted, the higher its quality. However, coffee rarely grows at elevations of more than 7,000 ft. since the plant is very sensitive and cannot stand changes of more than 20º in any 24-hour period. Planting coffee trees is a big investment. Select seeds or leaf cuttings from the best trees are carefully cleaned and sown in nursery beds. For six to eight months the small trees are nurtured indoors before being transplanted outside. Shade trees (such as banana trees) are planted between the rows of young coffee trees in order to provide natural cover. It takes three years for a coffee tree to produce its first crop, after which it will continue to produce beans for another 15 to 25 years.

Coffee is grown in one of two venues: enormous plantations and small orchards attached to family farms.

…to harvest…
The ripening of coffee cherries—from the first clusters of white flowers to ready-to-harvest fruit—takes about nine months. The flowers, which last only a few days, produce small green berries or cherries.

Once they have ripened to maturity (signaled by a deep crimson color) they are ready to be hand picked. Since cherries don’t ripen all at once, harvesting is selective. The average yield of a mature coffee tree is 2,000 coffee cherries per year or approximately one pound of roasted coffee. One acre of coffee trees produces 400 to 600 pounds of green coffee beans per year.

…to processing…
The large plantations often have the means to sell their beans directly to coffee brokers around the world, while the smaller farms must take their crops to cooperatives to be processed.

Once coffee cherries are harvested, they are transported to co-ops for processing. Processing entails removing the coffee beans from the cherry—either by wet method or dry method —sizing them, and sorting by grade.

Once processing is finished, the cooperatives sell the green coffee beans to brokers—distribution centers for small to mid-size roasters, or directly to mass roasters.

…to roaster…
Roasting is the process in which the dense green coffee beans are transformed into the wonderfully rich and flavorful beans that are the basis for a great cup of coffee.

Click to see CrimsonCup Coffee Roasting video

Roasting coffee is both an art and a science that requires that each of the more than 100 origins of coffee be roasted to its own set of specifications. While some roastmasters use state-of-the-art equipment and scientific tools to assist them in developing the perfect roast, others rely mainly on their intuition, knowledge and experience.

Coffees are roasted in drum roasters that operate similarly to clothes dryers. The beans are held in a large revolving drum while paddles toss them continuously. Most green coffee is roasted at approximately 400° F, with heat coming either from a direct flame, or from a convection source which draws hot air through the drum and over the beans.

During roasting, the roastmaster listens closely for the first crack which signals the start of pyrolysis (pie RAWL ah sis)—the transformation of the green beans into a delicious, consumable coffee bean.

At this point, the roastmaster must make crucial adjustments to the temperature of the roaster in order to provide the coffee with its optimum roasting conditions. One to three minutes after the first crack, a second crack is heard. Timing is everything after the second crack; if the roastmaster stops the roasting process mere seconds too early or too late, the entire batch of coffee will be ruined.

In general, coffees are roasted to light, medium or dark levels. (Terms like Cinnamon, City, Full City, Vienna, Italian, and French can all be classified as types of light, medium and dark roasts.) People often assume that the darker the roast, the stronger the coffee, or the more caffeine it contains. In truth, caffeine content does not change with the roast level. Only the acidity level changes, getting lower as the roast gets darker, leaving the coffee smooth and mellow with a smoky flavor.

…to you.
Once roasting is complete, the finished batch of coffee is dumped into a cooling bin where it is allowed to cool to room temperature, aided by a flow of air that is drawn through the beans. Once the coffee has cooled, it is packaged immediately and sent to the stores.