How is Coffee Made?

Coffee is a subtropical plant which can grow easily in Africa, South America and Southeast Asia. Known as a flowering plant which belongs to the family of Rubiaceae, coffee is an evergreen shrub or small tree which may grow 5 meters tall when unpruned. Its leaves are dark green and glossy, usually 10-15 centimeters long and 6.0 centimeters wide, while its flowers are white, fragrant and bloom simultaneously. In making the coffee which we consume every day, one part of this tropical plant is strongly required: that is coffee’s seeds which are commonly called beans. But in order to transform the raw beans into coffee products, there are various processes for bean to undergo. This is a brief explanation of the process.

Planting

The process begins when a coffee seed has been planted. Because it is a tropical plant, the coffee tree requires hot and humid conditions for proper growing. After a coffee bean had been planted, it usually starts to produce flowers in 3-4 years. Around 5 years after planting, a coffee tree will produce flowers which contain fruits of the plant (commonly known as coffee cherries or coffee berries), and these fruits are the important material for producing coffee. Ripening around eight months after the emergence of the flower, coffee berries will be picked by hand by laborers and sent to coffee manufacturers for further processing.

Dry and Wet process

After harvesting, coffee berries are shipped to coffee manufacturers, where they will be handled in the first stage of the Dry or Wet process. Dry process is the oldest method of processing coffee and is commonly used by local coffee producers. In this process, coffee berries will be placed amid the sunlight on tables or in thin layers on patios in order to drain off their moisture. After ten days or two weeks, coffee berries will be completely dried and their pulp and parchment will also be removed from the bean. This type of process is commonly found in the regions where water or infrastructure for machinery is scarce.

Wet process is generally used for producing green coffee, and this type of process is commonly found in both medium and big coffee manufacturers around the world. Wet process is almost completely conducted by machines. This process begins when coffee berries are sorted by immersion in water, when good ripe fruit will sink and the bad or unripe fruit will float. In this process, after being processed by machines, the skin of coffee berries and some of the pulp will be removed. Finally, the processed beans will be dried in the sun or by machine.

Roasting

Roasting coffee is key to the transformation of the chemical and physical properties of green coffee beans into roasted coffee products. The roasting process is considered the most important part in making coffee, because coffee’s flavor is significantly determined by the length of the roasting process. When roasted, green coffee beans will shift their colors from green to yellow and then to a light cinnamon brown, and finally to a dark and oily color. In addition, green coffee beans also expand in size to nearly double their original size. Different coffee manufacturers have their own roasting process which makes their coffee flavor different from the others. For example, coffee beans from famous regions like Java, Kenya, Hawaiian Kona, and Jamaican Blue Mountain are usually roasted in light heat in order to preserve the original flavor, but in other regions coffee beans are roasted at higher temperature to produce various flavors.

Packaging

After being roasted in specific temperatures and processes, the processed coffee beans will be categorized and sent to the quality-control department to check and test their cleanliness and quality. And in the final process, all of the approved coffee beans will be packaged and distributed to stores or other distributors.