How is coffee made?

If you've ever wondered how your coffee is made, the journey it takes to reach your cup, and how it transforms into the form you know best, we explain every step of the process here, just for you!

What is Coffee?

Coffee beans come from the fruit of the coffee tree—a cherry that changes from green to red when fully ripe. Each cherry contains two green coffee beans, which are unprocessed and not yet ready for consumption. It takes approximately 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs) of cherries to produce 500 g (1.1 lbs) of green coffee beans, which results in about 400 g (0.88 lbs) of roasted coffee.

The Coffee Harvesting Process

Coffee harvesting occurs over a period of two to three months, depending on the producing country and the season (spring or autumn). However, cherries do not always ripen uniformly, so different harvesting methods are used based on the producer’s technical and economic capabilities:

• Hand-picking: The most expensive but highest-quality method. Workers manually select and pick cherries based on their ripeness and color. This ensures a uniform and high-quality batch, particularly for specialty coffees.
• Stripping: A faster and more cost-effective method where all the cherries from a branch are stripped off, either manually or mechanically, using a comb-like tool. This results in a mix of ripe and unripe cherries, affecting the coffee's final quality.
• Mechanical Harvesting: The least precise method, where a net is placed under the tree, and the branches are shaken to make the cherries fall. This process does not allow for precise selection and sorting of the cherries.

Processing the Coffee Cherries

Once harvested, the coffee cherries go through processing to extract the green coffee beans. There are two main methods:

• Dry Processing: The simplest and fastest method. Cherries are spread out in the sun to dry for about 15 days, after which they are mechanically hulled to separate the beans from the outer layers. Some producers use drying machines to speed up the process to 3–4 days. The cleaned beans are then sorted, bagged in jute sacks, and shipped worldwide.
• Wet Processing: A more expensive method that requires large amounts of water but preserves the bean's quality better. The cherries are pulped, and the beans are fermented in water for 24 to 36 hours before being rinsed. Initially, the beans contain 57% moisture, which is reduced to 12.5% after 8–10 days of sun drying.
• Typically, Robusta beans undergo dry processing, while Arabica beans are usually processed using the wet method.

Coffee Roasting: The Final Step

Coffee roasting is the final and most crucial stage in coffee production, as it determines the bean’s flavor profile. During roasting:

• The beans lose moisture (reducing to about 3%) and expand.
• Natural sugars within the beans caramelize, creating complex aromas.
• The degree of roasting influences the coffee’s flavor:
  • Light Roast (Blonde, New England) – Mild, acidic, and bright.
  • Medium Roast (Amber, American) – Balanced flavor, commonly used in the U.S.
  • Medium-Dark Roast (Light French, Robe de Moine) – The most common in France, slightly bitter.
  • Dark Roast (French) – Strong, bold flavors with increased bitterness.
  • Very Dark Roast (Dark French, Italian) – Intense, smoky, and bitter.

Finally, the roasted coffee beans are either sold whole or ground, depending on the preferred brewing method, as grind size affects how water flows through the coffee.

Now that you know the secrets of coffee making, how about enjoying a fresh cup to celebrate? ☕