How it all started ...
A popular Ethiopian legend says coffee is discovered by a herder named Kaldi, who found his goats full of energy after eating the red fruit of the coffee shrub.
What is Coffee?
Coffee trees are pruned short to conserve their energy and aid in harvesting, but can grow to more than 30 feet (9 meters) high.
It takes nearly a year for a cherry to mature after first flowering, and about 5 years of growth to reach full fruit production.
While coffee plants can live up to 100 years, they are generally the most productive between the ages of 7 and 20. Proper care can maintain and even increase their output over the years, sepending on the variety.
The average coffee tree produces 10 pounds of coffee cherry per year, or 2 pounds of green beans.
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Coffee Roast Guide
Roasting brings out the aroma and flavor that is locked inside the green coffee beans.
Beans are stored green, a state in which they can be kept without loss of quality or taste. A
green bean has none of the characteristics of a roasted bean -- it’s
soft and spongy to the bite and smells grassy.
Roasting causes chemical changes to take place as the
beans are rapidly brought to very high temperatures.
When they reach the peak of perfection, they are quickly cooled to stop the process. Roasted beans smell like coffee, and weigh less because the moisture has been roasted out. They are crunchy to the bite, ready to be ground and brewed.
