Coffee is just a part of our everyday lives now, isn’t it? It feels like the world runs on that rich, dark stuff, and a lot of folks would say their day doesn’t even start until they’ve had that first awesome cup. But most of us haven’t stopped to think, “Hey, where do these coffee beans come from?”
If you’ve ever wondered about the beans in your morning brew, you’ve landed in the right spot.
Coffee grows on trees in tropical regions around the world, and the beans we brew are actually the seeds from the fruit, with each growing region giving the coffee its own unique flavor profile.
Latin America, eastern Africa, Asia, and Arabia are leading producers of Arabica coffee. Western and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and Brazil are major producers of Robusta coffee.
We’ve put together this guide to tell you pretty much everything you need to know about coffee beans, so keep reading and quench that coffee curiosity.
Where Do Coffee Beans Come From?
Coffee beans come from the coffee plant. It’s like a bush, but it can get pretty tall (though coffee farmers usually prune them to around five-six feet so they’re easier to handle). On these coffee plants, you get bunches of these little fruits called cherries growing, and guess what? Inside those cherries, you’ll usually find two coffee beans.
Depending on the variety of the plant, those beans could be Arabica or Robusta — the two most common types of coffee in the world.
When is the Coffee Plant Ready?
A coffee plant usually starts blooming with its fragrant white flowers around its second or third year. From there, it takes nearly a year for the flowers to become ripe cherries, and it can take up to four years or more before the plant produces a full harvest.
Coffee plants start producing harvestable beans in just 3 to 4 years, and by year 5, they’re usually in their prime. Farmers especially value the plants that hit their stride around that time and stay productive for years. And while a typical coffee tree lives around 30 to 40 years, with proper care, some can keep going strong for even longer.
Once those coffee cherries are ripe and ready to be picked, they’ll turn red. But you’ve gotta have a good eye to know exactly when they’re ready to harvest because picking them too early or too late can seriously mess with how the coffee tastes in the end.
Fun fact alert! Even though we call them ‘beans,’ they’re technically seeds!
Where Coffee Grows in the World?
Most coffee plants hang out in this area called ‘the bean belt.’ It’s a strip around the equator, between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer.
This is where you find the real coffee hotspots of the world, like Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia, and Ethiopia. These places have just the right stuff – perfect conditions for coffee plants to thrive.
It’s pretty interesting that where coffee beans are grown can change how they taste. Things like the climate, how high up they are grown (elevation), and even the type of soil can all have an impact on the flavor of the coffee those beans end up making.
Do Different Plants Make Different Coffee Beans?
Yep, there are over 120 different kinds of coffee plants out there, and each one makes a slightly different type of coffee bean. But the coffee we drink most of the time comes from just two main types: Robusta (you might also see it called Coffea Robusta or Coffea Canephora) and Arabica (Coffea Arabica), or sometimes a mix of both. These two types are different in how they taste, where they like to grow, and how much they cost.
Arabica Coffee Beans
Arabica coffee beans are super popular, and people think it was one of the very first coffee types ever grown, way back around 1,000 BC. These beans are usually oval-shaped, have a pretty noticeable line down the middle, and they’re bigger than Robusta beans.
Coffee lovers dig Arabica beans because they often have these bright and complex flavors. They tend to be sweeter and softer, with hints of fruits, flowers, chocolate, and nuts, although they can be a bit more acidic (that’s the zingy taste), it’s what gives the coffee its liveliness and depth.
Generally, Arabica is going to cost you more than Robusta. That’s because it’s a bit more delicate and needs more specific conditions to grow, like certain weather and how high up it is. Usually, Arabica coffee beans grow at altitudes between about 1,600 feet and 8,200 feet and don’t have a ton of caffeine. Right now, Latin America, especially Brazil, grows the most Arabica coffee.
Robusta Coffee Beans
You’ll commonly find Robusta growing in Africa, Vietnam, and Indonesia. It’s got lower acidity than Arabica, which means it usually doesn’t taste as sweet. Because it’s got a simpler acidity and stronger flavor stuff inside, Robusta can sometimes taste a bit woody or even like burnt rubber. It’s a popular choice for making espressos because of its strong flavor and the nice creamy layer (crema) it gives.
Robusta coffee grows at altitudes up to around 3,300 feet. These plants make fruit a lot faster than Arabica plants, which can take several years to mature. Plus, Robusta plants usually produce more coffee per tree. They’re also tougher when it comes to pests and weather, which is a big reason why they’re usually cheaper than Arabica beans. One more thing to keep in mind is that Robusta coffee beans have more caffeine in them.
Robusta beans are usually smaller and more rounder than Arabica beans. They’re often a bit lighter in color, and that line down the middle isn’t as obvious.
What About Decaf Coffee Beans?
Okay, here’s the thing: there’s no such thing as naturally decaf coffee beans. They all have caffeine in them to start with. The decaffeinating happens before they even get roasted. They soak the beans in water or steam to swell them up and then use water, a special solvent, or activated carbon to pull out the caffeine. After that, they dry the decaf coffee beans to get their normal moisture back.
Even though we call it ‘decaffeinated,’ decaf coffee beans will always have a little bit of caffeine in them because you can’t get rid of all of it during the process.
Now you know where coffee beans come from! Want to try even more awesome coffee? Check out Mak Coffee and see our amazing African coffee range! Keep an eye on our blog – we’ll be talking all about African coffee soon.
FAQs
Ethiopia is known to be the birthplace of coffee. You might have heard the story about an Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi who noticed his goats acting extra energetic after eating berries from a certain tree – that’s how coffee was supposedly discovered there way back around 800 AD.
Brazil is the world’s top coffee producer, a title it has held for over a century and a half. This South American giant’s ideal climate allows it to cultivate significant quantities of both the popular Arabica and the robust Robusta coffee varieties, making it a key player in supplying coffee enjoyed across the globe.
Yes, what we call coffee beans are actually the seeds inside coffee cherries, which are the fruit of the coffee plant.
It’s usually more like a bush, but it can grow tall enough to be called a small tree. Farmers often keep it trimmed like a bush to make it easier to pick the cherries.