What Is Coffee?
Coffee is one of the most interesting and well loved drinks in the world. It is drunk in homes, offices, during meetings, after breakfast and desert. People everywhere are fans of coffee. This simple product is a favorite all over the world, made from the seed of cherries found on trees. Coffee trees grow about 30 feet tall or more and have evergreen leaves that are noticeable by their shiny look. These trees have plants that bloom about three times a year with white or red flowers that have a smell similar to jasmine. Eight months after the plants flower they produce a red berry that is known to most as coffee cherries. The cherry will contain two seed that are green and oval, which once processed and roasted become known as coffee beans.
Then once the cherries are ripe, they are then hand picked and taken to the processing area or plant. The fruit will then be taken off the seed using either the dry process which is where the cherries are dried using either the sun or dryers or they may be processed through a method called soaking in which they use the wet process. Then if the processors use the dry process they will separate the bean from the fruit through one of the mechanical huskers available on the market. If the processors should use the wet method then they must dry the beans, size the beans and grade the beans. Then after these processes the beans are then bagged up and sent to roasters all around the world.
There are two coffee beans that are used primarily for making commercial brand coffees; they are Coffea Robusta and Coffea Aribica. Coffea Canephora or Robusta is one of the most widely grown types of Coffea. It is made from a very small robust plant (shrub) or a small robust tree. The fruit takes about 11 months to produce mature fruit. The Robusta coffees can be found in Africa usually in the West and Central parts, you may also find it in both East and South Asia, and they may also show up in Brazil as well. The next coffee is made from Coffea Arabica, which comes from a large bush that has very dark oval leaves, the fruit takes approximately 9 months, in each of the fruit, and you will find two coffee beans. For the most part Latin America, Africa, Indonesia and India are the favorite places for this type of coffee bean.
For those who love coffee, having a complete understanding of what coffee is, will help you choose which coffees that you will drink. Both types of coffee beans offer you a great beverage and soon you will find your particular type of coffee that will suit your tastes.
