Crop to Cup (or How Many Coffee Beans Does It Take?…)

Did you know that it takes one full bush of coffee beans to produce just one pound of coffee?

Making that smooth or full bodied gourmet coffee you're sipping is actually a labor intensive process that involves the participation of a number of people. This Crop to Cup evolution starts with the people who grow and harvest the beans, often in third world countries. This is why having fair trade coffees available is so important.

Here at Brown & Jenkins, we feature coffee beans from Central and South America, Indonesia, Africa, Columbia, Costa Rica and Guatemala. (See the coffee bean tutorials at the end of each blog for more information on the characteristics of these specific beans.) Here is an oversimplified explanation of the coffee making process.

Harvesting- At about 9 months the beans are harvested by hand-picking, strip-picking or mechanical harvesting. Hand-picking is almost always the method for Arabica coffee beans.

Processing- The pulp, skin and husk must be removed so that only the green beans remain. There is wet-processing and dry-processing. Drying, hulling, sorting and grading the beans are also involved.

Inspection and Storage- Before exportation all beans must be tested, graded, shipped and stored properly. Green coffee will keep for about one year when dried and is called the "current crop." After that, the beans start to dry out and the quality deteriorates.

Coffee Bean Tutorial: Brazilian Coffee Beans

Brazil is the top producer of coffee world wide. By some estimates it makes over 28% of the world's coffee supply. Some of this is Robusta, a lesser quality bean that is often strip-picked or harvested mechanically. Arabica beans also have less caffeine, and are all we use. Brazilian beans generally have less body and less acidity than "mild" coffees.

Until our next cup,
Sandy Riggen