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The Coffee Bean
Home » Coffee » Coffee Beans » The Coffee BeanA coffee bean is a seed inside a cherry that comes from an evergreen tree located in tropical climates around the world. The tree can grow to a height of twenty feet, but is commonly trimmed down to make the hand picking easier. Each cherry contains only two beans and the tree has to grow three to five years before it can produce the average amount of cherries. Special conditions have to be met in order to have a successful crop. The trees need to be grown in a warm, wet, tropical climate usually located between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Different types of coffee beans are produced at different altitudes, but the average range is between 600-1200 meters. The best landscape is hilly, such as a mountainside. The trees will need plenty of water, so it is important to have soil that will drain easily. Also growers plant the trees with other vegetation and plants to help protect it from excessive sunlight and damaging wind. The coffee bean growth begins with a white blossom that lasts only a few days. Then the cherry will appear, first yellow in color, then changing to red, and finally to a black color as it ripens over a six to nine month period. When the cherry has reached this point, it is ready to be harvested.
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