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After three to four years, when they reach maturity, coffee trees bear fruit in lines or clusters along the branches of the trees. Referred to as a berry or cherry, this fruit turns red when it is ready to be harvested. Coffee beans are actually the seeds of these ripened cherries. Most arabica cherries ripen after 6-8 months; robusta beans take between 9 and 11 months to ripen. Beneath the cherries' red skin is a fleshy pulp, a slimy layer, and a parchment like covering of the bean. Inside these layers are usually two beans, which are covered by a thin membrane or coat. This membrane or seed skin, is referred to in the coffee trade as the "silver skin". |
Coffee comes from the latin form of the genus Coffea, a member
of the Rubiaceae family which includes more than 500 genera and 6,000
species of tropical trees and shrubs.