How are coffee beans made? A coffee bean’s path from a coffea plant to a cup of coffee.

Ultimate Guide: how is coffee manufactured

How is regular coffee made?

Step 1. Planting a coffee seed

Coffee beans are actually seeds of the cherries that grow in certain varieties of coffea plants. A typical coffea plant takes anywhere between 3 to 4 years to fully mature and yield cherries.

In their initial months of life, coffee plants grow in large beds in shaded nurseries. Those shaded nurseries offer baby coffee plants sun protection and water. Without those two, coffee plants would not yield cherries.

When a baby coffee plant becomes strong enough, it needs to find a permanent soil to grow. Therefore, coffee plants are removed from nurseries and planted in permanent positions. This customarily occurs during the wet season, because the roots of the plants need a lot of moisture to develop. When they are mature, coffee plants look like shrubs or small trees.

Who owns coffee plants?

Coffee plantations usually belong to local families who go through multiple processes of how coffee is made. They often grow coffee trees, harvest the cherries, process the beans and, finally, export them to coffee roasters and distributors.

Some coffee plantations, however, belong to multi-national corporations, like Hacienda Alsacia in Costa Rica, for instance. This 240 hectare coffee farm is a property of Starbucks. In addition to being a working farm, it also serves as a global research and development facility.

Where do the coffee trees grow?

Coffee plants typically grow at high altitudes, in wet hill areas and in subtropical regions. Coffea Arabica, the plant that yields our beloved Arabica beans, matures on higher altitudes that other varieties of plants such as Caffea Canephora, for instance, the coffee plant that makes Robusta beans.

Some of the best known coffee producing countries are Colombia, Brazil, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Yemen, and Indonesia.

Step 2. Harvesting and picking

Coffee trees begin to yield cherries only after 3-4 year of life. Because coffee plantations are usually located at high altitudes and on uneven grounds, the cherries are normally handpicked. In some places in Brazil, where the plantation grounds cover large fields that are also somehow flat, picking has been mechanized.

Coffee cherries can be collected from the trees with the use of the two different methods:

• Strip picking: this method involves stripping the branch of all cherries at one time; it is done either by hand or with a machine.
• Selective picking:  this method involves picking only ripe cherries; it is done by hand only. The pickers usually come back every 8 to 10 days to check on the ripeness of the remaining cherries and pick the ones that have reached maturity.

An efficient picker gathers between 100 to 200 pounds of cherries in a day, which produces 20 to 40 pounds of coffee beans. The pickers receive compensation commensurate with their daily haul.

Step 3. Processing coffee cherries

Coffee cherries must be processed as soon as possible after they have been picked. Otherwise, the fruits can spoil. Processing causes the degradation of the cherries to stop, and ensures that the beans will retain their high quality and freshness.

There are two different methods to process the cherries:

• The dry method: this method is prevalent in regions with limited water resources. The method involves spreading coffee cherries in the sun where they remain to dry. The cherries have to be dry at all times. Therefore, they remain under the cover at night or during rain. It usually takes several weeks for a batch of cherries to dry. A coffee cherry is considered dry when its moisture content has dropped to or below 11%.
• The wet method: this method requires the removal of the pulp from inside the cherries, while leaving the seeds inside the parchment skin. After this happens, the beans go through water channels where they separate by weight, and through rotation where they separate by size. This method ensures that heavy ripe beans fall to the bottom. Next, the beans continue to ferment in large, water-filled tanks. The duration of the fermentation process depends on the climate, the condition of the beans, and the altitude, but it will usually take somewhere between 12 and 48 hours. Fermentation causes the mucilage (called parenchyma) that is attached to the parchment to be removed, leaving the beans feeling rough to the touch. After fermentation, the beans are rinsed and sent to dry.

Step 4. Drying

Drying only applies to coffee cherries that take use of a wet method in coffee processing. The drying can occur either in the sun or in large drying machines. The moisture content of coffee cherries need to drops to or below 11%. The dried beans that come out of this process are known as “parchment coffee.”

Step 5. Milling

The next stop in our coffee beans journey is milling. During this step, several things happen:

• Hulling: a machine removes the dry parchment that covers wet processed beans, as well as the husk covering the beans that have been dry processed.
• Polishing: a machine removes any residual skin left on the beans after hulling. This is an optional step that makes no difference in the quality of the bean (although polished beans are sometimes considered superior).
• Grading and sorting: beans are reviewed and sorted according to their size, weight, color, and any imperfections. The sorting is done either by machine or by hand.

Step 6. Exporting

Milled beans, which are now referred to as “green coffee,” are loaded into jute bags, sisal bags, or plastic lined containers. Then, they are exported to different coffee distributors around the world.

Coffee beans are always exported as “green coffee,” because green beans have a shell life that is much longer than that of roasted beans, so they can stay fresh over longer periods of time.

Step 7. Grading/cupping

Cupping is a repetitive process. It involves tasting the coffee in order to determine its flavor and quality. Cupping takes place in a special room where experienced tasters, known as cuppers, examine the beans. The whole process has three main steps:

• Visual evaluation and brewing: the tasters determine the quality of the beans by visual inspection. A small quantity of beans is then roasted, ground, and infused at a controlled temperature. The tasters further determine the quality of the coffee by taking in (nosing) the aroma of the brew.
• Resting time: the brew is left to rest for a few minutes after which the taster removes the grounds gathered at the top of the cup and carefully examines the aroma of the coffee again before tasting it.
• Tasting: the cuppers slurps a spoonful of coffee with a quick inhalation, which allows their tastebuds to weigh the quality of the coffee. The coffee is then spit out.

Cuppers try hundreds of samples of coffee every day, but can still feel the subtle differences between them. The purpose of cupping is to determine the characteristics of different coffee beans in order to create the best roasts and coffee blends.

Step 8. Roasting, packing and distributing

Roasting happens in the importing countries, since freshly roasted beans have to reach consumers as quickly as possible.

Green beans roasted in big roasting machines that maintain a temperature of around 550 degrees Fahrenheit. Inside these roasting machines, coffee beans continuously rotate in order to avoid burning.

When coffee beans reach an internal temperature of 400 degrees Fahrenheit, they begin to release caffeol, an oil that is locked inside the beans. The release of caffeol alters the flavor and the aroma of the beans.

After roasting, the beans are immediately cooled with either air or water. The main coffee roast levels are: light, medium and dark. Choosing a roast depends on different factors:

• how much caffeine do you want your coffee to have? (light roasts have more caffeine),
• how strong do you want the taste of your coffee to be? (dark roasts have a deeper, stronger aroma),
• what type of coffee maker are you using? (espresso usually uses dark roasts, while the French press works best with medium roasts).

Step 9. Buying

Roasted coffee beans (and some green ones too) are packed and sent to shops. Consumers like you and I can select from a wide variety of coffee types.

Step 10. Grinding (if coffee beans)

Some people prefer to buy pre-ground coffee, and they have some good reasons for that: they don’t own a coffee grinder (though, there are some amazing ways to grind coffee without a coffee grinder); they don’t know what grind size would be better for them or how to obtain it; they want to save time…

However, grinding coffee beans at home is one of the best decisions to make, especially for someone who cares about the freshness of their coffee. Ground coffee stays fresh for maximum 72 hours, after which it starts to go stale. The sooner ground coffee brews a cup of coffee, the more flavorful and aromatic a coffee beverage will be.

There are three main grind sizes: fine, medium and coarse. Each coffee brewing method needs to utilize the proper grind size. For instance, espresso machines need fine grinds to work best.

Step 11. Brewing

At OwlyChoice, we recommend that you pair a correct roast, grind size with the brewing method, and you will brew great cups of coffee every day.

There are dozens of brewing methods and styles out there. Some people use coffee machines (like espresso makers), some use pour over methods (like the French press), and some just brew coffee in a kettle over the fire or other heat source (as is the case with Turkish coffee).

Step 12. Enjoying a cup of coffee

This is the end of the line for those coffee beans! They have finally made it into a cup filled with coffee beverage. Coffee is one of the most beloved drinks in the world, and has many health benefits and an important effect on your general state of being, by making you sharper and more alert.

Some coffee beans go through some additional trans-formative processes to become decaffeinated or flavored coffee beans.

How is decaffeinated coffee made?

Decaffeinated coffee beans are ordinary beans that had more than 97% of their caffeine content removed.

The most popular method to decaffeinate is the Swiss Water Method, which uses water to remove caffeine from the beans.

There are other decaffeination methods out there that use chemical solvents like carbon dioxide, ethyl acetate and triglycerides. However, if you prefer more natural (and likely healthier) ways to decaffeinate, the Swiss Water Method might be the best bet.

In any method, coffee beans go through an additional round of processing. Consequently, coffee beans have a slightly altered flavor and taste.

Decaffeination is an extra process for coffee beans to go through. This adds more costs. Therefore, decaf coffee is typically more expensive than regular coffee.

How is flavored coffee made?

Flavored coffee beans are a result of adding flavoring oils (natural or synthetic) to the coffee beans in the processing. This typically occurs in the importing country, immediately after roasting. If flavored coffee uses natural flavorings, these natural flavorings are typically an extract from vanilla, cocoa beans, nuts and berries. Some spices like cinnamon and clove can also enhance the flavor of coffee beans.

However, we urge you to research what exactly goes in the flavors. Some of them are really poor quality. For instance, a “toasted marshmallow” flavor comes out directly from the chemical lab. In addition, many flavorings that circulate on the coffee market contain polypropylene glycol, a chemical additive that has an irritant effect when it comes in direct contact with the eyes and with mucous membranes. In the end, you need to decide how comfortable you are with putting artificial, synthetic things in your body.

On a more positive note, the coffee brewed from flavored coffee beans has exactly the same caloric intake as normal coffee beans.

Ethical considerations for buying coffee

The coffee industry has its share of unethical practices. The history of coffee has been closely entangled with the following:

• slavery,
• human exploitation,
• child labor, and
• other crimes.

When we sip our favorite coffee, we may, unknowingly, become accomplices and supporters of such unethical decisions and business practices.

There are many coffee brands that joined the cause of only using coffee that has been produced ethically, and declare it openly on the package and as part of their marketing campaign.

The Fairtrade system is probably one that immediately comes to mind when we think of ethically grown products like coffee and tea. In order to have a Faitrade certification, coffee farmers need to pay a membership fee, join a co-op, to agree to standard practices on the following:

• a specific limited use of fertilizers and pesticides,
• fair wages to laborers.

In return, these coffee farmers receive a minimum amount (a ‘price floor’) of $1.40 per pound of Arabica beans.

Coffee business: slavery and child labor of today

Unfortunately, it seems that a Fairtrade certification does not guarantee the removal of slavery from the supply chain. The Fairtrade Foundation has not developed an air tight monitoring system. A research from SOAS found in 2014 that Fairtrade failed to improve the lives of workers in Ethiopia and Uganda, who were still receiving very low wages.

Coffee is one of the goods of daily use that appears on the List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor, a document published by the Bureau of International Labor Affairs. And, it is, unfortunately, one of the products that is still grown under slavery and life threatening conditions.

In 2015, Brazilian authorities freed 128 workers from five coffee plantations in Minas Gerais, where they were working in conditions analogous to slavery. Some of these workers were children.

It might be difficult to know for certain that coffee has been 100% ethically grown. However, we do recommend researching various coffee brands and choosing one that seems to follow the best policy.

What do we recommend?

Whether your prefer cappuccino, latte, cold brewed coffee or simply espresso, just know that the beans that made that coffee beverage in front of you have traveled a long way to reach you.

What is your favorite way to grind coffee without a coffee grinder? Have you tried any of the methods above? Which alternative way to coffee grinding yields the finest and best grind size?

Please leave us a comment, share with your friends!