Coffee's Life Cycle

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1) Seeds

The coffee plant is a part of the family Rubiaceae and the genus Coffea.  The genus Coffea contains more than 70 species, but only 2 species, Coffea Arabica and Coffea Canephora, are produced commercially.  Although it is possible to propagate coffee trees from cuttings or shoots, the most successful way is to start new plants from the seeds selected from heartiest trees.  Normally two seeds are contained in a coffee cherry while occasionally a cherry contains only one seed known as a peaberry.  Removing their skins (exocarp) and pulps (mesocarp), but not their parchments (endocarp), the seeds are planted in nursery with careful watering, shading and watching.  

2) Germination

According to Brazilian Journal of Plant Physiology, it takes 50 to 60 days for an Arabica coffee seed to germinate and emerge from the soil during warm periods and up to 90 days during cooler periods. The optimal temperature for Arabica germination is between 15 and 24 degrees Celsius (59 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit.)  With proper care, after a few months, reaching several inches high, they are transferred to individual pots where they live until their first birthday.  By that time, they can reach 1.5 to 2 feet tall.

3) Seedlings

After one year of growth, coffee tree seedlings can reach about 1.5 to 2 feet tall.  Then, they are moved to plantation and planted out in rows about 10 feet apart.  The shade trees are normally planted between each row to shelter the juvenile coffee plants, filtering sunlight and maintaining humidity.  It takes another 3 to 5 years for the seedling to reach maturity.

4) Maturity

After 3 years of growth, coffee trees are ready for reproducing, bearing clusters of white blossoms with the scent of Jasmine.  Each blossom lasts only a few days while others are produced somewhere else on the same tree and even on the same branch.  In two months clusters of green berries are produced where the blossoms were.  During that period of time, the endosperm, which stores food for a developing embryo, takes more than 70 percent of a coffee tree’s photosynthesis.  It takes another 6 months for cherries to ripen fully.

5) Harvesting

Due to the even climate, the coffee tree will bear blossoms, green berries and red berries at the same time so that the mechanized harvesting equipment becomes impractical.  Specialty coffee is always hand-picked with the judgement of the human eye to make sure that only the ripe cherries reaching the perfection are picked.  There is usually one major harvest per year.  A harvest season can last four to six months.  Coffee pickers must go over each tree several times typically every 8 to 10 days throughout the harvest season to ensure each bean is picked at its peak.  A skilled picker can harvest as much as 200 pounds of cherry each day in the equivalent of 50 to 60 pounds of green coffee beans.  An excellent coffee tree can yield as much as 12 pounds of cherry in equivalent of 4 to 5 pounds of green coffee beans.  While coffee plants can live up to 100 years, they are most productive between the ages of 7 and 20 in general.  Although they are capable of reaching a height of 20 feet, they are kept pruned in cultivation to about 6 feet to preserve their energy and help in harvesting.  Proper pruning and fertilization can maintain and even increase their output over the years depending on the variety.

6) Processing

The coffee bean is actually the seed inside a coffee cherry.  The seed composed of endosperm and embryo is covered by integument (silver skin), endocarp (parchment), mesocarp (pulp), exocarp (skin) and disk.  The purpose of coffee processing is to convert the raw fruit of the coffee plant into actual coffee by removing exocarp, pulp and parchment.  Three major processing methods are Dry, Wet and Pulped Natural.

7) Preparing for Shipping

Processing is followed by sorting and grading.  The grading is accomplished by running the beans through sieves and screens with defined holes.  The manual sorting is to remove flawed or discolored beans before bagging into sacks marked with grade, plantation and country of origin.  The coffee is then ready for its journey to distant cups.

8) Shipping

The green beans packed into jute or sisal bags are loaded into shipping containers for transportation to the importing country by boat or even by plane.