Ever wonder how coffee beans go from cherries at the top of a tree to mocha perfection swirling in your cup? We're lucky enough to get our mitts on a bean autobiography written by Senor Bean. Sit down (coffee in hand) and read this fascinating tale of a bean from birth to his arrival at Zoka Coffee.
A Coffee Bean is Born....
I was born deep in the coffee belt - a region that lies between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. This is also where my millions of siblings come from. I'm from Brazil - the country that produces the most coffee. My brothers and sisters are scattered across the coffee belt from South America all the way to Indonesia.
By the way, if a coffee bean tells you he's from Florida, he's lying. The only
US state that produces coffee is Hawaii!
High in the Coffee Trees
Ever stare longingly into the backyard, mug in hand, wishing you had a
coffee tree? No more waking up to an empty pot and having to put on
those sweat pants, venture out into the chilly air on a quest for brew- you
could just fill up whenever you please in the privacy of your backyard.
Sounds like a coffee drinker's personal utopia, doesn't it?
While coffee beans do grow on trees (I wish I could say the same of
money), you won't spot them in the typical suburban backyard. They prefer a warm, tropical setting and can't handle the cold.
And if you did have a coffee tree, your
obnoxious neighbor would be at your doorstep every morning waiting for
fresh whole beans. Not ideal.
There are two main types of coffee trees: Robusta and Arabica. Robusta has more bitterness and more
kick. I'm Arabica, thank you very much. I might not have the caffeine of
a Robusta, but coffee fans dig my serious flavor.
A Wee One Waiting for the Harvest
I wasn't born bean-beautiful and didn't always have this rich mocha
color. As a wee bean, I was pale green and spent my days housed inside a coffee cherry. Those were good times, sitting inside a cherry,
listening to the rain, just waiting for the harvest.
Ahhh, childhood.
Despite what my birth certificate says, I'm not technically a bean at
all.
I'm a seed. I have no idea who started referring to us as beans -
my guess: early marketers who couldn't sell coffee seeds and went with
the more appetizing name "coffee beans."
It's Harvest Time
The harvest is hectic for us beans. It starts in the dry season when
coffee cherries turn vibrant, shiny red and firm. Not all coffee
cherries are blessed with perfect seedlings like me. And believe it or not, they're not all red. Arabica coffee trees
yield 1 to 1.5 pounds of coffee beans per year and Robusta trees yield 2
to 3 pounds - for such big trees, that's not much.
When the cherry is ripe, it's either picked from the tree by hand or with a harvesting machine. Once harvested, some of the coffee cherries are dried and stripped down until
there's one green bean left - that's me.
Seattle-bound Bean
After I was harvested, I parted ways with my bean buddies and cruised to
Zoka Headquarters in Seattle, WA. At first, I had trouble getting used
to the gray skies and slick city pavement - I missed my lush, tropical
home. But Zoka takes special care of their beans and I knew I was in
good hands.
In order to bring out a bean's fantastic flavor, the roastmaster will
taste test several small batches to decide on a roast profile. Roasting
is like baking. Variables like heat, altitude, the machine, and
temperature affect the roast's flavor. Zoka roasts several small batches
to make sure they get the flavor just right.
I didn't mind being roasted so much. It's warm and feels like being
in a sauna. All of my new bean best friends had a great time comparing
our tans and seeing who could pop the fastest. That's right - after a
few minutes of roasting, a bean pops and doubles in size and a few
minutes after, it pops once more.I've always wondered what it feels like to be popcorn.
The life of a bean doesn't end here. Stay tuned for our next segment:
Life of a Bean: Brewing
Story by Amanda Halm
