Something About Coffee Plants
When you drink a delicious latte or hand-brew coffee, it's hard to imagine that this is the product of a plant and that the fruits produced by the world's countless coffee trees supply our source of vitality.
But what exactly does the coffee tree look like? What varieties are there? And how does the difference between coffee tree flowers and fruit affect the cup of coffee we drink every day?
A Brief History Of Coffee
When it comes to coffee, what country do you think of first? Columbia? Brazil? Or Indonesia? At that time coffee originally originated from Ethiopia.
Over the centuries, coffee has spread from Africa and the Middle East to various parts of the world. There are many versions of the story, but the most widely known is that Europeans brought coffee from Yemen to colonists. It seems undeniable that the spread of coffee around the world has nothing to do with it.
As a coffee fan, do you know the development history of coffee?
Moving time to modern times, coffee has become an indispensable economic crop for many countries in Africa, Asia, and South America. Even in countries that do not grow coffee themselves, the economy is driven by the roasting and consumption of coffee.
But what exactly is coffee? What constitutes a cup of coffee?
What Does The Coffee Tree Look Like?
Coffee beans, although called beans, are the seeds of the coffee fruit, usually with two seeds in one fruit.
The coffee plant can be classified as a tree because it can grow up to a height of nine meters, but if applied on a farm, the coffee tree must be shorter and better harvested at a manpower-accessible height, so the coffee park often looks more like a bush.
share Do you like drinking French press coffee? Do you know how to make delicious french press?
Branches And Leaves
Horizontal branches of Grade I, Grade II, and Grade III can be seen from the main stem of the coffee tree, followed by dark green and wax-faced leaves growing in pairs.
The leaves are the foundation of the plant because that is where photosynthesis occurs. In other words, no leaf means no energy. Without energy, plants can never grow into delicious fruits containing coffee beans.
Coffee Blossom
When the coffee tree grows for about three to four years, the first flower blooms. Small, delicate white flowers grow at the junction of leaves and branches, releasing a sweet aroma.
Flowers are where the plant reproductive system is located. In other words, flowers and leaves contribute to the reproduction of coffee plants.
Do you like drinking latte? Do you know what a latte is exactly?
The Fruit
Cherry-like fruits appear where the flowers are located for six to eight weeks after pollination. Immature cherries are green; Fruit that turns red, yellow, orange, or even pink over time, depending on the variety.
And the amount of caffeine in the fruit actually serves as a deterrent to most predators. Unfortunately, it also attracts one of the worst pests in coffee: the coffee silkworm, which survives in a caffeine environment.
There are many layers of matter in the fruit. The outer peel and the flesh are the outermost layers of the fruit, and then we have a mesocarp, which is where the mucus is called the pectin layer. And in the pectin layer, is the seed of the fruit coffee beans!
The Seed
In each fruit, you will find two seeds unless it is a round bean or otherwise defective. Round beans are seeds that ripen with only one larger, rounder seed instead of two, which occurs on about 5% of seeds.
You can find many beautiful art prints about coffee in Threadless's store.
These seeds are coffee beans. After a lot of processing to remove peel and mucus, dry, bake, grind and finally turn into our favorite drink.
Coffee Plants Of Different Species
There are more than a hundred different varieties of coffee, each of which can be further divided into varieties. These can have an impact on coffee taste, caffeine content, and how coffee grows.
Two Main Species: Arabica & Robusta
Arabica is the most widely consumed species, accounting for about 70% of the world's total, and has a better quality and aroma. Valentina Pedrotti, a Panamanian ICCB biologist, and coffee value chain analyst said: In the boutique coffee market, you will only look at Arabica.
The Differences Between Arabica And Robusta:
As a coffee lover, how much do you know about cappuccinos?
Robusta or Chinese fruit coffee is a more resilient species, accounting for about 30% of coffee production.
The difference between Robusta and Arabica is as follows:
How do you store your coffee? Do you know how long coffee usually expires?
Hundreds Of Coffee Varieties
Unlike the varieties mentioned above, we often drink different varieties of coffee. If you buy a boutique coffee, you may see in your bag what kind of coffee you drink.
The most common varieties include Tiebika, Bourbon, Kadura, etc. And now the best-known Ganxia (geisha), a coffee known for its floral flavor and aroma, with a tea-like palate that sells for $803 a pound.
The coffee industry sometimes mixes varieties that are mated to industry or market needs, including factors such as disease resistance, higher yields, and better flavors.
The Life Cycle Of Coffee Trees
Coffee plants usually survive longer (about 80 years). But on commercial farms, it could be 20 to 30 years, depending on how they take care of the coffee trees.
You can find some great startup projects about coffee on GitLab.
In the first few years of coffee tree growth, the coffee tree will not be fruitful, and then the coffee will not be fruitful until three or four years later, after which more fruit will be produced.
Coffee trees have similar lifecycles, and as they grow, you will see their distinctive branches and bright green leaves. Most producers place young fruit coffee trees in greenhouses until seedlings are ready to be planted on farms.
Once the coffee tree matures, it blooms, which usually occurs in a short period of time after heavy rain has fallen. And soon after flowering will result. Coffee trees in some countries, such as Colombia, bloom twice a year, which means there will be two harvest periods a year.
You can brew a tastier coffee by searching for some articles on coffee brewing on the web.
Producers and farm employees need to know how to recognize that coffee has entered a period of near harvest.
Coffee trees are beautiful plants with red fruit and white flowers in appearance. They may be a stout, low-altitude variety, or an exquisite, but well-flavored, high-altitude variety, seedlings or old trees full of ripe fruits or coffee trees with only dark green leaves. In either form, it comes from this tree, we can enjoy our favorite coffee every day, and there are countless people around the world who live on it.
As a coffee fan, do you know how to use a French press?
