You’ve learned about espresso, but where does that delicious flavor actually come from? It all starts with the humble coffee bean! Many people think coffee beans are actual beans, like kidney beans, but they’re actually the seeds found inside a fruit.
What is a Coffee Bean?
Imagine a small, red, cherry-like fruit growing on a coffee tree. This fruit is called a coffee cherry. Inside each coffee cherry, you’ll typically find two seeds – and these seeds are what we call coffee beans! Once processed and roasted, these seeds become the coffee beans we buy and brew.
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Fruit First: It’s important to remember that coffee starts as a fruit! This fruit contains natural sugars and flavors that can subtly influence the taste of the bean inside.
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Green Before Brown: When the seeds are first removed from the fruit, they are green. They only get their familiar brown color and coffee aroma after they are roasted.
Why Are Coffee Beans So Important?
Every cup of coffee, whether it’s drip, pour-over, French press, or espresso, gets its unique characteristics from the coffee beans used. The type of bean, where it grew, and how it was treated all contribute to the final taste in your cup.
Understanding the basics of coffee beans is the first step to appreciating the incredible diversity and complexity of coffee. Just like grapes for wine, different coffee beans offer different experiences!
Next, let’s explore the key characteristics that make each coffee bean unique.