WHERE DOES COFFEE GROW?
Coffee grows in a wide belt around the middle of the Earth, roughly bordered by the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Essentially as far south as southern Brazil, Madagascar and Indonesia. And as far north as southern Mexico, southern India and northern Vietnam.
WHAT ARE THE IDEAL GROWING CONDITIONS?
Arabica coffee requires high altitude to grow, around 1,800-3,600m (6,000-12,000ft) above sea level, and a climate with two distinct rainy and dry seasons. Another coffee variety, robusta, can grow from sea level up to 3,000m (10,000ft) above sea level but is generally considered an inferior coffee.
COFFEE IS ACTUALLY RED WHEN IT GROWS
Coffee beans grow as a pair within hard-shelled berries that are actually red when growing on the coffee bush.
THEN IT’S GREEN
The coffee beans themselves are a fresh green color within the red berry and, once processed, spend most of their life a deep green color. In this dehydrated, inert state the green bean can remain fresh and usable for up to two years.
FINALLY IT BECOMES BROWN
Coffee doesn’t turn from green into brown until the roasting stage, when the natural sugars and oils are taken to around 250°C (480°F) for 10 to 15 minutes until they caramelize, creating the richly brown, oily beans we know and love.
