Coffee is not a ‘Bean’!

The unfiltered truth about the coffee bean and why it should be your favourite fruit.

I didn’t believe it either so I looked it up. Coffee beans are actually found inside a cherry like fruit, also known as ‘Cascara’. 

Yes, the coffee we all know and love comes from a fruit.  The fruit is very similar to a cherry and some people call it a coffee cherry.  (It can also be called a berry.) Like cherries and plums, coffee fruit are a stone fruit with a pit or seed inside. So where does the ‘bean’ come from? 

Coffee Fruit

How the Coffee Fruit Gets to be Coffee

1) Coffee trees typically take 3-4 years to produce fruit. First a delicate white flower blooms falls off and is replaced by the coffee cherry, which ripens in the sun and turns bright red.   

2) The tropical shrub or small tree is then harvested using a machine to shake the fruit from the plant until it falls off, or by manually shaking the tree. Some high end coffee is made by selectively hand picking the ripest fruit.

3) The fruit is removed leaving only the beans which are laid out in drying beds so the fruit dries up and falls away. This allows for the collection of the beans. They can also be passed through machines which strip and wash the pulp away. 

4) The beans are sorted and graded according to size and weight. Beans of a higher grade are separated from the lower grades to be sold accordingly. There are called green beans and are bagged and shipped to roasters all over the world. 

5) The green beans are roasted to different specifications, i.e. breakfast blend, dark roast, etc.   

Coffee fruit drying in the sun.

Is the fruit any good?

Recent research shows that coffee fruit may have even more health benefits than coffee beans!

Coffee beans are a very rich source of antioxidants and have anti-inflammatory properties. Studies have shown that coffee consumption can reduce your chances of cancer, Parkinson’s disease and diabetes & more.  Some studies even suggest an increase in brain function. Whole Coffee fruit contains the highest level of antioxidants, phytonutrients & fibre but also contains more carbohydrates than Coffee beans, seeing as it is a fruit. Often cast away, Coffee fruit is also energising and certainly worth a try if you are lucky enough to come across it!