For a plant that is found in more than 70 countries worldwide from Brazil to Indonesia, its strange how the plant can survive in just enough conditions needed to produce top brass beans and how comparatively small the entire output is.



The reason the word beans is notable is that the thing that is roasted and crunched to make the drink is not at all a bean but, in fact, a seed.

Specifically saying, it is the seed of a fruit that grows on trees which go beyond twenty feet or more in height. There are even some kinds of trees that reach up to 45 feet or 15 metre. The majority of these seeds are found in pairs, though there is also a type called the peaberry, that has only one. The berry looks like a cranberry with a sweet pulp covered with a membrane known as a silverskin.

In an area near the equator at more or less 25 degrees north or south, is found the hugest coffee output of the world. Between 60F (15C) and 70F (21C) is the best temperature for the growth of coffee as well as a rainfall of six inches or more every month.

To get the best quality of output the prerequisite conditions also demand loamy, good draining earth, high humidity, lots of mist and cloud hovering over high altitudes, which can be over 3000 feet or 915 m. At this height the content of oxygen is lesser, so the trees take more time to grow into maturity.

The coffea canephora or robusta is what constitutes most of the coffee since it can grown at lower heights and is resistant to diseases. But its the coffea Arabica grown at higher altitude that is the drinkers delight.

Dim lights and average breeze are also good both of which can be made manifest when grown intentionally in shade and shelter. Quite opposite wine grapes require hot sun and the more the better.

When the trees are planted, they take around five years to mature enough for the first crop and then also one tree will only produce just about two pounds, that is, 1 kilogram, of coffee.

It takes around 2,000 beans (thats the standard term to use, right or wrong) to make those two pounds of coffee. The beans are generally picked by hands by manual workers. Well they may be manual, but they are very much aware of what they are doing. Harvesting of coffee beans is a skill that is acquired over time, where the picker can differentiate between the good and the bad stuff, selecting the good beans and throwing away the rest.

The trees have wide leaves dark green in color and produce a flower that looks like Jasmine. A few for example those in Brazil and Mexico burst forth over a period of six to eight weeks. In countries that are located near the equator like Columbia and Kenya, a tree, however, can have ripe berries growing together with still growing ones. This is where sound knowledge of picking saves the day.

From these very remote places, where weather conditions are strong, the berries are picked up and processed that go into making the globes second largest product if we go by annual dollar volume.

So when you sip your cup of coffee or use , remember the long journey it had to traverse to be put into your cup. Probably the steep price would no longer seem so high.