Coffee Story
From crop to cup: the story of coffee It’s a long journey from crop to cup and we’re dedicated to ensuring the best beans make it into your favourite cup...
The energising effect of the coffee bean may have been known as early as A.D 1000 when the plant was discovered by farmers in Yemen and Ethiopia. Today, coffee trees are grown in over 70 countries, providing an essential agricultural income for people all over the world.
Coffee trees take between three and five years to reach maturity, developing fragrant white blossoms which are said to smell like jasmine. These blossoms soon give way to clusters of green fruit known as ‘coffee cherries’. As the cherries ripen in the bright sunlight they turn to a bold red colour. Developing inside each cherry are two coffee beans, the journey from crop to cup has begun.
A plentiful harvest
Coffee cherries are carefully harvested by hand and sorted by ripeness and colour before processing. There are two common methods of processing – wet and dry. Dry processing is a centuries old method where the cherries are laid out to dry naturally in the sun. Workers will rake and turn the cherries regularly for about 10 days to ensure that they dry evenly. Once the cherries are fully dried out the green coffee beans within are removed.
Wet processing involves removing the pulp of the coffee cherry immediately and then placing the beans in a fermentation tank to remove any remaining flesh. The beans are then washed and dried. Dried coffee beans are sorted into bags of ‘green’ coffee which is ready for the next step, roasting.
The roasting process
The roasting process influences the taste of the coffee by changing the bean both physically and chemically. First, intense heat starts to break down the beans starches, then complex transformations begin to take place. The beans caramelize and slowly start to brown. Whilst some oils and acids start to weaken, an aromatic oil called caffeol begins to develop, giving the coffee its distinct flavour and aroma.
After roasting, beans are divided by colour. Most beans will be labelled as light, medium or dark but there can variants between these grades as well. Beans may be sorted by sight or by measuring the reflected light from roasted beans illuminated with a light source. This elaborate technique uses a process known as spectroscopy to return a number that indicates the roasted coffee's degree of roast or flavour development.
The final flavour
Dark and light roasts have very different characteristics; darker roasts are often smooth and sweet whilst lighter roasts retain more caffeine, giving them a stronger more robust flavour.
Creating great coffee takes time and patience. Experienced ‘Roast Masters’ train for years, perfecting the art and skill required to create premium full-flavoured coffee roasts. Once the desired roast has been achieved, our coffee is then packaged as beans or ground coffee before starting its next journey to you.