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Discover the coffee plant.

Cultivating greatness.

Selecting the right variety of coffee plant can have a massive impact on quality. Discover some of the factors farmers take into consideration when choosing their coffee plants.

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There are hundreds of species of “Coffea” plants. Each plant producing distinctive beans with different flavours and aromas. These evergreen plants grow as a bush or as a tree up to a height of 10, but, they are sensitive to the elements, and as such, climate, elevation and soil play a large role in which plant selected by the farmers.

Evergreen, ever-giving.

Coffee plants are evergreens trees or bushes. These plants are unique in that they can carry blossoms, and cherries of differing ripeness at the same time. The coffee plant is also capable of yielding a “fly crop” or secondary harvest when conditions are ideal.

Where to plant coffee.

Where coffee is planted is as important for flavour as the type of coffee planted. The higher the plant and the lower the average temperature, the slower its fruit will grow, giving it more time to develop a variety of aromas and flavours. Robusta coffee can be grown between sea-level and about 800 metres, but Arabica does best at higher altitudes and is often grown in hilly areas. Ideal temperatures for coffee plants range between 15 to 24° C for Arabica coffee and 24 to 30° C for Robusta, which can flourish in hotter, harsher conditions.

The blossom.

The coffee plant is unique as it begins a new vegetation cycle after every rainy period. As a result, its jasmine-scented blossoms grow simultaneously alongside unripe and ripe, coffee cherries.

The cherry.

The coffee “bean” is not really a bean in the botanical sense, but rather a cherry pit. Ripe coffee cherries have a fruity, sweet taste and depending on the variety can take between 6 –11 months to ripen. Around 2000 coffee cherries are needed to produce roughly 500 g of roasted coffee goodness.

The different coffee beans.

Learn more about the different types of coffee beans that can hugely change the taste of your coffee.

Coffee harvesting.

From the fertile “bean belt”, ripe red coffee cherries are harvested, sometimes by hand, and transformed into what the world has come to love, roasted coffee beans.

Coffee roasting.

The process of roasting involves heating coffee beans for between 12 – 19 minutes at a temperature between 200 °C – 220 °C. Hand roasting and air roasting techniques are used to produce a variety of coffees each with unique flavour profiles.