On the Caffeine Trail - Part 3

In the last post, On the Caffeine Trail – Part 2, we talked about the history of the coffee plant and how it spread around the world. We also introduced one of our local coffeehouses.

Now let’s talk about . . .

Shrubbery

Although general known as a tree, the coffee plant is referred to as a shrub in botanical references. Coffee plants are evergreens, growing to about fifteen feet high in the wild. On farms and plantations, the shrubs are kept trimmed to a height of about six feet, making it easier to harvest the berries.

The plant has creamy white blossoms that have a sweet-smelling fragrance, like jasmine or orange blossoms. The leaves are like a camillia’s; broad, shiny, and shaped like a spearhead. The bright red fruit are called cherries and are cranberry-sized and shaped. The cherries ripen in about six to nine months. Within the sweet tasting pulp are two flat-sided seeds. These seeds are the coffee beans. A healthy coffee shrub produces about five pounds of beans a year. However, less than 25 percent of these beans are top quality coffee beans.

There are two main varieties of coffee plants: arabica and robusta. Coffea Arabica is the variety that produces quality “gourmet” coffee beans. It is the type “discovered” in Yemen centuries ago. This variety grows best at high altitudes. The coffea robusta is a newer variety discovered in Africa in the late nineteenth century. It grows well in lower altitudes and matures in half the time of a Arabica. Robusta beans are cheaper to produce, but they do not develop the body and density of the Arabica. Robusta beans are used in commercial canned coffee and instants.

Harvesting the coffee cherries is a labor intensive operation because of the plant’s odd natural quirk. The coffee plant blooms and bears ripe and unripe fruit all at the same time. The berries must be picked by hand to insure that the blossoms and unripe fruit are not disturbed.

After the coffee beans are picked, they are processed by one of two different methods: dry or wet. The dry method, producing what is known as natural coffee, is the oldest method. The cherries are dried by spreading them out in the sun or in mechanical dryers. The dried  pulp is then stripped off by machine, by soaking and washing with hot water, or with a grindstone or mortar and pestle.

In the wet method, fully ripe coffee cherries are fed through machines that strip most of the pulp from the seeds. The seeds are then put into a liquid-filled storage tank for 24 to 48 hours. This fermentation process removes the slimy coating of the pulp left on the beans. Next the beans are dried with in the sun or in tumbling dryers. After this, a huller is used to remove the silverskin, a last thin skin covering the beans. This process produces what is called washed coffee.

Most gourmet coffee beans are processed using the wet method. The notable exceptions are Yemen Mocha, Ethiopian Harrar, and Sumatran and Celebes coffees, which are processed using the dry method.

What’s Next

The next Caffeine Trail post, part 4, will talk about those keen beans.

On the Catskill Region Caffeine Trail

Greater Things Roasters has been a favorite of ours for sometime. In fact, we use to sell bags of their whole beans at the inn before we dove whole-heartedly into roasting our own specialty coffee beans.

Recently, Greater Things Roasters opened a fabulous little coffee shop featuring espresso and coffee drinks made exclusively with their own roasted coffee beans, plus they offer a wonderful selection of locally made pastries and donuts. And they get bonus points for securing a primo, easy to find location that is on a route that many use to get to the New York State Thruway, making it a great stop off to get your caffeine and sustenance for the road. They are located at 10 Hope Plaza - West Coxsackie, NY.

Greater Things Roasters is a micro batch specialty coffee business run by Wayne & Kerri Flach and based in Coxsackie, NY. They love coffee and people, which is how we discovered them - mutual interests! The Flach’s were looking for a way to be more involved in their community while raising their family. Coffee was the ticket to being involved in their community and connect with others.