Coffee Bean

A coffee bean is the seed of the Coffea plant and the raw material from which coffee is made. The seeds grow inside a fruit called the coffee cherry, and most cherries hold two seeds pressed flat side to side; a smaller share, roughly one in ten to one in seven, hold a single rounded seed known as a peaberry. They are called beans only for their look and are not true legumes. Two species dominate trade, arabica at about sixty percent of world output and robusta at about forty percent, with robusta carrying roughly twice the caffeine of arabica. Brazil is the largest producer, and Colombia, Vietnam and Ethiopia are other leading exporters. Growers hand-pick the cherries and then remove the pulp by a wet process or a dry process, and the green seeds are later roasted, ground and brewed.