Coffee Cultivation

The popular coffee beans are cultivated for coffee. They reach the highest germination level eight weeks after maturity. The beans are planted after the thin skin (parchment) is peeled off. The first leaves of the resulting coffee plant show after six weeks. This process is usually carried out in the nursery because the plant is protected against environmental influences like sunshine. The plants are harvested after eight to ten months. The coffee tree may already measure 30 centimeters in height when replanted. The plants are grown on plantations, where they are trimmed regularly. The coffee tree bears fruit for the first time after three years. Coffee trees reach the maximum yield at the age of ten to twenty years and then the harvest decreases.
Coffee plants shall be harvested once or several times a year, depending on the region. The harvesting of coffee plants can last up to 12 weeks. It should be carried out by hand ("picking") because the quality of the coffee beans is higher. This method is applied especially with the high-quality Coffea Arabica. However, the so-called stripping method is often used for the purpose of time and labor savings, all the fruit of a plant being stripped mechanically.

The last step in coffee production is the removal of the outer pericarp of the coffee beans. The parchment can be removed in two ways: through dry or wet processing. In the former case, the beans are dried until the outer parchment can be removed safely. In the latter, the beans are washed, after which they are freed from the swollen pericarp under running water. What remains is the raw coffee, which can then be packaged and shipped.

Coffee

Botanically, the coffee plant belongs to the Rubiaceae family. These are plants with a natural growth height of up to four meters. They make white flowers. The most important varieties cultivated are Arabica and Robusta, their economic success being the most relevant.

Arabica has become famous especially due to the strong flavor and the low caffeine content and is now the most frequently consumed type of coffee. Nearly seventy percent of the world's coffee cultivation consists of Arabica plants, which are used especially for making espresso.

The Robusta variety is more profitable than Coffea Arabica, but much more sensitive to cold. However, it is called Robusta because it is resistant to diseases and pests. About thirty percent of the global coffee cultivation consists of Robusta plants.

There are also other not very common plants, for example the rare Excelsa, which is a mutation of the Arabica variety or the West African Stenophylla. The most expensive coffee in the world is the Indonesian Kopi Luwak variety, the taste characteristics of which vary significantly due to the fact that it is transported in the gut of the cat species Luwak, which makes it one of the absolute rarities.