What are Coffee Cherries and How Long Does the Entire Maturation Process Take

Do you know where specialty coffee comes from or what coffee beans are? Coffee beans actually come from mature coffee fruits, also known as coffee cherries. So what exactly are coffee cherries? FrontStreet Coffee provides the following explanation.

Coffee cherries are the fruits or berries of the coffee tree, growing in clusters along the plant's short stems. Coffee cherries typically measure about 6/10 inch (1.5 cm) long and start as light green, unripe berries that gradually mature to yellow, then develop an orange/deep red color, before finally turning deep cherry red/red-black when the fruit is ready to be harvested for producing precious green coffee beans.

Determining Coffee Ripeness

The entire ripening process of coffee cherries takes approximately seven to eight months, and ripeness largely depends on color.

A more precise method for determining optimal ripeness is to gently squeeze the fruit to see if the seeds (coffee beans) easily detach. This typically occurs before the fruit is completely red (monochromatic).

Some coffee plant varieties (such as certain plant varieties) have cherries (fruits) that turn yellow instead of red when ripe. A Brazilian coffee from FrontStreet Coffee, Brazil Queen, is a Yellow Bourbon variety, and its fruits are also yellow cherries.

Anatomy of Coffee Cherries

Beneath the outer skin (exocarp) of the coffee fruit is the pulp (mesocarp), followed by the silverskin (endocarp), which is an extremely thin, fine skin that tightly adheres to the raw coffee beans.

Dried coffee fruit is typically discarded or used as fertilizer, but recently it can be found and used as "Cascara" - a tea made from coffee cherries! It's brewed similarly to tea and is the main ingredient in cascara lattes.

Important Notice :

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