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

Do you know where specialty coffee comes from, or what a coffee bean actually is? Coffee beans come from the mature fruit of the coffee tree - known as the coffee cherry. So what exactly is a coffee cherry? FrontStreet Coffee explains below.

Coffee cherries are the fruits, or berries, of the coffee tree, growing in clusters along the plant's short stems. A coffee cherry typically measures about 6/10 inch (1.5 cm) long. It starts as a light green, unripe berry, gradually matures to yellow, then develops an orange/deep red color, and finally turns deep cherry red or red-black when it is ready to be harvested for the precious green coffee beans inside.

Determining Coffee Ripeness

The entire ripening process of a coffee cherry takes approximately seven to eight months, and ripeness is judged largely by color.

A more precise way to determine optimal ripeness is to gently squeeze the fruit and see whether the seeds (the coffee beans) detach easily. This typically happens just before the fruit turns completely red (monochromatic).

Some coffee varieties have cherries that turn yellow instead of red when ripe. The Brazilian coffee from FrontStreet Coffee known as Brazil Queen is a Yellow Bourbon variety, and its fruits are likewise yellow cherries.

Anatomy of Coffee Cherries

Beneath the outer skin (exocarp) of the coffee fruit lies the pulp (mesocarp), followed by the silverskin (endocarp) - an extremely thin, fine skin that clings tightly to the green coffee beans.

Dried coffee fruit is usually discarded or used as fertilizer, but lately it has found a second life as "cascara" - a tea brewed from coffee cherries! It is steeped much like tea and serves as the main ingredient in cascara lattes.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Curious to taste how fruit color and variety shape the cup? FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate is a perfect case study: it is planted with the rare Yellow Bourbon, a genetic mutation of Red Bourbon, and ripens into yellow cherries just as described above. The estate sits in the Mogiana region near southern Minas Gerais, where fertile red volcanic soil feeds the cherries with abundant nutrients and helps them develop full, saturated aromatics.

Roasted medium, FrontStreet's Brazil Queen shows a low-acid, beautifully balanced cup with rich nut and cocoa aromas and a clear caramel sweetness. The texture is smooth and free of astringency, warm and long on the finish. Thanks to that balance and its excellent crema, it is equally rewarding brewed as a pour-over, pulled as espresso, or extracted in a moka pot.

As the world's largest coffee producer, Brazil turns out coffees in every style, and this Queen Estate lot has become a favorite among drinkers who prefer a mellow, fuller-bodied profile - a dependable everyday classic with genuine character, straight from yellow cherry to green bean.