When guests at our roastery see the large jute sacks and recognize green beans inside, they are sometimes completely surprised why the beans are green and not brown. The beans travel a long way before they turn brown!

The coffee plant, botanically known as Coffea, belongs to the Rubiaceae (mauritius) family and is widespread, especially in tropical regions of the world. The coffee plant is an evergreen shrub or tree that can reach a height of 2 to 5 m, depending on the species. It has opposite, elliptical, or oblong leaves that are glossy and dark green. The flowers are small and fragrant, white or cream-colored, and resemble small stars. They grow in dense clusters along the branches.

The fruits of the coffee plant are called coffee cherries. They are round or oval in shape and vary in color from green to yellow to red depending on their ripeness. Each coffee cherry usually contains two seeds, the raw coffee beans, and these seeds are green.

This plant is best cultivated at altitudes between 600 m and approximately 2300 m. The coffee plant undergoes a multi-year life cycle, beginning with seed germination and ending with the production of fruit and seeds. It typically takes four years from planting to the first harvest. Growing coffee plants requires specific climatic and soil conditions. Most coffee plants thrive in the so-called Coffee Belt countries, which stretch around the equator. They require an average temperature of 18-22 °C, consistent rainfall, and well-drained soils. The moderate temperatures allow the plants to grow slowly and focus their energy on producing ripe fruit for optimal flavor development.

This is how coffee grows in its natural form and, when the coffee cherries are ripe, they are picked, peeled, dried and shipped until they find a place in their raw state in jute sacks weighing around 60 to 70 kilograms in our roasting facility in Berlin Tempelhof.