Everybody drinks coffee these days, but if you want to know where our favorite source of caffeine came from or all the interesting things about the coffee plant, there’s a lot to learn.
We weren’t 100% sure where coffee came from, but a story says that the first barista was an Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi.
According to the stories, Kaldi took a chance on a strange tree, ate a bunch of berries, and woke up very, very early. That’s how the story of coffee began.
There are coffee plants grown in over 70 different countries today. Today, the Hoxton Coffee team looks into how this (alleged!) bet on a handful of berries turned into a drink that you can find in every city in the world.
Coffee is one of the world’s most beloved beverages, prized for its rich flavor, energizing effects, and role in social rituals But have you ever wondered where coffee comes from and what the coffee plant actually looks like?
As a hardcore coffee lover and aspiring botanist, I’ve made it my mission to learn everything about the source of my daily cup of joe. And let me tell you, there’s more to the humble coffee tree than meets the eye!
In this article, we’ll explore the identifying features of the coffee plant, including:
- Leaves
- Flowers
- Fruits
- Seeds
- Bark
- Height and growth habits
Armed with this knowledge, you’ll be able to spot a coffee tree from a mile away. So brew yourself a fresh cup, and let’s dive in!
Coffee comes from woody perennial evergreen shrubs or trees of the Coffea genus which belongs to the Rubiaceae family. There are over 120 known species of coffee plants though only two are commonly cultivated for commercial coffee production
- Coffea arabica (responsible for around 75% of the world’s coffee)
- Coffea canephora, more commonly called robusta coffee (makes up the remaining 25% of coffee)
Arabica and robusta grow best in tropical climates with warm temperatures, abundant rainfall, and nutrient-rich volcanic soil. Major coffee-growing regions include Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia, and parts of Africa.
On coffee plantations, the trees are typically pruned to 6-12 feet tall for convenient harvesting. But under natural growing conditions, a coffee tree can reach heights of up to 30 feet.
Now let’s look at the specific physical characteristics that help identify coffee plants.
Leaves
Coffee trees have shiny, dark green oval leaves that grow in opposite pairs along the branches. The leaves are leathery and waxy, with a prominent central vein and slightly wavy margins. They measure 3-6 inches long.
Arabica coffee leaves tend to be more elongated with a tapered tip, while robusta leaves are broader and more rounded. But in general, the leaves have an evergreen, laurel-like appearance.
Fun fact: The leaves contain the chlorophyll that enables photosynthesis to occur. So healthy green leaves are vital for bean production!
Flowers
Coffee trees produce fragrant white flowers that bloom in clusters in the axils of the leaves. The sweet floral scent is often described as reminiscent of jasmine.
The flowers have five petals in a star shape, with a tubular corolla. They are quite small, measuring just 0.5 inches wide.
On the Coffea arabica tree, flowers bloom from early spring to summer. Coffea canephora trees flower later, from summer to early fall. The bloom time lasts around 2-3 weeks.
Bees and other insects pollinate the short-lived coffee blossoms. Once pollinated, the flowers fall off and the fruit develops in their place.
Fruits
The coffee “cherry” is a fleshy red or purple fruit that encases the familiar coffee beans we know and love. It’s technically classified as a drupe – a stone fruit with a thin skin and pulpy interior surrounding a hard seed.
Coffee cherries grow singularly or in clusters along the branches. They ripen around 8-9 months after flowering, turning from green to dark red. At maturity, the average size is 0.5-1 inch wide.
The pulp is sweet and juicy, surrounding 1-2 light green coffee beans. But don’t try eating the raw beans – they’re quite bitter!
When harvesting coffee, pickers look for bright red cherries to pluck, choosing only the ripest fruits. The skin and pulp get removed during processing to extract the beans.
Seeds
The seeds inside the coffee cherry are the coffee beans. Most cherries contain two flat bean halves that nestle together, back to back, though some have just one bean.
When freshly harvested, the beans are pale green and soft. Their high moisture content makes them vulnerable to spoilage, so they get dried until the bean interior turns light brown.
The now hardened coffee beans have longitudinal ridges along their oval sides. Roasting turns them a rich, dark brown color and brings out the signature coffee taste and aroma through the Maillard reaction.
Bark
The bark of a coffee tree starts off smooth and light gray on young trees. As the tree matures, the bark becomes scaly with deep grooves and ridges. Older trunks and branches have dark gray, rough textured bark.
Along with the leaves, the bark helps protect the inner transport tissues that circulate water, nutrients and sugars throughout the tree.
Height and Growth Habit
Under optimal natural conditions, a coffee tree can grow up to 30 feet tall. However, on commercial plantations, pruning and coppicing (cutting back the main stem) limits most coffee trees to a shrub-like height of 6-15 feet for ease of harvesting.
Coffee plants have an upright habit when young but become more spreading and open as they mature. The branches tend to be slender and willowy.
Well cared for trees produce flowers and fruits annually and can live up to 100 years! However, productivity starts declining after around 15-20 years. Many plantations replant on a 15 year cycle.
How to Identify a Coffee Tree: A Quick Summary
To recap, here are the key identifying features of the coffee plant:
- Oval, evergreen leaves arranged in opposite pairs along the stems
- Small white, jasmine-scented flowers blooming in axillary clusters
- Red coffee cherries ripening 8-9 months after flowering
- Green coffee beans nestled in pairs inside the pulp
- Dark gray, furrowed bark on mature trunks and branches
- Slender growth habit reaching 15-30 feet tall
Armed with this handy guide, you can now confidently identify coffee trees! Understanding the coffee plant’s morphology and growth characteristics also helps demystify where your delicious morning brew originates.
What Are the Different Types of Coffee Plants?
Commercial coffee is normally made from one of two plants – Arabica or Robusta.
There are also about 100 different kinds of Arabica coffee, but only a few different kinds of Robusta coffee.
Arabica coffee is the most common because the coffee is complex, sweet and full of flavour. The first Arabica plants were found in Ethiopia (home of our friend Kaldi).
About 70% of coffee is Arabica, although its a lot fiddlier to grow, because:
- Its more vulnerable to weather and pests.
- There are fewer cherries per plant to pick.
- Plants grow best in lower temperatures.
There is less natural sugar in Robusta beans, and they taste more bitter and earthy. They also have higher caffeine levels.
Robusta coffee cherries are cheaper because they’re easy to grow. They’re also used in a lot of commercial coffee flavors and products, like instant coffee.
Robusta coffee trees are less likely to get pests, do better in warmer climates, and produce more cherries per plant.
What Do Coffee Plants Look Like?
If youre trying your hand at cultivating a coffee plant, heres what it should look like:
- The leaves are dark green and waxy, and they grow in pairs. They are needed for photosynthesis, which helps the cherries grow.
- Each branch flowers with tiny white flowers that look a lot like jasmine after three to five years.
- After the flowers are pollinated, the cherries will appear in their place in about six weeks. Depending on the plant, the cherries will turn orange, pink, red, or yellow.
Some coffee plants can live up to 40 years, but most only live that long. When they get older, they look more like bushes than trees, unless they are wild species that are very big.
Your coffee plants should be pruned about once a year to keep them from getting too big. The best height for them is between five and seven feet, which makes it easy to keep them healthy and pick the cherries.
There are thousands of different kinds of coffee because plants grow in different ways depending on the type of seed they are grown from, the climate, the soil, and the height at which they are grown.
Every day, a great harvester picks 45 to 90 kg of coffee cherries, which make 9 to 18 kg of coffee beans.
Since cherries ripen at different times, the same coffee plant can produce more than one harvest. However, it takes nine months from flowering to picking time.
Interesting fact for you!
Bees are drawn to the nectar on coffee plants and love them. It turns out that bugs love their morning coffee just as much as people do.
Coffee Plant Care Guide
FAQ
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