May 23 2011
Green Coffee Bean
Green coffee beans & roasted coffee beans
A green coffee bean is the cherry or fruit of the coffee bean bush that is processed to make the roasted coffee bean that is then used to brew the coffee that is served around the world everyday by millions of people. Getting to the roasting process from the first picked green coffee bean is a journey that begins with the coffee bush and its luscious fruit.
The coffee bean is in actuality a product of the coffee bush that is called a berry. Before the coffee cherry is able to be brewed into the delicious coffee that it is enjoyed around the world every morning it takes a long journey through processing, roasting and flavoring to get it to the coffee pot.
The first step is removing the outer flesh of the cherry to reach the seed of the fruit that is eventually roasted and becomes the coffee bean. The berries are put in a machine that removes the flesh from the berry to reveal the coffee seed. The coffee beans are fermented or soaked to get the mucous covering off the beans.
Fermentation of the green coffee beans is necessary but leaves foul smelling water that is considered a huge pollutant. The coffee beans have to be rinsed again to remove this pollutant.
Many coffee processors use a different method to remove the flesh from the berry. The beans are dried in the sun for up to two weeks during which time the beans are constantly turned to prevent them from having mildew grow on them. Once the beans are dried the outer membrane is removed by hand to reveal the coffee bean inside.
The cleaning process of the berry leaves what is known as the green coffee bean. This green bean is sorted and graded before being shipped off to coffee roasters for further processing to create the wonderful coffee that is enjoyed around the world.
Green coffee beans have also become popular for home coffee roasters. These coffee lovers have learned to roast their own coffee beans and enjoy creating their coffee roasts. If the coffee beans are not being roasted at home they are sent to the roaster where they are transformed into light or dark roasted coffee or infused with wonderful flavors such as hazelnut and vanilla and turned into gourmet coffees to be delivered to coffee shops around the world.
The tiny little seed of the coffee bush cherry is the humble beginnings of the coffee consumed around the world. It takes a long journey to get it from the coffee bush to the coffee pot, a journey that is very much steeped in process and procedure that has been in place for many years.
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