COFFEE PRODUCTION

Coffee Trees in Shade

Coffee Trees in Full Sun

Coffee Trees in Bloom

Green Coffee Berries

Ripe Berries

Split Coffee Berries

Depulping

De-pulping Video Hand De-Pulping (Internet)

Drying De-Pulped Coffee Beans

Drying Green Coffee

Dry Coffee Method

Coffee Processing Methods FAO Site (USB)

Green and Roasted Coffee

COFFEE FACTS: PRODUCTION It takes about 12 pounds of berries to yield 2 pounds of green coffee beans. When roasted, the beans lose an additional 20 percent by weight. Arabica coffee grows best at altitudes of between 3000 and 6000 feet and relatively cool temperatures of about 70 degrees F. It likes plenty of rain, say 70 inches a year. A hard frost will kill a coffee tree. It takes five to seven years for a coffee tree to come on line; then it produces for another 15 to 20 years. Compared to the labor required for bananas, sugar, or cotton, coffee is much less demanding. Instant has at least 50 percent robusta, the cheaper brands 100 percent. It takes at least six pounds of green beans to make a pound of instant. French use a 45/55 robusta to arabica mix.