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FROM BEAN TO MUG:

THE COFFEEPROCESS

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83%of adults in the United States

drink coffee according to USA

Today.

$4BILLION

of coffee is exported from

the United States every year.

SOME QUICK NUMBERS

WHERE'S ITCOME FROM?

COFFEEPRODUCTION

is a long, multi-step process from coffee

bean to your kitchen table every morning.

Almost all beans are imported, as the only

state that currently grows coffee beans

locally is Hawaii.

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PLANTING& GROWING

STEP 1 During the wet season, coffee beans (which are actuallyseeds) are planted in nurseries. With proper shade, amplewater and a good bit of time, the plants will begin to bear

fruit!

Not everyone knows it, but yes, coffee plants do indeedgrow fruit, often referred to as cherries. The pit at thecenter of the cherries is, of course, the coffee bean.

Most plants take quite some time to grow, sometimes 3-4years from the initial planting to the cherries reaching

ripeness!

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THEHARVEST

STEP 2 Harvesting is a delicate process that can be done one of afew ways, depending on a number of factors.

Strip PickingOften (but not always) done by machines, this processinvolves stripping the branches of all coffee cherries at

once.

Selective PickingAlways done by hand and considerably slower and morelabor intensive, selective picking involves hand-choosing

only the ripest cherries and plucking them.

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Prepping and processing of the cherries, like harvesting,can be done one of a few ways.

Wet ProcessingThe husk and fruit are removed from the cherries by

machine, passed through a few drums to divide them byweight and size, then dried, typically in the sun.

Dry ProcessingThe cheaper and older method, dry processing involvesspreading the fruits out and allowing them to sun-dry,

turning them at periods until they're amply dry.

THEPREPARATION

STEP 3

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MILLING ANDFINAL PROCESSES

STEP 4 The final step before the beans are ready to be exportedand shipped around the globe is the milling, hulling,

sorting and grading of the now dry beans.

Hulling involves the removal of the outer layers of thefruit from the bean (if it was dry processed) or the

parchment layer (if it was wet processed, and thereforealready had the fruit removed).

After the beans have been fully prepared they're sortedby weight and size and double checked to ensure there

are no damaged beans.

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SHIPPING &TESTING

STEP 5The shipping process is fairly straightforward: the

beans are packaged and shipped overseas tosome of the biggest coffee consumers in the

world (including the USA!)

The batches of coffee are then often micro-roasted and tested for quality. In addition to theobvious taste, the aroma and visual aspects of

the beans are also evaluated to ensure they're upto snuff.

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ROASTING THEBEANS

STEP 6Certainly the most aromatically pleasing step of

the coffee process, the beans are roasted inlarge machines at about 500-550 degrees

Farenheight.

Once the beans hit an internal temperature ofabout 400 degrees and begin to give off that oh

so familiar smell, they're ready to be cooled.

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GRINDING ANDBREWING

STEP 7Very few things in this world act as a betterpick-me-up than freshly ground coffee. If you

haven't tried it, I highly recommend purchasingsome whole beans and grinding them for

yourself.

The beans, once they're fully ground, can bebrewed in whatever method you prefer–thoughI likely don't have to walk through that step too

thoroughly.

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