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How Coffee Works

by Debra Beller

If your morning routine includes a cup or two of coffee, you may know a few things about it.
It's a stimulant drink, it comes from beans that are roasted and ground and, for many of us, it's
a staple of life. But do you know where coffee grows and how it gets to America? How a
French roast differs from an Italian roast? What a coffee cherry is? Or how decaffeinated
coffee is made?

Photo courtesy CoffeeResearch.org

Your morning cup of Joe begins its life on a coffee plantation.

There's much more to that morning cup o' Joe than you may realize! In this edition of
HowStuffWorks, we'll look at coffee's origins and how it spread, where it's grown, how it's
harvested and processed and what roasting is all about. We'll finish by learning how to make
a really great cup of coffee.

Catching the Buzz

Coffee's story begins with a goat, at least in legends. It's said that Kaldi, an Ethiopian
goatherd, noticed his goats acting very frisky after eating a certain shrub. He took some of the
shrub's berries for himself, caught the buzz and coffee's future was secured.

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The legend of coffee begins with a goatherd and his dancing

goat.

Originally, coffee was a food, not a drink. Early East African tribes mixed the coffee berries
(the unhulled bean, also called a coffee cherry) with animal fat, forming energy balls --
something like primitive Power Bars. Coffee also grew on the Arabian Peninsula, and it was
there that it was first developed into a hot drink, sometime around A.D. 1000. By the 13th
century, Muslims were drinking coffee fervently. The "whirling dervishes" of early Islam may
have been fueled by coffee.

As Islam spread, so did coffee. But the Arabs closely guarded the coffee plants, and no fertile
seeds were found outside Arabia (with the exception of the other place where coffee grew
naturally, Africa) until the 1600s. Another coffee legend states that an Indian smuggler named
Baba Budan left Mecca with fertile seeds strapped to his chest. Soon, coffee plants were
growing in India.

As European traders returned from exotic locales such as Turkey, they brought news of and a
new-found taste for the black beverage. It was the Dutch who founded the first European
coffee estate on the island of Java, then a Dutch colony (now part of Indonesia), in 1616.

Coffee crossed the Atlantic around 1727. Yet another coffee legend: Brazil's emperor asks a
spy, Lt. Col. Palheta, to smuggle seeds into the country. Palheta goes to French Guiana,
exudes his considerable charm on the governor's wife and leaves with a farewell bouquet --
spiked with coffee seedlings. Brazil is now the world's top coffee producer.

Coffee is grown in only one U.S. state, Hawaii. Its famed

Kona coffee, grown on Hawaii's volcanic mountains, is
highly desired.

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What gives coffee its kick? Caffeine, of course. Caffeine

is trimethylxanthine (C 8H10N4O 2). It's an addictive
stimulant drug that operates in the brain the same way
amphetamines, cocaine and heroin do (of course,
caffeine is much milder than those drugs). Caffeine
occurs naturally in a number of plants, including coffee
beans. Your average 6-ounce cup of drip -brewed coffee
contains 100 mg of caffeine. A 12-ounce cola soft drink
contains about 50 mg of caffeine. Learn more about Photo courtesy Kona Coffee/Bay View Farm Coffees
Kona coffee beans, like these drying in
caffeine in How Caffeine Works. Hawaii, are highly desirable by coffee
connoisseurs.
The Bean Belt
While you may drink coffee every day, unless you've lived in a coffee -producing country you
may have no idea what a coffee tree looks like. A coffee tree is a woody perennial evergreen,
covered with dark-green, waxy leaves growing opposite each other in pairs. They can grow 30
feet (9 m) high, but in cultivation, coffee trees are kept short for easier harvesting. It takes
three or four years after planting for the tree to become productive. The tree produces
fragrant white blossoms (some say the blossoms smell like jasmine), and then, nearly a
year later, the coffee cherries mature. A coffee tree produces continuously: One plant can be
flowering, have immature beans and mature cherries all at the same time. Each tree can
produce beans that make between 1 and 1.5 pounds (0.45 and 0.68 kg) of roasted coffee
every season.

Source: National Geographic

Coffee grows best in an area known as the Bean Belt -- the
band around the Earth in between the Tropics of Capricorn
and Cancer.

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A coffee plant prefers rich soil and mild temperatures, with lots of rain and shaded sun. It
grows best in a band around the middle of the world, bounded by the Tropics of Capricorn
and Cancer, known as the Bean Belt. Soil, climate and altitude affect the flavor of the beans.

Coffee has two main varieties: arabica and robusta. Arabica is descended from the original
Ethiopian coffee trees. The coffee made from this variety is mild and aromatic. It's the king of
coffee and accounts for about 70 percent of the world's coffee production. These coffee trees
grow best in higher altitudes, between 2,000 and 6,000 feet (610 and 1,829 m) above sea
level. Mild temperatures (60 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit / 16 to 24 degrees Celsius) and about
60 inches (152 cm) of rain per year ensure arabica's growth. Heavy frost will kill arabica
coffee trees.

Top Coffee-producing Countries

This list is based on the number of 132-pound (60-kg) bags
produced in 1997/1998, according to the National Coffee
Association of the United States:

1. Brazil: 22.5-million bags

2. Indonesia: 6.7-million bags
3. Vietnam: 5.8-million bags
4. Mexico: 5-million bags
5. Ethiopia: 3.8-million bags
6. India: 3.8-million bags
7. Guatemala: 3.5-million bags
8. Cote d'Ivoire: 3.3-million bags
9. Uganda: 3-million bags

Robusta coffee trees represent about 30 percent of the world's market. The bean is smaller
and rounder than an arabica bean. Robusta is a heartier plant and can withstand warmer
temperatures, up to 85 F (29 C). It can also thrive at lower altitudes than arabica. Robusta
beans produce a bitter -tasting coffee with about 50 percent more caffeine than arabica. You'll
find robusta coffee trees in Southeast Asia and Brazil.

Coffee connoisseurs discuss beans like wine lovers discuss various vintages. Beans from
trees grown in Africa and Arabia are characterized as "complex, with intense berry or spice
undertones." Coffee from Latin America is described as "clean-tasting, tangy and bright."
Southeast Asian coffees are typically "full-bodied and earthy."

Many coffees are blends of several types of coffee, which produces more complex flavor.

Red Cherry to Green Bean

What we call a coffee bean is actually the seeds of a cherry-like fruit. Coffee trees produce
berries, called coffee cherries , that turn bright red when they are ripe and ready to pick. The
fruit is found in clusters along the branches of the tree. The skin of a coffee cherry (the
exocarp) is thick and bitter. However, the fruit beneath it (the mesocarp) is intensely sweet
and has the texture of a grape. Next comes the parenchyma, a slimy, honey-like layer, which
helps protect the beans. The beans themselves are covered by a parchment-like envelope
called the endocarp. This protects the two, bluish-green coffee beans, which are covered by
yet another membrane, called the spermoderm or silver skin.

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Photo courtesy CoffeeResearch.org

These beans are almost ready for harvesting.

There is usually one coffee harvest per year. The time varies according to geographic zone,
but generally, north of the equator, harvest takes place between September and March, and
south of the equator between April and May. Coffee is generally harvested by hand, either by
stripping all of the cherries off the branch at one time or by selective picking. The latter is
more expensive and is only used for arabica beans.

Photo courtesy CoffeeResearch.org

Coffee pickers can pick between 100 and 200 pounds (45 and
90 kg) of coffee cherries per day. Only 20 percent of this
weight is the actual bean.

Once picked, the coffee cherries must be processed immediately. This is done in one of two
ways:

? Dry method - By the simplest and cheapest method, the harvested cherries are spread
out to dry in sunlight. They are periodically raked and turned for seven to 10 days, until

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their moisture content has fallen to 11 percent. The outer shell of the cherries turns
brown and the beans rattle around inside.

Photo courtesy CoffeeResearch.org

After floating in fermentation tanks for awhile, the beans are
dried either in the sun or mechanically.

? Wet method - The main difference between the wet and dry method is that in the wet
method, the pulp of the coffee cherry is removed from the beans within 24 hours of
harvesting. A pulping machine washes away the skin and pulp. The beans are put in
fermentation tanks for 12 to 48 hours. Natural enzymes loosen the slimy parenchyma
from the parchment covering. The beans are then dried, either by the sun or by
mechanical dryers.

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Photo courtesy CoffeeResearch.org Photo courtesy CoffeeResearch.org

Shuffling coffee beans around Raking coffee beans on a
on drying tables in the sun drying patio in the sun

Once the beans are dried, all of the layers are removed from the beans (this process is called
hulling). Occasionally, beans may be polished in a machine designed to remove that last little
bit of silver skin. Beans are then graded and sorted, first by size, then by density. Beans are
either sorted by hand as they pass by on a conveyer belt or by an air jet that separates lighter
(inferior) beans from heavier ones.

Coffee is shipped unroasted. This is called green coffee. It is stored in bags made of jute or
sisal, or shipped in huge plastic-lined freight containers. About 7-million tons of green coffee
are shipped worldwide each year.

Pop, Pop
Roasting is where coffee's flavor is fulfilled. The green coffee
beans are heated in large, rotating drums using temperatures of
about 550 F (288 C). The tumbling motion of the drums keeps
the beans from burning. The roaster is sort of a cross between a
hot-air popcorn popper and a clothes dryer, according to Don
Clark of the Wired Java Fanatic Web site.

The beans first turn a yellowish color and smell a little like

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popcorn. After about 8 minutes, the beans "pop" and double in

size. The beans have then reached about 400 F (204 C) and
begin to brown as the oils within them start to emerge. This oil is
called coffee essence or caffeol. The chemical reaction of the
heat and coffee essence is called pyrolysis, and is what
produces the flavor and aroma of coffee. A second "pop" occurs
about three to five minutes later and signals that the bean is fully
roasted.

Photo courtesy Kona Coffee/Bay View Farm

Coffees
Roasters take the raw, green
coffee beans and turn them
into the aromatic beans you
find in the coffee shop.

Photo courtesy CoffeeResearch.org

Before and After: Green (left) and roasted coffee beans (right)
Coffee roasting is something of an art. Roastmasters use sound, sight and smell to determine
when the beans are roasted to perfection. Timing is everything. Roasting time affects the
color and flavor of the final brew, so the length of the roasting period depends on the type of
coffee desired (shorter for American brew, longer for espresso).

Roasting Time
Roasting times vary depending on the type of coffee you want:

? 7 minutes - lightly roasted; typical American mass-

marketed coffee
? 9 to 11 minutes - medium roast; a full-bodied roast that is
sometimes called "city roast"
? 12 to 13 minutes - dark roast; known as French or
Viennese coffee; like the specialty coffees of the Pacific
Northwest
? 14 minutes - darkest roast; known as espresso roast (The
beans actually begin to smoke, and the sugars in the
beans caramelize and burn.)

Everyday Alchemy
The beans are roasted to perfection and have been poured into a cooling tray. Now what? If
roasting is an art, brewing is a symphony. Four factors have to come together to make a
perfect cup: the freshness of the coffee, the grind, the proportion of coffee to water, and

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the water itself.

Freshness
Coffee needs to be kept away from light, heat and moisture.
Oxygen will speed its deterioration, so store roasted beans in an
airtight container and keep it in a cool, dry place for up to two
weeks. Since ground coffee begins to lose flavor quickly, coffee
should be ground only in the quantities needed for a few days.
Refrigerate ground coffee to keep it from going stale -- even
then, it's only fresh for two weeks or so.

Grind
The whole point of grinding coffee is to get the most flavor out of
the bean. To ensure the best-tasting coffee, buy the beans of
your choice and grind them yourself just before brewing. Coffee
grinders are inexpensive, widely available machines.

Generally, the faster the brew time, the finer the coffee grind.
Espresso, which is brewed in about 25 seconds, has a very fine
grind, almost like powdered sugar. A coffee press takes about
four minutes and uses a coarser grind than espresso. American
drip coffee is coarser still -- it can take anywhere from five to ten
minutes to brew coffee using a standard coffee maker.

Proportion Photo courtesy CoffeeResearch.org

For a full-bodied cup of coffee, use two tablespoons of ground Before you can make that
coffee for each 6 ounces of water. This produces a strong coffee, perfect cup of coffee, your
similar to what you find in specialty coffee stores. Read How coffee beans must be ground
Espresso Machines Work to learn how to make a shot of into the fine powder used in
most coffee pots.
espresso.

Water
Another trick to a great cup of coffee is fresh, cold water. It needs to be heated to around 200
F (93 C) to extract all of the flavors of the ground beans. Your automatic coffee maker will get
the water hot enough. Be sure to keep the coffee maker clean (a periodic vinegar rinse does
the trick) so that it not only keeps the water pure but also operates at its most efficient.

Decaffeinated coffee is made by washing the caffeine out of beans in one of two ways, both
done before roasting. In one method, a chemical solvent is used to extract the caffeine. The
solvent is completely washed out before the bean is dried. The second method uses water to
steam the beans, and then the outer layers, rich in caffeine, are scraped way. See this page
for details. There is one naturally decaffeinated coffee: the Madagascar coffee species
mascarocoffea vianneyl produces decaffeinated beans.

Coffee Around the World

If you travel throughout the world to countries where coffee is the beverage of choice, you'll
find that the tastes vary greatly.

? America - Most Americans still prefer a light roast; but with the popularity of Starbucks,

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darker roasts are becoming more common. Americans generally like their coffee with
cream and sugar. Flavored coffees (which "taste" flavored only due to the aroma of the
additive, not because the beans themselves are flavored in any way) are also popular.

? France - The dark roast called, appropriately, French roast, is popular. The French also
like café au lait, a half-milk, half-coffee mixture.

? Austria - Viennese roast is a blend of two -thirds dark-roast beans and one-third regular
roast (what's known as "European roast" flips those proportions).

? Italy - Italy is the home of espresso, which is coffee brewed by forcing steam through
finely ground, dark-roasted coffee beans. Espresso is very strong. By adding frothed
milk, espresso becomes such variations as cappuccino, macchiato and cafe latte.

? Turkey - A Turkish proverb calls coffee "Black as hell, strong as death, sweet as love."
Turkish coffee is very finely ground (finer than espresso) and is brewed in little pots
called ibriks or cezves . Turkish coffee is often spiced with cardamom, chicory or
coriander.

? Cuba - Similar to espresso, café cubano is an extremely strong coffee that is not sipped
-- it is shot, like tequila. In restaurants, Cuban coffee is served at the end of the meal in
tiny tacitas , cups smaller than demitasse cups.

? Thailand - Thai coffee is a strong, chicory-tinged coffee served with ice and sweetened,
condensed milk. To make it at home, add a tablespoon of sweetened, condensed milk
to a 6-ounce cup of strong coffee and throw in some ice.

To learn more about coffee, check out the links on the next page.

Lots More Information!

Related HowStuffWorks Links

? How Drip Coffee Makers Work

? How Espresso Machines Work
? How Caffeine Works
? How Chocolate Works
? How Nicotine Works
? How Wine Making Works
? How Performance-enhancing Drugs Work
? How Your Kidneys Work
? How Sleep Works
? How Composting Works
? What is the difference between drip coffee and espresso?
? How are coffee, tea and colas decaffeinated?
? Why does caffeine keep you awake?
? Is there something in turkey that makes you sleepy?
? How do we get headaches?
? How does your sense of smell work?

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Other Great Links

? CoffeeResearch.org
? Kona Coffee/Bay View Farm Coffees
? National Geographic: Coffee
? National Coffee Association of the United States
? Coffee Science Organization: Science and Health Reports
? Food Network: Coffee
? Costa Rican Coffee
? Sortex Ltd. Coffee Sorters
? International Coffee Organization
? Speciality Coffee Association of America
? Starbucks Coffee
? The Coffee Review: Coffee Buying Guide
? Green Mountain Coffees: Organic and Fair Trade Coffees
? Gloria Jean's Coffees
? Baltimore Coffee & Tea Company

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http://www.howstuffworks.com/coffee.htm/printable 5/6/2002