Did you ever wonder what the journey from farm to cup looks like for your coffee? Here are the 10 most common steps in a simplified form.

Coffee from Cup to Seed

1. Planting - A coffee bean is actually the seed of a cherry. Once planted, it takes 3-4 years for the new coffee tree to bear fruit.
2. Harvesting - Coffee cherries harvesting occurs once a year. In most cases, hand-picking is the method. Lower elevation farms may use mechanical harvesting methods.
3. Processing the Cherries - There are two ways to remove the outer cherry fruit from the seed: Dry Method on patios or raised tables, or by Wet Method using a pulping machine and systems of water.
4. Drying - Wet Method coffee beans require an extra step of manual drying on patios or tables, or machine drying in large tumblers.
5. Milling - In preparation for export, hulling machinery removes the outer parchment layer from the beans.
6. Grading and Sorting - Size, weight, color flaws and other imperfections are considered as the green coffee is sorted and prepared for sale.
7. Exporting - The green coffee bagging occurs either by jute or bulk-shipped to the import country.
8. Tasting and Cupping - Sample roasting and "cupping" for quality and taste occur repeatedly. Cupping is a formal process for determining character, flaws and blending potential.
9. Roasting - The green coffee bean transform into the aromatic beans we're familiar with in stores and cafes.
10. Grinding and Brewing - A proper and consistent grind aligns with the brewing method to extract the optimal flavor of the fresh coffee.

How Much Coffee Does the World Produce?

As a reference, the estimated coffee production for 2019/2020 is 169.34 million bags, which is 2.2% lower than the previous year. This includes everything from lessor commodity-grade coffees all the way to up the top 5% that we call specialty grade coffee. 

Experience Specialty Grade Coffee

At Sky Mountain Coffee, that's all we sell. Upgrade your coffee experience today. See what's roasting!