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From Seed to Cup - Quality Decision Points |
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© 2007 The George Howell Coffee Company
 There are many decision points on the road to quality production. Quality can and often is lost at some and even many of these thresholds.
SEED:
There are countless varieties of Arabica coffee. Two are ancient (Typica and Bourbon) and generally thought to produce the best qualities; their productivity, however, is exceedingly low and, to date, a farmer will rarely get proper reimbursement for such an investment. Farmers can choose varieties for drought, high production, disease resistance, for cold or hot weather, etc. Quality produced by these varieties can vary from excellent (Caturra, SL 28, etc.) to very poor. High quality always involves some tradeoff with quantity, as with wine….
LOCATION:
Arabica beans require moderate temperatures combined with moderate rainfall. Freezing temperatures will kill the coffee plant, and climates over 90' F will dramatically affect production and quality. Therefore, the finest coffees are grown at high altitudes, above the lower lying humid tropics (generally 4000 6000 feet in altitude).
GROWING
The coffee plant is actually a small tree, which, if allowed to grow to its full height, can reach between 15 and 40 feet high. Its natural habitat is as part of a forest’s under story. However, it is generally kept pruned to approximately 5 to 8 feet.
Heavy pruning is necessary to stimulate proper fruit growth. In addition, continual weeding and pest control must be performed in order for the tree to remain healthy and produce high quality cherries.
The quality of a coffee depends significantly on the variety of bean, climate, altitude, soil, farming procedures (pruning, shade management, nutrition…) and care taken during all stages of growth.
HARVESTING
The coffee bean is really a seed, surrounded by a fruit called a cherry; only ripe cherries should be picked to ensure quality. Not all cherries ripen at once, so careful hand picking of only ripe fruit is necessary for the highest quality coffees.
A coffee tree is picked an average of 3 to 4 times per harvest to collect all ripe cherries from the plant.
99.9% of all coffee sold on the market today is to one degree or another unripe, much like the fruit you see at the supermarkets. Such coffee is very similar to unripe fruit: it lacks sweetness and has unpleasant astringent and sour notes.
The most prolific coffee plant will produce a maximum of 2 lbs of roasted coffee in an entire year. That's 2 hand picked pounds! This makes coffee a bargain beverage of modern times. At $10.00 a pound, that is 50 cents for a strong 12-ounce cup! Compare this to your favorite soft drink, which takes pennies to produce, yet costs more per equivalent serving.
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