How Coffee is Made: A Comprehensive Guide

Learn about how coffee is made from planting seeds to brewing your perfect cup! We explore all aspects of production including decaffeination processes.

How Coffee is Made: A Comprehensive Guide

Coffee is one of the most popular beverages in the world, and it's no wonder why. Its unique flavor and aroma make it a favorite among coffee lovers. But how is coffee made? In this article, we'll explore the process of coffee production, from planting the seeds to brewing the perfect cup. Coffee beans are actually seeds that come from a flowering shrub native to tropical Asia and Africa. These coffee trees thrive in certain climates near the equator, where there is abundant sunshine, no frost, and plenty of rain.

The regions where coffee beans come from are collectively known as the coffee belt. The key conditions for growing coffee are mineral-rich soils, high elevation, and constant day-to-night temperatures. The process of making coffee begins with the growth of a plant. If unprocessed coffee seeds are sown, they can germinate and turn into coffee plants. Seeds are usually sown in large shaded beds.

Once the beans have been dried, roasted and ground, they can be used to prepare the humble zip. The decaffeination process starts when the beans are still green. First, coffee beans swell with hot water or steam. Then, some kind of solvent, usually ethyl acetate, methylene chloride, or carbon dioxide, is used to extract caffeine from them. The freshly decaffeinated beans are then dried before being roasted and packaged. The taste and aroma of coffee beans come to life through the roasting process.

The temperature and time are carefully controlled to develop the flavor of the coffee to the maximum. In general, a light roast gives a mild flavor, a medium roast produces a full and rich flavor and aroma, and a high roast provides a strong and distinctive flavor. Soluble coffee is produced by drying liquor in one of two ways: spray drying or lyophilization. In spray drying, liquor is sprayed into a stream of hot air at the top of a tall cylindrical tower. As the droplets fall, they dry out and fall to the bottom of the cylinder like a fine powder.

In lyophilization, the liquor is frozen at about -40°C to form a thin layer which is then broken into small pieces and subjected to a vacuum. The vacuum lowers the boiling point of water enough that it evaporates even at these very low temperatures, helping to preserve the flavor of the coffee and leaving solid soluble coffee behind. Spray drying is used for most soluble coffees, while freeze drying is used for more expensive and higher-quality coffees. Soluble coffee granules are produced from powder produced by spray drying by a process called agglomeration. The powder is slightly moistened so that the particles stick together, and the resulting granules are sieved so that only particles of the same size are introduced into jars. In the NESCAFÉ range, we capture the beautiful aromas that are released during the grinding process. If you are going to use a French press or a vacuum coffee maker, then the grind would be quite coarse. Meta-analyses have consistently found that long-term coffee consumption is associated with a lower risk of Parkinson's disease.

However, health officials recommend that people limit their coffee consumption to less than four cups a day or drink decaffeinated varieties. The first coffee seeds were smuggled out of the Middle East by Sufi Baba Budan from Yemen to India during that time. There has been some demand for “aged” green coffees, but for the most part, they are sent for grinding as soon as possible. Almost all coffee brewing methods require that the beans be ground and then mixed with hot water long enough to allow the flavor to emerge but not so long as to extract bitter compounds. Most coffee is roasted and ground in a roaster and sold in packaged form, although roasted coffee beans can be ground at home immediately before consumption. For example, coffee drinkers in Indonesia drink hot coffee from glasses while those in Middle East and some Africans serve their coffee in delicate brass cups.

Glenna Matthys
Glenna Matthys

Hardcore internet practitioner. Wannabe beer advocate. Infuriatingly humble beer expert. Devoted coffee evangelist. Hardcore social media scholar. Friendly beer fanatic.