Just learned that coffee beans aren't actually beans

I was reading a coffee guide at a shop downtown and found out coffee beans are actually the pit of a fruit, like a cherry. Turns out they're called "seeds" but everyone just says beans. It blew my mind a bit, made me look at my morning cup different. Has anyone else come across weird coffee facts that stuck with you?

3 comments

3 Comments

reese_nelson13d ago

Yeah that actually changes how I see my morning cup too.

robertb4714d ago

Wait, so we've been calling them the wrong thing this whole time? Honestly I had the same exact moment last year when I was at a farmer's market and the guy selling fresh coffee cherries handed me one to try. I was so confused because I thought they grew like actual green beans or something. The cherry itself tastes kinda sweet and weirdly fruity, nothing like the coffee we drink. It really made me feel stupid for going my whole life assuming coffee was a bean. Now I can't stop thinking about how the name just stuck because of the shape.

hannahm3914d ago

Huh, I gotta say I SEE it different than you @robertb47. Yeah they're technically fruit pits but calling them beans just makes sense to me because of how we USE them. We grind and brew them like beans, not like a fruit. And honestly, coffee cherries don't taste much like coffee at all so the name "bean" helps people know what they're getting into.