I read that coffee beans are actually seeds from a fruit

I was looking up coffee plant facts online yesterday and found out that a coffee bean is the pit of a cherry-like fruit. They call the fruit a 'coffee cherry'. The bean is the seed inside. I guess I never thought about what a coffee plant looks like before it's roasted. It takes about a year for a new coffee plant to grow fruit after it's planted. I found this on a site run by a coffee farm in Costa Rica. Does anyone know if you can actually eat the fruit part?

2 comments

2 Comments

hayes.joel3d ago

Wait, it takes a whole year just to grow the fruit? That seems like such a long time for a single crop. I guess that explains why good coffee can be pricey sometimes.

reeseperez3d ago

Totally get why that would surprise you. I had the same reaction when I first learned about coffee cherries. From what I've read, the fruit is edible but it's mostly skin and pulp around the seed. It's supposed to be kind of sweet but not a lot to it. Makes you look at your morning cup in a whole new way.