Though the coffee we roast originates around the world the only ports in the U.S. where it is received are San Francisco, New York and New Orleans.  Most of our coffee is grown along the equator, the rest being grown mainly between the tropics which are at 23° N and 23° S of the equator.  Here along 'the middle of the world' the climate is warmer and more humid, more suitable for the sensitive coffee plants.  All in all, it is grown in over 50 countries across the globe and thirty of those countries yield over 5,000,000 tons per year. For many of these countries, these crops are a pivotal part of their economic infrastructure.

Their are over 60 varieties of coffee that grown around the world, yet only two are commercially harvested; Arabica and Robusta. Arabica beans are of a higher quality, and naturally lower in caffeine then the Robusta beans.  Because Arabica beans are not as hardy as Robusta, they are grown at elevations between 3,000 and 6,000 feet or more where frost is rare. One coffee tree produces only about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of coffee per year season, but since they are higher quality then Robusta, gourmet coffee distributors like Pierce Brothers Coffee Roasters™ only use this type of bean.  Robusta beans are more resilient to disease and drought, so are grown at lower elevations of 2000 feet down to sea level. Robusta trees produce almost double the amount of beans per season, but produce a coffee that is of lesser quality.  Therefore, companies that use these beans often blend them with Arabica for their canned and instant coffees.
 
Also, just a little fun fact, Hawaii is the only U.S. state that grows coffee.  Americans drink over 1/3 of all coffee produced around the world. Although Colombia is where most people think of as growing coffee, it's neighbor, Brazil actually produces more, with Colombia producing only about 2/3 of Brazil's crops.

Coffee actually is a fruit, a little red berry much resembling cherries. The branches you see to the left start out forming delicate white, jasmine-like blossoms that last for a little more than a day, then give way to the berries you see here. Though that being said, the berries you see aren't the coffee you drink, they only house the beans. The outer skin of the berry is very thick and be either red, or yellow or even brown in color, yet all enclose a layer of sugary, jelly-like flesh or pulp.

Think of a coffee bean as being like a peanut, their are many layers of protective 'skin' before you get to the part we consume. You have the outer shell that is sometimes already removed, then there is the 'skin' on the peanut, which many people ignore and eat anyway, then there is the actual meat of the nut. A coffee bean is very much the same idea. The outer skin of a coffee bean is called the pulp, this is followed by a thin protective around the beans called the parchment. Inside the parchment there is yet another covering over the beans called the silver skin. Before farmers ship the coffee to distributors the pulp and the parchment must be removed. The silver skin or chaff though is often left on, which in drum roasters would catch fire and burn to the bean, but here at Pierce Brothers Coffee Roasters™ our air-roaster removes the silver skin.

Harvesting is done either by handpicking or by machine stripping. When done by hand, cherries are picked off the tree or from the ground. Since only the ripe coffee cherries are picked, each tree can be picked numerous times during a season. The stripping method strips the tree of all its cherries at once and is done when most of its cherries are ripe. Most coffee is still picked by hand.

Arabica coffee plants do best in high elevations, in rich volcanic mountain soils. The higher elevations cause the plant to grow more slowly, leading to a more aromatic and flavorful coffee. It takes 3 to 5 years for the plants to begin producing and that is only possible with the proper combination of climate, rain, sunshine and shade.

Post Harvesting

To prevent the pulp from fermenting on the bean, they must be quickly processed after roasting; this is done in one of two ways, known as dry or wet processing.

Dry processing also known as the 'natural' or 'unwashed' process. During this process, beans often sit, spread outside in the sun for 15 to 20 days to dry, during this time they are regularly stirred to ensure even drying. The dried cherries are then hulled by hand or machine, to remove the dried out pulp and parchment. This is the more traditional way of processing coffee beans and has been done for centuries. The other type of processing is know as wet or 'washed' processing, which Pierce Brothers Coffee Roasters™ buys. A few hours after the cherries are harvested, the pulp is removed from the cherries. The beans are then washed in a process that involves cycles of fermentation and rinsing. Small amounts of fermentation don't hurt the bean but softens the remaining pulp and skin, making them able to be easily rinsed off, because of this it causes less damage to the bean than dry processing

Once the coffee beans have been processed, they are sorted by size and looks, then bagged ready for shipment. Coffee beans that don't make the "grade" for export are normally used on a local basis.

Caffeine, which is found in coffee and other foods (soda, cocoa, tea), is that substance that keeps us awake, both when we need it and when we don't want it. Unfortunately, to some people this and other side effects of caffeine are not welcome. Decaffeinated coffee or "decaf" is coffee that has had most of the caffeine removed. By weight, the amount of caffeine found naturally in coffee is only about 1% for the Arabica and 2% for the Robusta coffee beans. So when you read "97% Caffeine Free", 97% of that 1% or 2% has been removed. There are currently two methods used commercially that remove caffeine from coffee: the European Process and the Swiss Water Process.

The Swiss water process that we use at Pierce Brothers Coffee Roasters™ uses no chemicals, but rather hot water and steam to remove the caffeine from the coffee. The "life" of the bean is taken into the water, and then the water solution put through activated charcoal filters to remove the caffeine. Once the caffeine is removed, these same beans are then put back into the decaffeinated solution to re-absorb everything except the caffeine. The beans are then dried and shipped to the roasters. The disadvantage is that the water processing removes more than just the caffeine. Some of the oils from the coffee bean are removed as well, making it a little less flavorful, but is completely natural. Another reason for only using Arabica beans here is that even though some of the flavor will be lost, there will still be a lot left to enjoy.

The European process is so named because this process that uses chemicals to remove the caffine, originated in Europe. This process involves soaking the beans in water and then "washing" them in methylene chloride to absorb the caffeine from the bean. After this, the beans are rinsed clean of the chemicals, dried and shipped to the coffee roasters. The advantage of this method is that it provides decaf coffee with more flavor than the Swiss water processing. Although there is virtually no trace of any chemicals left in the bean after roasting, some people are uncomfortable knowing that the coffee they are drinking was chemically processed.

Roasting