Many people don't realize it, but coffee "beans" are actually the seeds of coffee fruits. Coffee fruits, when ripe, are red like cherries. In fact, we call them coffee cherries! They have a small amount of very sweet fruit encasing the beloved "bean."
In the picture above, the bowl of coffee cherries is sitting on a bed of "parchment" coffee. Parchment coffee is the coffee beans (seeds) before they have been hulled. Here they are spread out in the sun to dry after washing all of the fruit material off of them. After they are hulled the beans are called "green" coffee, because of their green color. This is coffee before it is roasted. Only when it is roasted does it turn a deep brown color with amazing aroma!
We're grinding these roasted beans and pulling shots of espresso for you now at the Saffron Espresso Caffè on the banks of the Mekong in Luang Prabang, Laos!
