Tag: Coffee cherries

Despite its earthy, nutty flavor profiles, a coffee bean is not a nut at all; it's the seed of a fruit called a coffee cherry. This common misconception, often fueled by its appearance, leads many to wonder, is coffee made out of nuts? The answer lies in botany, not the nut family.

A coffee plant's defense mechanism is actually its most famous export: caffeine. Yes, coffee berries have caffeine, though the concentration varies depending on the plant part, from the fruit's pulp to the well-known seeds within.

Coffee beans are technically the seeds found inside the cherries of the coffee plant, a species in the *Coffea* genus. So, while the roasted beans don't grow directly on branches, coffee trees do produce coffee in the form of these fruit-covered seeds. This initial stage is just the beginning of a complex journey to your morning cup.

The average coffee drinker consumes about 3.1 cups of coffee per day, but few consider the origin of their daily brew. The journey of coffee begins not in a factory or a cafe, but with a vibrant evergreen shrub belonging to the genus *Coffea* that grows within the equatorial "coffee belt".

According to the European Food Information Council, caffeine is naturally found in the fruits, seeds, and leaves of many plants, including coffee. This naturally leads to the question, does coffee fruit contain caffeine, and if so, how much?. The short answer is yes, but the concentration is significantly lower than in the coffee beans themselves.

Historically a discarded byproduct of coffee production, the fruit surrounding the coffee bean, known as the coffee cherry, is increasingly being recognized as a potent superfood. The answer to the question, 'Do coffee cherries have caffeine?', is yes, but the amount is significantly lower than in brewed coffee, offering a milder energy boost without the jitters associated with high caffeine intake.