Most people don’t think much about what goes into a cup of coffee. They know it tastes good, wakes them up, and that’s about it. But coffee doesn’t just appear in a bag on a shelf. It’s been on a journey—one that starts long before it hits a grinder or drips into a cup.
Step One: The Origin
It all starts on a farm, usually somewhere along the equator—Ethiopia, Colombia, Guatemala, or maybe a high-altitude region with the right soil, the right climate, and just enough struggle to make the beans develop character. Coffee trees take years to mature before they even start producing cherries. And yes, coffee beans are actually seeds inside those cherries. When the time is right, farmers pick them, either by hand (slow, precise, better quality) or strip-picking (fast, rough, less selective).
Step Two: Processing & Drying
Once picked, the cherries don’t just get tossed into a sack and shipped out. First, they have to be processed. There are different ways to do this—the washed method (clean, bright flavors), natural (dried with the fruit still on, creating deeper, fruitier notes), and honey-processed (somewhere in between). The beans are then dried, sometimes on raised beds, sometimes on patios, always needing just the right balance of time and temperature.
Step Three: Milling & Exporting
Dried beans still aren’t ready. They have to be milled to remove their parchment layer, sorted for size and defects, and then graded. Only the best beans make the cut. These get packed into burlap sacks and shipped across the world to roasters who know what to do with them.
Step Four: The Roast
This is where things get interesting. The raw green beans don’t taste anything like coffee yet. Roasting unlocks their potential. Too light, and they can be grassy or sour. Too dark, and all the nuance burns away. A proper roast is about balance—developing sweetness, highlighting acidity, and keeping the body smooth. Every batch is a little different, and it takes experience (and a bit of instinct) to get it right.
Step Five: Brewing
By now, the coffee’s journey is almost over. But how you brew it matters just as much as everything that came before. A careless grind, the wrong water temperature, or rushing the process can undo all the work that went into getting the coffee this far. Done right, though? You get a cup that tells the story of where it came from, the hands that picked it, and the roaster who made sure it reached its full potential.
Most people don’t think about all of this when they take a sip. And that’s fine. The goal isn’t to overcomplicate things—it’s to make sure every bag we sell delivers exactly what it should: a damn good cup of coffee.
Comments