Did You Know Coffee Is Actually a Fruit?

When most people think of coffee, they imagine a bag of roasted brown beans destined for their morning brew. But what if we told you those “beans” aren’t actually beans at all?
Surprising as it may sound—coffee is technically a fruit! The familiar coffee bean is the seed found inside a bright red cherry-like fruit that grows on coffee trees. This fascinating truth reveals a new and flavorful perspective on the world’s most popular beverage.

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Coffee Begins Its Journey as a Cherry

Coffee plants produce clusters of small fruits commonly called coffee cherries.
These cherries:

• Begin green
• Ripen to bright red, yellow, or orange
• Contain two seeds — the “coffee beans”

When the cherry is ripe, it’s sweet, juicy, and edible. Many describe its flavor as a mix of watermelon, rose, and hibiscus. While the fruit is rarely eaten fresh today, some regions use it to make cascara tea, a naturally sweet and lightly caffeinated drink.

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So Why Do We Call It a Bean?

Simple:

• The seed looks like a bean.
• Early coffee traders used the term for convenience.

In reality, it has nothing in common with legumes like black beans, lentils, or chickpeas.
Instead, coffee is more closely related to fruits such as:

Cherries
Mangoes
Peaches

That means your morning cup of coffee comes from the same botanical family as some of your favorite sweet fruits!

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How Coffee Is Harvested

1. Pick the ripe cherries
   Skilled farmers select cherries at peak ripeness for the best flavor.
2. Remove the fruit
   The fruit is removed using either:
   • Dry process (sun-dried)
   • Wet process (washed)
3. Extract the beans
   Inside each cherry are:
   • Two coffee beans (most common)
   • Or one bean (called a peaberry)
4. Dry, roast, and grind
   Once extracted, the beans are processed and roasted — creating the rich aroma and flavor we love.

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The Taste of the Fruit Itself

Coffee cherries taste nothing like brewed coffee.
They are:

• Mildly sweet
• Slightly tart
• Delicate and floral

Many describe the flavor as similar to ripe cherries or hibiscus. Traditionally, in Ethiopia and Yemen, the dried fruit skins were brewed into qishr or cascara tea, enjoyed long before modern espresso culture existed.

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Cascara: The Hidden Gem of Coffee Fruit

“Cascara,” meaning husk in Spanish, refers to the dried outer skin of the coffee cherry.
It offers:

Sweet berry flavor
Floral aroma
Lower caffeine than coffee

This drink is now gaining popularity in coffee shops around the world, offering a fresh way to enjoy the fruit behind the bean.