Today, almost everywhere you look, you can buy coffee. People can buy a cup at a coffee shop, grocery store, or countless other places. The process from bean to coffee cup is one of patience, time, and work. Coffee is an international product, with some of the largest producers located in the southern hemisphere—Kenya in Africa, and Brazil and Colombia in South America.


Coffee beans start as seeds that are grown in nurseries. They are later planted in fields. This is done during the wet season to make sure the young plants will take root.


Coffee beans grow best in the higher areas of tropical climates. Farmers are challenged by uneven fields. It is not uncommon to see coffee fields on terraced slopes of steep hills near the mountains. It takes almost three years before a coffee tree can bear the fruit that will become coffee beans. The sweetness of the berries often determines what the coffee will taste like.


Harvesting the coffee beans is a delicate process. It is largely done by hand. For the most expensive types of coffees, which can cost fifteen or twenty dollars per pound, workers must check every few days to pick the ripest of berries. This type of coffee costs more because it is a long and difficult process.


The berries can be spread out in the sun to dry. Some coffee farms use machinery to remove the beans from the berries, which are then soaked. The beans will then be stored for one to two months. Storing helps the beans become more flavorful. At some point, the beans are roasted and then cooled. Each company has its own way of drying and roasting the beans.


The coffee beans are then either ground or kept whole. Next they are shipped all over the world, where the coffee will make its way to coffee cups in shops and homes. People in some countries drink more coffee than in other countries. Finland is the highest consumer of coffee in the world; on average, a person will drink close to three cups a day.