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October 9, 2020
Growing Coffee And What You Need To Know About It!
Coffee is regarded as being essential in order to live for some people. Some people will refuse to talk to people until they’ve had their morning cup of coffee, some drink it occasionally, and some practically chug the stuff all day. There are a lot of people who enjoy coffee, but most of them simply buy their coffee or they buy the coffee beans already ground up, but a lot of people sadly don’t grow their own coffee! In today’s article, we’ll be going over coffee, how to grow it, and what to look out for!
A Summary of The Two Main Coffee Beans
Coffee has many types and variations in the world, but it can be simplified to two main types of coffee beans. These two types of coffee beans are Robusta and Arabica, we’ll be going over their differences in the next sections. Keep in mind that either kind of coffee can taste just like the other kind, they’re not ultimately separate when it comes to flavor!
Robusta Beans
The Robusta type of beans is the cheaper of the two. Robusta beans have a stronger flavor but have a higher amount of caffeine. Robusta beans are often viewed as the lower quality option between the two bean types due to their flavor and how quickly their plants grow.
Arabica Beans
Arabica coffee beans are more expensive than robusta beans due to them having a less harsh and sweeter flavor, but they have a lower caffeine amount than the Robusta kind of beans. These are commonly seen as the higher quality of these two types.
What Your Coffee Plants Will Need To Live
Soil and Fertilizer
You can pot coffee plants in any common potting mix, but they tend to prefer the dense, peaty mixtures. You can always add peat to your soil, or you can buy specialty mixes. The denser the potting mix, the more water it’s going to hold onto.
To fertilize, use your favorite indoor plant mix or natural compost. Remember to follow the directions on the bottle if you’re using the storebought fertilizer in order to avoid giving your plant a chemical burn.
Light
Coffee plants favor bright, indirect light. They don’t like direct light because it can actually burn their leaves. If you have a direct and bright source of light, look into getting and using a sheer curtain to help your coffee plant out by filtering the light a bit.
Water
Don’t let your coffee plant dry out completely. These plants love water and need a regular and consistent watering schedule. Give it some water when the soil is dry an inch from the top. Once you get to know your plant better you’ll be able to set a watering schedule. Remember, the more light a plant gets, the water it generally needs.
Plant Potting
Coffee plants love water and because of this, it’s your best interest to avoid porous pot materials like terracotta. It is also important to have a container with proper drainage. While coffee plants do love water, their roots don’t like to sit in water for a long time.
If you take care of your plant it will grow at a decent pace. Due to this, you will need to “repot” it at least once a year, increasing the plant size by a few inches each time.
Pruning
If you don’t want your coffee plant to grow into a huge bush, you’ll need to know how to prune it. Make sure you do not over prune your plant at a single time, go for about 1/3rd of your plant each time. Any more than that and you will cause the plant to go into shock.
Every time you prune, cut the branches back to just a bit above the intersection between the stem and leaf. A good time to do this in the early spring season while the plant is putting out new shoots.
A Frequent Question Regarding Growing Coffee Beans
One of the most frequent questions asked about coffee plants is if the plant will actually produce beans while grown indoors or if it will do nothing. The simple answer is yes, it is definitely possible. The longer and more complex answer is that growing your own coffee is a long, potentially difficult road and that it won’t happen until your plant has matured and has been properly pollinated. Once your coffee plant is 5 to 6 years old, it will begin to produce flowers. If you want those flowers to produce berries, you will need to pollinate them yourself. Once you get berries, the coffee beans will be hidden inside of them. So, if you take care of your coffee plant for long enough, are patient with it, and make sure that no bugs or critters devastate it, you will be rewarded with your very own coffee beans to grind up and brew!
6 Very Common Coffee Drinks/ Styles
Drip Coffee
Drip Coffee is probably what you think of when you hear coffee. Pretty standard coffee. It’s the most common style of coffee found. Sometimes served with cream and sugar and sometimes served black.
Espresso
Espresso is still made from the same coffee beans, however, the preparation of espresso is a little bit more complex. It’s made by forcing very hot, very high-pressure water through compacted. finely ground coffee.
Cappuccino
Cappuccinos are an espresso-based drink, typically prepared in the Italian style. The traditional Italian way is to prepare the drink with 1/3rd part of espresso, 1/3rd part of frothed milk, and 1/3rd part of milk foam all inside of a cup.
Macchiato
Caffè macchiatos are essentially just espresso with a teensy splash of steamed milk dropped in before serving. Macchiatos are typically just served in an Espresso shot glass.
Latte
A latte is yet another espresso-based beverage. That latte is typically much sweeter than a cappuccino and prepared with more steamed milk and a thicker layer of milk foam on top.
Mocha
Mochas are essentially Chocolate Lattes. Typically prepared with Espresso, steamed milk, chocolate syrup, and foam. However, they can be served with whipped cream if people want it.
