Coffee tree

Coffee trees are evergreen shrubs or trees belonging to the Rubiaceae family; wild coffee trees can grow to 5 to 10 meters high, but coffee trees grown in plantations are cut to a height of less than 2 meters in order to increase fruit yield and facilitate harvesting. Coffee tree opposite leaves are long oval, leaf surface smooth, terminal branches are very long, few branches, and flowers are white, open at the base of the petiole connecting branches. Mature coffee berries look like cherries, are bright red, sweet flesh, containing a pair of seeds, namely coffee beans (Coffee Beans).

Arabica coffee trees can be divided into two main species: Coffea Arabica and Coffea robusta/Coffea Canephora. There are also minor species, such as Coffea Liberica and Coffea Arabusta, which are rarely seen on the market. [Arabica beans on the left]

Robusta beans Robusta coffee trees can grow on flat ground, are more resistant to disease, and yield more. Compared to Arabica beans, Robusta beans are round in shape, with a slightly swollen side in the middle and straight grooves reminiscent of soybeans, while Arabica beans are longer, with zigzag grooves, a bit like half a peanut.

Robusta beans generally taste poorer, caffeine content is 2 to 3 times that of Arabica beans, cheap, mostly for the production of large coffee industry instant coffee or low-cost products. Arabica coffee trees are suitable for planting on fertile slopes with good drainage at an altitude of about 1,000 to 2,000 meters. The climate for growth cannot be too humid, but it still needs continuous rainy seasons and abundant rainfall. [Arabica beans on the right]

During the day, they prefer mild temperatures and less than two hours of direct sunlight, so in the absence of the afternoon showers or fogs that are reported daily, local farmers must plant many taller trees in the coffee garden to provide shade. At night, they want to have around ten degrees Celsius but not too cold, because too warm will make coffee berries grow too fast to produce small, strong coffee beans; if it is cold enough to frost, the coffee tree will freeze to death.

Based on these characteristics, most of the land suitable for Arabica coffee growth is located between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Capricorn, which is also known as the Coffee Zone/Coffee belt.