What is the coffee tree?

The coffee tree - or coffee plant - is the woody perennial shrub or small tree of the genus Coffea from which coffee is produced. In cultivation, Arabica plants are typically managed as shrubs of 2-3 metres through pruning, though left unmanaged they can grow to 5 metres or more. Robusta grows larger and more vigorously, often reaching 10 metres in its natural form.

A coffee tree begins producing commercially viable yields at 3-4 years from planting and remains productive for 20-30 years under good management, with peak productivity typically between years 5-15. Each tree produces around 2-4 kilograms of cherry per year under normal conditions - which translates to roughly 400-800 grams of exportable green coffee. This is one of the reasons specialty coffee commands premium prices: the yield per plant is modest, and the labour required to selectively harvest ripe cherry from those plants is significant.

The tree flowers once or twice a year, triggered by rainfall, producing intensely jasmine-scented white blossoms. These develop into cherries over 7-9 months - a single tree may have flowers, unripe green cherries, and ripe red or yellow cherries simultaneously at different stages of development on different branches, which is part of what makes selective hand-picking necessary and mechanised harvesting imprecise.