Red Cherry
What we call a coffee
bean is actually the
seeds of a cherry-like
fruit. Coffee trees
produce berries, called
coffee cherries,
that turn bright red
when they are ripe and
ready to pick. The fruit
is found in clusters
along the branches of
the tree. The skin of a
coffee cherry (the
exocarp) is thick
and bitter. However, the
fruit beneath it (the
mesocarp) is
intensely sweet and has
the texture of a grape.
Next comes the
parenchyma, a slimy,
honey-like layer, which
helps protect the beans.
The beans themselves are
covered by a
parchment-like envelope
called the endocarp.
This protects the two,
bluish-green coffee
beans, which are covered
by yet another membrane,
called the spermoderm
or silver skin.
