While coffee plants are found all over the globe, the coffee from the Boquete region of Panama has been voted some of the best in the world. Coffee can take years to grow from a seed in the ground to a warm morning energizer. Boquete, Panama has great weather conditions for coffee growth and there are many coffee farms throughout the region.
Coffee plants take many forms over their lifetime. In their “mature” stages, they can grow to up to 30 feet high! The branches have dark, green waxy leaves. When the plant is about three or four years old, the coffee plant will flower for the first time. Tiny, beautiful white flowers cover the tree and give off a jasmine sent. After pollination, the trees grow small fruits called cherries that start off green, then turn red. When the coffee pickers look for which cherries to pick to make the coffee, they look for the ones with the deepest color of red. These cherries grow in small clusters all over the tree. Every coffee cherry has two small seeds. These are the coffee beans! They go through an extensive process to be washed, dried, and roasted before being turned into my favorite drink.
