01Grow
Before coffee was a drink,
it was a cherry.
A coffee bean is a seed
Before it’s roasted, it’s wrapped in layers of fruit and husk. Tap any layer to learn what it is, or peel the cherry the way a farm does.
Tap a layer
Peaberry
In roughly 5–10% of cherries only one seed develops. It grows round instead of flat. Hit the Peaberry button to see one.
The center cut
The S-shaped crease down a roasted bean is where the edges of the seed folded in as it grew.
It’s a fruit
Coffee grows on Coffea shrubs, which are in the same plant family as gardenias. The “beans” are the seeds of its cherries.
Not all beans are the same
There are over 130 species of coffee plant, but nearly everything you drink is one of two: Arabica or Robusta. Tap a bean to compare them and see where the names come from.
How coffee names fit together
- SpeciesThe kind of plantArabica
- VarietyA breed of that plantCaturra
- OriginWhere it grewColombia
- GradeBean size or qualitySupremo
- RoastHow dark it’s cookedMedium
So a bag of “Colombian Supremo, medium roast” is Arabica (the plant), often the Caturra or Castillo variety, grown in Colombia, with extra-large beans, roasted medium. “Arabica” and “Colombian” aren’t competing types. One is what it is, the other is where it’s from.
Coffees by origin
Take a species (almost always Arabica), grow it in a particular place, and it picks up that place’s flavor from the soil, altitude, weather and how the farmers process it. That’s why bags say “Colombian,” “Kenya AA” or “Sumatra.” Same plant, different home, different taste.
Rare & wild species
Coffee plants you’ll almost never find in a café, though a couple might matter a lot as the planet warms.
Varieties
Inside each species there are varieties, the way Granny Smith and Fuji are both apples. Almost all Arabica traces back to two lines that left Yemen, Typica and Bourbon. Some ripen red, others yellow, orange or pink.
Roast levels
The same green bean can end up any of these colors. Darker isn’t stronger, it just tastes more like the roast and less like the bean. Tap a pile.
Where coffee grows
Coffee only grows in a belt around the equator, between the two tropics. Darker countries grow more. Tap one, or pick a big brand to see where it says its beans come from.
Your passport
Loading the map…
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20°CGreen
First crackSecond crack
What’s actually happening? +
Size matters
The faster the brew, the finer the grind. Smaller pieces mean more surface for water to pull flavor from. Slide it or pick your brewer.
magnified ·
Use it for
Brew time
Surface area
The grind game
Drag the grounds into the right brewer.
Set the grind with the slider above, then drag (or tap a brewer).
Interlude
The sound
of coffee.
Turn the sound on, then tap.
Taste it like perfume
Start in the middle with something broad, then follow your nose outward. Tap the notes you catch to build your palette.
Pour ityourself.
Pick a pitcher. Hold it over the cup. Press and hold to pour.
Why did that happen?
Liquids stack by weight: syrup and chocolate sink, espresso sits on them, milk floats above, and foam floats on everything.
Show me the numbers +
0 / 0 ml
Ratio
The menu · 01