Coffee

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Revision as of 09:44, 15 June 2007 by imported>Robert W King
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Coffee, brewed from beans, is a popular drink across the entire world. Coffee beans are harvested from cherries grown from the genus of plants known as Coffea. There are over 500 genera and 6,000 species of tropical coffea trees.

A coffee cherry's outer skin is the exocarp, beneath it a thin layer of pulp known as mesocarp, then a slimy layer called parenchyma. The beans within this are covered in a thin layer named the endocarp. Inside the endocarp are two beans, usually positioned next to each other, divided by a membrane called the spermoderm.

Coffee can be served in a number of ways. The most traditional method is by which the beans are ground, and then placed into a filter, where hot water is then dripped into the grounds and into a pot. The appliances that produce coffee in this way are known as drip-style coffee makers.