Coffee Berries-How to Prep

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We've been collecting & freezing the coffee berries off our tree, and I noticed the woods are full of bearing trees right now. The one time we tried taking out the "bean" and roasting it it turned to charcoal . Does anyone have a use for the berry? And how do we prepare the raw bean to get our own homegrown cuppa joe?

-- Mitzi & Ed Giles (Egiles2@prodigy.net), November 06, 2000

Answers

I'm curous. Since you refer to collecting "berries" rather than seed pods, do you have actual coffee trees (Coffea arabica) or do you have Kentucky Coffee Bean trees (Gymnocladus dioica)?

I just pulled up a web site that stated the Kentucky Coffee Bean seeds were poisonious in their raw state. Also that they can be used as a coffee substitute.

In landscaping class the latter were prized for the south side of homes since they provide great shade for cooling, but loose their leaves quite early in the fall to provide nearly full sun for warmth.

-- Notforprint (Not@thekeyboard.com), November 06, 2000.


Sorry about the last post. It's coffea arabica. The plants are sold here in South Florida where we live. I bought one a few years ago & finally decided to start giving it regular fertilizer and watering. We ended up with a bumper crop, but don't know quite what to do with the berries. I understand that the fruit is edible and can be made into a drink as well as the beans, but here too, we aren't sure what to do with them, and it would be a shame to just throw the pulp out.

-- Ed & Mitzi Giles (Egiles2@prodigy.net), November 07, 2000.

Coffee is grown and processed in Hawaii (I have cousins there). I could not find any sites about growing and processing your own coffee, but these sites might give you enough information to at least attempt processing your own. Good luck!

http://www.coffeetimes.com/ http://www.kona-coffee-council.com/explore.htm#hand http://www.koacoffee.com/coffee.html http://www.balaams-ass.com/journal/coffee.htm http://members.dialnet.net/toby/proces.html

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), November 07, 2000.


Oh rats, I forgot to put in the line breaks, so I've done them again below. I didn't find anything about using the "cherry" pulp. Maybe chickens would eat it. Or put it into your compost pile or worm bed?

http://www.coffeetimes.com/
http://www.kona-coffee-council.com/explore.htm#hand
http://www.koacoffee.com/coffee.html
http://www.balaams-ass.com/journal/coffee.htm
http://members.dialnet.net/toby/proces.html


-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), November 07, 2000.


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