What Is Coffee Berries? (Solved & Explained!)

Vintners use “coffee berry” to describe the fruits on the coffee (Coffea) tree. They grow in bundles of between 6 and 12 individual berries and have a thin pulp that encases the coffee bean. This pulp can vary in color and taste depending on the ripeness. The ideal fruit is dark red and slightly sweet.

This article will discuss what coffee berries are and how you use them in the coffee-making process.

What are coffee berries?

Coffee berries are the fruits grown by coffee trees that eventually become coffee beans or other caffeinated products. They have a similar appearance to cherries, both color-wise and structurally. Instead of a pit inside the pulp, the pulp of the coffee berry surrounds the coffee bean.

What are coffee berries called?

The tiny, raw coffee fruit is typically called a coffee fruit. Coffee berries can be called coffee cherries because of their close resemblance to the cherry fruit’s appearance and taste. Farmers usually dispose of these caffeinated cherries. They are also squeezed like grapes and used as an extract.

What is coffee cherry (coffee berry) extract?

Coffee cherry extract is the pure form of the coffee fruit’s antioxidants. The powerful extract is full of antioxidants and great for the skin. Consuming the supplement is great for memory and the immune system.

What does a coffee cherry taste like?

The coffee cherry is sweet, dry, and slightly bitter. The best flavor comparisons are cherry and raspberry, which vary in sweetness and dryness based on their batch. The sweetness of the cherry will change with each one.

What does a coffee berry look like?

Coffee cherries are small, round berries produced by the coffee plant. They have a similar color profile as a ripe cherry. According to Barista Institute, the coffee cherry begins bright green and turns bright red as it ripens. Harvesting the coffee cherry when it is dark red will be the sweetest. Harvesting a coffee berry anytime earlier than when it is red will be bitter.

Can you eat coffee berries?

Coffee berries are edible in their natural form or cooked into other food. The coffee cherry is great raw and dried. Coffee berries will give you a great caffeinated kick to get through the day in both forms.

What color is a coffee cherry?

The color of the cherry begins green while raw and then varies from dark red to purple-red to yellow-red, depending on its ripeness. When dried, the exterior of the cherry is bright red, and the cherry pulp interior is brown-red.

Where do you find coffee berries?

Coffee berries originated in Africa, but they have spread to several other regions with the Coffea tree plant. The most popular places to find coffee berries today are Africa, Europe, and some parts of South America. Each region has its own flavor and roast.

Do coffee cherries have caffeine in them?

Coffee cherries have caffeine in them. However, the caffeine levels in coffee cherries are much lower than the average cup of coffee. Consuming coffee cherries will energize you but not as much as a glass of coffee.

How do you eat coffee berries?

You can eat coffee berries plain or mix them into a meal. Some people like to dry these berries into cascara, dried pulp skins. If you do not want to eat coffee berries, you can make them into tea or ferment them into wine. 

How do you eat cascara?

Cascara is a dried version of coffee berries that is great for eating plain. Mixing cascara into trail mix is a great way to snack on the fruit for a caffeinated boost. Many people also love steeping this dried caffeinated berry into a tea. The tea gives you a great caffeinated boost.

Are coffee berries toxic? 

Coffee berries are non-toxic, consumable berries. Eating coffee cherries has many health benefits, like increased concentration and cognitive functioning. No studies link negative health effects with consuming coffee fruits. However, these berries have caffeine, so you should not consume them in large amounts, or it may cause heart problems like coffee does.

Are coffee cherries good or bad for you?

Consuming coffee berries can be great for you because of the many benefits. According to WebMD, coffee berries contain riboflavin, chlorogenic acid, and antioxidants, which significantly benefit the human body systems. The chlorogenic acid lowers blood pressure and burns fat, promoting weight loss. 

Is it normal to eat coffee cherries?

Eating coffee cherries is not the first way to boost your caffeine levels. Furthermore, there is not much pulp on each cherry. Therefore, it is not common to see people eating these tart fruits compared to drinking coffee or eating coffee beans.

Is coffee made from berries?

Coffee is not made from berries, but you can other drinks from the coffee fruit, depending on how you prepare them. For instance, dried coffee berries make tea, and wet berries are good for wine.

Do coffee cherries make coffee? 

You do not use coffee cherries to make coffee. However, the pulp of the coffee berry is dried, and you can make it into herbal teas, which positively impact your health. Or, you can ferment coffee berries into a wine-like drink. Consider there are not enough sugars in the coffee cherries to create an alcoholic wine.

Is coffee fruit the same as coffee?

Coffee fruit and coffee refer to two different parts of the coffee berry. The coffee fruit is a part of the berry made of pulp; meanwhile, the coffee bean makes coffee. When referring to coffee, you should use “coffee bean” since the bean makes the coffee and not the coffee fruit.

What happens to coffee fruit?

Most coffee fruit is discarded during the coffee-making process because there is not a large market for these fruit pulps or skins. People are more interested in drinking coffee than consuming caffeinated products or eating coffee cherries.

Are the coffeeberry plant and coffee plant the same thing?

The coffeeberry plant and the coffee tree are different plant species entirely. Only the coffee tree yields caffeine coffee beans. The coffeeberry plant does not yield any fruit that can be processed and brewed into an edible coffee drink.