I grow coffee. I have one multi stemmed tree. It's about 6 years old and has been bearing for about 3 years. This is the first year I got enough to attempt to make coffee. It's a bit of a process, but so is tobacco.
I pick the coffee cherries when they're ripe, but not over ripe. Sometimes there is still a bit of green in them, but not much. I squeeze each cherry to split it releasing two (usually) slimy seeds. For my one bush, i'll have to check for ripe cherries for about 3-4 weeks. This allows me to do the next step in waves.
Once i've seeded the cherries i put them in a tall, narrow, clear cup of water and let this ferment for 3-5 days. This is a critical step as it removes the snot covering the seeds. When they're done, they'll feel bone dry to the touch and not slippery at all. The smell of this is not pleasant so the cup stays outside. Any seeds that float to the top are discarded.
I finished picking towards the beginning of nov -- the tree is now flowering again. I typically get two crops a year.
On my one six foot tree -- I'll harvest a shot glass full of coffee. What in the hell will I do with all of mother nature's bounty? The tree is still pretty young though, and I haven't pruned it at all.
I'll get around to roasting the beans this month -- it'll be enough for maybe one cup. Maybe. Future harvests will be better, but it's just a novelty for me, and the tree is pretty.
If my tangerine doesn't fruit this year I may be pulling it out and putting tea in (camillia sinensis). I think I'll have more production from that -- though with the amount of tea I drink it would also just be a novelty.
