Coffee comes from a small tree that grows bright red berries called coffee cherries. Inside each cherry are two seeds, which we call coffee beans! The trees have shiny, dark green leaves and pretty white flowers that smell a little bit like jasmine. Coffee plants grow best in warm, mountainous places near the equator, like Brazil, Ethiopia, and Colombia. A fun fact is that a goat herder in Ethiopia may have discovered coffee over a thousand years ago when he noticed his goats dancing around happily after eating the red berries!
After the coffee cherries are picked, the beans inside are taken out, washed, and dried in the sun. Then they are roasted in a very hot oven until they turn brown and smell wonderful. That roasting is what gives coffee its rich, toasty flavor. Grown-ups all over the world love to drink coffee to help them feel awake and ready for the day. Coffee is actually the second most popular drink on Earth, right after water! It takes about 70 coffee beans to make just one cup of coffee, and a single coffee tree can keep producing berries for 20 to 30 years.
