The Coffee Tree

Everyone recognizes a roasted coffee bean, but you might not recognize an actual coffee plant.

The Anatomy of a Coffee Cherry

The beans you brew are actually the processed and roasted seeds from a fruit, which is called a coffee cherry.

The coffee cherry's outer skin is called the exocarp. Beneath it is the mesocarp, a thin layer of pulp, followed by a slimy layer called the parenchyma.  The beans themselves are covered in a paper-like envelope named the endocarp, more commonly referred to as the parchment.  

Inside the parchment, side-by-side, lie two beans, each covered separately by yet another thin membrane. The biological name for this seed skin is the spermoderm, but it is generally referred to in the coffee trade as the silver skin.