Tiny Tuesday- coffee bean

A usual busy Tuesday in our house with my long day at work, and swimming in the evening. My daughter was away overnight of course so the house felt strange without her. I’m sure she is having a wonderful time!

My photo is of a single bean - not very inspirational but there is a story behind every one. The beans we buy are speciality beans which means we know their origin. Coffee beans begin their journey as cherries that in this case are hand picked, sorted , pulped and dried. They then go through the roasting process which turns them from the green bean to the brown one we recognise.

If you care to take a look at the beans places like costa/Starbucks use you will see they are much darker than this one. That is because they are over roasted. The beans go through a cracking process when they are roasted - after about 10 minutes or so. However if they are over roasted they crack twice and they release oils and become bitter to the taste. Mass produced beans are roasted like this so that they do give a consistent, bitter taste, rather than the speciality roasts that are milder and give the natural flavours of the beans!

So on first inspection this little bean is seemingly simple and insignificant but it has had a life and a journey to get to my cup.

“We all have an untold story.
A story that hides your tears,
A story full of fears.
A story which changed your life,
A story which made you wise.
A story which taught you how to survive.

This story happened to you because you are strong and kind.”