Coffee Fruits

So, a while ago my coffee plant decided to bloom, despite really still being to small to do so properly.

Imagine my surprise when this showed up recently:

Coffee fruit

Yes, real coffee fruits. The actual coffee "bean" is the seed in the center of the fruit. They should slowly mature over winter and turn red towards spring. Once they're mature you pick them, remove the flesh, dry and hull the seed, at which point you have a green coffee bean. Roast, grind and infuse in hot water and you have yourself some coffee.

That said, I counted a total of seven fruits on the whole bush. Even if they all mature — a big if — there won't be enough beans for even one cup of coffee. Of course that's not really the point. It's just fun to see the whole process. And perhaps the bush can produce more the next time when it's grown larger.