growing conditions

Coffee plants need special growing conditions, careful culture and need to be protected at every stage of their growth if they are to thrive and give a good crop. The seedlings begin their life in sheltered tree nurseries.

After about six month’s growth, young plants are moved to the coffee plantations. They are often transplanted during the rainy season and inter-planted with other shrubs and trees, shielding them from excessive sunlight and wind, giving them a good start in their new homes.

Coffee plants are happiest in tropical climates, with frequent rains and temperatures of 15˚C to 25˚C. The soil needs to be deep, well-structured, permeable, well-irrigated, with well-drained subsoil. The best locations are hilly, those cut into mountainsides, and are volcanic in nature with crumbling rocks or from just-tilled woods.

the coffee plant

There are around sixty species of coffee which grow naturally in the wild, but only two of these are cultivated to produce the coffee that we drink today. Plants can reach ten to twelve metres in height, but many are cultivated to grow to shorter heights, enabling cherries to be picked by hand.

The mature plant has deep green leaves and white flowers in clusters, which are sweet-scented like jasmine. The flowers give way to dark red berries which look like cherries both in size and colour. These cherries are coated with a fleshy pulp, inside which are two seeds – the coffee beans. They have a tough, golden yellow parchment which must be peeled away before roasting and grinding.

blending, roasting and grinding

roasting

Coffee beans get their distinctive aroma and flavour during the roasting process. Here at Lyons we rely completely on the skill of our Coffee Master who can create different coffee tastes and flavours by changing the balance of the temperature and duration of the roasting and also by manipulating the air to coffee ratio in the burner.

At the end of the roasting process, the beans are cooled with water and then air. The steam produced escapes through a roastery chimney creating beautiful aromas. The beans are then left to rest for a little while, until they are packed either as whole beans or ground for our Lyons Original blend.

grinding

We use rollers to gently grind the beans. The distance between the roller controls how coarse or how fine the coffee – medium or omni-grind for all types of coffee maker and fine for espresso.

packaging

Our ground coffee and coffee beans are left to rest for around an hour after roasting. They are then packed straight away, sealing in their flavour and aromas. Our new packaging has a special one-way valve which lets gases out but doesn’t let air in, keeping the coffee fresh until you need it. Open one of our new coffee bags and smell that fresh coffee aroma.