When is harvest season for coffee?

Question

Accepted Answer

It depends on the region. North of the equator (e.g. Central America) harvest runs from September to December, south of it (e.g. Brazil) from April to August. Near the equator there are often two harvests. The coffee harvest season is determined by the rainy season. The coffee plant blooms after a rainy period, and the cherries then need 8–10 months to ripen. Since rainy and dry seasons fall at different times depending on the hemisphere and region, the harvest shifts accordingly. In Central America and the Caribbean (Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica) and in parts of Colombia the main harvest falls between September and December, sometimes extending to February. In Brazil, which lies south of the equator, harvesting runs from April to August — the Brazilian harvest has an enormous impact on global market prices, because the country supplies a third of global production. Near the equator — Kenya, Colombia, parts of Indonesia — there are often two rainy seasons and therefore two harvest periods per year: a main crop and a smaller secondary harvest (fly crop or mitaca). The main crop typically delivers the better quality. For consumers, this means: freshly roasted coffee follows a seasonal rhythm. An Ethiopian coffee from the current harvest typically reaches Europe in spring. A Brazilian one in autumn. Good roasters communicate the harvest season on the packaging — a sign of transparency and freshness. At our café on Sophienstraße 27 in Berlin-Lichtenberg, we buy from specialty roasters, and their single origins follow these harvest seasons. Coffee is a seasonal product, even if the supermarket suggests otherwise. Feel free to drop by for a coffee — Green Wall Coffee, Sophienstraße 27 in Berlin-Lichtenberg, Mon–Fri 8am–5pm and Sat 10am–5pm.

When is harvest season for coffee?

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In practice at Green Wall Coffee

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