What are these strange little plants? We often imagine that the coffee bean is a seed. In reality this is a half truth - germination reveals the bean for what it really is. After it releases its roots, the bean is slowly lifted from the earth, as a tender young stem grows to support it. At this stage the young plants appear as if a church congregation. Facing the same direction, they stand to attention, eagerly worshipping the sun. When they are ready, each bean unfurls to form the first two leaves of a coffee tree. A strange thought, that when we are roasting these little beans, we are in fact roasting the baby leaves of the coffee tree. It all begins to make sense when we cup under-roasted coffee. These coffees taste “green” - This green flavor comes from the chlorogenic acid, (or chlorophyll) present in the bean- the compound that gives leaves its green color.