Within the NCA-National Coffee Association website, the question was posed, what is coffee? Underneath it went “everyone recognizes a roasted coffee bean but you might not recognize an actual coffee plant.” This blogger doesn’t. NCA continued., “coffee trees are pruned short to conserve their energy and aid in harvesting but can grow to more than 30 feet(9 meters) high. Each tree is covered with green, waxy leaves growing opposite each other in pairs. Coffee cherries grow along the branches. Because it grows in a continuous cycle its not unusual to see flowers, green fruit and ripe fruit simultaneously on a single tree.” Following that it was written “it takes nearly a year for a cherry to mature after first flowering and about 5 years of growth to reach full fruit production” Rome wasn’t built in a day. Neither is a coffee bean. Learned that it takes a while.