coffee bean

A coffee bean is a seed from the Coffea plant and the source for coffee. This fruit is often referred to as a coffee cherry, but unlike the cherry, which usually contains a single pit, it is a berry most commonly found having two seeds with their flat sides together. Even though the seeds are not technically beans, they are referred to as such because of their resemblance to true beans. A fraction of coffee cherries contain a single seed, called a "peaberry". Peaberries make up only around 10% to 15% of all coffee beans. It is a fairly common belief that they have more flavor than normal coffee beans. Like Brazil nuts (a seed) and white rice, coffee beans consist mostly of endosperm.

The two most economically important varieties of coffee plants are the arabica and the robusta; approximately 60% of the coffee produced worldwide is arabica and some 40% is robusta. Arabica beans consist of 0.8–1.4% caffeine and robusta beans consist of 1.7–4.0% caffeine. As coffee is one of the world's most widely consumed beverages, coffee beans are a major cash crop and an important export product, accounting for over 50% of some developing nations' foreign exchange earnings. As of 2023; the largest producer of coffee and coffee beans is Brazil. Other main exporters of coffee beans are Colombia, Vietnam, and Ethiopia.