Every cup of coffee starts as green coffee beans: pale, hard, grassy-smelling seeds that look nothing like the brown beans most people know. This is the form coffee is traded in around the world. Farmers sell it, exporters ship it, and roasters buy it by the bag or by the container, then turn it into the coffee we drink.
Green beans are the heart of our business, so we spend our days around them. This guide explains what green coffee beans are, what’s inside them, how they’re graded, what affects their quality, and what to look for if you’re buying them for a roastery. We’ll also clear up a few common myths about green coffee and health along the way.
Green coffee beans at a glance
| What they are | The raw, unroasted seeds of the coffee cherry |
| Color | Pale green to bluish green, depending on processing |
| Moisture | About 10–12% when ready to ship |
| Main species | Arabica and Robusta |
| Standard packing | 60 kg jute bags |
| Shelf life | Several months to about a year at their best |
| Weight loss in roasting | Roughly 15–20% |
What are green coffee beans?
Coffee grows as a small red or yellow fruit, the coffee cherry. Inside each cherry are usually two seeds, wrapped in layers of fruit pulp, sticky mucilage and a papery skin called parchment. Remove all of that, dry the seeds, and you have green coffee beans.
Getting from cherry to green bean is called processing, and it’s done right at origin, usually within days of the harvest. The main methods are washed, natural, honey and, in Indonesia, wet hulled. Each one leaves its own mark on the flavor. Our overview of coffee processing methods compares them side by side.
After processing, the beans are dried to around 10–12% moisture, sorted, graded and bagged. At that point they’re stable enough to be stored for months and shipped across the world. Roasting happens much later, close to where the coffee will be drunk.
Why buy coffee green instead of roasted?
Roasted coffee starts losing its freshness within weeks. Green coffee, stored well, keeps for months. That simple fact shapes the whole coffee trade.
- Freshness. Roasters can buy green coffee in bulk and roast small batches each week, so customers always get fresh coffee.
- Control. Roasting is where a roaster’s skill shows. Buying green lets them develop their own profiles and blends.
- Cost. Green coffee is cheaper per kilo than roasted coffee, and buying from origin cuts out middle steps.
- Shipping. Green beans travel well in jute bags inside shipping containers. Roasted beans don’t.
What’s inside a green coffee bean
A green bean is mostly carbohydrates, with smaller amounts of oils, proteins, acids and caffeine. The balance differs a lot between Arabica and Robusta, which helps explain why they taste so different once roasted.
| Compound | Arabica | Robusta | Role in the cup |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caffeine | About 0.8–1.4% | About 1.7–4.0% | Bitterness and stimulation |
| Chlorogenic acids | About 4–8% | About 7–14% | Bitterness, astringency, antioxidants |
| Lipids (oils) | Higher, about 13–17% | Lower, about 10–11% | Aroma and smooth mouthfeel |
| Carbohydrates | Around half the bean’s weight | Sweetness, caramel and body after roasting | |
| Proteins | About 8–12% | Feed the browning reactions that create flavor | |
Chlorogenic acids are worth a closer look. They’re the main antioxidants in coffee and are much more concentrated in green beans than in roasted ones. A widely cited review by Farah and Donangelo (2006) in the Brazilian Journal of Plant Physiology found that Robusta contains roughly twice as much as Arabica, and that a very dark roast can destroy up to 95% of them. That’s one reason light and dark roasts taste so different. See our post on light vs dark roast for more.
What happens when green coffee is roasted
Roasting transforms the bean. Water evaporates, so the bean loses roughly 15–20% of its weight. Sugars caramelize and react with proteins, creating hundreds of new aroma compounds and turning the bean brown. The bean swells, cracks and becomes brittle enough to grind. A green bean that smelled of hay goes into the roaster and comes out smelling like coffee.
How green coffee beans are graded
Before green coffee is sold, it’s graded so buyers know what they’re getting. Three things matter most.
Defects. In Indonesia, green coffee is graded under the national standard SNI 01-2907-2008. A 300 g sample is checked for black, broken, sour and insect-damaged beans, plus stones and twigs. Each defect adds points, and fewer points means a better grade.
| Grade | Defect points per 300 g |
|---|---|
| Grade 1 | Up to 11 |
| Grade 2 | 12–25 |
| Grade 3 | 26–44 |
| Grade 4 | 45–80 |
| Grade 5–6 | 81–225 |
Size. Beans are sorted through screens with round holes measured in 64ths of an inch. A “screen 18” bean, for example, won’t pass through an 18/64 inch hole. Even sizing helps beans roast evenly.
Cup quality. Grading tells you about defects you can see. Only tasting tells you how good the coffee really is. That’s why buyers request samples and cup them. Our guides to green beans coffee sampling and coffee cupping walk through both steps.
What affects green coffee quality
Quality is built at origin and protected all the way to the roaster.
- Species and variety. Arabica and Robusta are very different plants. Our Arabica vs Robusta guide explains how.
- Altitude and climate. Higher, cooler farms ripen cherries more slowly, which tends to build sweetness and acidity in Arabica.
- Picking. Only ripe cherries make clean, sweet coffee. Unripe or overripe cherries lead to defects.
- Processing. Washed, natural and honey processing each create a different style of coffee.
- Drying. Coffee dried too slowly or unevenly can turn moldy or musty. See our post on coffee drying.
- Storage. Moisture, heat and strong smells all damage green beans over time. Our green coffee storage guide covers how to keep them fresh.
Green coffee beans from Sumatra
If you open a bag of Sumatran Arabica, the first thing you may notice is the color. Most Sumatran coffee is wet hulled, meaning the parchment is stripped off while the bean is still damp. The bean then finishes drying exposed to the air, which gives it a darker, bluish-green look. It’s completely normal, and it goes hand in hand with the heavy body and earthy, spicy flavors Sumatran coffee is known for.
Our guide to Sumatra Mandheling coffee explains the process in detail.
Green coffee and health: what’s true?
You may have seen green coffee extract sold as a supplement, often marketed for weight loss. That extract is made by soaking green beans and concentrating the liquid, which keeps more chlorogenic acids than roasted coffee does.
The honest answer is that the evidence for weight loss is weak and mixed. Some small studies suggest possible benefits for blood sugar and blood pressure, but researchers agree that much more work is needed. If you’re thinking about taking green coffee extract, talk to a doctor first, especially since it still contains caffeine.
Can you brew whole green beans as a drink? You can, but they’re very hard to grind and taste more like a grassy herbal tea than coffee. For flavor, roasting is what makes coffee coffee.
Buying green coffee beans: what to check
- Origin, species and process. These shape the flavor more than anything else.
- Grade and screen size. Ask for the defect count and bean size.
- Moisture. Around 10–12% is the target.
- Crop year. Fresh crop coffee tastes brighter and sweeter.
- A sample. Always cup before you commit.
- Packing and terms. Jute bags or hermetic liners, and FOB, CFR or CIF pricing.
We export Sumatran green coffee in 60 kg jute bags from Belawan port, with Arabica from Mandheling, Gayo and Lintong, plus Sumatra Robusta. You can see grades and terms on our Coffee Offerings page.
Try our Sumatran green coffee beans
Request samples and cup them in your own roastery before you order.
Frequently asked questions
What are green coffee beans?
Green coffee beans are the raw, unroasted seeds of the coffee cherry. They’re processed and dried at origin, then shipped to roasters, who roast them into the brown beans used to make coffee.
Why are green coffee beans green?
That’s their natural color before roasting. The shade varies with processing: washed coffee is often pale green, while wet-hulled Sumatran coffee looks darker and bluish.
How long do green coffee beans last?
Stored dry and cool, they stay at their best for several months to about a year. After that they slowly lose sweetness and brightness.
Do green coffee beans have caffeine?
Yes. Caffeine is already in the bean before roasting. Robusta has roughly twice as much as Arabica.
Can you drink green coffee?
You can brew it, but it tastes grassy and herbal rather than like coffee. Most green coffee is roasted first.
How much weight do green beans lose when roasted?
Usually around 15–20%, mostly as water. Darker roasts lose more.
CV. Buah Berdikari is a coffee trading and exporting company based in North Sumatra, Indonesia. We source Arabica and Robusta green coffee from North Sumatra and Aceh and help roasters and importers find the lots that fit what they’re making.