When is coffee harvested?
Most coffee countries have one main harvest a year, and some add a smaller second crop. Ethiopia picks roughly August to January, Kenya October to December plus June to August, Colombia October to February plus an April to June mitaca, Brazil within March to October and Indonesia April to September.
This guide is part of our Coffee Origins series. It covers when coffee is picked around the world, how it is picked, how long it takes to reach you, and why every crop tastes a little different.
When is coffee harvested in each country?
Coffee is a fruit crop, and the beans are the seeds inside the cherry. According to the National Coffee Association, most coffee-growing regions have one major harvest each year. Countries with two flowering periods, such as Colombia, get a main crop and a smaller secondary crop from the same trees.
The table below shows typical harvest windows. Treat the months as a guide, not a timetable: altitude, region and each year's weather shift them by weeks.
| Country | Main harvest | Second harvest | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ethiopia | August to January | None listed | FAO |
| Kenya | October to December | June to August | FAO; Coffee Research Institute |
| Rwanda | March to June | None listed | FAO |
| Burundi | April to July | None listed | FAO |
| Uganda (arabica) | September to December | None listed | FAO |
| Colombia | October to February (main crop) | April to June (the mitaca) | Coffee Research Institute |
| Guatemala | October to January | None listed | Coffee Research Institute |
| Honduras | October to March | None listed | Coffee Research Institute |
| Costa Rica | August to November (Atlantic side); September to December (Pacific side) | None listed | Coffee Research Institute |
| Brazil | March to October | None listed | Coffee Research Institute |
| Indonesia (including Sumatra) | April to September | None listed | USDA Foreign Agricultural Service |
Two patterns stand out. First, Brazil and Indonesia pick mostly in the middle of the calendar year, while Central America, Colombia's main crop and Kenya's main crop land at the end of the year. Second, if you line the windows up, some major origin is picking in every month of the year. That is why fresh coffee from somewhere is always on its way.
Selective picking vs strip picking: what is the difference?
The National Coffee Association notes that in most countries coffee is picked by hand, a slow and difficult job, while larger farms in Brazil may use machines. There are two basic approaches.
- Strip picking. All the cherries are stripped from the branch at one time, by hand or by machine. It is fast, but a branch rarely ripens evenly, so ripe, underripe and overripe fruit come off together and have to be sorted later.
- Selective picking. Pickers rotate through the trees every 8 to 10 days and pick only the ripe cherries. It takes many passes over a season, which is why the harvest windows above stretch across several months.
An International Coffee Organization guide to drying describes the same split as selective "finger picking" of ripe cherries versus mechanical strip picking, and warns that rapid stripping changes how much fruit arrives at the drying yard at once. Picking only ripe fruit gives a more uniform lot.
How long does it take coffee to get from harvest to your cup?
Picking is only the start. After harvest, the National Coffee Association says, cherries must be processed as quickly as possible to prevent spoilage. Here is how the stages add up.
| Stage | What happens | Typical time |
|---|---|---|
| Picking | Selective pickers return to each tree as cherries ripen | A pass every 8 to 10 days through a season of several months |
| Processing | Natural: whole cherries are dried, then hulled. Washed: skin and pulp are removed before drying. Honey: pulp is removed but some of the sticky mucilage stays on. | Starts as soon as possible after picking |
| Drying | Sun drying on large open surfaces, or mechanical dryers | About 2 weeks for washed parchment and about 3 weeks for whole cherry on a drying yard; a mechanical dryer can take natural coffee from 60% to 12% moisture in about 48 hours |
| Milling and export prep | Hulling and preparing the green coffee for export | A period of weeks |
| Shipping | Green coffee travels from origin to the US | Varies by route; transport networks have a big effect on freshness |
| Roasting and delivery | Kaveolah coffee is roasted to order | Ships in 3 to 5 business days, then US delivery takes 2 to 5 business days |
Add the stages together and harvest to cup is measured in months, not days. A coffee picked in Ethiopia in late autumn is not in a US cup the same week. That gap is normal, and it is why the green coffee's age matters as much as the roast date.
Why does the same farm taste different every year? Each harvest is a vintage
Wine drinkers expect the same vineyard to taste different from one vintage to the next. Coffee works the same way, because every step above depends on that year's conditions.
- Weather during the harvest. The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service reported that heavier, more intense rain during the April to September 2010 harvest across Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi led to poor sun drying, and that many smallholders who sun-dry their beans suffered post-harvest losses.
- Flowering. In countries like Colombia, two flowerings a year produce a main crop and a secondary crop. Each flowering sets its own crop, so the same trees can give two lots in one year that ripened under different conditions.
- Picking. How many selective passes a farm can afford, and how ripe the cherries are on each pass, changes the makeup of every lot.
- Drying. Sun drying takes weeks on an open yard, so a wet or cloudy stretch can slow it down and change the result.
So a farm's lot from this year is related to last year's, not identical to it. If a single-origin coffee you love tastes a shade brighter or rounder after the new crop lands, you are tasting a new vintage.
What do "fresh crop" and "past crop" mean?
The Specialty Coffee Association defines the terms simply. When a coffee is finally ready for export and sale to roasters, it is called "fresh crop" or "new crop." By the time the next year's harvest arrives, the previous year's coffee is known as "past crop."
Green coffee does not stay vivid forever. The SCA notes that some coffees lose their spark in only a few months, while others hold their character for 14 or 16 months. As it ages, washed green coffee shifts from grey-green toward beige and its flavors and aromas fade. The causes include the slow metabolism of the living seed and the oxidation of its fats and oils. Cool, dry storage, deep freezing and oxygen-blocking packaging slow the process.
Green freshness and roast freshness are two different things. A coffee can be roasted yesterday and still taste flat if the green beans were long past crop, which is why the harvest calendar matters.
Why do coffee lineups change with the seasons?
Because the harvests are staggered. Origins that pick at the end of the year reach export months later, while Brazil and Indonesia follow on a different calendar. As one origin's lots age toward past crop, another origin's fresh crop is arriving.
A menu built on single-origin coffee follows that rhythm. Lineups change with the harvest, so the coffee in your mug on the porch this spring may come from a different country than it did last fall. Browse what is in season now in our single-origin coffees, each roasted to order and sold whole bean or ground.
Frequently asked questions
What month is coffee harvested?
It depends on the country. Ethiopia picks roughly August to January, Kenya October to December, Guatemala October to January, Brazil within March to October and Indonesia April to September. Colombia has a main crop from October to February and a smaller mitaca from April to June.
Is coffee harvested year-round?
Not on any single farm, which usually has one main harvest a year and sometimes a smaller second one. Across the world's growing regions, though, harvests are staggered so widely that some major origin is picking coffee in every month of the year.
What is the mitaca harvest in Colombia?
The mitaca is Colombia's secondary harvest. Because many Colombian regions have two flowering periods a year, the same trees produce a main crop, roughly October to February, and a smaller mitaca crop, roughly April to June.
What is the difference between selective picking and strip picking?
Selective picking means pickers return to each tree every 8 to 10 days and take only ripe cherries. Strip picking removes all cherries from the branch at once, by hand or machine, so ripe and unripe fruit come off together and need sorting afterward.
How long does green coffee stay fresh after harvest?
It varies by coffee. According to the Specialty Coffee Association, some green coffees lose their spark in a few months while others hold their character for 14 or 16 months. Cool, dry storage and oxygen-blocking packaging slow the fading of flavor and aroma.
Why does my favorite coffee taste different this year?
Each harvest is a vintage. Rainfall, flowering, how ripe the cherries were when picked and the weather during drying all change from year to year, so the same farm produces a related but different coffee every season.