What you need to know about Shade-Grown Coffee

You might have run across the term “shade grown coffee” on coffee-lover sites. It’s not a super-common term, but it’s trending more and more in the 2010s. So, here’s your shady cheat-sheet.

See what I did there?

Shade grown coffee means that the coffee has been grown under the shade of bushes, trees or any sort of canopy to protect it from the direct heat of the sun since coffee beans cannot take the direct heat. A lot of people seems to think that shade grown coffee is automatically considered as organic. But that is not always the case. For something to be called organic, it must be grown and produced without the use of any chemical help like artificial fertilizers and the like – if something’s “shade-grown”, it just means it’s been, yes, grown under shade!

(See our article on fair trade chocolate facts for more info on similar shenanigans with chocolate. )

Usually, shade grown coffee have a much richer taste. The reason for this much better taste is because growing coffee under a shade is like growing coffee at high altitudes. The coffee beans grow slowly, allowing it to mature fully. Shade grown coffee has all the necessary sugars and chemicals responsible for all the good benefits one could get from coffee, including the famous antioxidants and its amazing taste.

Shade grown coffee may be produced in the following ways:

Reduced Shade Method

In this method, a single shade or canopy is used in order to cover the coffee beans.

Unshaded Monoculture Method

Well, this one isn’t shaded, technically, but it is the most common. Here, coffee is grown without shade of any sort. This method is used most often since production of coffee is higher. But because the coffee beans are prone to direct sunlight, a lot of chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides are used in order to protect the coffee.

Rustic Method

This method allows existing forests to be used as a “natural shade” for the coffee. No forests are destroyed and the natural habitats of plants and animals alike are preserved. The birds that live on trees are the most beneficial creatures in this method.

Traditional Polyculture

In traditional polyculture, coffee is planted together with other plants such as fruits and vegetables. This allows for a much wider selection of crops to be produced and is beneficial to farmers who have limited space.

Commercial Polyculture

This method works the same way as traditional polyculture although here, the coffee greatly outnumbers the other crops. Since pesticides, herbicides and artificial fertilizers are also used by this method, it is clear that commercially polycultured shade grown coffee can’t be considered organic anymore.

- Guest post by Hope Jael Perez, edited by Hugh.