Coffee - Close Up February 21 2017

We here at Two Spots are constantly up close and personal with coffee; handling it, smelling it, tasting it, analysing it, teaching others how to extract it and so on. It came as a surprise when none of us actually knew what coffee looked like under a microscope. Admittedly, none of us have the vision to see that closely regardless of how many times we bicker about who has the best eye sight. Nonetheless we set out about finding what coffee looks like - close up. Needless to say we're even more in love. 

Green Coffee

This picture shows the inside of the green bean. This structure completely changes once the coffee is roasted. 

image sourced from Nestle

Roasted Coffee

This images show the cell walls of roasted coffee.  So magnificent... a little creepy. 

image sourced from Wenn/Royal Photography Society

Freeze Dried Coffee, also known as Instant Coffee

This image is actually of the micro-gas cells and cavities that occur when coffee is freeze dried. 

image sourced from Nestle

Caffeine

Oh, glorious caffeine. It definitely looks similar to how we feel after drinking it. 

image sourced from Annie Cavanagh & David McCarthy @ Wellcome Image

Pièce de Résistance - The Espresso

This photograph won 9th place in the 2016 Nikon Small World competition, we think it should have come first. The espresso, which has dried in this image, looks spectacular! 

image sourced from Vin Kitayama & Sanae Kitayama.

Coffee is such an interesting commodity. Tiny little seeds that contain so much information and flavour. These microscopic images just help us appreciate the complexity and beauty of every form of coffee.