Germinating Coffee Seeds at home

My latest project has been to plant my coffee seeds that ripened over the winter.

Here's what I did that worked: 

1. Harvest when the coffee cherries have turned a dark, magenta red.  For some, I waited until the red skin started to dry, others I took while the skin was still shiny.  As long as the cherry is dark red, it may not matter.
2. Pinch the cherry to squeeze the seeds out of the skin.  Don't worry, you won't hurt them.  Coffee seeds have a hard shell.  Scrub and wash the thin layer of fruit off the seeds.
3. Put them on a paper towel to dry.  It won't hurt them to stay on the paper towel for a few weeks.
4. When you are ready to plant, float the seeds in a glass of water (or a bucket if you have that many seeds).  The seeds that have been drying the longest will probably float.  Some of the recently harvested seeds may sink immediately.  Sinking is good, but it may take 24 hours or more for the dried seeds to sink.  Change the water every day.  Not all of your seeds will sink.  I did not plant seeds that were still floating after a couple of days.
5. Find as many pots as you have seeds that sank.  I reuse flat sided (not shaped) 2 liter soft drink bottles.  I cut the top off down to the flat sided part and punch or drill holes in the bottom for drainage.
6. Fill the pots with your choice of commercial potting mix.  I used Miracle-Gro, but other brands may work just as well.  Use a fine sprayer to thoroughly wet the potting mix until some of the water runs out the bottom of the pots.
7. Plant the seeds flat side down and cover with 1/2 inch (1.5 cm) of potting mix.  Spray gently with water to wet the potting mix over your seeds.
8. I loosely covered my pots with aluminum foil to keep them from drying out and in the dark.
9. Put your pots in a warm place.  80 or 90 degrees F (25 - 33 C) during the day is fine.  It won't hurt if it gets down to the upper 60's F (low 20's C) at night.
10. Check on your seeds every day or two.  Add moisture as needed to keep the potting mix moist, but not soggy.
11. It takes at least a month for coffee seeds to sprout.  It could take two months.  When the seeds break the soil surface, take away the aluminum foil.  It will take a few weeks more for the cotyledons to appear.  These first leaves are crinkled and have an odd shape.  Not to worry, true leaves appear later.

I had 100% success in germinating the seeds I treated this way.  I had little success when I tried to start seeds in moist sand.

The seeds growing above were planted when freshly skinned and scrubbed.  Before I planted them, they were the first to sink in a glass of water.  The seeds below floated for several hours before sinking.  These previously dried seeds appear to have germinated slightly sooner than the fresher seeds above.