The Origins of Coffee – An Abbreviated History
The Legend
According to Ethiopian and Coffee lore a young goat herder named Kaldi discovered coffee while tending to his goats. Kaldi noticed that when his goats ate the berries of a nearby shrub they became very animated and could not sleep at night. Kaldi told the local monk about what he had discovered, and the monk then brewed a concoction of the berries for himself. The monk noticed that he was more alert during his evening prayers, and he told the other monks in the monastery. The effects of this beverage soon spread all over the world and history was made.
Commercialization of Coffee
Arabs were the first people to cultivate and trade coffee around 1,000 AD. (The word coffee comes from an Arabic word meaning excitement). Yemen was the first large coffee exporter and in order to protect themselves from competition no living coffee plant could leave the country. However, in the 16th century a Muslim pilgrim brought coffee and raised them in India. Soon coffee spread all over the world. By the middle of the 17th century London and Paris had hundreds of coffee houses and coffee had also become popular in the Americas. A reason that is given for the United States’ national preference for coffee over tea is the heavy tax on tea imposed by King George of England, which prompted the Boston Tea Party.Since Holland, England, and France broke the coffee monopoly held by the Arabs, coffee has been cultivated all over the world especially flourishing in the South Americas. In the 18th century coffee was the one of the worlds most profitable export crops. In today’s world of coffee production 50% of coffee is from Brazil, 25 percent from other Latin American nations, and about 20 percent coming from Africa.
Facts on Coffee Growing and Processing
Coffee comes from the Rubiaceae family of plants, which includes more than 6,000 species of tropical trees and shrubs. Out of these 6,000 species of plants only two produce the coffee beans that we consume, coffea arabica and coffea caneflora (popularly known as robusta). Arabica coffee, is used for darker roasts and is primarily grown in the Americas. Arabica trees are cultivated under more strenuous conditions and over a longer period of time than robusta, “which may explain the beans’ complex and full-bodied flavor. Arabica accounts for about 70 percent of the world’s coffee production, and is preferred by most Americans. Robusta is used more for milder roasts and is primarily grown in Africa. Robusta is a hardier coffee tree and fruits faster, endures warmer climates, and resists disease and frost more than arabica can.
Coffee comes from a cherry that is grown on these coffee trees. Each of these cherries has two beans. It takes about a year for a cherry to fully mature after the flowering of the white flowers. Coffee trees grow in a continuous cycle and therefore it is not unusual to see flower, ripe fruit and unripened fruit on the same coffee tree.
It takes 5 years for a coffee tree to reach maturity. One roasted pound of coffee beans is the equivalent to a years harvest from one tree. The lifespan of the typical coffee is about 20-30 years. Coffee trees a able to grow in a wide range of climates as long as there is no huge fluctuations in temperature.
The roasting process is the most important part of the process of coffee production that effects the taste. The roasting process determines the color and flavor as well as intensity and acidity of the finished coffee beans. Darker roasts of coffee are processed for longer periods of time and at a higher temperature. Lighter roasts have a more delicate flavor and contain higher quantities of caffeine.
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