Lesson 1: Where Does Coffee Come From?‏

In this first lesson, we will explore where coffee comes from andwhere it grows.

The English term coffee evolved from the Arabic word qahwah, whichwas translated into Turkish as kahve and then as café in French,caffe in Italian, koffie in Dutch and kaffee in German.

Coffee grows on trees that flower and produce fleshy red fruitcalled a drupe though it is popularly referred to as the 'berry' or'cherry'. What we refer to as coffee beans are actually seeds,which are produced in the centre of the drupe, often in pairs.After harvesting, the flesh of the drupe is washed or dried and the'beans' extracted.

The two major species of coffee are Coffea Arabica and CoffeaCanephora (Robusta Coffee). Robusta contains around double theamount of caffeine found in Arabica, and as its name infers, iseasier to care for.

It is synonymous with the production of lower grade coffee blendswhere it is typically used as a filler. It is also included in 'instant' coffee and in espresso blends to enhance the formation of'crema', the silky froth that forms on top of a well extracted espresso.

Arabica is believed to be the first species of coffee to have been cultivated. It requires more care during cultivation and is considered to produce better coffee than Robusta. Arabica plants grow at high altitudes of around 1000 to 2000 metres, approximately 3200 to 6500 ft, above sea level.

Arabica is the species most associated with speciality (sometimesreferred to as gourmet) coffees. The only place where Arabica coffee grows indigenously is Ethiopia.It is the birth place of coffee and also the only place in which ittruly grows wild. All countries that produce Arabica coffees havetransplanted plant stock directly from Ethiopia or from othercountries that have previously done so.

Even though hybrid varieties of Arabica have since been producedwith a view to making them resistant to pests and higher yielding,the history of every plant can in some way be traced back toEthiopia.

The history of coffee is patchy and full of myth and hearsay. Forinstance there is the tale of Kaldi, an Ethiopian goat herder whois said to have discovered coffee.

The story goes that he saw his goats eating coffee 'berries' and as a result becoming elated. So, Kaldi then tried them himself and thus the potential of coffee was discovered.

It is far more likely that uses for coffee were developed over time and were discovered by people tasting various parts of the 'cherry', nevertheless, the old fables do add a bit of romance and are very cute.

Coffee requires a warm climate and lots of moisture, so it isproduced within a belt extending around the world between theTropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Although there arenow many countries producing coffee, most good quality beans aregrown in Latin America, eastern Africa, and Asia.

From its humble beginnings in Ethiopia, coffee has evolved tobecome the second most traded commodity in the world after oil.


Coffee101.co.uk