COFFEE   

Coffee plants originated in Ethiopia, its propagation began in Yemen (Arabia) in the city port of Mocha in A.D 575.

By the early 17^th century, the Dutch cultivated coffee I n Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), than to Java, Sumatra, Indonesia.

Indonesia was the worlds first commercial Exporter of coffee, Today is the fourth largest producer.

In 1718 The Dutch took coffee plants to Surinam in South America, in 1727 planted in Pra Brazil.

In 1730 British introduced coffee to Jamaica, In 1750-60 coffee was grown in Guatemala, in 1790 was first grown in Mexico.

In 1825 seeds were taken to Hawaii, the only genuine U.S.  Coffee producer.

In 1878 British introduced coffee in Kenya, and East Africa.

In 1887 the French established a plantation in Tonkin (now Vietnam), in 1896 coffee trees were planted in Queens land Australia.

Some old Arabic scientific documents from A.D. 900-1000, indicates coffee benefit to the stomach, skin; drinking coffee give an excellent smell to the whole body, it retains its aroma thorough the sweat glands, it has a deodorant effect.

 The first coffee house is believed to be established in Mocha, coffee was served in Constantinople in 1517; coffee finally arrived in Europe in 1615 by Venetian traders. The pope Clement VIII (1592-1605) liked coffee so much that he declared” coffee should be baptized to make it a true Christian drink”.

The word ‘coffee” comes from the Latin name of the genus “Coffea” The genus is a member of the Rubiaceae family, which includes over 500 genera and 6,000 species, most are tropical trees and shrubs.

 There are two major species, Coffea Arabica, gives us Arabica beans, the Quality coffee of the world, and Cafea canephora or Robusta, the two miner species within the genus are C.librica and C.excelsa.  

The average plant is a large bush with dark green oval, glassy leaves. The seeds are oval, and contain two flattish seeds. When only one bean develops, its called peaberry.

Robusta beans are smaller compare to Arabica, at present 70% of the world coffee production is Arabica.

The trees bear fruit, which are born in lines or clusters along the branches. The beans are the seeds of the coffee tree, the cover is fruit or cherry, it turns red when it is ripe, harvested once a year.

Cherries are hand picked, out of 100 Lb of cherries 20 LB is actual bean, it is very labor-intensive process, one LB coffee bean contains about 4000 beans.

 There is two way of processing the bean; dry, and washed;

Dry process is simple, traditional and cheaper method; cherries are spread over a concrete, brick or matting surface, under sunlight, and raked over at regular intervals to prevent fermentation, than separated from its husk.

Has to be stored in low humidity, than hulled and peeled, polished, graded bagged and shipped for roasting .Raw bean can be stored for many years, but roasted coffee has a very short shelf life, protection from air, is most important, to avoid oxidization, and loss of aroma. 

Type-            Robusta, washed, Arabica

Taste-           strictly soft, harsh

Body-            lacking, too heavy

Acidity-         some ,too much at the top

Age-             old or fresh

Defects-         sour, grassy, musty

Overall -        neutral, spicy, hard

Aroma-           weak  to strong

Fullness-        slight to considerable.

Roasting coffee bean is an art, and science, all flavors and aroma develops through roasting process. The chemical reactions take place, starches turn to sugar, some acids are created, and some are broken down, cellular structure expands, double the size of the bean, proteins are broken-down into peptides, and emerge to the surface oily, moisture and carbon dioxide are burned off, for darker roast pure carbon created.

Roasters use the following descriptions: