Coffee

The first recorded use of coffee as a beverage goes back to the ninth century in highland Ethiopia. According to the legend, a shepherd named Kaldi in Ethiopia noticed that his goats seemed to dance about and to have a higher energy level after eating bright red berries from the coffee plant. Coffee use soon spread to Egypt, Yemen, and Arabia where raw coffee beans were processed by being roasted and then brewed into a beverage. By the fifteenth century coffee drinking had spread throughout the Middle East and into Turkey, Persia and all over north Africa. At the end of the sixteenth century a German doctor traveling in the Near East described coffee as a drink as black as ink which is useful in the treatment of many illnesses, especially stomach disorders.

The thriving commerce between the Middle East, North Africa, and Venice soon brought coffee and coffee drinking to Venice, from where it quickly spread throughout Europe. Although there was suspicion of the drink due to its Muslim origins, Pope Clement VIII declared coffee to be a respectable Christian beverage in 1600, which decree made coffee drinking socially respectable and increased its popularity. The first coffee house in Europe opened in 1645 in Italy. Soon Dutch traders began importing large quantities of coffee to northern Europe. In spite of Arab prohibitions against allowing green coffee suppliers to export unroasted seeds or living coffee plants, in 1616 a Dutch trader named Pieter van den Broeck was able to smuggle some live coffee seedlings out of Aden to Europe. The Dutch began to grow coffee in their colonies in Ceylon and Java, and in 1711 coffee was first exported from Java to Holland. The English East India Company was also active in coffee growing and exporting at this time, and in 1657 coffee was first introduced in France. Coffee came to Poland and Austria after Turkish invaders were defeated in the Battle of Vienna in 1683 and their supplies of coffee were captured by the defenders.

Coffee came to North America with the European colonization, but it was not as successful there as it had been in the old country. The English tax on tea, which led to the Boston Tea Party and other protests by American colonists, turned America into a principally coffee drinking country. During the American Revolution tea imports from England were cut off and coffee demand increased to such an extent that the dealers were forced to hoard the scarce supply of fair trade coffee beans and to raise prices drastically. The War of 1812 also restricted imports of tea from England and created greater demand for coffee. The Civil War was fought on coffee, which became a contraband item at the frontier between north and south: illicit salt and coffee being traded for tobacco and cotton.

Today raw coffee beans are the most valuable legally-traded export item after petroleum. Fair trade coffee beans are the most important cash crop in many countries in the Third World. Over 100,000,000 rural green coffee suppliers in developing countries depend on coffee as their main source of income.

Author: Alice Lane
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Coffee is an integral part of my family. We’ve had disputes, and discussions settled over coffee. Sometimes we have bargains and agreements done over coffee. In demonstrable fact coffee has given our family time to slow down and simply catch up.

With coffee so ever famous, it’s no wonder that it’s become a business life blood. Some companies even charge up to $5 for a cup, and yet people are still buying. All the benefits, all the wonder and taste but we have never really asked about the coffee bean to whom we have much to thank for.

Coffee Beans through the Years

A lot of people consider coffee a friend, and a shoulder to lean on. The coffee bean has many secrets which we as firm patrons of its fruits have yet to explore. It’s come a long way from its humble origins; the coffee bean has had many travels. Did you know that the lowly coffee bean was first venerated for its curative properties? The bean is also brewed for religious meditation purposes.

Coffee comes from berry producing trees encountered in the Middle East. The berry itself looks a lot like a very small cherry, red and agreeable. The berries are edible, they are considerably sweet. Each berry contains two locules, enclosed inside are the beans which is the cash crop. The coffee tree cannot tolerate frost or extremely cold weather that is why it is generally found on regions where there is ample sun and rain.

The coffee tree used to be a source for a tisane, where in the fruits, flowers and leaves where boiled in water, kind of like tea.

“Coffee beans, botanically inaccurate, are the seeds of the coffee plants”

It was the Arabs, who innovated upon the idea of making drinking coffee by roasting the dried coffee bean.

The Coffee Bean Travels

The story is that a Moslem stole some coffee beans from a farm in Arabia and brought them to his home in India. There he planted the coffee bean one by one and made it flourish, supplying one – third of India’s coffee produce.

From Arabia to India, word spread of the deliciously enchanting and aromatic coffee. Soon the French and the Dutch became enamored of the coffee bean as well. In their desire to produce the bewitching brew; the French brought coffee to Dijon ( a region in France ) unfortunately the coffee tree is not adept to cold weather, so the whole crop was wasted. The Dutch however was a lot cleverer. They planted the coffee seeds in Java where it thrived and became a reliable crop.

Even the famed King Louie XIV, who is captivated by coffee had a tree shipped to Paris, and built a Greenhouse especially for the Noble Tree. That same coffee tree is the fore bearer of the trees found in the South and Central America today.

There are 50 types of coffee trees in the world today. But only three are acknowledged to produce the best coffee bean of all time. No matter who you are, or where you’re from – have a quiet moment, enjoy a cup and let your mind wander.

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Author: Michael Patrick
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Coffee has been around for a very long time, but until recently when shopping for coffee you didn’t really have that much choice. You could choose instant coffee, or drip coffee. And the only options were taking it with milk and sugar. Then suddenly the amount of options suddenly expanded. There is a lot of variety in the choices of blends, countries they are from and even style which can confuse anyone. There are also a lot of different ways to brew the coffee, from a french press to a coffee maker that makes just one cup.

Brazil is the world’s largest coffee producer and has been for over a hundred years. It’s not really that amazing when you consider how big the country is, plus it’s suitable for growing coffee. Brazil produces wonderful blends of coffee which are enjoyed all around the world.

Colombia is the most famous of the coffee producer, even though it’s only the second largest producer of coffee. It makes quite a sweet light cup of coffee which is available in supremo and excelso blends. These are considered as the best coffee blends in the world.

Other than these two coffee powerhouses there are lots of other countries which produce coffee. Each one of these producers is slightly different.

Mexico produces a unique bean which makes a lovely delicate coffee which is not very acidic. These make quite a mellow coffee which is enjoyed by many people. The Cuban coffee is drunk straight down like a shot is another option.

Indonesian coffee is well known, they produce very well known aged coffee which the environment helps with. They are the fourth largest coffee producer in the world, and so they should have enough for some time to come!

Malaysia also produces coffee, they brew theirs in a muslin bag which filters out the grounds. This makes a very strong cup of coffee. Even small countries such as Thailand produce wonderful blends of coffee which can be served with ice if you enjoy iced coffee.

Mauna Loa produces a very sweet bean which can make quite a nice medium body drink. The Java is full of flavor and has a very rich body. The whole process or roasting, finding and filtering the beans through water to produce a drink began in the 15th century and so over time this has produced a number of delicious drinks.

The Europeans have created a number of these designs, including France who adores their café au lait, which is actually half coffee and half milk. Austria likes it two thirds of a cup dark to one third regular which is a very old fashioned and traditional coffee blend.

The Italian espressos were pioneered by Luigi Bezzera in 1901 and improved in 1938 by M Cremonesi. We should thank these people for showing us just how delicious coffee can be. If you’re not into espressos then there are still plenty of other options such as the latte and cappuccino.

Coffee is a very personal thing and I can’t tell you which one you should buy. My advice is to try a few and see which style you like the best.

Being passionate about single coffee brewer, Clinton Maxwell is writing plenty of long articles in the area. With his writings like http://www.coffee-espresso-maker-tips.com/single-cup-coffee-maker.html, he confirmed his knowledge on information corresponding to single cup coffee maker.

Author: Clinton N. Maxwell
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Twenty-nine million American adults drink gourmet coffee beverages every day. Though specialty coffee shops like Starbuck’s can be found just about anywhere, Cuban coffee, known for its strong taste, is only found in areas of the United States where there is a large Cuban American population. Sought after by coffee connoisseurs, it is the finest and most sought-after coffee in the world. Often compared to espresso, it is actually a rich blend of Cuban, Spanish and Italian coffee traditions.

Cuban coffee is roughly double the strength of regular American coffee. It is usually served in small cups called “tacitas,” which are smaller than demitasse cups, at the end of a meal. It is a mud-thick java brew with a tantalizing flavor and aroma made sweet by the amount of sugar that is used. The secret to “Cafe Cubano” or”cafecito,” as it is known in Cuba, is the finely ground, dark roasted coffee beans.

Coffee was brought to the eastern region of Cuba by French immigrants in the mid 18th century. By the early 1800′s it became a bigger import than sugar. Cuba’s natural humid climate, fertile soil and two centuries of cultivation techniques, have made it the ideal setting for growing coffee beans. The coffee beans are grown high in the shady jungles of the Sierra Maestra Mountains. The cultivation of the beans is labor intensive and its planting, growing, harvesting, and processing procedures have been perfected every step of the way. Large beans are used and are left out to try in the sun instead of using mechanical dryers. No pesticides are used so the coffee is 100% organic.

Cuban coffee beans have a superior reputation in Asia and Europe with Japan and France accounting for 70-80 percent of the exports. Other importers of Cuban coffee include Italy, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Embargo on Cuban goods has created a challenge for those i America who would like to enjoy this distinctive coffee. However Cuban American grocery stores and cafeterias sell their version of Cuban coffee. There are a number of Cuban coffee companies like Tu Cafe and Cafe Llave with Cafe Pilon being the top seller, that market “authentic Cuban coffee.” The beans for these brands are grown in Brazil,Colombia or other parts of Central and South America.

There is no secret recipe or process for making Cuban coffee. All that is needed is freshly ground dark roasted coffee beans, sugar and a “cafetera,” a unique italian double chamber coffee pot. Water is placed in the lower chamber and the ground coffee goes into a perforated holder. The top is screwed on and the pot is heated. The brewed coffee rises into the upper chamber. The coffee is poured into a “tacita” and sugar is added.

Drinking “Cafe Cubano” remains a prominent social and cultural activity within Cuba and in Cuban American communities. The rest of the world is slowly catching up to enjoy this particular style of coffee. One can find “authentic” Cuban coffees in many supermarkets and the specialty brewers are sold everywhere. So if you want a true coffee experience try Cuban coffee.

Cuba has always been a major player in world events both politically and socially. It is hard to believe that an island nation that has been politically ostracized from the rest of the world for more than fifty years, can still create such an impact. The Cuban coffee thing is just part of the whole Cuban experience. In my blog My Cuban Thing I write about my observations as a Cuban kid who grew up American.

Author: Mario Del Sol
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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By the 17th Century, with the popularity of coffee ever increasing in Europe, the interest of the then World Superpowers – Britain, France, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain – also grew. Up until this point, coffee imported into Europe had come from the Arabian Peninsula, over which none of these nations had any control. The Europeans had sample coffee and liked it, and now they wanted to start producing it for themselves. The race was on to establish their own coffee plantations in their respective colonies.

It was the Netherlands who took an early lead in this race. In 1616, Dutch spies successfully managed to smuggle a coffee plant out of Mocha (Yemen). Although, to begin with, they were only involved in small scale cultivation. This changed in 1658, when they defeated the Portuguese to take control of Sri Lanka. Very soon coffee plantations spread all over Sri Lanka and into Southern India. Then, in 1699, the Dutch started production in Indonesia, when cuttings were successfully transplanted from Malabar (India) to Java.

Without help from the Dutch, the other Superpowers would not have got out the starting blocks. By 1706, the first coffee beans from Java had reached Amsterdam, along with a coffee plant for the Botanical Garden. From this plant, a number of successful cuttings were made. These new plants soon found their way into various botanical gardens throughout Europe as they were given as gifts to visiting dignitaries.

One such plant was given to King Louis XIV of France in 1714, by the Burgermeister of Amsterdam. The plant was re-homed in le Jardin des Plantes in Paris. Several years later, a French Naval Officer named Mathieu Gabriel de Clieu, while on leave from his station in Martinique, asked for the King’s permission to take a cutting of this plant back with him. Unfortunately for him, the King refused his request. Convinced that the Caribbean would be an ideal place to cultivate coffee, de Clieu led a daring moonlight raid on the Jardin des Plantes to secure a cutting.

In 1723, de Clieu began his journey back to Martinique, with his newly procured coffee cutting in tow. He kept the shoot in a glass cabinet, which he would bring up onto the deck each day so it could be warmed by the sun. If de Clieu had thought that the hard part of his mission was over, he would have been wrong. As, during the journey, one of the men on board (allegedly with a Dutch accent) tried to wrestle the plant off de Clieu, managing to break a side-shoot in the process. The crew had to fend off an attack by pirates which lasted nearly a whole day; a storm descended that shattered the glass cabinet; and the portable water supply ran so low that de Clieu had to share his water ration with the plant.

Finally de Clieu returned to Martinique, where he successfully cultivated the coffee plant. Some twenty months later de Clieu had his first harvest, which he distributed among the island’s doctors and other intellectuals. As luck would have it, at the time the cocoa plants on the island were doing badly after a recent volcanic eruption, so coffee was soon adopted by the locals. Within three years, coffee plantations spread all over Martinique and to the neighbouring islands of St. Dominique and Guadeloupe. Coffee production was so successful in the Caribbean that King Louis XIV forgave de Clieu for his earlier transgression, making him governor of the Antilles.

The coffee plant had become a very desirable object. In 1727, the Brazilian government decided it was time they joined the coffee market. Using the guise of an intermediary in a boundary dispute between the French and Dutch in the Guianas, Brazil sent Lieutenant Colonel Francisco de Mello Palheta on a mission to steal a coffee plant from the French. Using his charm and charisma, Palheta befriended the governor of French Guiana’s wife. Once the dispute was resolved, the governor’s wife presented Palheta with a farewell gift, a coffee cutting concealed in a bouquet of flowers. From this scant shoot grew the world’s largest coffee empire.

The British did not seriously compete in the coffee race until 1796, when they took control of Sri Lanka from the Dutch. With the arrival of the British, even more land was cleared for coffee plantations. So much so, that the relatively small island of Sri Lanka briefly became the world’s largest coffee producer in the 1860s. However, in 1869, a lethal fungus known as coffee rust arrived on the island. This fungus causes premature defoliation of a coffee plant, seriously weakening its structure and reducing its yield of berries. Since rust was not considered to be a serious disease, the British continued to clear more land for coffee plantations during the next decade. It was not until 1879 that they realised the seriousness of the situation. Unfortunately by then it was too late: the productivity of the plants had declined so greatly that they were no longer economically viable.

Luckily for the British, a successful marketing campaign led by the British East India Company for tea entitled “the cup that cheers”, back in the early 18th Century, had laid the foundations for tea to become the British national drink. Between 1700 and 1757 the average annual tea imports into Britain more than quadrupled and consumption continued to grow steadily for the rest of the century. So when coffee rust devastated the coffee plantations of Sri Lanka, and later India, production simply switched and the coffee plants were uprooted and replanted with tea. Although Britain continued to cultivate coffee on a limited amount of colonial land, mostly in Jamaica, Uganda and Kenya, by the end of the 19th Century tea had surpassed coffee as the beverage of choice.

James Grierson is the owner of Galla Coffee: http://www.gallacoffee.co.uk – Uk online retailer of designer coffee accessories. Through the Coffee Knowledge section of his website he aims to help people understand more about coffee and give them tips on how to make great tasting coffee in their home.

Check out http://www.gallacoffee.co.uk/acatalog/Coffee_Knowledge.html for more articles or if you have a question send it to: coffeeknowledge@gallacoffee.co.uk

Author: James Grierson
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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