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About Coffee Coffee is a large plant that grows in tropical regions between twenty degrees north and south of the equator. Wild coffee can grow up to twenty feet high. It produces red fruit that resemble cherries; the coffee bean is actually the seed of the coffee plant, contained within the fruit. Coffee is prepared by roasting the beans (which are green when harvested), a process which brings about a complex chemical reaction within the bean, producing natural oils. Coffee beans must be dried and, preferably, sealed in order to prevent spoilage during transportation. There are two major varieties of coffee cultivated by humans: Coffea Arabica and Coffea Canephora. The former is normally referred to simply as "Arabica" and the latter as "Robusta." Arabica is by far the older of the two varieties to be cultivated by humans, originally harvested from wild coffee bushes in Ethiopia in the 1400s. It is also universally regarded as the more flavorful and enjoyable of the two. Robusta was discovered growing wild in Uganda in 1862 but was initially regarded as "useless" by coffee merchants because it produces a harsh, low-quality beverage. Arabica, however, is both more vulnerable to disease and can only be grown at certain altitudes, while Robusta is disease-resistant and has a much wider range of cultivation. Today, premium coffees are blends of Arabicas, while instant coffees are usually a blend of Arabicas and Robustas (pure Robustas are so bitter as to be almost nonexistent on the market.) Coffee production stretches from Latin America to Africa to Vietnam. On the global coffee market as a whole, only about 13% of total coffee revenue goes to producing nations; the rest goes to the coffee corporations and concerns that run the trade from the United States and Europe. [1] |
