the
culture of coffee
There are two types of coffee - Arabica is milder
in flavour and more expensive, and more difficult to grow and
process than its cousin Robusta, which is widely used for
soluble coffee and stronger roasts.
Botanical evidence indicates that Arabica coffee originated on the
plateaus of central Ethiopia, several thousand feet above sea
level. It is now grown in more than 50 tropical and sub-tropical
countries from Mexico to Brazil, Angola to Ethiopia and from India
to Vietnam, as well as the Pacific Islands.
Exactly where and when coffee was first cultivated is
not known, but some authorities believe that it was grown
initially in Arabia near the Red Sea around the year 675. Other
authorities say that coffee was discovered in Ethiopia around the
year 900, and that around the year 575, Arab traders
took it to the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula, where the cultivation of coffee began.
It is thought that,
at first, coffee was brewed from green, unroasted beans. By the late 13th century, Arabians roasted
and ground coffee before brewing it. Coffee cultivation was rare until
the 15th and 16th centuries, when extensive planting of the trees
occurred in the Yemen region of Arabia. From Yemen the use of
coffee beans spread throughout the Arabian peninsula and later via
the Ottoman Empire to Turkey. At that time, coffee was used for
it's medicinal properties and as a ritual drink.
The modern coffee beverage was invented at the end of 15th century,
when roasting and crushing the coffee beans, before extracting with hot water, grew in
acceptance.
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