Koffiepiraat

Facts about coffee and it’s origin

Koffiepiraat.nl would like to unveil the story of coffee and explain more about the origins of coffee and the terms that you may encounter on Koffiepiraat.nl. Read the following brief and informative overview about coffee.

The genus Coffea (from the family of Rubiaceae) has around 90 different species, of which the Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica) and Robusta coffee (Coffea canephora) are the best known. Simply put, the coffee beverage is created from the seeds of the coffee plant, called coffee beans. The beans are roasted, causing a chemical reaction to occur, and there are a wide range of flavors released during this process. Roasting is therefore of paramount importance in obtaining the desired taste. In addition, the choice of the type of beans and the ratio thereof (the blend) is of great importance for the final taste as well.

Origin
The legend says that the Ethiopian goat herder Kaldi goats were tremendously excited after eating certain berries. Kaldi was curious and picked some of these berries himself. He boiled the berries and drank the brew. The brew he said, “gave satisfaction and clarity of mind”. The Arab traders noticed this habit and called it qahwa, which means "force provider". The qahwa was very popular in the Arab world and was in Yemen at the port of Mocha exported to the rest of the world.

Through Italy, Venice to be exact, took coffee access to Europe. The Dutch played a major role in the global spread of coffee. Arabica coffee was imported by Dutch sailors to Java, Sri Lanka and South America, where the plant was found to grow well due to the favorable climate.

Due to the active role of the Dutch, Amsterdam was at that time, an important trading port for coffee to Europe. Robusta was later discovered in Africa and this variation appeared to be more resistant to diseases.

Arabica
The Arabica coffee is a coffee that naturally mild taste and a relatively low caffeine content does. It can grow up to 5 meters high and is labor intensive for you to harvest. The plant grows at its best at higher altitudes. The harvest of the Arabica plant is generally low. All these facts cause the popular Arabica coffee bean to be the more expensive of the coffee species. The main producing countries of high quality Arabica are Brazil and Colombia. However Costa Rica and Guatemala are also producers of good quality Arabica coffee beans. The misnomer “Arabica” made by the botanist, Linnaeus, has resulted in the bean Arabica to this day continues to be called, Arabica. This name was given, due to the fact that, at that time, it was the only coffee plant, known to him. He did his research, in 1753, which was based on the "Species Plantarum” in Arabian, Yemen. Although Yemen played an important role in the Diaspora of coffee, the “true” origin is said to be in Ethiopia.

Robusta
Robusta was discovered in 1848 in the wilderness of Congo. Qualitatively similar to Arabica, but easier to grow. The plant is easier to harvest than Arabica because it is smaller and also grows well at lower altitudes. The Robusta plant can also be harvested more often. Robusta is thus traded at prices lower than Arabica. Robusta coffee is characterized by a strong or spicy natural flavor and high caffeine content. The main producers of Robusta are Indonesia, Vietnam and some African countries.

Source: Coffee - Wikipedia