The Coffee History

Coffee grown worldwide can trace its heritage back centuries to the ancient coffee forests on the Ethiopian plateau. There, legend says the goat herder Kaldi first discovered the potential of these beloved beans. The story goes that Kaldi discovered coffee after he noticed that after eating the berries from a certain tree, his goats became so energetic that they did not want to sleep at night. Kaldi reported his findings to the abbot of the local monastery, who made a drink with the berries and found that it kept him alert through the long hours of evening prayer. The abbot shared his discovery with the other monks at the monastery, and knowledge of the energizing berries began to spread. As word moved east and coffee reached the Arabian Peninsula, it began a journey which would bring these beans across the globe.

COFFEE INTRODUCTION

There are two types of people in this world. Ones who start drinking coffee from an early age and develop this relationship over time, fascinated with its potential. Seconds are those who have zero interest in coffee and then have an epiphany. A cup of coffee changes everything, don’t you think? And then, there’s no turning back.

The Coffee History

Coffee grown worldwide can trace its heritage back centuries to the ancient coffee forests on the Ethiopian plateau. There, legend says the goat herder Kaldi first discovered the potential of these beloved beans. The story goes that Kaldi discovered coffee after he noticed that after eating the berries from a certain tree, his goats became so energetic that they did not want to sleep at night. Kaldi reported his findings to the abbot of the local monastery, who made a drink with the berries and found that it kept him alert through the long hours of evening prayer. The abbot shared his discovery with the other monks at the monastery, and knowledge of the energizing berries began to spread. As word moved east and coffee reached the Arabian Peninsula, it began a journey which would bring these beans across the globe.

The Coffee Plant

The coffee plant is a shrub that belongs to the family Rubiaceae, genus Coffea. The plant consists of one or more trunks from which stems the primary branches. In the wild the plant grows to a height of 8-10 meters whereas in plantations, to facilitate care and cropping, the plants are kept to a height of 2-2.5 metres. The leaves grow in opposite pairs, are 10-15 centimetres long and oval or lanceolate in shape. They are deep rich green in colour, glossy and fleshy on their surface and overall are not unlike laurel leaves, with the characteristic wavy edge. The flowers are white and always grow in clusters of two or three together, reaching almost 2 centimetres in size.

The fruit which develops from the ovary of the fertilized flower is called drupe or berry; it is about 15 millimetres in diameter and turns bright red when fully ripe. The outer covering of the drupe is a thick pulpy skin, which encloses a layer of jelly-like pulp, about 2 millimetres thick. Inside this are the seeds or beans. They average about 10 millimetres in length, weigh about 0.15 grams each and are green in colour, tinged with shades varying from grey to blue or from red to brown. These beans are the only part of the fruits of the coffee plant that are used: the rest is discarded during the processing

The Coffee Habitat

The ideal habitat for coffee plants is in the band between the two tropics, in three main large areas: Central South America, Central Africa and the zone comprising India, the Indonesian Islands and Papua-New Guinea.

The Coffee Varieties

For cup characteristics, coffee seeds varieties play a huge role. The first coffee trees to be cultivated originated in Ethiopia, and this same variety, Typica, is still widely grown today. Dozens of species of the genus Coffea are known, but only two are significant in economic terms: Coffea Arabica and Coffea Canephora, being the only two that are cultivated on a large scale. The two species are commonly referred to as Arabica and Robusta. Different varieties have different qualities of flavour and may also have different mouth-feels.

Chicory

Chicory means the roasted chicory powder obtained by roasting and grinding of the cleaned and dried roots of chicorium intybus. With or without the addition of edible fats and oils or sugar, like glucose or sucrose – not exceeding 2% by weight in aggregate. It must be free from dirt, extraneous matter, artificial colouring and flavouring agents.

The Genetics of Coffee

The coffee industry treated Robusta like an ugly sister to Arabica until a rather interesting genetic discovery was made. Once scientists started sequencing the genes, it became clear that the two species are not cousins or siblings. Robusta is, in fact, a parent of Arabica. Somewhere in Southern Sudan, Robusta crossed with another species called Coffea euginoides and produced Arabica.

The Coffee Plant

The coffee plant is a shrub that belongs to the family Rubiaceae, genus Coffea. The plant consists of one or more trunks from which stems the primary branches. In the wild the plant grows to a height of 8-10 meters whereas in plantations, to facilitate care and cropping, the plants are kept to a height of 2-2.5 metres. The leaves grow in opposite pairs, are 10-15 centimetres long and oval or lanceolate in shape. They are deep rich green in colour, glossy and fleshy on their surface and overall are not unlike laurel leaves, with the characteristic wavy edge. The flowers are white and always grow in clusters of two or three together, reaching almost 2 centimetres in size.

The fruit which develops from the ovary of the fertilized flower is called drupe or berry; it is about 15 millimetres in diameter and turns bright red when fully ripe. The outer covering of the drupe is a thick pulpy skin, which encloses a layer of jelly-like pulp, about 2 millimetres thick. Inside this are the seeds or beans. They average about 10 millimetres in length, weigh about 0.15 grams each and are green in colour, tinged with shades varying from grey to blue or from red to brown. These beans are the only part of the fruits of the coffee plant that are used: the rest is discarded during the processing

The Coffee Habitat

The ideal habitat for coffee plants is in the band between the two tropics, in three main large areas: Central South America, Central Africa and the zone comprising India, the Indonesian Islands and Papua-New Guinea.

The Coffee Varieties

For cup characteristics, coffee seeds varieties play a huge role. The first coffee trees to be cultivated originated in Ethiopia, and this same variety, Typica, is still widely grown today. Dozens of species of the genus Coffea are known, but only two are significant in economic terms: Coffea Arabica and Coffea Canephora, being the only two that are cultivated on a large scale. The two species are commonly referred to as Arabica and Robusta. Different varieties have different qualities of flavour and may also have different mouth-feels.

Chicory

Chicory means the roasted chicory powder obtained by roasting and grinding of the cleaned and dried roots of chicorium intybus. With or without the addition of edible fats and oils or sugar, like glucose or sucrose – not exceeding 2% by weight in aggregate. It must be free from dirt, extraneous matter, artificial colouring and flavouring agents.

The Genetics of Coffee

The coffee industry treated Robusta like an ugly sister to Arabica until a rather interesting genetic discovery was made. Once scientists started sequencing the genes, it became clear that the two species are not cousins or siblings. Robusta is, in fact, a parent of Arabica. Somewhere in Southern Sudan, Robusta crossed with another species called Coffea euginoides and produced Arabica.

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