A little of the history of coffee

Coffee - kind of small evergreen trees or shrubs of the family Rubiaceae. Reach 12 meters in height. Leaves entire, leathery, dark green.

The flowers are regular shape, both sexes, white with a long tube and a separate five-limb collected for 3 - 7 in the leaf axils. The fruits kostochkoobraznye, more or less juicy, red or black and blue size of a large cherry. Each has two flattened fruit seeds, so-called coffee beans. Flowering and fruiting starts from the 4th, 5th year.

One year tree gives about 1 kg of grains. There are more than fifty species of coffee. It is widespread in the tropics, mainly in Arabia, Africa, Asia and South America.

One of the most famous coffee - Arabian, a drink made from beans which first began to be used by people. In the 16th - 17th century Arabia was the only country to grow coffee. In the first half of the 17th century began to drink coffee consumed in Europe.

In the 18th century, the coffee tree transported to America. Seeds are coffee sugar, protein and tannin, fatty oils, organic acids, and 0.8 - 2.43% (depending on the variety) caffeine.

Seeds for coffee beans are roasted for 25 - 30 minutes at 180 - 200 degrees Celsius, after which they acquire their taste, flavor and a pleasant brown color. Coffee also called coffee beans and drink which is produced from them.

Species and varieties of coffee

For the first time people paid attention to the coffee culture in Africa, and its cultivation was born, naturally there. Then, coffee spread to the first favorable to its growing Asian countries, and later the Americas, taking the place of the main agricultural crops in many states.

This story has led to the emergence of the spread of hundreds of coffees from around the world. All types and coffees have distinctive features depending on climate and in which the soil from which coffee grows. Different varieties of naturally different taste, flavor, caffeine content, extract content. For some elite varieties is important not only in what country it is grown, but also on what specific plantation.

Currently cultivated for industrial purposes are basically three kinds of coffee: Arabica (90% of plants), Robusta and Liberica.

Arabica grows around the world, in the tropics of Africa, Asia and America. Robusta discovered only in the 20th century and began to cultivate for industrial purposes, when it was discovered that some consumers prefer coffee soft and delicate taste of Arabica more pungent, bitter, and you may say, earthy taste of Robusta (from the Latin robustus - "strong", "reliable "," solid "). These trees are planted mainly in Madagascar and Guinea.