Coffea arabica Essay

I. A. About the Industry Coffee is a brewed beverage with a distinct aroma and flavor, prepared from the roasted seeds of the Coffea plant. A coffee plant is usually a bush or small tree that grows to 10-12 feet (although it can grow up to 32 feet) and can produce coffee beans for decades. It can live for between 60 and 70 years. It can take up to four years for a coffee tree to reach maturity and bear fruit. The English word coffee originates from the Arabic word ‘kaweh’ meaning strength or vigor. The seeds are found in coffee â€Å"cherries†, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia, South Asia and Africa. Green (unroasted) coffee is one of the most traded agricultural commodities in the world. Coffee is slightly acidic (pH 5. 0–5. 1) and can have a stimulating effect on humans because of its caffeine content. Commercial coffee is grown in an area between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn affectionately known as the â€Å"bean belt†. In order for the coffee plant to thrive, it needs moderate sunshine and rain, porous soil and constant temperatures between 65 and 75? F. Before the coffee bean can be used to make coffee, it has to be roasted. The roasting process changes the color of the green coffee beans. First they turn yellow and then brown. The longer they roast the darker they become. The strongest roasts result in black beans. At the same time, the heat causes changes in the taste and smell of the beans. Aromatic oils are released that bring out the flavor of coffee. In the nineteenth century, people roasted their coffee at home on their stoves or over open fires. Nowadays, the commercial coffee roasters use enormous ovens to roast the coffee. Temperature and time are carefully controlled, sometimes by computers, because just a few seconds can dramatically change the final flavor of the coffee. The roasting can be done in just a minute. In general, a light roast gives a mild taste, a medium roast produces a well–rounded, rich flavor and aroma and a high roast gives a strong, distinctive flavor. Coffee is one of the most consumed drinks after water. Coffee is one of the most traded commodities in the world after oil. Over 1400 million cups of coffee are drunk around the world each day. The majority of coffee is consumed at breakfast. Coffee berries, which contain the coffee seeds, are produced by several species of small evergreen bush of the genus Coffea. The two most commonly grown are also the most highly regarded Coffea arabica, and the â€Å"robusta† form of the hardier Coffea canephora. The latter is resistant to the devastating coffee leaf rust (Hemileia vastatrix). Once ripe, coffee berries are picked, processed, and dried. The seeds are then roasted to varying degrees, depending on the desired flavor, before being ground and brewed to create coffee. Coffee can be prepared and presented in a variety of ways. An important export commodity, coffee was the top agricultural export for twelve countries in 2004, and it was the world’s seventh-largest legal agricultural export by value in 2005. Some controversy is associated with coffee cultivation and its impact on the environment. Consequently, organic coffee is an expanding market. The top 10 coffee-producing countries are: Brazil, Ethiopia, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Guatemala , Vietnam, Cote d’Ivoire, Mexico and Uganda. The emotional and physical benefits of coffee are numerous. Not only does coffee taste good, it can stimulate, relax and refresh the body. Coffee stimulates the senses through its caffeine content which stimulates metabolism and supports mental alertness and concentration. The body absorbs it within 30 minutes, and its positive effects may last 2-5 hours. Coffee relaxes the body because it hydrates it. Because water is the main ingredient in a cup of coffee, it helps the body work towards its daily water needs and is practically free of calories. Coffee also refreshes the body with its wealth of polyphenols. Polyphenols are nutrients that help maintain the body in good health over time. They are also found in green tea, fruits and cocoa. B. Brief History of Coffee The history of coffee goes at least as far back as the thirteenth century. The story of Kaldi, the 9th-century Ethiopian goat herder who discovered coffee while searching for his goats, did not appear in writing until 1671 and is probably apocryphal. From Ethiopia, coffee was said to have spread to Egypt and Yemen. The earliest credible evidence of either coffee drinking or knowledge of the coffee tree appears in the middle of the fifteenth century, in the Sufi monasteries of Yemen. By the 16th century, it had reached the rest of the Middle East, Persia, Turkey, and Northern Africa. Coffee then spread to Balkans, Italy, and to the rest of Europe, to Indonesia, Asia and then to America. Wild coffee’s energizing effect was likely first discovered in the northeast region of Ethiopia. Coffee cultivation first took place in southern Arabia; the earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking appears in the middle of the 15th century in the Sufi shrines of Yemen. In East Africa and Yemen, coffee was used in native religious ceremonies that were in competition with the Christian Church. As a result, the Ethiopian Church banned its secular consumption until the reign of Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia. The beverage was also banned in Ottoman Turkey during the 17th century for political reasons and was associated with rebellious political activities in Europe In the Philippines, coffee has a history as rich as its flavor,† says the National Coffee Development Board (NCDB), whose main objective is to develop and promote the Philippine coffee industry through technical assistance and credit programs for coffee farms and through marketing and promotions of coffee for domestic and export markets. History records show that the first coffee tree was introduced in Lipa, Batangas in 1740 by a Spanish Franciscan monk. From there, coffee growing spread to other parts of Batangas like Ibaan, Lemery, San Jose, Taal, and Tanauan. Batangas owed much of its wealth to the coffee plantations in these areas and Lipa eventually became the coffee capital of the Philippines. â€Å"By the 1860s, Batangas was exporting coffee to America through San Francisco,† the NCDB- records. â€Å"When the Suez Canal was opened, a new market started in Europe as well. Seeing the success of the Batangenos, Cavite followed suit by growing the first coffee seedlings in 1876 in Amadeo. In spite of this, Lipa still reigned as the center for coffee production in the Philippines and Batangas barako was commanding five times the price of other Asian coffee beans. † In 1880, the Philippines was the fourth largest exporter of coffee beans, and. when the coffee rust hit Brazil, Africa and Java (Indonesia), it became the only source of coffee beans around the world. The coffee rust disease almost wiped it out during the last quarter of the 19th century. Coffee registered a total production of 123, 934 metric tons valued at P6818, 18 million in 1995. Today, however, the Philippines produces only . 012% of the world’s coffee supply. Efforts are being undertaken to revive the industry however, with the majority of coffee produced in the mountain areas of Batangas, Bukidnon, Benguet, Cavite, Kalinga, Apayao, Davao, and Claveria.