Coffee is a beverage prepared from roasted coffee beans. It's also a plant (Coffea) and the name of the drink that is made from this plant. The coffee plant is a bush or tree that can grow up to ten meters (about 32 feet) high, but is usually cut shorter. Coffee plants originally grew in Ethiopia, and now also grow in South America, Central America and Southeast Asia. They are an important crop for the economies of many countries.
The drink is made from the seeds of the coffee plant, called coffee beans. Coffee is usually served hot, and is a popular drink in many countries. Coffee contains a chemical called caffeine, a mild drug that keeps people awake.
To make a drink from coffee beans, the beans must first be specially prepared by drying the beans and then roasting. The beans are dried a short time after they are picked. This preserves them and makes them ready to be packed or roasted. Before the beans are made into a drink, they must be roasted or ground (crushed into tiny pieces in a coffee mill). When the ground coffee is placed into boiling water, the flavour and dark brown colour of the beans goes into the water. Making coffee is called brewing coffee. There are several different ways that coffee can be brewed.
Coffee contains a number of useful nutrients, including riboflavin, niacin, magnesium, potassium, and various phenolic compounds, or antioxidants.
Coffee types
There are two main types of coffee plants. The Coffea arabica, the most common. Most of the world's coffee is made from Arabica beans, and the Coffea robusta, which is easier to grow in places where Arabica will not grow.
Robusta is cheaper and has more caffeine than Arabica and it is used in many commercial coffee products. But Robusta tastes bitter and acidic, so people only drink it with other things. Better quality Robustas are in some espresso blends.
In the past, people gave names to new Arabica coffees from the port they came from. The two oldest Arabica coffees are "Mocha" and "Java". Today, names are more specific. They tell us the country, region, and sometimes even the property where they come from.
Single-Origin Coffee
Single-origin coffee is a term to describe the coffee varieties that are organically grown in a specific geographical area. For this reason, the overall quality of single-origin coffee is attributed to the agroecological factors in the coffee plantations. External agro ecological factors such as altitudes, temperatures, and quality of the soil are the most significant determiners that play a role in flavor note formation for the green coffee beans inside the coffee cherries.
Most of the time, single-origin coffee is the top-notch arabica varieties like Gayo Sumatra, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Lintong Sumatra, Kenya AA, and more varieties going on the list. However, premium-grade robusta can be considered single-origin varieties as long as it grows under an ideal growing conditions.
In recent years, more global coffee suppliers provide a diverse selection of single-origin coffees across the globe. Kenya, Indonesia, and Ethiopia are some dependable sources of single-origin coffees that present complex flavor notes. Today, it is relatively easy to purchase single-origin coffee from multiple countries through online shops or luxury coffee shops.
Preparing coffee
Aging
Some sorts of coffee taste better if the beans are "aged". This means that after they are picked, the beans are dried and then kept from three to eight years. This "aging" gives the coffee a less acidic taste. Coffee that has been aged is often mixed or "blended" with other coffee that is not aged.
Roasting
"Roasting" is one of the important stages in making coffee beans into coffee. When a coffee bean is roasted, it grows nearly two times bigger and changes from green to yellow to brown.
The length of time that the coffee beans are roasted makes the coffee taste different. Some types of coffee, such as Mocha and Java, are roasted for a short time. It is easy to tell from the flavour where the coffee is from. When coffee is roasted for a long time, it is harder to tell the different types apart. Green coffee beans can be bought and roasted at home in the oven.