That Black Bitter Beverage You Drink Every Day Come from… Where?-NAMI

That Black Bitter Beverage You Drink Every Day Come from… Where?

           Millions of people wake up in morning and drink a cup of coffee before get out home to go for work. And when you want to wake yourself up, calm yourself down, or when you just feel like it, you drink a cup, right? You can get it in any café, or from Vending machine, in everywhere. But only few of us are actually curious about its origin. Like myself, I have been drinking coffee almost every day more than 10 years since I was a primary school student and I am sort of addicted with it. But I am not well-informed of detailed knowledge of coffee. Therefore, I would like to search it by myself and share interesting facts here.

           Today, as my first contribution for coffee, I will briefly tell you about the history and the geographical information of coffee.

           You may think that the history of coffee is short and was mostly used in recent ages but in fact coffee has a rich and colorful history dating back over a thousand years. The flavors and how to brew may be changed over such a long term, but it is sure to state that its ability to energize people is not spoiled.

           Coffee was first discovered in Eastern Africa in an area we know today as Ethiopia.[1] According to the legend, an Arabian shepherd named Kaldi found his goats dancing joyously around a dark green leafed shrub with bright red cherries in the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Kaldi soon determined that it was the bright red cherries on the shrub that were causing the peculiar euphoria and after trying the cherries himself, he learned of their powerful effect. The stimulating effect was then exploited by monks at a local monastery to stay awake during extended hours of prayer and distributed to other monasteries around the world.[2] Coffee, as a beverage, was born.



           Coffee berries were transported from Ethiopia to the Arabian Peninsula, and were first cultivated in what today is the country of Yemen. From there, coffee traveled to Turkey where coffee beans were roasted for the first time over open fires. The roasted beans were crushed, and then boiled in water, creating a crude version of the beverage we enjoy today.[3]

Coffee first arrived on the European continent by means of Venetian trade merchants. Once in Europe this new beverage fell under harsh criticism from the Catholic Church. Many felt the pope should ban coffee, calling it the drink of the devil. To their surprise, the pope, already a coffee drinker, blessed coffee declaring it a truly Christian beverage. Coffee houses spread quickly across Europe becoming centers for intellectual exchange. Many great minds of Europe used this beverage, and forum, as a springboard to heightened thought and creativity.

In the 1700's, coffee found its way to the Americas by means of a French infantry captain who nurtured one small plant on its long journey across the Atlantic. This one plant, transplanted to the Caribbean Island of Martinique, became the predecessor of over 19 million trees on the island within 50 years. It was from this humble beginning that the coffee plant found its way to the rest of the tropical regions of South and Central America. Coffee was declared the national drink of the then colonized United States by the Continental Congress, in protest of the excessive tax on tea levied by the British crown.[4]

Today, coffee is a giant global industry employing more than 20 million people. This commodity ranks second only to petroleum in terms of dollars traded worldwide. With over 400 billion cups consumed every year, coffee is the world's most popular beverage. If you can imagine, in Brazil alone, over 5 million people are employed in the cultivation and harvesting of over 3 billion coffee plants.[5] Sales of premium specialty coffees in the United States have reached the multi-billion dollar level, and are increasing significantly on an annual basis.

And now I will talk about Coffee Belt. You may know that coffee plants can be grown up only in warm places. The specific areas are Central and South America, Africa and the Middle East, and of course Southeast Asia. They are labeled as the “Coffee Bean Belt” where all commercially grown coffee is produced.[6] The best coffee beans in the world come from these regions because of their rich soil, moist tropical climate with high altitudes and the perfect temperatures amiable for growing the best coffees in the planet.[7] So the Coffee Belt is the imaginary line that wraps around the globe and houses all of Africa’s, South America’s, Central America’s, and Asia’s best coffee-growing regions.

           I found this quick guide below on the Internet that is showing how coffees taste differently from region to region.[8] You can take a look at it. By the way, my favorite one is Kona coffee from Hawaii.



Central America

Costa Rica – medium body, citrus, nutty

Guatemala – can be spicy, smoky, chocolate, earthy or delicate, floral, fruity, sweet

Honduras – crisp, light-bodied, nutty, spicy

Mexico – light/medium bodied, milk chocolate, bright, lively, fruity

Nicaragua – mild acidity, vanilla, hazelnut, chocolate, pear

Panama – zesty, lively, spicy, lemongrass, herbal

El Salvador – pretty similar to Nicaraguas



South America

Bolivia – medium body, caramel, chocolate, can be flowery and fruity

Brazil – medium/full body, low acidity, milk chocolate, fruity

Colombia – medium body, medium acidity, fruity, nutty

Ecuador – light/medium body, medium acidity, caramel, fruit, nutty

Peru – medium body, medium acidity, spice, nutty, chocolate, earthy



Africa and Arabia

Burundi – full body, low acidity, grassy, chocolate

Congo – full body, low acidity, intense, chocolate, nutty, tobacco, vanilla, earthy, spicy

Ethiopia – the birthplace of coffee and the most diverse region in the world, it’s very hard to find terms that can accurately describe this country’s coffee; they can have full body, chocolate, cherry, creamy, earthy, blueberry or medium body, flowery, herbal, nutty

Kenya – full body, zesty, citrus, floral, herbal

Rwanda – medium body, chocolate, floral, nutty

Tanzania – medium body, woody, earthy, spicy

Uganda – full body, chocolate, creamy, vanilla

Yemen – full body, chocolate, winy

Zambia – medium body, tangy, citrus, caramel, bittersweet

Zimbabwe – medium body, woody, low acidity, herbal, vegetal, spicy



Indonesia and Asia

Bali – full body, low acidity, creamy, nutty, chocolate, vanilla, earthy

Flores – full body, low acidity, floral, earthy, woody, syrupy sweet

India – full body, spicy, medium acidity, tropical fruit; monsooned Malabars are very intense, full body, tobacco, low acidity

Java – full body, chocolate, nutty, low acidity, creamy

Myanmar – medium body, medium acidity, similar to Brazils

Papua New Guinea – full body, medium acidity, fruity, earthy,

Sumatra – full body, intense, earthy, woody, gritty, low acidity

Sulawesi – full body, low acidity, herbal, spicy, woody

Timor – full body, low acidity, floral, woody, earthy, herbal



Islands and Others

Australia – medium body, medium acidity, mild, juicy, syrupy

Dominican Republic – medium body, medium acidity, mild, sweet, caramel,

Hawaii – medium body, low acidity, creamy, vanilla, brown sugar

Jamaica – medium body, low acidity, tobacco, mellow, sweet

Puerto Rico – medium body, low acidity, smoky, creamy, buttery, nutty, sweet

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[1] Coffee Fair. The History of Coffee… Available: http://www.coffeefair.com/coffee-facts-history.htm Last accessed on 19th June 19, 2012

[2] RichInFlavor.com - Coffee at It's Best!. The History of Coffee Available: http://www.richinflavor.com/history-of-coffee/ Last accessed on 19^th June 19, 2012

[3] Ibid

[4] Ibid

[5] Ibid

[6] www.bizter.co.uk. (2008). Coffee Belt Available: http://www.bizter.co.uk/coffee-belt/

[7] a table in the corner of the café. (2012). The Coffee Belt Available: http://www.cornerofthecafe.com/coffee-101/the-coffee-belt/

[8] Ibid