The amber-colored brew that smells divine, soothes and de-stresses as it goes down the throat, is coffee, the world’s best loved hot beverage, enjoyed just as much in the snow clad mountain areas as in the hot Saharan continent. Coffee is enjoyed for its delectable taste, its magnificent aroma and strong flavour that is unbelievably refreshing. The centuries old beverage was accidentally discovered in the highlands of Ethiopia and it is believed to have travelled to the rest of the world from there. Over the years, the style of making coffee and drinking it has evolved and a typical coffee drinker is very fastidious about how he would like his coffee. The man on the move however, picks up his cuppa from any coffee shop, café or supermarket, where ground coffee beans are transformed into espresso, cappuccino or latte in machines from which the steaming cup flows out.

The coffee story that starts on small green plants and ends in a cup revolves around the coffee bean. The delectable aroma, the taste and the joyous feeling that takes away every trace of fatigue, all come from the coffee bean that now grows in 70 countries all over the world. The two most important varieties of coffee are Coffea Arabica and Coffea Robusta. The coffea Arabica is grown on small green plants in tropical and sub-tropical climates, preferably at higher altitudes. The coffee plant needs to grow for at least five years before the flowers and fruit appear, and the annual produce per plant may just amount to one pound. The green beans are hand picked as they ripen, and the natural processes adopted make the coffee more aromatic and flavorful. However, as part of the commercially grown coffee, it constitutes only a minuscule 3% of the total coffee bean output. The best coffee companies prefer this variety of coffee.

Approximately five years after planting the coffee plant, the first flowers begin to appear and these then grow into the fruit. The bean is encased in a soft pulpy outer layer, which is removed by a dry or wet method. The dry method involves drying the coffee to remove the pulp, and the wet method involves using water to wash the pulp away. The method adopted affects the final taste of the coffee, which emerges and has to be dried, sorted and graded before it is priced and sold.

Coffee production is a streamlined process that follows a strict set of procedures and stringent controls as laid down by top coffee companies in order to ensure the quality levels that are associated with the company brand. The industry has state-of-the-art-technology to test and verify moisture levels, flavour, moisture content, bean size and the cup quality before final purchases are made. The tests conducted make sure that only the finest beans are purchased and sent for roasting, before being powdered and packaged.

Coffee beans are grown in 70 countries worldwide and there is not even one country where coffee is not popular as a hot beverage. The first plantations of coffee came up in Yemen. Today, Brazil is the world’s largest producer of coffee, followed by Vietnam, Columbia and Indonesia. The familiar term “cup of java”, comes from Indonesia, where coffee planting was started by the Dutch. Some of the other countries growing coffee include, Kenya, Ethiopia, Puerto Rico, Mexico and India.

An amazing array of coffee drinks await coffee drinkers in every café and coffee outlet. Coffee Americano is a single espresso with 7 ounces of hot water added to it, and Black Coffee is a simple drip brew served without milk and is either percolated or French pressed. Café au lait is a combination of equal quantities of milk and coffee, the latter being brewed before adding. Caffe Latte is also coffee with milk except that it has espresso instead of brewed coffee and uses steaming hot milk instead of frothed milk out of the coffee machines. Cappuccino has become a popular variety of coffee and has equal portions of espresso, steamed milk and frothed milk and sprinkled with cinnamon powder or chocolate powder. Irish coffee is ideally suited for cold winter evenings with its dash of Irish whisky added to coffee and cream spooned on top. Instant coffee is made out of freeze-dried beans that are ground and sold as powder or granules, which are instantaneously soluble. Instant coffee is one of the highly saleable varieties of coffee that may not be perfect to taste but is quick and convenient. The popular mocha is simply a cappuccino or latte with some chocolate syrup that makes it sweeter and milder in taste. Turkish coffee is a blend of finely ground coffee beans and water that has a muddy consistency. It is poured into cups and drank when the powder has settled at the base of the cup. There are numerous other variations of coffee, but they have mainly been derived from these basic coffee varieties.

Till a few years ago, it was customary for coffee drinkers to get their cup at the local coffee shop or corner café. The art of coffee making with freshly roasted beans was the passion of a select few. But one increasingly finds people opting out of coffee outlets and preferring to brew their own coffee with roasted coffee beans available at local supermarkets and grinding machines available for grinding them. Roasted and powdered coffee is packaged and sold by many companies. But the coffee connoisseur is one who buys the fresh green coffee beans, roasts it himself to perfection, and grinds only so much as required for his cup. The coffee that is poured into the cup is perhaps the finest tasting, with a rich aroma and strong taste that no other coffee can surpass. Green beans are great value for money as they come cheap, and can be bought in bulk and stored as they retain their freshness for two years.

Recent research reveals that coffee has therapeutic qualities as well. It refreshes, rejuvenates and invigorates the tired person, and even helps reduce stress. Its anti-ageing qualities are being used by beauty therapists to help patients fight their ageing process. Coffee hence, has proved to be a world of goodness in a cup.

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