Coffee
Characteristics & History
Coffee Quiz

• New England (light brown, dry surface)
  
• American (medium brown, dry surface)
  
• Viennese (medium dark brown, possibly flecks of oil on surface)
  
• French (moderately dark brown, light oil on surface)
  
• Espresso (dark brown, surface can range from very oily to barely slick depending on roast procedure) Italian (dark, blackish brown, definite oily surface; most roasting establishments stop here)
  
• Dark French or Spanish (very dark brown, almost black, very oily).

• Cinnamon (very light) · Light (light end of the American norm)
  
• Medium
  
• Medium-high (American norm)
  
• City; high (slightly darker than norm)
  
• Full city (definitely darker than norm; sometimes patches of oil on surface)
  
• Dark (dark brown, shiny surface; equivalent to espresso or
• French)
  
• Heavy (very dark brown, shiny surface; equivalent to Italian)
  

Roast Descriptions:

The most lightly roasted coffee (usually called cinnamon; is very light brown in color, will display a strong, sometimes sour acidity, little aroma, an often grainy taste, and thin body. The surface will be dry.

As the coffee achieves a more complete but still relatively light roast (New England, light); the acidify notes will be powerful, and the varietal characteristics, which often are nuances of acidity, will be pronounced. The body will be developed, but not as fully as it will become in a somewhat darker roast. The surface of the bean remains dry, as the flavor oils continue to develop in tiny pockets inside the bean

At a moderately light to medium-brown roast (light, medium, American; the acidity will be bright but less overpowering, the varietal characteristics still pronounced, and body fuller. For most traditional East-Coast American coffee-drinkers this style represents a "good" coffee taste

At a slightly darker, medium-brown roast (medium, medium high, American, city; acidity remains strong though perhaps richer, varietal characteristics muted but still clear, and body still fuller. This is the traditional roasting norm for most of the American west.

At a full city, often labeled Viennese roast; acidity is slightly more muted and body slightly heavier. The surface of the bean may remain dry, or oils may appear in tiny droplets or patches as they begin to rise from pockets inside the bean to its surface

At a moderately darker roast (espresso, European, high); the acidity is largely folded into a general impression of richness, the varietal characteristics muted virtually beyond recognition, the body full, and the bittersweet notes characteristic of dark-roasted coffees rich and resonant. At this roast the surface of the bean always displays some oil, ranging from a few droplets to a shiny coating.

When coffee is brought to a definitely dark roast (French, Italian, dark); the bittersweet or dark roast taste completely dominates, the body begins to thin again, and all remaining varietal character and acidity notes are transmuted inside the pungent richness of the dark roast flavor, which may range from rounded and mellow (in less acidify coffees) to bordering on bitter (in coffees that begin very acidity). The surface of the bean will be bright with oil.

With very dark brown roasts (Italian, Dark French, Spanish, heavy); the body continues to thin as more and more of the oils are evaporated by the roast, the bitterest side of the bittersweet equation becomes more dominant, and a slight charred taste may appear. The bean is shiny with flavor oils driven to the surface.

The ultimate dark roast, almost black (Dark French, Spanish); is definitely a special taste. The body is even thinner, more bitter and less sweet, and burned or charred notes dominate. All coffees regardless of origin tend to taste about the same. The surface of the bean is bright with oil. Home roasters typically have an opportunity to sample this ultimate dark roast, since sooner or later we all produce a batch whether we plan to or not.

Estate Coffees
Many owners of quality-conscious coffee, and in some cases, cooperatives of smaller growers, establish estate identities for their coffees. Estates sell their coffees directly to dealers without mixing them with other coffees from the same region, in theory insuring that these coffees reflect consistent growing conditions and processing practices.

Estate coffees have some advantages. Number one: The estate concept helps identify coffees in precise terms. If you buy the same coffee a second time it most likely will display the same characteristics that attracted you to it in the first place. A second advantage to buying by estate is that you can select coffees according to specific growing practices, social practices, or processing techniques. A third advantage to estate coffees is that many offer superior or distinctive versions of regional taste characteristics.

But, there are some disadvantages to buying coffee by estate or cooperative? You may be limiting yourself from tasting outstanding coffees that simply are not marketed by estate. Second, estate coffees may be very good, but they may not be warrant the considerably higher price often asked for them. Finally, many of the estate and designated cooperative coffees tend to work through a few selected wholesale roasters or dealers and so their availability is often limited.


A Brief History Of Coffee
Coffee was first discovered in Eastern Africa around 850 AD in an area of, Kaffa, (hence coffee) Ethiopia. Goat herders noticed that some of the animals were more active after eating the red berries of an indigenous shrub. Curious about this phenomenon, they tasted them for themselves they found that those who ate the berries said they felt happy and awake. Gradually the people of the region began to eat them, initially as berries, and then as grains dried by the sun. Coffee drinking was an important social and cultural tradition in Ethiopia and The coffee drinking ceremonies are important events providing an opportunity for the men to discuss issues of social significance and women to have time to talk to each other while doing their traditional weaving, spinning and embroidery work

Note: The Coffee plant, sometimes referred to as a tree, grows 8 to 10 feet high, has shiny green leaves and develops a white flower that that has a very enjoyable aroma similar to jasmine.The average tree is five years old before producing its first crop and yields only 1 1/2 pounds of grains a year. Once dried and roasted this equates to a pound of roasted coffee.

In the fourteenth century, Monks hearing about this amazing fruit dried the berries so that they could be transported to distant monasteries where the berries were eaten and the dried grains mixed in liquid to provide stimulation for a more awakened time for prayer. The Coffee berries found their way from Ethiopia to the Arabian Peninsula, and were first cultivated in what today is the country of Yemen. The Arabs calling the liquid "qhaweh" or "qahwa" as translated - "the wine of Arabia."

In Turkey, the 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.

Coffee first arrived on the European continent in the 1600's by means of Venetian trade merchants. The new beverage received harsh criticism from wine merchants who saw it as a threat to their market and asked the Pope to ban it calling it the "Drink of the Devil." To their surprise, the Pope like it, and 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.

The Dutch introduced coffee to Indonesia. Legend has it that the original coffee plant, which was introduced into Java, in 1696, was one of the seven highjacked coffee plants from Arabia. Java became a major coffee producing area. However, both the port of Mocha in Yemen and the island of Java in Indonesia could not ship enough coffee to supply the growing coffee demand in Europe. It should be noted that these two ports' names are how coffee got the name Java and Mocha.

It is said, King Louis XIV called in a favor from a Dutch trader and wanted him to supply him with a plant. This Dutch trader obtained a plant form either Mocha or Java; beings how both were on his itinerary and brought it back to Holland. From Holland the single coffee plant went to Paris.

In the 1700's, coffee found its way to the Americas by means of a French infantry captain, Chevalier Gabriel Mathiew de Clieu 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 18 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 Haiti, and most of the islands of the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America.

Finally, to round out our set of coffee notables, is the Don Juan of coffee propagation, Francisco de Mello Palheta of Brazil. The emperor of Brazil was interested in cutting his country into the coffee market, and in about 1727 sent de Mello Palheta to French Guiana to obtain seeds.
Like the Arabians, and the Dutch, the French didn't want their coffee plants cultivated by other countries either. Legend has it Don Francisco had a hard time getting at those seeds. Fortunately for coffee drinkers, Don Francisco so successfully charmed the French governor's wife that she sent him, buried in a bouquet of flowers, all the seeds and shoots he needed to initiate the billion-dollar coffee industry of Brazil.

The noble tree also sent shoots to the island of Reunion, in the Indian Ocean, then called the Isle of Bourbon. This plant was found to be a somewhat different variety of Arabica, with smaller beans, and was named var.Bourbon. The famed Santos coffees of Brazil the Oaxaca coffees of Mexico are said to be offspring of the Bourbon tree. For the final irony, we have to wait until 1893, when coffee seed from Brazil was introduced into Kenya and what is now Tanzania, only a few hundred miles south of its original home in Ethiopia, thus completing a six-century circumnavigation of the globe.

Robusta coffee grows indigenously in Uganda and the Congo. The second coming of Robusta coffee took place around the 1902 when Africa, just being explored by the Europeans, found Robusta coffee,. The seeds were exported right away. Robusta coffee plants found there way to Madagascar, West Africa, Angola, West Indies, and Vietnam. This was because even as late as the 1900's, having fertile coffee beans for export is a crime in most coffee growing countries. Since central Africa was not well controlled, explorers took what they wanted and the spread of Robusta coffee began on a relatively large scale.

Although the Dutch introduced coffee in America during the 1660's, tea was still the beverage of choice among the American colonist. The boycott of tea due to taxes imposed by the King of England led to the Boston Tea Party in 1773. This important fight for freedom established coffee as the traditional democratic drink of Americans.

Coffee has quickly become the beverage of choice around the world. In the United States alone, an estimated 45 million cups are brewed every day.

Espresso, a recent innovation in the way to prepare coffee, obtained its origin in 1822, with the innovation of the first crude espresso machine in France. The Italians perfected this wonderful machine and were the first to manufacture it. Today, Espresso has become such an integral part of Italian life and culture.

Today coffee industry is a giant global business 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.