Those who prefer it say that it is not a drink that can be swallowed like water.No, they say, coffee is a drink to enjoy. To benefit, it must last a long time as it conveys the flavor. Some people like to drink more in the morning. Others prefer it after meals. But the masses are ready to drink at any time. It really is a million cup.

Coffee has come a long way in a short time. As a beverage, its 700-year history dates back half that of its competitor, tea. But where does the coffee come from?

According to legend, some herders in Ethiopia noted that sheep and goats were awake at night after eating the leaves of a particular tree. The shepherds tasted the leaves and berries and finally prepared a drink that turned out to be exciting.

Traders and travelers from the Arabian Peninsula brought plants from Ethiopia and did well in their new environment. In fact, from this migration to the Arabian Peninsula, the plant receives its scientific name, Kofi Arabica. The coffee lasted almost two hundred years, a secret kept by the Arabs. Others learned of the plant, and by the end of the 17th century the Dutch were already growing it in Java, and later in Suriname on the north coast of South America.

Despite its current popularity, coffee was not immediately accepted as a popular drink. Opposition to its use was raised for moral and religious reasons. Muslims are divided in their opinions on the religious relevance of this activated drink. In 1674, a group of British women asked the government to ban the use of drinks that they believed tended to ruin the male family. However, its popularity continued to grow steadily until it gained a reputation as a favorite hot drink in almost every country with a mild or cold climate.

Coffee achievements

To achieve its greatest victory, coffee first had to find the most suitable climate for its cultivation: humid and humid, with other basic requirements, such as the rich sandy soils of the highlands and a continuous temperature between 60 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit. We realized that the Dutch brought it to South America and that, like the Arabs before them, they tried to turn coffee into a national fraction.

In 1727 alone, Sergeant Francisco de Mello Paletta secretly transported Guyana's first coffee plants to Brazil. He and the others did not realize the great consequences of this act. Brazil now produces around a third of the world coffee crop and is now the world's leading source, producing three times as much as Colombia, its closest competitor.

The Brazilian performance of each tree is incredible. The average annual yield of a Brazilian coffee plant is between one and six kilograms of berries, while in other countries the yield can vary between seven ounces and more than one and a half kilograms. Why the big difference? In fact, Brazilian trees can produce two or three crops a year.

Coffee and berries

In general, coffee plants begin to bear fruit at the age of three and continue to produce twenty-five to fifty years after year.

At first, the berries are like little green olives. Then it turns red and, when ripe, turns dark red with a smooth, shiny surface. In the phase when the fruit is red, the distance between the beans and the outer shell contains a sweet nectar that really delights the palate. Berry selection must be made on time. If it is not fully ripe, it will have no flavor; If they are ripe, they fall to the ground and are ruined.

After coffee begins to accumulate, workers preserve it from early in the morning until late at night. There is a good reason for this, since sudden rains can ruin the harvest.

The berries are then crushed and either sent to dryers or manually placed on flat surfaces to dry in the sun. If time permits, three to ten days are sufficient to complete drying. When the berries can be broken manually, now is a good time to go through a peeler.

Coffee classification

People are often confused by the variety of coffee brands to choose from: quality, blends, and price ranges. Behind it all, there is a careful classification of coffee, based on the type, purity, size and flavor of the beans.

For example, the type classification is determined by taking samples from different bags. By counting the number of defects in each nine-ounce sample, the specialist classifies the shipment as higher or lower.

Each fault is assigned several points or a specific value. Defects can be of two types, namely impurities such as stones or branches which have not been removed by hand or hand sorting and bean defects due to deficient cultivation methods.

Then comes the glass test. Experts, trained to demonstrate whether the coffee is mild or strong, take a sip of sample after sample, never swallowing, but simply allowing the coffee to sit briefly in the throat before spitting out.

The most well-known brands of coffee do not differ much in terms of the types of coffee that make up their blends; However, each has a distinctive characteristic that some people like. The mixer uses its materials as an artist to produce a balanced and pleasant result. For example, a blend may contain "brazil" to give body and "sweetness" due to the delicacy of its aroma. By combining flavors, aromas and colors, the blender looks for a product that will illuminate the eyes, stimulate the palate and stand out in the aroma.

Some of the ground coffee on the market is made up of cheaper beans, since all the beans are ground into a powder, and who knows if the beans were of the best variety or not?

Some valuable tips

Due to its stimulating ability, coffee is often thrown away as a drink for people with heart problems or with a very nervous temper. But even among those with normal health, there must be an awareness of the tendency to create coffee drinking habits. Some people find it healthier to drink the coffee from which the caffeine has been extracted.

However, if you drink coffee, it may be beneficial to buy unroasted roasted coffee instead of ground coffee. Whenever possible, it is best to have ground coffee beans present. This way you can be sure of fresher coffee and are less likely to be fooled into mixing other ingredients with coffee, ingredients such as sand, corn, beans, peanuts or blood. , to name a few.

A simple test of the purity of ground coffee involves pouring a pinch of ground coffee over a cup of water. If the coffee is pure, the beans float as they absorb water very slowly. If the coffee contains any foreign matter, the bean will quickly absorb the water and sink to the bottom of the cup.

If properly protected, roasted coffee lasts ten to twenty days without losing its flavor. But if it is exposed to the air, roasted or roasted, it loses its aroma, flavor and color. Moisture will give you a musty smell. For these reasons, coffee should be stored in a dry place in tightly closed containers.

The Many Uses of Coffee

The appealing taste of coffee can delight the palate in a number of ways. For example, a cold coffee with sugar and a slice of lemon is quite refreshing. During the warmer months of the year, cold coffee and coffee flavored ice cream are popular. Some also use coffee as an ingredient in this delicious treat: coffee cake. However, the most popular form, the favorite of millions of people around the world, is still coffee or milk.

But scientists are testing many other uses for coffee beans. For example, coffee ash is a good fertilizer. In addition, disinfectants and insulation for walls, floors and ceilings were prepared with coffee. Glycerin can be produced from coffee oil, and coffee oil can be used in paints, soaps, and a variety of other products.

Thus, the coffee bean is used more and more. But its popularity, of course, is above all a drink. Think about it! Americans drink more than 800 million cups of coffee a day. The average American consumes about five kilograms of coffee per year. And nearly 4 billion pounds of coffee is consumed each year in the United States. Interestingly, this number is close to all coffee production in Brazil. Is there any doubt that coffee is the drink of millions of people?