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Coffee trees are indigenous to Africa, and can still be
found growing wild in the hills of Ethiopia. Today coffee
is cultivated in some eighty countries in South and Central
America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia, generally in areas
lying between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. The two
biggest producers by far are Brazil and Colombia, followed
by Indonesia, Vietnam and Mexico.
The coffee tree is a tropical evergreen shrub (genus Coffea),
and two beans are generally contained in each fruit, which
when ripe resembles a red cherry. The two most commercially
important species grown are varieties of Coffea canephora
(robustas) and Coffea arabica (arabicas). The latter grows
at higher altitudes, requires less rain, and its beans have
a lower caffeine content than that of robustas.
The trees do not start fruiting until they are between three
and five years old, when each tree will yield between two
and four kg of fruit. Most coffee is still harvested by
hand, although some larger farms now employ mechanical harvesters.
After harvesting the next stage is to remove the outer layers
of the bean and create a stable, dry, green coffee bean.
Two methods may be used, 'dry' or 'wet', to get the beans
to the 'parchment' stage: within their hulls with most of
their moisture removed. They can be stored in this state
prior to processing to remove the hull, after which they
are sorted and graded and ready for export around the world.
Two important developments in coffee production have arisen
in this century: instant coffee and the decaffeination process.
lnstant coffee is made by spray or freeze drying a coffee
brew to remove the water, resulting in powder or granules
which are reconstituted simply by adding hot water. |
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