subject: Espresso - The Background [print this page] Espresso - The Background Espresso - The Background
Have you ever wondered about coffee? If you are like me, you probably love it! But have you ever really considered, where did this coffee originate from? We consider the history of coffee in this article.
When it comes to coffee makers, there are literally thousands out on the markets. Its an obvious cash cow because the world-wide love of the morning brew is never going to fizzle out. Coffee has been on the top of the market for hundreds of years. According to accepted history, coffee was first consumed in the ninth century, discovered in the high lands of Ethiopia, it spread quickly across the middle east, up through Egypt and into Yemen. By the 15th century coffee had permeated Armenia, Persia, Turkey and Northern Africa. When is spread to Italy things really began to catch on shooting up into Europe and then to the rest of the world, Indonesia and the Americas.
The coffee bean is actually the seed of a berry, often referred to as the coffee cherry. These green little cherries grow on evergreen bushes the most common being Coffea robusta, and Coffea Arabica. These two species being the originators of the drink in Ethiopia and Yemen. But there are actually at least 5 other prominent though less popular species of the plant that grow in Latin america, Southeast Asia and Africa. The coffee bean is harvested, dried and roasted, it doesn't matter what coffee you are drinking, those coffee beans have been roasted, through different methods, and in that way the many flavors of bean out there are actually manufactured.
In 2004 coffee was the top agricultural export for 12 countries and in 2005 it was the world's seventh largest legal agricultural export by value. There is no arguing, love of coffee is a world wide thing that we just can't escape from.
