subject: Where In The World Is Your Coffee Grown? [print this page] When we turn on our coffee machines and sip our morning coffees its hard to imagine how much effort has gone into growing, producing and transporting the ingredients that go into them.
Coffee is grown in over 70 different countries around the world and is produced most intensively around the equator, where the conditions for growing coffee are most optimum. Nowadays when you walk into your local supermarket or any high street caf youre likely to see a large variety of coffees from Costa Rican to Peruvian and even Parisian, but whats the difference between the coffees produced in these different countries?
Listed below are some of the most popular and interesting coffee producing areas from around the world and a description of the characteristics of the coffee that they produce.
African Coffee
There are three main coffee producing countries in the African continent; Kenya, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia. Ethiopia produces some of the worlds most unusual coffees and is believed to be where the Arabica coffee tree originated. African coffees are renowned for their rich and full-bodied flavour, which is due to the mildly acidic soils that the trees grow in.
Caribbean and Mexican Coffee
Mexican coffee is one of the most popular coffees in North America as it is renowned for its soft and mellow taste. Costa Rican and Jamaican coffees are known for their variety of coffees produced, all of which are very high quality and increasing in popularity. It is recommended that Costa Rican coffee should be prepared using a filter or caftiere coffee maker to fully extract the rich flavours.
South American Coffee
Some of the worlds finest coffees are produced in the Andes mountain regions of South America. Brazil is the largest supplier of coffee and the second largest coffee consuming country in the world. The coffee trade in Brazil employs over five million people and supplies 30% of the worlds coffee supply. Columbia is the second largest producing 10% of the worlds coffee. Unfortunately Perus share of the coffee trade has dropped considerably due to political and economic issues, which has increased the value of quality Peruvian coffee around the world.
Indonesian Coffee
Vietnam is one of the largest coffee producing country in world, providing 7.5% of the worlds coffee. Vietnam predominantly produces Robusta coffee beans, which are used in some of the worlds most expensive coffees including caphe cut chon, which is made from coffee that has passed through the civet cat, which gives the coffee bean an enhanced taste that is desirable by many coffee connoisseurs around the world.
Indian Coffee
Despite Indias association with tea, it is in fact one of the first countries in the world to grow coffee. Indian coffee is not as high quality as Caribbean, African or Indonesian coffee as most of the coffee is grown in the southern states of Karanataka and Tamil Nadu, where the monsoon weather varies the soil acidity seasonally. Monsooned coffee is known for its heavy bodied taste that is often used to add depth to an espresso blend.
