subject: Know More About Rich And Tasty Coffee Beans [print this page] Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages around the world. The seeds of the coffee plant are known as coffee beans. These seeds are found inside the red or purple fruit known as coffee cherries or coffee berries. These seeds are called beans because they look very similar to true beans. The coffee cherries usually contain two beans. The cherries which contain only a single bean are known as peaberries. Like white rice and Brazil nuts, coffee seeds consist of endosperm.
Coffee beans were cultivated for the first time in Yemen, around 850 C.E. Coffee plant cultivation then slowly spread across rest of Arabia. The plants were carefully guarded by the Yemenites. Some coffee plants were smuggled out to Dutch. Coffee seeds are a major cash crop. They form an important export import product, accounting for over 50% foreign exchange earnings of some of the developing nations. One of the leading importers of coffee is the United States of America. The country was first introduced to the coffee plant around 1723. Further, South America is responsible for nearly 45% of the worlds total coffee exports.
One of the most well-known varieties of coffee around the world is Columbian coffee. It accounts for more than one tenth of the worlds total coffee supply. One of the most costly varieties of coffee around the world is Kopi Luwak. It is priced between $100 and $600 USD per pound. Some of the leading coffee brands across the world are Bourbon, Maragogype, Caturra and Typica.
Coffee beans are different from espresso beans. The espresso beans are very rich in taste. They are a concoction of beans. Though the formula of the mixture can be determined the exact proportions in which the ingredients are blended cannot be easily determined. The two most important varieties of coffee beans are Coffee robusta and Coffee arabica. Coffee robusta is also widely known as Coffee canephora. Nearly 80% of the coffee produced across the world is arabica and robusta accounts for 20% of the coffee production. Further, robusta beans contain 1.7 to 4% caffeine and arabica beans contain 0.8 to 1.4% caffeine. There are many different varieties of arabica. Each of these coffee beans have distinct characteristics and flavors. Most of these varieties are named after the region where they are predominantly found.
The arabica beans are grown at temperature ranging between 15 and 24 degree Celsius. The robusta beans are grown at temperatures between 24 and 30 degree Celsius. The coffee plant fruit is handpicked when it gets ripe. It is picked by using either selective picking or strip picking. Once the beans are picked, they are processed. The beans are processed by two methods, the wet processing and the dry processing. The wet processing method is widely used in Africa and Central America. The dry processing method is simpler and cheaper than the wet processing method. It produces lower quality beans. This process is widely used in Africa and Brazil.
