Coffee
Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world. Dark in colour, with a slightly acidic bitter taste, it is prepared by roasting coffee beans and subsequently grinding them into a thin powder. Coffee plants are grown in over 70 countries; these are mainly located in the equatorial regions of Southeast Asia, the Americas, India and Africa. When the coffee plant reaches maturity, its seeds are picked, processed and dried ; thereafter the beans are roasted to varying degrees, depending on the desired flavour. The two most commonly grown coffee beans are: the highly esteemed arabica variety and the less sophisticated but stronger and hardy robusta.
The drink
Coffee has a stimulating effect on humans due to its caffeine content. The drink can be prepared and presented in a variety of ways: espresso, Turkish, French press, Greek, or in the form of dried instant granules. Coffee can be served hot or cold, black or with milk. The effects of caffeine on human’s health, has been at the centre of many studies; results differ in terms of coffee’s relative benefits; however recent research suggests that a moderate coffee consumption, can be mildly beneficial in healthy adults and may reduce the risk of some diseases.
History
Coffee crops first appeared in Southern Arabia. The earliest evidence of coffee-drinking, is reported to have taken place during religious ceremonies in the Sufi shrines in Yemen and the Horn of Africa, in the mid 15th century. Over the course of time, coffee found its way into Europe thanks to the Venetians and their thriving trade with North Africa and the Middle East.
At first coffee was considered to be the devil’s drink, but later Pope Clemente the VII, declared it to be a Christian drink and the first coffee house in Europe opened in Rome in 1645. Coffee plants are not indigenous to Brazil, the first plants were brought there in 1727, but in a mere hundred years by 1830, Brazil had become the biggest producer of coffee in the world.
Coffee today
Curently coffee beans are one of the most traded agricultural commodities in the world, second only to petroleum. For this reason, it has become a vital cash crop for many developing countries; over time it has become a primary source of income towards their national G.D.P. However in recent years, there has been mounting controversy surrounding the coffee industry, owing to the fact that despite the billions of dollars tied up in the sector, those who actually produce and harvest the crop live in abject conditions of total poverty. A further point of criticism, is that coffee plantations are proven to have a negative impact on the environment due to land clearing. This is especially the case in countries such as Brazil, where huge swathes of the rainforest have been destroyed to make way for the plantations; further issues also regard the excessive amount of water used for the irrigation of this crop. Fortunately in recent years consumers have become more aware of the negative impact of these practices, which has resulted in an increase in sales of fair trade and organically produced coffee.