Where is the birthplace of coffee

Where is the birthplace of coffee? Certainly not in Europe. She is in Africa. In fact, Ethiopia gave coffee to the world. It was in this state that they first learned how to grow the famous Arabica. This country to date is the main beverage producer in the world. Annually about 200-240 thousand tons of raw grains are harvested here. According to statistics, this culture is cultivated by a quarter of the country's population. At the same time, a rather significant part of wild growing coffee grounds is still not processed. This country is the real home of coffee, because it was given to it by nature itself.

Historically, the concepts of "coffee" - "Ethiopia" have become almost synonymous. It is in this country, in the mountainous area of Kefa (from which the name of the drink comes) that the Arabica variety grows. In ancient times, coffee was not used for brewing a drink. The Berbers and the Ethiopians reveled in the balls rolling from the crushed grains. They also insisted on wine.

Although the birthplace of coffee - Ethiopia, but the Arabs learned to prepare the drink first. It was they who began to soak the grains in the water and wait for it to be infused. So it turned out an invigorating drink, which was simply necessary for the indefatigable nomads who are forever on the road. Later coffee beans learned to roast on a fire and boil with boiling water. In the 13th century, the grains were pre-dried in the sun and then calcined on charcoal.

Today coffee in Ethiopia grows both on small plantations of peasants, and on large - on an industrial scale. Like a millennium ago, most of the products are produced thanks to wild coffee trees.

The natural thickets of these trees are very dense. Cultivated plants occupy about a third of all areas. The trees grow at altitudes of 1100-2100 meters at temperatures up to 25 ° Celsius. Grain is collected from August to January.

In Ethiopia, coffee of one kind is produced - it is arabica of dry processing. The famous Ethiopian varieties are Harar and Jimma, possessing a magnificent bouquet and often used in a mixture with Javanese and Colombian grains.

There is also an opinion that the birthplace of coffee is Brazil. In principle, this is not true, because the grain was brought here by pilgrims who could grow trees from them. It happened in the eighteenth century. Nevertheless, the second birthplace of coffee Brazil can be called with full authority.

A fifth of the country's territory is occupied by coffee trees. Arabian varieties are grown here - maragodzhip, bourbon and mundans and others. In contrast to Ethiopia, coffee production here is based on a scientific approach. Many varieties (for example, santos) are not a botanical variety of the coffee tree, but represent an arranged selection of various flavors and tints of taste.

In addition to "pure" varieties, various "bouquets" are mixed here and sold - very interesting and tasty mixes, which maintain a consistently high standard of coffee.

Brazil is now even called a "coffee power", and in the Plaza of São Paulo in honor of this culture was installed a real monument - a bronze tree Coffea.