WebsiteAlways.com


Arabica Coffee


As you may have guessed, Arabica coffee gets its name from Arabia, the land of kings. When it comes to coffee, Arabica is definitely king. As legend has it, a goat herd named Kaldi discovered coffee on the Arabian peninsula around 500-600 A.D. He observed his goats excited behavior after eating the red cherry-like berries of a coffee plant.

Hence the name Arabica, however, scientific evidence indicates that coffee first grew in Kaffa, what is now Ethiopia, in Northeastern Africa and was transported shortly afterwards across the mouth of the Red Sea to Yemen.

One could assume that the name coffee comes from the word Kaffa which would support the evidence that coffee first appeared in this region. Semantics aside, it is accepted that Arabia was the origin of commercial coffee trade so Arabica coffee is appropriately named.

Of the more than forty species of plants in the Coffea genus only two are suitable for making coffee, Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora the latter of which is more commonly known as Coffea robusta. Of the two, Arabica is definitely the premium bean.

Many factors determine the quality of the end product. Such as, where the coffee is grown, soil, climate and elevation, not to mention harvesting, processing and roasting of the mature beans. However, one fact is undisputed, the finest coffees in the world come from Arabica coffee plants.

Arabica coffee accounts for about 80% of all coffee produced in the world. It prefers higher elevations and drier climates than its cousin C. robusta.

The tropics of South America provide ideal conditions for growing Arabica coffee which grows best between 3,000 and 6,500 feet but has been grown as high as 9,000 feet. Generally, the higher the plant is grown the slower it matures. This gives it time to develop the internal elements and oils that give coffee its aromatic flavor.

Within the C. arabica species there are three main varietals; Typica, Bourbon and Caturra. Each has subtle differences that add character nuances to body, acidity, balance etc? that are detectable to the discerning palate.

More importantly, the sub-species of Arabica coffee have been bred to adapt to a specific growing region to be resistant to certain afflictions such as fungus, parasites, insects etc? that differ from region to region.

Interestingly, C. arabica, is self-pollinating as opposed to C. robusta, which is not. This might explain why Arabica coffee is more abundant throughout the world. Also why it does well at higher elevations where bees might be less active due to cooler temperatures and why Robusta prefers lower, hotter, climates where bees are more plentiful. Just a theory but food for thought.

© Copyright Randy Wilson, All Rights Reserved.

Randy has more articles on coffee such as Colombian Coffee, Coffee and Alzheimers and Coffee Breaks.


MORE RESOURCES:

Coffee stop leads Ark. police to cocaine arrest
FOXNews - 17 hours ago
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas sheriff's deputies said they arrested a man needing a little bit more of a boost to go with his morning coffee. ...


We're going to need a lot more coffee
San Francisco Chronicle,  USA - 14 hours ago
It's time to start placing bets, folks: How many people are going to make it through all 7 1/2 hours of Gavin Newsom's marathon State of the City address? ...


BBC News

Ethiopia starts coffee exchange
BBC News, UK - 3 hours ago
Ethiopia, Africa's largest coffee producer, has started trading the crop on a national commodity exchange. In a move aimed at both increasing quality and ...


Fantasy Man's instant coffee
San Francisco Chronicle,  USA - Nov 30, 2008
-- Amani Toomer and Domenik Hixon have to be really upset about this whole Plaxico Burress thing. The Giants' receivers don't smile as they do cartwheels. ...


Vietnam aims to avoid coffee expansion in 2009
Alibaba News Channel, NEW YORK - 6 hours ago
HANOI, Dec 2 - Vietnam has told farmers to refrain from expanding coffee plantations to new land next year to try to avoid boom-and-bust planting cycles ...


Man holds up Mount Vernon coffee store
Lower Hudson Journal news, NY - 6 hours ago
By Will David MOUNT VERNON - A man with a black handgun and wearing a black bandanna around his face held up a Dunkin' Donuts coffee shop and escaped with ...


7-Eleven Gives Free Coffee to Local Northeast Communities
CSNews Online, NY - 12 hours ago
"We thought this would be a wonderful way to give a gift to the local communities on Long Island," explained Bonnie Grube, Northeast Coffee Merchandiser for ...


(Organic) Coffee and Chocolate and Tea ... Oh My!
MarketWatch - 20 hours ago
A manufacturer of USDA certified organic coffee, tea, chocolate and puffed fruit that crunches, Explorer's Bounty's earth-conscious food products will be ...


Popular Portsmouth coffee kiosk damaged in blaze
The Virginian-Pilot, VA - 12 hours ago
Outdoor shelves made of the same dense South American wood used to build the tall ship "Virginia" gave the downtown Starboards Coffee Kiosk some local charm ...


Seattle Post Intelligencer

Still the 1! Coffee leads Alabama to rout of Auburn
Seattle Post Intelligencer - Nov 29, 2008
Tuscaloosa, AL (Sports Network) - Glen Coffee ran for 144 yards and a TD on 20 carries and Mark Ingram scored twice and ran for 64 yards as top-ranked ...
Tide strikes on perfect play: Coffee's run ended Auburn's The Huntsville Times - al.com
Coffee’s performance makes big difference Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Crimson Tide first and 10 Tuscaloosa News (subscription)
New York Times - Rivals.com (subscription)
all 1,119 news articles

Coffee - Google News

Interesting articles | Home | site map | Link
© 2006
Thailand Tourism Breast enlargement Jobs Mahoubi.net Free Online Dating | Free personals | Married personals | Totally free personals | Dating online lakeland fl | Free dating sites | Travel Vacations | Multiple listing service real estate