The Mocay World: History of Coffee

The Origin of Coffee

Coffee originated in what is nowadays called Ethiopia, where it started to be drunk 1000 years ago. From the 13th Century, Islam spread it to the countries under its influence. In the 15th Century the Dutch managed to take coffee seeds to Indonesia. In the 16th Century coffee reached Europe, brought by the Turkish troops. The arrival in America, where the coffee tree has best developed, did not take place until the 18th Century.

Coffee Species and Varieties

The world of coffee starts with two plants from the same family. The “Coffea Arabica” and the “Coffea Canephora”, better known at a commercial level as Arabica and Robusta. Arabica is, in general, much higher in quality than Robusta. They are both grown in the area between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. The Arabica species prefers “high” climates (between 900 and 2,000 m.) and it requires more care. The Robusta variety is more resistant, easier to grow, and therefore its price is remarkably lower.

Harvesting

The coffees with the highest quality are those which are harvested using the picking system, i.e., selecting and removing the ripe berries one by one from the coffee tree. In Brazil and in Robusta crops in Africa there is just one harvest and all the beans are collected at the same time, this system is called stripping.

Producing and Obtaining Green Coffee

Once the coffee beans have been harvested it is necessary to free them from the layers around them. This process is called coffee hulling and there are two procedures, wet and dry. Wet hulling is more costly but provides higher quality to the coffee beans since mucilage and any traces of cherry cannot decompose the bean. Both Arabica and Robusta can be treated by either method (wet or dry), however, Robusta coffees are often treated using the dry method. Coffees hulled using the wet method have been harvested, with hardly any exception, using the picking method.