Well Coffee can be brewed and drunk in many different forms for everyone’s taste! Whether you’re a fan of the simple strong shots or the creamy and chocolaty.
Also known as “Coffea Canephora” is slightly less common than Arabica being in only 25% of the worlds coffee. It is however easier to grow than Arabica Coffee. This is because it can be grown in a higher range of conditions – Altitudes and Temperatures and is less susceptible to disease.
The taste is more bitter and bigger bodied with 40-50% more caffeine than Arabica. The texture is also slightly more foamy giving it a crema and makes it perfect for espressos.
It only takes 2-3 years for the tree to grow enough to produce berries. Because of this and being easier to grow it has meant that Robusta coffee is a lot cheaper than the more popular Arabica.
Arabica is the most popular coffee, although originally called “Coffea Arabica”. It consists of around 75% of the coffee drunk around the world. Of the two, Arabica is the hardest to grow. This is because of having to be cultivated in semitropical areas within high altitudes of hot countries. The reason Arabica coffee is so popular though is because of it’s emense flavour.
The Arabicas flavours are often very different from each other and you can tell very clearly which is which. This is why Arabica Beans are often only lightly roasted - to keep as much of its origonal flavour as posible. The worlds most expensive and quality coffees are all Arabica.
If roasting from home the easiest way to do it would be in a popcorn popper. It has the perfect outcome and is far easier than many other techniques which are used for large amounts. The roasting process changes the colour, flavour, smell and density of the bean. The time it takes varies on the outcome you want. To keep a lot of its original flavour you should only roast it lightly for 3 minutes or until you hear the first “pop” and it will be a light shade of brown. This is done for the more famous flavours such as “Blue Mountain” and “Java”.
First of all you have to decide on the type you grow. If you are doing it for the first time I recommend using Robusta coffee as its easier to grow.
Traditionally coffee growing is done in the shades of tree’s and is known as “Shade-Grown”. In 1970 a new growing technique was discovered where they grew the trees in total sunlight. This will make a higher quantity of berries and they will grow faster although you will not have the quality of flavour from “Shade-Grown”.
Originally called the “Kopi Luwak” is more commonly called the Civet Bean because of its association with the Civet.
Its one of the worlds most expensive coffee’s, not because of the growing of the bean or even its location but because of how they’re harvested.
The coffee beans are often eaten by the Asian Palm Civet which is a cat like animal found in Asia, India and China. The bean is collected from the poo of the Civet and roasted from then.
If you are on holiday in Edinburgh sometime I would recommend taking one of the hourly trains out to North Berwick. Besides being an old fishing village with amazing views of the Bass Rock and it’s Summer colony of Gannets, this town is home to the Sea Bird centre, where you can watch the puffins and other sea birds using remote cameras. Not the place you would normally expect to find civet coffee (Kopi Luwak) though!
You can also take a boat trip out to view the rock at close quarters, and get up close to the gannets on their nests, as well as having a good chance in the Summer of seeing puffins floating in small groups.
Welcome to Coffees-of-the-world.co.uk. This site is filled with everything you would ever want or need to know about coffee. Ranging from how to make your own from scratch to the weird and the wonderful. Enjoy!