The Coffee Drink
November 30th, 2011 by heart_health
Coffee is a drink that can be consumed hot or cold. In fact it is one of the most widely consumed drinks on the planet and one of the most widely traded food crops.
The drink ‘coffee’ comes from coffee cherries which grow on trees in Latin America, Africa and Southern Asia. The cherries house the seeds which are commonly called coffee beans (although not actually true beans) and it is these beans that are roasted to create the drink. The degree to which the beans are roasted affects the flavour of the end product. Different varieties of the evergreen coffee tree (Coffea) are cultivated and the most sought after is Coffea arabica which is grown commercially. Coffea canephora (robusta) is also a widely grown variety and it is more resistant to disease than the arabica.
The drink produced from the beans is dark brown and has an acidic flavour and an energising effect on the human body. This stimulating effect comes from the caffeine content and it is this compound that also gives the bitter taste. Caffeine is the plant’s natural defence against predators. Caffeine levels differ between the various coffee varieties. Arabica has far less than robusta. The compound was first isolated from coffee by Friedlieb Runge in 1820.
People have drunk coffee for hundreds of years and the first country of origin was Ethiopia. The popularity of coffee then spread from the Muslim countries to the rest of the world where people still love it.
Coffee is served in many ways these days. Café’s offer a sometimes bewildering selection from espresso, American, cappuccino and latte to iced coffee or decaf.
The most exclusive and costly coffee is known as Kopi Luwak or Civet Coffee. Civets are excellent at picking out the tastiest coffee cherries and the seeds contained within them pass through the animal unhurt. The excreted seeds are then collected and turned into coffee. Although some say it is the best coffee in the world, Kopi Luwak is marred in controversy because in many cases the animals are caged, and animal cruelty has been recorded, making the product unethical for a lot of people.
There are so many ways you can get your coffee fix now, from roasting your own beans at home to getting a barrista at a café to make you an espresso. You can make a cup of instant at home or grab something from a coffee vending machine and with the improvements in vending machines now, you don’t have to compromise on taste.
For the millions of coffee fans out there, there really is something for everyone.
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