Where is the homeland 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 to grow the famous Arabica. This country is still the main beverage producer in the world. About 200-240 thousand tons of raw grains are harvested here annually.
According to statistics, a quarter of the country's population is engaged in the cultivation of this crop. At the same time, quite a significant part of the wild coffee thickets are still not processed. This country is the real homeland of coffee, because nature itself gave it to her.
Historically, the concepts of "coffee" - "Ethiopia" have become almost synonymous. It is in this country, in the highlands of Kef (from which the name of the drink comes) that the variety "Arabica" grows. In ancient times, coffee was not used to brew a drink. Berbers and Ethiopians feasted on balls rolled from crushed grains. They also insisted on wine.
Although Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee, the Arabs were the first to learn how to make a drink. It was they who began to soak the grains in the water and wait for it to infuse. So it was an invigorating drink, which was simply necessary for the indefatigable nomads, always on the way. Later, coffee beans learned to roast on a fire and brew boiling water. In the 13th century, grains were preliminarily dried in the sun, and then calcined on coals.
Today, coffee in Ethiopia is growing both on small plantations of peasants and on large ones - on an industrial scale. Like thousands of years ago, most of the production comes from wild-growing coffee trees.
The natural thickets of these trees are very dense. Cultivated plants occupy about a third of all areas. Trees grow at heights of 1100-2100 meters at temperatures up to 25C Celsius. Grains are harvested from August to January.
Ethiopia produces one type of coffee - this is dry-processed arabica. Famous Ethiopian varieties are Harar and Jimma, which have a magnificent bouquet and are often used in combination with Javanese and Colombian grains.
There is also an opinion that the birthplace of coffee is Brazil. In principle, this is not true, since the grains were brought here by pilgrims who could grow trees from them. It happened in the eighteenth century. Nevertheless, Brazil can rightfully be called the second homeland of coffee.
A fifth of the country's territory is occupied by coffee trees. Here, Arabian varieties are grown - maragodzhip, bourbon and mundans and others. Unlike Ethiopia, coffee production here is based on a scientific approach. Many varieties (for example, Santos) are not a botanical type of coffee tree, but are an arranged selection of various aromas and shades of taste.
In addition to "pure" varieties, various "bouquets" are mixed and sold here - mixes that are very interesting in taste and smell, which maintain a consistently high standard of coffee.
Brazil is now even called the “coffee power”, and on the São Paulo square in honor of this culture a real monument was erected - the bronze tree Coffea.
