Aroma: Gourmet and fruity
Region: Southeast
Altitude: 1000m
Process: washed
Variety: Arabica Typica, Bourbon
Coffee, origins and legends
There are several legends about the discovery of coffee. One version dates it back to 850 and locates it in Abyssinia, present-day Ethiopia.
A shepherd reportedly noticed that his goats were excited after eating the leaves and fruit of a shrub. He allegedly brought a branch of the shrub to a monk, who prepared a drink from the seeds collected. Astonished by the exhilarating effect of the liquid, the monks attributed the authorship of this drink to a deity.
Another legend has it that the monk, after observing the agitation of the goats consuming the berries, had the idea of boiling the grains in order to obtain a potion that would help him to stay awake on nights of prayers.
The word "coffee" probably originates from the Arabic "K'hawah" which means invigorating, while some linguists claim that it comes from the word "Kaffa", the name of the province of Ethiopia where it was discovered.
In the 15th century, places of conviviality called “coffee houses” gradually flourished. We play there and we taste coffee.
The coffee tree
Coffee trees are shrubs from the tropics of the genus Coffea of the Rubiaceae family.
The species Coffea arabica (historically the oldest cultivated) and Coffea canephora (or robusta coffee tree), are those used in the preparation of the drink.
Other species of the genus Coffea have been tested for this purpose or are still locally used, but have never experienced wide distribution.
Coffea arabica, which produces a fine and aromatic coffee, requires a cooler climate than Coffea canephora (robusta), which produces a drink rich in caffeine.
The more delicate and less productive Arabica culture is therefore rather reserved for mountain lands, while that of Robusta adapts to lowland lands with higher yields.
The mother plant of most Arabica plants in the world is kept at the Hortus Botanicus in Amsterdam.
Depending on the variety, the coffee tree can reach 4 to 6 m in height. However, cultivated species are cut back to about 4 m for easier picking.
The coffee tree does not begin to produce fruit until its 5th and 6th year. Its white flowers give rise to fleshy, red, purple, or yellow fruits, called coffee cherries.
Measuring between 1 and 2 cm in length, these fruits are home to two pale green seeds, covered with a leathery membrane, the parchment, containing between 1 and 2% caffeine depending on the species.
As the coffee trees produce year round, you can find flowers, green coffee cherries and red cherries on a single branch. Picking lasts an average of 3 months.
The coffee tree maintained at the dimensions of a small shrub retains high productivity for more than 30 years.
The grains are still picked manually, because their ripening is not uniform and mechanical picking does not yet give satisfactory results.
Coffee conquers the world not without controversie
Plantations can be made in the open, which facilitates the organization of cropping operations and increases fruit production, but decreases the longevity and resistance to diseases of coffee trees.
Plantations can also be made in partial shade (we speak of shade coffee), which corresponds better to the autecology of the species, but reduces productivity and complicates management.
There are many variations on shade growing methods, from planting directly in the forest to clever combinations of shelter trees pruned according to the fruiting stage of the coffee trees or to polyculture systems.
Shade plantations generally induce better biodiversity, however very variable in quality depending on the systems used and compared to the initial natural state.
When the fruits reach maturity, 6 to 8 months after flowering for arabica, 9 to 11 months for robusta, the coffee harvest can begin. Two methods are used: picking or destemming.
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Once the package has been opened, we advise you to keep the product in a cool, dry place, away from light and humidity, so that it retains all its nutritional and taste qualities.
This product does not contain any allergens, however it may contain traces (eggs, soy, sulphur, nuts, etc.).
