A COFFEE

STATE OF MIND
 GENESIS
C
offee, or “Coffea Arabica” was
discovered in Ethiopia around
600 AD. The original tree was
found on th southern tip of the
Arabian Peninsula. Initially,
the bean was worshiped for its
medicinal uses more so than its
use as a beverage. Eventually, coffee evolved into
a social drink, used in coffee houses.
According to ledgend, the Arabs guarded
the coffee seed. Around 1650 AD, a Muslim
from India, Baba Budan, stole coffee seeds
and returned to India, planiting them in the
Chikmagalgur Hills. This growth would come to
be one-third of India’s coffee crop.
After coffee began growing in India, word
began to spread, and the French attempted to
produce their own coffee. However, the climate
created a seemingly imposible task. It was then
people discovered that coffee trees cannot
withstand frost.
Next, the Dutch planted the seeds in a place
called Java. Here, the seeds flourished. In 1715,
Louis XIV of France learned of the coffee trees
in the Netherlands, and soon created a craze
for coffee. He requested a tree from the Dutch.
Upon its arrival, he named it the Noble Tree. This
famous tree traveled from Arabia, to France.
Louis XIV was required to create a greenhouse for
the tree, considering the frost that killed the last
attempt at growing coffee in France.
From this Noble Tree, sprouts grew, and the
tree gave birth to many others, carrying its seed
to the Caribbean circa 1720, and Brazil circa 1727.
Eventually, the bean would travel to all places
who could grow it. Everyone began to endulge in
the social drink that was coffee. While the Coffea
Arabica was the original tree found in Ethiopia,
the Coffea Liberica (native to Liberia), as well
as the Coffea Robusta (native to India and the
Middle East), also were discovered. The love for
coffee has grown throughout the ages, and is
still a considerablly popular beverage today. Its
popularity continues to grow, as its prices rise
in coffee shops around the United States and
around the entire world.
The coffee growing regions of the world centralize between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
LEFT | Coffee beans come in
two varieties- green and red.
Red beans are lower in acid than
green beans and are used for
finer coffees.

BELOW | Coffee is grown in areas

with altitudes between 1,800
and 3,600 feet. Most commonly,
the beans are grown in southern
parts of the world such as South
America, Africa, and Asia.
 GROWTH
A
worldwide market
of coffee has
developed from its
origination over
2,000 years ago.
Only until you
concentrate on the
actual production and farming of a coffee
bean does its value become apparent.
Coffee beans come in two varieties; green
and red. Red beans are lower in acid than
green beans and are used for finer coffees.
Most beans are hand picked by workers
who separate the two kinds of beans, a very
involved process.
After the beans are picked, the fruit is
removed by soaking, scoring, and mechanical
rubbing. Coffee cherries are not valued for
their fruit, rather the bean inside. They are
then washed and are dried in the sun on large
concrete slabs. The beans are then sorted,
much like colored M&Ms, by color and size.
This process is sometimes done by hand, but
is most commonly done by machine. Some
beans are selected to be aged from up to
eight years, while some are only aged a year
before they are roasted.
The beans are then roasted to nearly four
hundred degree temperatures, until they
expand to about twice their size and change
from green or red to brown. It also releases an
oil which gives individual coffees their flavor.
Finally, the beans are transported and
distributed to various coffee companies
around the world to be brewed in various
ways. Boiling, pressure cookers, gravity,
steeping, French presses, and coffee pots
are some of the many methods. Though the
process of growing and harvesting the coffee
bean is very involved, the outcome is one of
the most relaxing and pleasurable drinks to be
consumed around the world.
 BREWING
A French Press extracts the actual flavor from the coffee
grounds and can be considered the second most popular way
to brew coffee. Hot water is poured over grounds, then stirred.
After a few minutes of saturation, the plunger is pushed down,
separating the beans from the consumed drink.

This is the most popular method used today. Most

households have some form of drip-coffee maker.
Typically this involves the water being poured onto
the grounded coffee beans into a mug or a pot below.
 Using a vacuum is another way to brew coffee. It is very slow
and unusual to witness. Near boiling water is forced into a glass
chamber with coffee grounds. The mixture steeps until the heat
is turned off. As it cools, the water is sucked back into the lower
chamber.

Using a vacuum is another way to brew coffee. It is very slow

and unusual to witness. Near boiling water is forced into a glass
chamber with coffee grounds. The mixture steeps until the heat
is turned off. As it cools, the water is sucked back into the lower
chamber.
 An espresso machine is typically used to make cappuccinos and
lattes, but can also make a cup of coffee. They are becoming
more common in U.S. households. Hot water is injected
through the grounds and into the cup below.

Turkish coffee, or the Arab method, was probably the original

method people used to make coffee. It makes a very dark and
strong coffee. Coffee is hand-ground then placed in a pot called
an ibrik with sugar and water. It is then brought to a boil 3 times
and poured into a cup to consume.
WORDS, AND INFORMATION BY MATT CLIFTON