The World Atlas of Coffee: From beans to brewing - coffees explored, explained and enjoyed

by James Hoffmann

  CONTENTS

  Introduction

  Part One: Introduction to Coffee

  Arabica and Robusta

  The Coffee Tree

  The Coffee Fruit

  Coffee Varieties

  Harvesting Coffee

  Processing

  How Coffee is Traded

  A Short History of Coffee Drinking

  Part Two: From Bean to Cup

  Coffee Roasting

  Buying and Storing Coffee

  Tasting and Describing Coffee

  Grinding Coffee

  Water for Brewing

  Brewing Basics

  Espresso

  Home Roasting

  Part Three: Coffee Origins

  AFRICA

  Burundi

  Democratic Republic of the Congo

  Ethiopia

  Kenya

  Malawi

  Rwanda

  Tanzania

  Uganda

  Zambia

  ASIA

  China

  India

  Indonesia

  Papua New Guinea

  The Philippines

  Thailand

  Vietnam

  Yemen

  AMERICAS

  Bolivia

  Brazil

  Colombia

  Costa Rica

  Cuba

  Dominican Republic

  Ecuador

  El Salvador

  Guatemala

  Haiti

  United States: Hawaii

  Honduras

  Jamaica

  Mexico

  Nicaragua

  Panama

  Peru

  Venezuela

  Glossary

  Acknowledgements

  HOW TO USE THIS EBOOK

  Select one of the chapters from the main contents list and you will be taken straight to that chapter.

  Look out for linked text (which is blue) throughout the ebook that you can select to help you navigate between related sections.

  You can double tap images and tables to increase their size. To return to the original view, just tap the cross in the top left-hand corner of the screen.

  INTRODUCTION

  ‘Coffee has never been better than it is today. Producers know more than ever before about growing coffee and have access to more varieties and specialist growing techniques. Coffee roasters have never before been so likely to appreciate the importance of using freshly harvested coffee beans, and their understanding of the roasting process continues to improve. There are now more and more cafés selling really good coffee, using the best equipment and training their staff more effectively.’ I wrote these words in the introduction to the first edition of this book and they are still true today.

  The world of great coffee has now truly gone mainstream. Every major city in the world has a plethora of cafés and coffee businesses, all run by passionate people working hard to share something exciting and delightful about coffee.

  The coffee industry is enormous and has spread around the world. Today, 125 million people depend on coffee production for their livelihood, and coffee is consumed in every part of the globe. Coffee is entwined with both the economic and cultural histories of so many countries yet very few coffee drinkers have, in the past, scratched the surface to see what is underneath. Yet while many people may not have explored the world of coffee, a large portion of coffee drinkers are seeking out coffee that has been sourced carefully, sold traceably, and brewed with skill and care.

  The coffee industry can be separated into two distinct areas: commodity and speciality. In this book we will primarily be dealing with speciality coffees. These are coffees that are defined by their quality and by how good they taste. Their origin is important, as this will often determine their flavour. Commodity coffee is the term used to describe coffees that are not traded on their quality, but are considered simply to be ‘coffee’. Where they are grown doesn’t matter much, nor when they were harvested or how they were processed. Commodity coffee has defined the way that much of the world thinks about coffee – a generic product from somewhere tropical; an efficient, if bitter, way to get caffeine into the bloodstream and to clear the mind in the morning. The idea that one might drink coffee for pleasure, to delight in its complexity of flavour, still has relatively little penetration into global culture. There are many differences between the production and international trade of speciality coffees and commodity coffees as they are quite different products.

  While this new world of coffee has boomed, it can still be a little intimidating. The language of coffee is foreign to most people, and many cafés are eager to share the story of the coffee they brew: its variety, its post-harvest processing or the people behind it. This can be overwhelming or frustrating. This book is written to make sense of that language, to give context to the stories of the cups of coffee you drink, to highlight what makes each farm or cooperative different and interesting.

  At first, the sheer diversity of coffees and the huge volume of information available can be off-putting. However, once you start to understand a little about coffee, the diversity and information are the very things that make it so compelling. I hope this book serves you well, and brings a little more pleasure to every cup of coffee you drink.

  During the 19th century, coffee houses in India became popular and often raucous meeting places for English gentlemen to socialize, do business, discuss the news and to gossip.

  ARABICA AND ROBUSTA

  When talking about coffee, people are usually referring to the fruit from one particular species of tree: Coffea arabica. Arabica makes up most of the coffee produced each year, and it is grown in dozens of countries between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer. It isn’t the only species of coffee, however. In fact, over 120 different species have been identified to date but only one other is grown in any quantity and this is Coffea canephora, a plant we commonly refer to as Robusta.

  Robusta is actually something of a brand name given to the species, chosen to highlight its attributes. It was discovered in the Belgian Congo (what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in the late-19th century and its commercial potential was clear. It was able to grow and fruit at lower altitudes than the existing Arabica plants, in higher temperatures, and was more resistant to disease. These attributes are what still drive much of the production of Robusta today, and because of the way it is grown it is substantially cheaper to produce. There is an inevitable downside, however: it doesn’t taste very good.

  Some people will make a rather specious argument that a really well-produced Robusta coffee can taste better than a poor Arabica coffee and this may be true, but it does nothing to convince us that Robusta actually tastes good. It is generally difficult to ascribe particular tastes to coffees, but I think it would be fair to say that Robusta has a woody, burnt-rubber quality in the cup. It usually has very little acidity, but will have a heavy body and mouthfeel. There are, of course, grades of quality within Robusta, and it is possible to produce higher-quality Robustas. It has been a staple of the Italian espresso culture for many years, but currently most of the Robusta produced around the world ends up in large manufacturing plants destined to become the pariah of our industry: instant soluble coffee.

  For the soluble coffee industry, price is far more important than flavour, and the global reliance on coffee as a fast-food product means that Robusta makes up around 40 per cent of the world’s coffee produced each year. This percentage
is somewhat variable, driven by fluctuations in price and demand. For example, an increase in the global price of coffee may result in more Robusta production, as large multinational coffee companies may need to find cheaper alternatives to Arabica. Interestingly, in the past when roasters have substituted Robusta coffees for Arabica in big commercial blends, there has been a downward trend in coffee consumption. This might be related to flavour, or to the fact that Robusta has about twice the caffeine content of Arabica. Either way, when big brands cut corners, consumers notice – or at least change their coffee-drinking habits.

  THE GENETICS OF COFFEE

  The coffee industry treated Robusta like an ugly sister to Arabica until a rather interesting genetic discovery was made. Once scientists began sequencing the genes, it became clear that the two species are not cousins or siblings. Instead it appears that Robusta is, in fact, a parent of Arabica. Most likely somewhere in southern Sudan, Robusta crossed with another species called Coffea euginoides and produced Arabica. This new species spread and really began to flourish in Ethiopia, long considered the birthplace of coffee.

  Taken from a 19th-century book of medical botany, this handcoloured copperplate engraving by James Sowerby illustrates the white flower, bean and leaf of Coffea arabica.

  Currently 129 species of Coffea have been identified, mostly through the work of Kew Gardens in London, though most look very different to the plants and beans we are familiar with. Many of these species are indigenous to Madagascar, though others grow in parts of southern Asia, even as far south as Australia. None of these species has any commercial attention at the moment, but scientists are beginning to show more interest in them because of a concern facing the coffee industry: the lack of genetic diversity of the plants currently in cultivation.

  The way that coffee has spread around the world means we have a global crop with a common ancestry. There is little variation in the genetic make-up of coffee plants, and this exposes global coffee production to massive risk. A disease that can attack one plant can likely attack them all, something the wine industry suffered with Phylloxera, an aphid that devastated huge swathes of grape vines across Europe in the 1860s and 1870s.

  Most of the 129 species of Coffea are indigenous to Madagascar but plantations around the world, such as this one in Queensland, Australia, mean that it is now a global crop.

  THE COFFEE TREE

  This section deals only with the most interesting of the coffee species, Coffea arabica. At first glance, all Arabica trees look similar: a thin trunk with numerous branches coming off it, supporting foliage and fruit. However, if you look closer there are many differences between trees, determined by the variety of Arabica being grown. Different varieties yield different amounts of fruit, in different colours, and some carry the fruit in clusters, while others have fruit evenly spaced down the branch.

  There are also big differences between the leaves of plants of different varieties, but more importantly between the cup characteristics when the seeds of these varieties are harvested and brewed. Different varieties have different qualities of flavour, and may also have different mouthfeels. It is always important to remember that for the bulk of coffee producers, flavour is not the main reason they have selected a certain variety to grow. The yield of the tree and its resistance to disease are usually of great value to those who depend on growing coffee for their livelihood. That is not to say that all producers choose their varieties this way, but one should bear in mind the impact of these choices on the profitability and income of the producer.

  FROM SEED TO TREE

  Most established coffee farms have a nursery in which to raise seedlings before planting them out on the farm for production. The coffee beans are first planted in rich soil, and will soon germinate. The bean itself is then lifted out of the ground by the developing shoot, and at this stage they are often called ‘soldiers’. They look strangely like a roasted coffee bean has been attached to the top of a thin green stem. Not long after this, the bean bursts open to reveal the first leaves. Coffee plants grow quickly and after 6–12 months they can be moved from the nursery into production.

  Coffee growing requires the investment of not only money, but also time. A coffee farmer will usually have to wait three years for a newly planted tree to fruit properly. Making the decision to begin growing coffee is a serious one, and this also means that if a producer abandons coffee it will be difficult to encourage him to return to the crop in the future.

  Germinated coffee shoots, known as ‘soldiers’, are the first stage of coffee plant growth.

  ‘Soldiers’ soon burst open to reveal green leaves. Within 6 to 12 months the plants are fully established and can be moved from the nursery, ready for planting.

  PESTS AND DISEASES

  The coffee tree is susceptible to a variety of pests and diseases. Two of the most common are coffee leaf rust and the coffee berry borer.

  COFFEE LEAF RUST

  Known as roya in many countries, this is a fungus (Hemileia vastatrix) that causes orange lesions on the leaves. It impairs photosynthesis, then causes the leaves to drop and eventually can kill the tree. It was first documented in East Africa in 1861, although it was not not studied until it began to affect plants in Sri Lanka in 1869 where it pretty much destroyed the coffee plantations over the following ten years. It spread to Brazil in 1970, perhaps brought over from Africa with a shipment of cacao seeds, and quickly spread into Central America.

  It is now found in every coffee-producing country in the world and the higher temperatures brought about through climate change are exacerbating the situation. In 2013 several Central American countries declared a state of emergency due to the damage caused by rust.

  COFFEE BERRY BORER

  Also known widely as broca, this is a small beetle (Hypothenemus hampei) that lays its eggs inside coffee cherries. The hatching young eat the cherries, thereby reducing the quantity and quality of the crop. The beetle is native to Africa, although it is now the most harmful pest to coffee crops across the world. Research is being done into different methods of control, including chemical pesticides, traps and biological controls.

  BLOSSOM AND FRUIT

  Most coffee trees have one main harvest per year, though the trees in some countries have a second harvest, which is usually smaller and often of a slightly lower quality. The cycle is first triggered by a prolonged period of rainfall. This causes the trees to bloom, producing lots of white blossom flowers with a strong scent that is reminiscent of jasmine.

  Insects such as bees pollinate the flowers, although Arabica is able to self pollinate, meaning that unless they are knocked off the tree by adverse weather, the flowers will always yield fruit.

  It takes up to nine months until the fruits are ready to harvest. Unfortunately, coffee cherries do not ripen uniformly. The coffee producer has a difficult choice between harvesting all the fruits from each tree at the same time and having a certain quantity of unripe or overripe coffee cherries in the harvest, or paying pickers to do multiple passes of the same trees so each cherry is harvested when it is perfectly ripe.

  Once or twice a year, the strongly scented blossoms of coffee appear after a long period of rainfall. Because the Arabica is self-pollinating, its flowers will always yield fruit.

  Coffee seedlings growing in Chinchiná, Colombia. Plants will be raised here for five months before being sold to plantations. After another three years of growth, the trees will begin to fruit properly.

  The Hacienda de Guayabal coffee plantation, Colombia.

  THE COFFEE FRUIT

  Coffee is a part of our everyday lives, yet how many of us outside the coffee-producing countries have ever seen, or would even recognize, a coffee cherry?

  The size of the fruit varies between varieties of coffee, but on the whole they are the size of a small grape. Unlike grapes, most of the volume of the fruit is provided by the central seeds, although there is a thin layer of fruit flesh under the skin.

  All cherries start
out green and develop deeper colours as the fruit matures. The skin is usually a deep red when ripe, though some trees have yellow fruit, and occasionally a cross between a yellow-fruiting tree and a red-fruiting tree will yield orange fruit. While fruit colour isn’t thought to influence yield, yellow-fruiting trees have often been avoided as it is harder to determine when the fruit is ripe. Red fruit starts green, goes through a yellow stage and then turns red. This makes ripeness much easier to identify when coffee is being picked by hand.

  Ripeness is tied to the quantity of sugar in the fruit, which is vitally important when trying to grow delicious coffee. Generally speaking, the more sugar in the fruit the better. However, different producers harvest their cherries at different stages of ripeness. Some believe that a mixture of cherries at different stages of ripeness can add complexity to a coffee, though all the cherries should be properly ripe, and none of them overripe as they eventually develop an unpleasant flavour.

  Coffee seeds are extracted from their silverskin and parchment to reveal the bean we grind and brew.

  SWEET FRUITS

  The flesh of the coffee fruit is surprisingly delicious when ripe, a pleasing honeydew melon sweetness, with a little refreshing acidity. The fruits are sometimes squeezed to make a drink, but even when ripe they are not particularly juicy, and you have to work to separate the flesh from the seeds.

  THE SEED

  The seed, or coffee bean, is made up of several layers, most of which will be removed during processing, leaving behind the bean we grind and brew. The seed has a protective outer layer, called the parchment, then a thinner layer wrapped around it, called the silverskin.