The World Atlas of Coffee: From beans to brewing - coffees explored, explained and enjoyed
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Altitude:
1,400–1,800m (4,600–5,900ft)
Harvest:
December–February
Varieties:
Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai, Pache
ANTIGUA
Antigua is probably the best-known coffee-producing region in Guatemala, and one of the best-known in the world. The region is named after the city of Antigua, famous for its Spanish architecture and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The region attained a Denomination of Origin in 2000 under the name ‘Genuine Antigua Coffee’, after the market had become devalued by coffee fraudulently labelled as Antigua. This has prevented coffee from other origins being sold as Antigua, but it has not stopped the fraudulent practice of bringing cherries in from other regions to be processed there. Nonetheless, it is possible to find clearly traceable coffees from Antigua and while some are overpriced, others are of excellent quality and are worth seeking out.
Altitude:
1,500–1,700m (4,900–5,600ft)
Harvest:
January–March
Varieties:
Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai
Though changing land use and varying temperatures influence the amount of coffee produced and the way it is processed in Guatemala, much of the coffee is treated in the traditional way and dried by sun.
HAITI
Coffee probably came to Haiti from the island of Martinique, while it was a newly founded French colony in 1725. The first coffee was likely grown around Terroir Rouge in the northeast of the country; ten years later another coffee plantation appeared in the mountains in the north of Haiti. Coffee production rapidly increased on the island, and a number of sources claim that between 1750 and 1788, Haiti produced between fifty and sixty per cent of the world’s coffee.
The industry would reach its peak in 1788 and the following years of revolution, ultimately leading to independence in 1804, would see coffee production rapidly decline. The freeing of the slaves on the island didn’t just have an impact on the production of coffee, but also led to the country being ostracized in terms of international trade. However, the industry would slowly rebuild and see another peak in 1850 before receding again. Coffee production once again boomed in the 1940s and in 1949, Haiti produced one-third of the world’s coffee.
Coffee production, like many aspects of Haiti’s economy, suffered under the Duvalier regimes between 1957 and 1986, and natural disasters would play a role in further hampering the industry. The collapse of the International Coffee Agreement led to reports in 1990 of farmers choosing to burn their coffee trees to make charcoal to sell instead.
In the mid-1990s, an organization called Fédération des Associations Caféières Natives (FACN) was created. It would buy dried parchment coffee then mill it, sort it and blend it. The coffee had been washed rather than dry processed, and this was somewhat unusual.
It created a brand name called Haitian Bleu, referencing the colour of the raw coffee caused by the washing process, and controlled its route to market. In doing so it was, for a while, able to lift prices paid to growers. While not traceable in the way we expect speciality coffee to be today, it did create a premium around provenance and story. However, mismanagement of the organization led to declining volumes, and not meeting contracts with roasters led to the eventual decline and bankruptcy of the FACN.
Bags of coffee lined up for collection in the streets of Portau-Prince. In the 1940s, Haiti produced one-third of the world’s coffee.
The earthquake in 2010 that devastated the island also devastated the coffee industry, which had already been in steady decline. Worth $7million in 2000, by 2010 it had dwindled in value to just $1million. There was hope that coffee would play a role in the country’s economic recovery, alongside mangoes, the other major crop. Various NGOs (non-governmental organizations) have worked to invest in the industry, and while there is high-quality washed coffee being exported from the country, the industry remains very small and is growing slowly.
Brewing coffee in Rivière Froide, in Haiti’s Ouest department.
TRACEABILITY
If you can find high-quality coffee from Haiti then it is going to come, most likely, from a cooperative of growers. There are no single estates selling coffee in the country. Haiti consumes almost as much coffee as it produces, so very little is exported.
TASTE PROFILE
Relatively full-bodied, earthy and sometimes spicy, with a little acidity – a typical ‘island coffee’ taste profile. Better lots have a soft sweetness.
GROWING REGIONS
Population: 10,847,000
Number of 60kg (132lb) bags in 2016: 350,000
The production of coffee in Haiti has dwindled to the point that it would not be accurate to describe it as having multiple growing regions.
Altitude:
300–2,000m (980–6,560ft)
Harvest:
August–March
Varieties:
Typica, Caturra, Bourbon
UNITED STATES: HAWAII
Hawaii is the only coffee-producing region in a First-World country. This changes the economics, as well as the marketing, of the coffee. The producers here have been successful at engaging consumers directly – often entwining the coffee with a visit to the islands – but many coffee professionals feel that the quality of the coffee may not merit its price.
Coffee was first brought to Hawaii in 1817, although these initial plantings were unsuccessful. In 1825 the governor of Oahu, Chief Boki, was en voyage from Europe and stopped off in Brazil where he picked up some coffee plants. These plants did thrive and coffee production was soon widespread across the Hawaiian islands.
The Bourbon variety was probably brought to the Big Island in 1828, and the first commercial plantation in Kauai began operation in 1836. However, plantations in the Hanalei Valley area of Kauai were destroyed by the coffee blight insect in 1858. The only region that continued to produce coffee from these initial plantings is the Kona region on the Big Island.
In the late 1800s, the industry attracted immigrants from China and then Japan, who came to work on the plantations. In the 1920s, many Filipinos arrived to work on the coffee farms during harvest time and the sugar cane plantations in the spring.
However, coffee did not become hugely important to the island economy until the 1980s, when sugar production ceased to be sufficiently profitable. The event triggered a renewed interest in coffee right across the state.
KONA
The best-known growing region in Hawaii, and one of the best-known in the world, is the Kona region on the Big Island. A long history of coffee production has helped cement the reputation of the region, although its success has lead to its exploitation through the mislabelling of coffee. Legislation on the island now means that any Kona blend must state the quantity of coffee from Kona on it, and the use of the ‘100% Kona’ trademark is carefully controlled. A farm called Kona Kai in California had previously fought the awarding of any trademark or protection for the name, but in 1996 its executive was found guilty of filling his ‘Kona Coffee’ bags with beans from Costa Rica.
More recently, the region has been challenged by the problem of coffee berry borer. The island has introduced a number of measures to combat the blight, with some success, although there were fears that a reduction in yield would drive the already high price of Kona coffee even higher.
At the Dole Food Company on Waialua’s coffee and cocoa farm, beans are spread out to be dried by sun. Waialua is the largest estate on Oahu Island and grows Typica berries.
TRACEABILITY
It will come as no surprise that in a developed country the expectations of traceability should be high. Coffees are usually traceable down to a specific farm. In many cases, the farms roast their own coffees to sell direct to consumers and tourists. Many also export some of their crop, predominantly to the mainland United States.
KONA GRADING
Kona has its own grading system, mostly based on the size of the beans, but also divided
into Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 are the standard coffee beans, with two beans per cherry, while Type 2 coffees are exclusively peaberries.
Within Type 1, Kona Extra Fancy are the largest beans, then they decrease in size through the following grades: Kona Fancy, Kona Number 1, Kona Select and Kona Prime.
Within Type 2 there are only two grades: Kona Number 1 Peaberry and the smaller Kona Peaberry Prime.
There are requirements for a maximum level of defects in most of the grades, but these are quite generous and not themselves a reliable indicator of quality.
TASTE PROFILE
Typically lower in acidity, with a little more body. Approachable but rarely complex and fruited.
GROWING REGIONS
Population: 1,404,000
Number of 60kg (132lb) bags in 2016: 40,909
Hawaii’s reputation is dominated by a single region: Kona. The other islands are also worth exploring, however, if you like a typical island coffee with relatively low acidity, a little more body and less fruitiness in the cup.
KAUAI ISLAND
This growing region is dominated by a single company running 1,250 hectares (3,100 acres) of coffee production. The Kauai Coffee Company started growing coffee to diversify away from sugarcane in the late 1980s. Due to its size, it is a heavily mechanized farm.
Altitude:
30–180m (100–600ft)
Harvest:
October–December
Varieties:
Yellow Catuai, Red Catuai, Typica, Blue Mountain, Mundo Novo
OAHU ISLAND
This is another island that is dominated by the Waialua Estate, which is around 60 hectares (155 acres) in size. This farm, which started production in the early 1990s, is fully mechanized in its production and also grows cacao.
Altitude:
180–210m (600–700ft)
Harvest:
September–February
Varieties:
Typica
MAUI ISLAND
Maui has one large commercial coffee farm, Ka’anapali, which has the unusual addition of a selection of small plots of land with houses and coffee plantations for sale. Although the plots are owned by different people, the coffee production is done centrally. This large estate was a sugar plantation from 1860 to 1988, when production was turned over to coffee.
Altitude:
100–550m (350–1,800ft)
Harvest:
September–January
Varieties:
Red Catuai, Yellow Caturra, Typica, Mokka
KULA, MAUI ISLAND
This small region takes advantage of the slopes of the Haleakala volcano to achieve some decent elevation for coffee growing. Coffee is relatively new to the area.
Altitude:
450–1,050m (1,500–3,500ft)
Harvest:
September–January
Varieties:
Typica, Red Catuai
WAIKAPU, MAUI ISLAND
This is the newest region of coffee production in Hawaii. A single farm operates here, held by a company based in the neighbouring island of Molokai, called Coffees of Hawaii.
Altitude:
500–750m (1,600–2,450ft)
Harvest:
September–January
Varieties:
Typica, Catuai
KIPAHULU, MAUI ISLAND
This is a very low region on the southeast coast of Maui. Coffee is often grown on organic farms as part of a diverse set of crops.
Altitude:
90–180m (300–600ft)
Harvest:
September–January
Varieties:
Typica, Catuai
KAULAPUU, MOLOKAI ISLAND
This region is also dominated by a single coffee company, Coffees of Hawaii. The large farm is mechanized, often a requirement to reduce operational costs in an environment where labour is extremely expensive.
Altitude:
250m (800ft)
Harvest:
September–January
Varieties:
Red Catuai
KONA, BIG ISLAND
Unlike many other growing regions in Hawaii, there is a more diverse industry here with over 630 farms producing coffee. Typically run by individual families, these farms are usually less than 2 hectares (5 acres). Yields here may well be the highest per area of anywhere in the world and as the farms are so much smaller than elsewhere in Hawaii, it is common to see manual harvesting of the trees.
Altitude:
150–900m (500–3,000ft)
Harvest:
August–January
Varieties:
Typica
KAU, BIG ISLAND
Coffee production started in this region relatively recently, after the closure of the sugar mill in 1996. Until 2010, the farmers and cooperatives in the area had to travel to the neighbouring regions of Puna or Kona to have the coffee processed after harvest. However, a mill has now been constructed to alleviate the problem.
Altitude:
500–650m (1,600–2,150ft)
Harvest:
August–January
Varieties:
Typica
PUNA, BIG ISLAND
This region had around 2,400 hectares (6,000 acres) of land under coffee production at the end of the 19th century, but production ceased as sugar rose to prominence. However, the sugar mill closed in 1984 and some farmers are starting to grow coffee here again. Most farms in this area are relatively small – around 1.2 hectares (3 acres).
Altitude:
300–750m (1,000–2,450ft)
Harvest:
August–January
Varieties:
Red Catuai, Typica
HAMAKUA, BIG ISLAND
Coffee arrived here in 1852, and eight plantations were initially established. Like elsewhere in Hawaii, sugar soon became the favoured crop so coffee production declined. However, since the mid 1990s, some farms have started going back to coffee.
Altitude:
100–600m (350–2,000ft)
Harvest:
August–January
Varieties:
Typica
Kalalau Valley on Kauai Island, typifies the landscape of Hawaii’s plantations.
Coffee crops are well suited to the soil in Honduras but the country’s high rainfall can make it difficult for farmers to dry beans.
HONDURAS
Since it is now the largest producer of coffee in Central America, it is surprising how little is known about the introduction of coffee to Honduras. What is probably the earliest record, dated to 1804, discusses the quality of the coffee produced there. This dates the arrival of coffee to before 1799, as the plants would take a few years to produce a crop.
It has only really been since 2001 that Honduras’ production of coffee has increased dramatically. While the coffee industry drove the growth and development of infrastructure in much of Central America during the 1800s, due to Honduras’ late blossoming the infrastructure simply was not there. This has provided a challenge for quality and has meant that much of the coffee produced under this new expansion was destined for the commodity market. Only more recently have we begun to see excellent coffees coming out of Honduras.
The national coffee institute, the Instituto Hondureño del Café (IHCAFE), was established in 1970 and is working to improve quality: in each of the six regions it has defined, there is a coffee-tasting laboratory to assist local producers.
Honduras was producing just under six million bags of coffee a year by 2011, more than Costa Rica and Guatemala combined. Around 110,000 families are involved in the production of coffee across the country. As for its future, there are concerns about the impact of leaf rust. A state of national emergency was declared after harvests were badly damaged in 2012/2013 and the effects of leaf rust usually last a few years.
THE PROBLEM OF CLIMATE
While the land is well suited to growing great coffee, the weather poses a challenge. The high rainfall ofte
n makes it difficult to dry the beans after processing, so some producers use a combination of sun drying and mechanical drying. This has landed Honduras with a reputation for producing great coffees that can fade quite quickly, but much work is being done to address this problem. Much of the coffee is warehoused before shipping in extremely hot conditions near Puerto Cortez, which can further degrade it. There are obviously always exceptions to the rule, however, and the very best coffees from Honduras generally hold up better over time.
TRACEABILITY
It is possible to get high levels of traceability in Honduras, down to estate level or down to a specific cooperative or producer group.