coffee

/kaw"fee, kof"ee/, n.

1. a beverage consisting of a decoction or infusion of the roasted ground or crushed seeds (coffee beans) of the two-seeded fruit (coffee berry) of certain coffee trees.

2. the seeds or fruit themselves.

3. any tropical tree or shrub of the genus Coffea, of the madder family, esp. C. arabica and C. canephora, cultivated commercially. Cf. Arabian coffee, robusta coffee.

4. a cup of coffee: We ordered four coffees and three doughnuts.

5. a social gathering at which coffee and other refreshments are served.

6. medium to dark brown.

adj.

7. coffee-colored.

[1590-1600; < It caffè < Turk kahve < Ar qahwah]

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Tropical evergreen shrub of the genus Coffea, in the madder family, or its seeds, called beans; also the beverage made by brewing the roasted and ground beans with water.

Two of the 25 or more species, C. arabica and C. canephora, supply almost all the world's coffee. Arabica coffee is considered to brew a more flavourful and aromatic beverage than Robusta, the main variety of C. canephora. Arabicas are grown in Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Indonesia, Robustas mainly in Africa. The shrub bears bouquets of small white flowers with a jasminelike fragrance. The fruit, 0.5–0.75 in. (13–19 mm) long and red when mature, is called a cherry. Coffee contains large amounts of caffeine, the effects of which have always been an important element in the drink's popularity. Coffee drinking began in 15th-century Arabia. It reached Europe by the mid 17th century and immediately became hugely popular. Coffee is now consumed by about one-third of the world's population.

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▪ beverage

Introduction

      beverage brewed from the roasted and ground seeds of the tropical evergreen coffee plant of African origin. It is consumed either hot or cold by about one-third of the people in the world, in amounts larger than those of any other drink. Its popularity can be attributed to its invigorating effect, which is produced by caffeine, an alkaloid present in green coffee in amounts between 0.8 and 1.5 percent for the Arabica varieties and 1.6 to 2.5 percent for Robusta.

      Two species of the coffee plant, Coffea arabica and C. canephora, supply almost all of the world's consumption. Arabica coffee, which is divided between Brazilians and milds, is considered to brew a more flavourful and aromatic beverage than Robusta, the main variety of C. canephora. Arabicas are grown in Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Indonesia, while Robustas are grown mainly in Africa.

History

      Wild coffee plants, probably from Kefa (Kaffa), Ethiopia, were taken to southern Arabia and placed under cultivation in the 15th century. One of many legends about the discovery of coffee is that of Kaldi, an Arab goatherd, who was puzzled by the queer antics of his flock. About AD 850, Kaldi supposedly sampled the berries of the evergreen bush on which the goats were feeding and, on experiencing a sense of exhilaration, proclaimed his discovery to the world.

      Whatever its historical origin, the stimulating effect of coffee undoubtedly made it popular, especially in connection with the long religious service of the Muslims (Islām). The orthodox priesthood pronounced it intoxicating and therefore prohibited by the Qurʾān, but despite the threat of severe penalties, coffee drinking spread rapidly among Arabs and their neighbours.

      During the 16th and 17th centuries, coffee was introduced into one European country after another; many accounts are recorded of its prohibition or approval as a religious, political, and medical potion. Coffee gained popularity as a beverage in the London coffeehouses (café), which became centres of political, social, literary, and eventually business influence. The first coffeehouse in London was established about 1652. In Europe, too, the coffeehouse flourished later in the 17th century. In such North American cities as Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia, coffeehouses became popular beginning in the late 1600s.

      Until the close of the 17th century, the world's limited supply of coffee was obtained almost entirely from the province of Yemen in southern Arabia. But, with the increasing popularity of the beverage, the propagation of the plant spread rapidly to Java and other islands of the Indonesian archipelago in the 17th century and to the Americas in the 18th century. Coffee cultivation was started in the Hawaiian Islands in 1825.

      By the 20th century the greatest concentration of production was centred in the Western Hemisphere—particularly Brazil. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, industrial roasting and grinding machines came into use, vacuum-sealed containers were invented for ground roasts, and decaffeination methods for green coffee beans were developed. After 1950 the production of instant coffee was perfected. The popularity of instant coffee led to increased production of the cheaper Robusta beans in Africa.

T. Carroll Wilson Ed.

Processing green coffee

Hulling

 The ripened fruits of the coffee shrubs, known as coffee cherries (see photograph—>), are processed by disengaging the coffee seeds from their coverings and from the pulp and by drying the seeds from an original moisture content of 65–70 percent water by weight to 12–13 percent. Two different techniques are used: a wet process (used mainly for the mild Arabica coffees) and a dry process (used for Brazilians and Robustas).

The wet process

      First the skin and pulp of the fresh fruit is removed by a pulping machine, which consists of a rotating drum or disk that presses the fruit against a sharp-edged or slotted plate, disengaging the pulp from the seed. Pulp still clings to the coffee, however, as a thin, mucilaginous layer. This is eliminated by fermentation, actually a form of digestion in which naturally occurring pectic enzymes decompose the pulp while the wetted seeds are held in tanks for one to three days. Washing clears all remaining traces of pulp from the coffee seeds, which are then dried either by exposure to sunlight on concrete terraces or by passing through hot-air driers. The dry skin around the seed, called the parchment, is then mechanically removed, sometimes with polishing.

The dry process

 In this process, the fruits are immediately placed to dry either in sunlight or in hot-air driers. Although mechanical drying is replacing the labour- and time-consuming sun drying, more time and equipment are required than in drying pulped seeds in the wet process. When the fruits have been dried to a water content of 12 percent, they are mechanically hulled to free the seeds from their coverings.

Grading and storage

      The practice of grading coffee gives sellers and buyers a guarantee concerning the origin, nature, and quality of the product to aid their negotiations. Each country has a certain number of defined types and grades, but there are no international standards outside the contract market.

      The prolonged storage of coffee in the producing countries presents problems, especially in the warm and humid coastal regions, where molds and parasites may develop and cause damage; for this reason coffee from these areas is exported as quickly as possible. In moderate climates, the conservation of dry lots does not pose a problem as long as they are stocked in well-ventilated places.

Processing the bean

Decaffeination

      Caffeine can be removed from the green coffee by a variety of methods. In the most common, solvent extraction, the beans are steamed to raise the moisture content and bring the dissolved caffeine to the surface of the beans. They are then washed by an organic solvent such as methylene chloride, the solution is removed by steam, and the beans are dried.

roasting

      The aromatic and gustatory qualities of coffee are developed by the high temperatures to which they are subjected during roasting or broiling.

      Temperatures are raised progressively to about 220°–230° C (430°–440° F). This releases steam, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and other volatiles from the beans, resulting in a loss of weight between 14 and 23 percent. Internal pressure of gas expands the coffee beans by 30 to 100 percent. The beans become a deep, rich brown, and their texture becomes porous and crumbly under pressure. But the most important phenomenon of roasting is the appearance of the characteristic aroma of coffee, which arises from very complex chemical transformations within the bean. Roasting too long can destroy volatile flavour and aroma compounds. For this reason, Robusta beans are often over-roasted (as in the dark French and Italian roasts) to rid the coffee of its natural harshness.

      In the oldest method of roasting, a metal cylinder, or sphere, containing the coffee is rotated above a source of heat such as charcoal, gas, or electricity. In modern roasters, hot air is propelled by a blower into a rotating metal cylinder containing the coffee. The tumbling action of rotation ensures that all beans are roasted evenly.

      Regardless of the method used, the coffee, after leaving the industrial roasters, is rapidly cooled in a vat, where it is stirred and subjected to cold air propelled by a blower. Good-quality coffees are then sorted by electronic sorters to eliminate those seeds, either too light or too dark, that roasted badly and whose presence depreciates the quality.

Grinding

      Some coffees are left as whole beans to be ground at the time of purchase or by the consumer at home. But a large part of the coffee is ground, or milled, by the manufacturer immediately after roasting. In most modern roasting plants, grinding is accomplished by feeding the coffee through a series of serrated or scored rollers, set at progressively smaller gaps, that first crack the beans and then cut them to the desired particle size.

      The degree of fineness is important. If a coffee is too coarse, water filters through too fast to pick up flavour; if it is too fine, water filters through too slowly and retains particles that deposit at the bottom of the cup.

packaging and brewing

Packaging

      Effective packaging prevents air and moisture from reaching the coffee. Ground coffee alters rapidly and loses its aromatic qualities within a few days if it is not put into hermetically sealed containers immediately.

      The air, especially in humid atmospheres, causes rancidity through the oxidation of fatty components. Modern packaging materials, plastic films like polyethylene and complexes of aluminum and cellulose, are capable of conserving the quality of coffee for a time. The most satisfactory solution to the problem, however, is packing under vacuum or in an inert gas, in rigorously impervious containers.

Brewing

      There are several methods of extracting flavour and aroma from ground coffee. In steeping or boiling, pulverized coffee is measured into hot water, which is set or boiled before being poured off the grounds. In percolation, water is brought to the boil in an urn and fed up a tube to a basket holding the coffee. After filtering through the coffee, the water drips back to the urn, where it is forced back up the tube and recirculated until the brew reaches the desired strength. In the filter, or drip, method, hot water is slowly filtered through the coffee and dripped into a receptacle; it is not recirculated. The espresso machine forces boiled water under pressure through finely ground coffee; because the water has only brief contact with the grounds, it extracts a highly flavoured brew with little bitterness.

      Caffeine content varies with the variety of bean and method of brewing. One serving (five fluid ounces) of Arabica instant coffee contains about 70 milligrams of caffeine, while a serving of brewed Robusta may contain 200 milligrams.

Instant coffee

      In the manufacture of instant coffee (called soluble coffee in the industry), a liquid concentration of coffee prepared with hot water is dehydrated. This can be done by spray drying in hot air, by drying under vacuum, or by lyophilization (freeze drying). The operations are complex, and methods vary among manufacturers. The resulting soluble powder, on the addition of hot water, forms reconstituted coffee. The average yield is 25 to 30 percent by weight of the ground coffee. Because it picks up moisture readily, instant coffee needs special vacuum packages.

René Coste Ed.

Additional Reading

On the history of coffee, see Ralph S. Hattox, Coffee and Coffeehouses: The Origins of a Social Beverage in the Medieval Near East (1985). William H. Ukers, All About Coffee, 2nd ed. (1935, reissued 1976), offers an excellent view of coffee technology and production. Later sources include M.N. Clifford and K.C. Willson (eds.), Coffee: Botany, Biochemistry, and Production of Beans and Beverage (1985); R.J. Clarke and R. Macrae (eds.), Coffee, 2 vol. (1985–87), on chemistry and technology; Michael Sivetz and Norman W. Desrosier, Coffee Technology (1979), a comprehensive survey of roasted, soluble, and extracted coffees; and C.F. Marshall, The World Coffee Trade: A Guide to the Production, Trading, and Consumption of Coffee (1983). Ed.

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