Arabica Coffee Beans make up 70% of the world's coffee supply. Have you ever wondered why coffee plantations are so huge? That's because one Arabica tree is only capable of producing a pound of coffee per year. It takes five to six hundred pounds of coffee beans to produce just one hundred pounds of coffee!
Origins of the Bean: In The Mountains
It is believed to have been found in the mountains of Ethiopia where it grows wild and in plenty. But it first cultivated in Yemen, and has been grown in southwest Arabia for over a thousand years. Hence the name.
However, nowadays you'll find Arabica coffee beans that come from many countries: nearby and far away. Despite this, they are still grown best in mountainous regions of the tropics at elevations between 2-6,000 above sea level.
Coffee Plants
The wild plants are large, between nine and twelve meters tall with broad, glossy green leaves and beautiful white flowers that produce the fruit that contains the coffee beans we all love so much.
It's only about 2-4 years after planting that the Arabica will produce lovely white flowers that smell like jasmine. If they open on sunny days there will be a lot of berries-which isn't the good news you might think. The more berries a plant produces, it will strive to match that crop the next year even to the detriment of its own health.
So most farmers prevent such problems by carefully pruning the Arabica to keep it healthy and producing a reasonable number of berries. Like other plants, the Arabica does better in rich and fertile soil. The volcanic soil of Indonesia is perfect for Arabica as is the high altitude of mountains in Africa.
That's why it's a cherry!
When ripe, the berries' color ranges from bright red to purple. It takes around seven years for a plant to mature and its ideal conditions are the moist heat of the tropics. Most plants prefer to be in lightly shaded conditions; in some tropical climates they are cultivated in the shade of taller plants such as the banana tree.
If you look at an Arabica coffee bean, you probably wouldn't recognize it since it is covered by a shell and husk inside a berry. The outside is stripped off, or de-husked, and used for fertilizer while the bean itself is wet or dry processed.
The bean looks rather like a rounded football split down the middle, since there are actually two beans in each berry. The exception is the Peaberry--berries with just one bean instead of two, considered the most valuable of coffee beans.
It's these beans that are processed, dried, sorted, and shipped as green coffee beans. Once they reach the roasters facilities, usually near the market places, they are then roasted, ground and packed. It's these roasters that typically bear the coffee brand that is placed on the pack. And probably the brand you are most familiar with.
Is coffee healthy or not?
There has been an intense debate for years about Arabica coffee and its health benefits or drawbacks. People in Japan and the Netherlands who drank Arabica coffees were found to have significantly less incidents of certain cancers than non-Arabica drinkers. Arabica bean coffee is high in antioxidants and is thought to also help to reduce cavities in teeth, prevent some heart problems and kill bacteria.
Mix 'n' Match
The coffee you get in the store is usually not made with Arabica but Robusta beans that have 30-40% more caffeine and a harsher flavor. The "better" brands are blended with old Arabica beans to make them taste more palatable. When you meet someone who turns up their nose at the coffee you bought at a chain grocery store, it's not because they are snobs but because they have tasted real, unadulterated Arabica coffee.
Whatever brand of coffee you are drinking, you'll certainly get more out of your daily cuppa if you know how to find the better coffee beans, coffee brands, by knowing about the coffee beans, their origins, types and regional variations by reading Types of Coffee Beans.
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