Unlike tea, which is brewed from a wide variety of plant materials (herbs, flowers or berries), coffee is made exclusively from grains of madder trees (Rubiaceae). But despite the species narrowness, breeders have bred many varieties of this delicious, invigorating morning drink. The story of his discovery is shrouded in legends. The path he made from Ethiopia to European gourmet tables was long and fraught with dangers. Let's find out what coffee is made of and what technological process red grains go through in order to turn into a fragrant black drink with a beautiful foam.
Legend of the invention
The legend tells the following. A certain Kaldi, an Ethiopian shepherd, noticed that his goats, having eaten leaves and reddish-brown berries of a coffee tree, became peppy and hardy. He spoke about the plant to the abbot of the monastery, who decided to try the effect of grains on the monks, forcing them to chew the bitter fruits in front of the all-night service. And later the monks learned to dry and fry seeds, to make a drink from it. It was around the middle of the 9th century. Thus began the cultivation of a wild-growing tree with wonderful grains. But for a long time, no one outside Ethiopia knew what coffee was made of.
Real story
For a long time, raw berries just chewed, receiving from them a charge of vivacity. Then in Yemen, they learned how to make a drink from dried green beans. "Kishr" or "geshir" is also called "white coffee." It was produced by pressure grains. A method of mixing ground berries with animal fat was also common. A little milk was added to the mass, rolled up balls, which were taken on the road to raise tone and restore strength. By the way, green (raw) coffee perfectly burns excess fat. And now it is used with various additives in dietetics for weight loss. What green coffee is made of - raw grains - then began to roast. After passing the heat treatment, the berries released their aroma and rich taste, perfectly prayed. Arabs poured such a powder with water and brought to a boil. They consumed a sugar-free drink, adding various spices (ginger, cardamom, cinnamon) to it. But until the 12th century, Arabs maintained a monopoly on coffee production.
Victory procession on the planet
From Turkish annals it is known when the first specialized drink store was opened. Istanbul Kiva Khan opened its doors to customers in 1475. Also, the capital of the Ottoman Empire belongs to the idea of public coffee houses: the first of them opened in 1564. Italian merchants brought grain to Europe, purchasing them from Turkish ports. But the drink was not very popular because they consumed it, copying the Arabs, without sugar. Everything changed in 1683 with another siege of Vienna by the Turks. The Ukrainian Cossack Yuri-Franz Kulchitsky led the Allied forces to the besieged and helped those to throw the Turks to flight. As a reward, the Cossack was recognized as an honorary citizen of Vienna and gave him the cargo left by the enemies - 300 bags of reddish-brown grains. It was not enough for Kulchitsky to know what coffee was made of; he needed to somehow make the Viennese addicted to this drink. Therefore, the cunning Cossack is also considered the inventor of advertising. He guessed to add sugar and milk to the drink. His first promotion was related to a bagel, which every patriot considered it necessary to eat (with a cup of coffee, of course) in memory of the victory over the Turks. Kulchitsky opened his coffee shop in Vienna in 1684. A couple of years later, a similar establishment started operating in Paris - Pascal himself was the owner of Le café Procope. France - a recognized trendsetter - simply doomed coffee to world success.
Extension of the range of trees
Despite the pan-European boom, global coffee production was concentrated only in North Africa. But the pilgrims of the Islamic world went to Mecca not only in hajj. In XVII, one such traveler secretly took a coffee tree seedling to India. Around the same time, Dutch merchants brought the plant to the islands of Java and Sumatra. At the beginning of the XVIII century, the French attempted to plant coffee plantations on the island of Bourbon (modern Reunion). Thus, the monopoly of the Arabs was not only undermined. It turned out that the taste of coffee changes from the territory of tree growth. Varieties “Arabica Bourbon” (from the island of the same name), Blue Mountain (from the mountain terraces of Jamaica) and others appeared.
What coffee is made of
The Rubiaceae family of madder trees has more than ninety species. But only two are used in industry. These are Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora. The second type is most often called a robust or Congolese drink. World coffee production is based on Arabica. This type accounts for about 69% of all production volumes. Arabica is pleasant in every way: aroma, taste, high foam. Oblong grains have a curved line in the shape of the letter S. But robusta contains more caffeine, and therefore, invigorates better. Trees of this species grow, unlike arabica, at an altitude of 600 meters, they are unpretentious and resistant to pests. This fast-growing species accounts for about 29% of world coffee production. The remaining two percent is too expensive to become a mass product. So, the “Copy Luwak” variety needs to be passed through its gastrointestinal tract by the animal palm civet. Monkey Coffee grains undergo approximately the same technological process.
Where is coffee made?
In this regard, it is necessary to distinguish between countries growing trees and harvesting crops, and states where grains undergo a complex technological process from roasting to grinding and packaging. After all, the taste and aroma of the drink largely depends on how the grains were prepared: mixed the optimum melange, adjusted to the desired degree of calcination, created all conditions for the maximum preservation of the aroma. Grains are grown in more than 60 countries of the equatorial and tropical climatic zones. The recognized leader in coffee production is Brazil. It accounts for approximately 40% of all manufacturing. In exporting countries, grains are only cleaned of natural shells and dried. They are transported in green - raw - form.
Closer to the consumer
In our hectic age, scientists are working hard on how to make the product faster and easier to prepare. This surprises coffee lovers a lot: after all, the process of preparing a drink is a sacred action for them. However, if you are in a hurry to work, it is important to get the result as soon as possible. After all, how to make instant coffee? Just pour the powder with boiling water. Those who love sweet coffee pour sugar into a cup before adding water. And then you can pour a little cream or milk. Instant coffee was released back in 1899. It was created by Max Morgenthaller, a chemist from Switzerland. More than a hundred years have passed since then, and during this time the production of instant coffee did not stand still. Scientists have worked hard to bring the taste of a drink obtained from a chemical powder as close as possible to a natural one made from ground grains.
Caffeine blockade
Scientists have long determined which substance is responsible for the invigorating and “awakening” effect of this amazing drink. This is a series of purine alkaloids, to which, by the way, if you consume a drink quite often, the body develops dependence. Caffeine, theophylline and theobromine can also cause insomnia and jumps in blood pressure. Therefore, scientists conducted research in the direction of reducing the negative impact of the drink on the body. The case helped them in this. Once a ship transporting coffee to Europe fell into a storm. As a result of a small breach, seawater fell into the hold and significantly dampened the cargo. The owner did not want to give up just like that and took the coffee to an expert, the German chemist Ludwig Rosemus. He examined the grains and was surprised to find that the drink did not lose its taste and aromatic qualities, however ... completely lost unwanted alkaloids .. Now you probably guessed how they make decaffeinated coffee. After Rosemus received a patent in the USA, such "harmless" grains became widely known throughout the world.
Coffee in Russia
In Ukraine, due to the Turkish conquests, coffee was known for a long time. But he began to penetrate into Russia only during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich. True, then it was used exclusively as a bitter medicine for migraines and other diseases. Peter I, in his usual voluntaristic way, tried to introduce “coffee drinking” at his court. According to historians, the tsar "brought closer to Europe" his boyars by forcibly shaving their beards and drinking them with a "bitter swill." In 1703, the first coffee shop was opened in St. Petersburg. But the fashion for a drink - at least in higher circles - was introduced by Empress Elizabeth. She not only consumed coffee in large quantities, but also made cosmetic scrubs out of it.
Coffee production in Russia is very well established. For example, in Tver since 2011 a powerful Paulig factory has been operating. There, they completely go through the grain production cycle from South and Central America and India. First, the raw materials undergo selection and blending. Then the green berries are fried to varying degrees, sent for grinding and vacuum packed.
Roasting
Well, in the end, let's look at how to make a tasty drink. Which coffee is better to choose? It depends on where you will prepare the drink - in a traditional cezve, a geyser or filter machine, an espresso or a French press. Both roasting and grinding depend on the method. There are four degrees of heat treatment of grains. Scandinavian roasting is the weakest. The grains remain greenish. The stronger ones are Vienna, French and Italian. Scandinavian roasting is used to prepare a drink in a French press (a special flask where the strainer is separated by a strainer). Dark, almost black "Italian" grains are made for espresso machines.
Grinding
The finer the grains are detailed, the more they give their flavor. If you make coffee in cezve (another name for this dish is turk), you need to grind the grains very finely, into dust. And coarse grain crushing is suitable for a French press or filter-type coffee maker. It’s best to buy fried grains. After all, no matter how you keep the ground powder, it still loses its amazing aroma after some time. To prepare a delicious drink, the smell of which will caress the nostrils of not only your household, but also your neighbors, grind the grains immediately before use.
Is there good instant coffee?
All of the above applies to natural grains. But what about such a convenient powder? Can it meet those high requirements for taste and smell? For a long time, drink connoisseurs chorus categorically said no! But now the production of instant coffee has made some progress. The fact is that the powder was obtained in two ways. The first is a high-temperature, also called drying-spraying method. Finely ground grains were treated for four hours with boiling water under a pressure of about fifteen atmospheres. Then this natural coffee was filtered and dried with hot air. The result was a frank ersatz of the famous drink. A new method of "sublimation" is that the prepared natural coffee is frozen, the ice is crushed. Then they pass through a special tunnel, where in a vacuum the snow evaporates, bypassing the liquid state. This method allows you to save all the taste of natural coffee.