Globally, there are three main coffee-producing regions: Central and South America, Africa and the Middle East and Southeast Asia. All of these regions lie along the equatorial zone between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, widely known as the bean belt. Small Mexican coffee farms are more common than large plantations, but with more than 100,000 coffee producers, Mexico ranks as one of the largest coffee-producing countries in the world. Most farms are located in the southern states of Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas.
A cup of Mexican coffee usually offers a wonderful aroma and depth of flavor, often with pronounced sharpness. It is an excellent grain for dark roasts and is often used in blends. A Mexican coffee designated Altura means it was grown at high altitudes. Roasted coffee beans can be ground in a toaster, in a grocery store or at home.
Most coffee is roasted and ground in a toaster and sold in packaged form, although roasted coffee beans can be ground at home immediately before consumption. It is also possible, though rare, to roast raw beans at home. Coffee beans can be ground in several ways. A burr grinder uses rotating elements to cut the seed; a knife grinder cuts the seeds with blades that move at high speed; and a mortar and mortar grind the seeds.
For most brewing methods, a burr grinder is considered superior because the grind is more uniform and the grind size can be adjusted. Coffee plants form white coffee flowers that are short-lived (a day or so). After this, round coffee cherries are formed. It takes 3 to 5 years for the coffee plant to produce the coffee fruit, which will only happen if the coffee plant is grown in the right climate.
The first credible evidence of coffee consumption or knowledge of the coffee tree appears in the mid-fifteenth century in the accounts of Ahmed al-Ghaffar in Yemen. Remove the parchment and you will usually find two green coffee beans, ready to wash and roast. While many of the major coffee-producing countries are well known, many other countries produce small quantities of coffee beans for the local market. Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans, the seeds of berries of certain flowering plants of the genus Coffea.
When coffee arrived in North America during the colonial period, it was not initially as successful as it had been in Europe, as alcoholic beverages were still more popular. To propagate coffee plants from coffee beans, ripe coffee cherries, which contain the coffee beans, are collected and the mucilage is removed by fermentation. Although coffee farms are found throughout the Hawaiian Islands, it is Kona coffee, from the big island of Hawaii, the best known and always in great demand. Once the coffee cherries are harvested, the beans are extracted from the fruit and, finally, they are roasted.
While conditions in California are not conducive to coffee production, local farmers have devised an irrigation system to help coffee beans thrive. The low price is the reason why the use of Robusta is often relegated to commercial-grade products, such as instant coffee. Preparation considerations include the fineness of the grind, the way water is used to extract flavor, the ratio of coffee grounds to water (the brewing ratio), additional flavors such as sugar, milk and spices, and the technique that will be used to separate spent grounds. The fruits, or cherries, are rounded and ripen in 7 to 9 months; they usually contain two flat seeds, the coffee beans.
While it may not be as well known as some of its neighbors in Central and South America, Guatemalan coffee has a distinctive flavor quality favored by many for its rich flavor. In Hawaii, coffee has been grown since the beginning of the 19th century, when coffee was imported and grown from Brazil. .