Where Does Coffee Come From?

The origins of our fixation with coffee lie shrouded in legend. Some of these stories are too far fetched for belief. But others have been widely accepted as true, such as the story of Kaldi, a goatherd in Arabia Felix-now known as Yemen-who one day noticed his goats whimsically prancing from one particular shrub to another, eating the plants' red berries. Curiosity got the better of Kaldi and he tried some of the berries himself. He soon found himself carousing alongside his herd. Word of this encounter quickly spread to local monks who, after some experimenting, discovered how to make a drink with the berries. The bean's reputation began to travel.

While Kaldi and his frolicsome herd might portray the first account of enjoying the berries, historical data actually suggests the true origin of the coffee plant lies on the plateaus of central Ethiopia, across the Red Sea from Yemen. Arabica coffee trees still grow wild in these parts. Legend also has it that once the Arabians became aware of the power of the coffee plant and its brew, they shunned the idea of sharing it with the rest of the world. For this reason they parched and boiled all coffee seeds or beans that left the country, rendering them sterile. This monopoly over the coffee trade, which was almost impossible to secure, collapsed around the 17th century (an exact date is not known) when a man named Baba Budan spirited seven beans bound to his belly out of Arabia and into his homeland of India. He planted them there and they grew plentifully.

The Europeans, with their insatiable desire for rare and exotic items from abroad, coveted a coffee plant of their own. The continent's upper class had already been enjoying coffee for almost 40 years, and what was once parsimoniously sipped soon became an item to be attained. Louis XIV of France (1643-1715) played a key role in obtaining a coffee plant for the Western world. The Sun King went to great lengths to procure a coffee tree, and built Europe's first greenhouse to shelter his prized possession. The tree originally came from the port of Mocha in Arabia, then traveled to the Dutch colony of Java in the Malay Archipelago, to Holland and finally to Paris. The plant Louis XIV cultivated is said to be the father of most modern-day arabica coffee trees in the New World.

The agent of that dispersal was the Chevalier Gabriel Mathiew de Clieu, a Frenchman who through toil and tumble managed to bring coffee from Europe to the island of Martinique. His ship eluded pirates and was nearly sunk by a massive storm. Along the journey, dehydrated to dangerous limits, he opted to share his water with his coffee saplings. One seedling made it to the shores of the French colony. It is not known how many coffee trees de Clieu left French shores with, but this one successful plant bore hundreds of thousands of coffee plants spreading to the islands of Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, many other Caribbean nations, and even Mexico. From these substantial beginnings, the coffee tree continued to spread around the world. It went back across the Atlantic to Kenya and Tanzania, only a short distance from Ethiopia and Yemen, where, not surprisingly, it took well to the climate and soil conditions.

By the late 19th century, coffee had established itself as a highly prized commodity, planted worldwide.

Today, coffee farmers tend their crops in over 50 countries and coffee is the most heavily traded commodity after oil. Throughout the Americas, coffee is a sole source of income. Its cultivation is often a tradition handed down from generation to generation. Hawaii is known for surf, sun and Kona coffee. The big island's popularity as a vacation spot has lent Kona a near celebrity status. Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador and Honduras all produce fine coffees. In South America, coffee can be found growing in Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru. Brazil, which supplies the world with 35 percent of its coffee, has three major growing regions: Sul de Minas, in the southern part of Minas Gerais, an area called Mogiana and the Cerrado. All of these regions are located on the southeastern edge of the country, just under the bulb that juts into the Atlantic Ocean. The story of how coffee got to Brazil is yet another tale of intrigue.

Around the year 1727, the Brazilian emperor wanted in on the coffee industry. So he sent the charming and dashing emissary, Francisco de Mello Palheta, north to French Guiana to find seeds. The French guarded their seeds with as much pride as the Arabs before them, and Palheta had trouble obtaining his prize. But his charm won the heart of the wife of the French governor, through unknown means, and she sent him, concealed in a bouquet of flowers, all the seeds Brazil would need to create its rich coffee industry.

Specialty coffee connoisseurs generally have little interest in Brazil due to its history of growing lower quality robusta beans for blending. There are exceptions, though, and a few of the smaller microclimates like Chapadao de Ferro and Serra de Salita pull some specialty weight.

Basking in the Caribbean sun, coffee plants can be found on Jamaica's Blue Mountains. Jamaica, like Hawaii, has used its powerful tourism industry to boost its coffee's reputation. Coffee is also grown in Haiti although recent upheavals have caused many problems for its coffee growers. Across the Atlantic Ocean, in the original home of arabica coffee, the Arabian Peninsula still serves as home to some of the oldest existing coffee trees. Yemen is still growing its mocha coffee, which derives its name not from the chocolaty aftertaste often associated with it but from the ancient port of the same name that shipped it. Ethiopia's coffees are some of the best in the world and have the claim to fame as the first place coffee grew. (It was first cultivated in Yemen, as Kaldi can attest.) Ethiopian coffees, such as Harrar, Ghimbi, Sidamo and Yirgacheffe, are known for a wide range within the winy and fruity scale of acidity. Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe all grow coffee as well. The biggest tea producer in the world, India, is also in the coffee game, growing coffee plants mostly in Karnataka, a southern state. India is known for its "monsooned" coffees, which have been exposed to the rains and winds that the country weathers annually. The seasonal rain reduces the acidity of the coffee and turns the bean a yellowish color. Spin the globe further to the East and you will find the home of some of the world's most prized beans. The Malay Archipelago, with over 10,000 islands the largest such chain in the world, grows well-known coffees: Indonesia, Sumatra, Sulawesi and Papua New Guinea are some of the more established coffee origins in this part of the world. These coffees vary from island to island, but overall they are known for a full body and a deep richness. A relative newcomer to the coffee scene is Vietnam, which only began to make its presence felt in the 1990s. In its short tenure as a specialty coffee producer it has become one of the biggest in the world, trumped only by Brazil. Though big in bulk Vietnam's coffees are grown at low altitudes and are not known for their quality.

As this brief tour suggests, the tropical and subtropical latitudes between 25 degrees north and 30 degrees south are the most suited to growing coffee. In these regions the sun shines enough, the rain falls enough, the land is high enough and the soil is right. But you'll discover an immense and surprising diversity of landscapes, climates and culture if you follow your finger around this area on a globe or map. Average annual rainfall in Ethiopia's highlands ranges from 31 to 86 inches. Average annual rainfall in Costa Rica ranges from 48 to 216 inches. This diversity is vital to the final outcome of a region's coffee, as every single variable, even the culture of a region, can affect the flavor of a coffee bean. A coffee farmer has the responsibility to maintain the quality the land will allow and neglecting the relationship of the land, the weather, the coffee tree and any other variables results in poorer quality coffee.

The arabica coffee plant produces its best results when grown at high altitudes, usually in the 1500- to 6000-foot range. The cooler temperatures of these elevations help the coffee plant escape disease and encourage the bean to mature at a slower pace, improving its flavor. For example, on Mt. Kenya, where coffee grows at 5000 to 6500 feet, the plants have an advantage over coffee trees grown lower. Coffee-growing regions are also volcanic hot zones, fittingly, because coffee plants love carbon-rich soils. Hawaii's Kona region, the only coffee producer in the United States, is a perfect example of the link between lava and java.

The Central American region in particular has become a favorite of specialty coffee connoisseurs because of the flavors the area can produce. It is also a perfect cross section of how diversity can create differences in a bean's flavor. Guatemala, for example, has seven different defined microclimates. Each one of these areas, some small, some large, has a distinctive flavor it imparts to its coffee. One of the most famous, the Antigua region, is famous for sharp and clean acidity in its coffees. This acidity is the result of careful farming and countless variables that change from year to year. Its sharpness, brightness or balance can change if the soil changes, the area gets more or less rainfall, or less wind or sunshine, etc.

As a consumer, it's important to remember that coffee comes from these incredibly diverse places all over the world, and that each cup is the result of thousands of delicate properties. When sipping the specialty beverage so lovingly handed to you by your barista, try to note characteristics in your cup, try to travel back to the field it grew up in; try to imagine the farmer or workers who picked it carefully. Try to imagine where your coffee comes from.