Coffee
A brewed drink prepared from roasted coffee beans, the seeds of berries from the Coffea plant. Once ripe, coffee beans are picked, processed, and dried. Dried coffee beans are roasted to varying degrees, depending on the desired flavor. Roasted beans are ground and brewed to produce coffee as a beverage.
History
The plant is native to subtropical Africa and some islands in southern Asia.
The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking appears in the middle of the 15th century in the Sufi shrines of Yemen. It was here in Arabia that coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed, in a similar way to how it is now prepared. Coffee seeds were first exported from Eastern Africa to Yemen, as the coffee plant is thought to have been indigenous to the former. Yemeni traders took coffee back to their homeland and began to cultivate the seed. By the 16th century, it had reached the rest of the Middle East, Persia, Turkey, and northern Africa. From there, it spread to Europe and the rest of the world.
Types
The two most commonly grown are the highly regarded arabica, and the less sophisticated but stronger and more hardy robusta.
Arabica
Robusta
- Has more caffeine, consequently:
- Tastes more bitter
- Easier (and cheaper) to grow (caffeine kills pests)
Science
Clinical studies indicate that moderate coffee consumption is benign or mildly beneficial in healthy adults, with continuing research on whether long-term consumption inhibits cognitive decline during aging or lowers the risk of some forms of cancer.
Personal Favorites
- Philz (Bay Area)
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