Origins of Coffee Beans

Originally the cherry sized red berries of the coffee tree, native to Ethopia, were used as food, the pulp crushed and mixed with fat, and fermented to make a type of wine.
The first cultivation of the coffee bean is thought to have its origins to a variety fast grown at mocha, Yemen, across the Red Sea from Ethopia, around the 13th Century.
There it aquired it's Arabic name, qahva, a poetic word for wine, which was tranfered to the drink made from roasted coffee berries. The drink gradually became popular throughout the Arab world and by the mid 19th century was intoduced into Europe. The term coffee is an attempt at pronouncing the Arabic word.
The best coffee beans come from trees of the coffee arabica species. That is the variety introduced to Kenya by Catholic missionaries in the 1890s. Coffee became a valuable crop in Kenya after world War 1.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Why Kenya Coffee?

Kenya coffee has a wonderful flavor courtesy of the rich volcanic soil and high altitudes of the mountains found in East Africa.
Coffee is one of Kenya’s top foreign exchange earners and the government is keen to see this industry prospers. The Coffee Board of Kenya was formed to ensure the quality of exports is maintained and to streamline the industry by regulating coffee trade within and without the country.
Kenya coffees have a very unique taste. The best quality has a very strong coffee aroma with very little bitterness.

If you have ever been in any top quality coffee shop, you’ve probably seen branded Kenya coffee listed. But do you know why Kenyan coffee is famous and considered one of the top coffees by connoisseurs?
Popular for the premium brand Kenya AA coffee, Kenya produces some of the best coffee and is one of the world’s leading exporters of Arabica coffee.
Due to its unique taste, Kenyan coffee has over the years been used to blend and improve other low quality coffees from different countries.
Kenya coffee is grown in high altitudes in the highlands of Kenya and along the Mt. Kenya region. The rich volcanic soil, temperate climate and the seasonal rains combine to produce coffee that is so well balanced that it is almost sublime. The ripe berries are handpicked twice a year, with the main picking season from October until the end of the year while the second and smaller harvesting season runs from June to July or early August.

The flavor of Kenyan Coffee:

Kenyan Coffee is characterized as having a strong flavor that is distinctively bold, high smooth acidity with a mellow after-taste that is almost winey. If you want to enjoy the most aroma you could ever get from coffee, then try the roasted Kenya coffee beans.

Kenya Coffee grades:

Coffee in Kenya undergoes a grading system. For each coffee lot produced, the coffee beans are rigorously tested for quality and then graded into various grades which differ in size, weight and shape. Kenya AA coffee is the premium grade of Kenyan coffee which is simply a measure of the size, weight and shape of the bean. The grade sizes in order from the largest size to the smallest are AA, AB, PB, C, E, TT and T.

Why is size important?

The bigger the bean the more aroma and flavor the coffee will produce, which is of utmost importance to coffee drinkers. The bigger the coffee bean, the better quality it’s perceived to be, all other factors remaining the same.
If you are looking for a great cup of African coffee packed with delicious, rich and delightful flavor, coffee from Kenya will delight your taste buds. You do not have to travel to Kenya to enjoy that fabulous taste because you can buy Kenyan coffee from major establishments as well as online grocery stores.
Posted by Cliff Gachewa at 2:01 PM

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)