The Origin Coffee is, without doubt, one of the most popular and most delicious beverages on the planet. It is also one of the oldest. Its name comes from the Turkish word "kawah", that means "that which amazes and lets the thought fly." It could also be derived from the words "qahwa" or "qaharva", two Arabic names for wine. There are different and very picturesque versions about the origin of coffee some of which place it around the early XI century, when a poor shepherd, in what we now know as Ethiopia, observed that his goats showed an agitated and restless behavior.
Intrigued, the shepherd observed the animals patiently and he noticed that they ate the red berries of a bush unknown to him. The man tasted them and he felt the same effects that he observed in his goats: a strange sensation of joy and energy invaded him. Such was the start of the use of coffee: an infusion of leaves and berries.

One occasion, a fire burned some of those bushes and a pleasant fragrance filled the environment, as a result of the roasting of the red berries. The rest is history, as coffee has become the most popular drink of the planet second only to water.

Coffee and its journey around the world From Arabia, the cultivation of coffee passed to Egypt and later to Syria. By the XV century, it was already commonly used throughout the East, and in the Century XVII it came to Europe. It wasn't until 1730 that the coffee came to America.

Today coffee is grown in more than 50 countries, out of which Mexico is the fourth largest producer, trailing only Brazil, Colombia and Indonesia, with a production average of 5 million bags of 60 kg per year.

Coffee in México Mexico boasts more than 200 years of coffee industry, dating back to 1796, when the first coffee trees were introduced and planted in Córdoba, Veracruz, coming in from Cuba.

Nowadays, coffee is produced in 12 states of Mexico, mainly Veracruz, Chiapas and Oaxaca, from where more than half of the national production comes. There are other producing states such as Puebla, Guerrero, Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí, Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, Tabasco, and Querétaro.

The coffee is one of
the oldest beverages.

After water, the Coffee is
the most popular beverage.

The "cafeto", or coffee tree, belongs the madder family (Rubiaceae), genus Coffea, around 60 species, of which the most cultivated and appreciated (90%) is the Coffea arabica.

It rises to heights between 3 and 5 m., although in the wilderness it can reach heights of 10 m. The trunk is 8 to 10 cm. in diameter, depending on the variety. It is a vertical tree with consecutive pairs of opposite branches, which are flexible and slightly inclined inward to its lower section. The roots may reach lengths of up to 1.50 m. The leaves are of a dark green hue when fully developed; young leaves are clear green and the new sprouts are a yellow-bronze, which gives the tree three distinct colors of foliage.

From the ends of leaves sprout 8 to 15 clusters of white flowers with five petals, that hang by short stems. They exude a smooth fragrance like that of Spanish jasmine. The flower is ephemeral and, after withering, leaves behind a berry of an intense red color, depending on the variety.

Other species, not as important nor as widespread, are: Coffea Canephora, Coffea Liberica, Coffea Dewevrei, Coffea Stenophylla, Coffea Congensis, Coffea Abeokutae, Coffea Klainii, Coffea Zanguebariae and Coffea Racemosa.

"Cafeto" tree

Cafeto bean' section

The types of coffee vary depending on the degree of roasting of the beans.

Coffee is a product cultivated mostly for the foreign commerce, since the main producing countries are not the main consumers.

The consumption of coffee in the world is linked to the inclinations and preferences of the market.

Consumption per person Figures provided by the WTO (World Trade Organization) show that coffee continues to be a product consumed most by high societies. The countries that consume it most are those with the best quality of life, such as Finland, Denmark, Norway, Austria and Germany.

According to the WTO, Finland is the world champion consumer of coffee. In 1998 the Finns drank 11.71 kg. of coffee per capita, while the worldwide average is 4 to 5 kg. a year per capita.

United States is ranked in number 10, consuming an average of 4 to 6 kilograms per year. Mexicans consume between 0.5Kg. to 1 kg of coffee per capita per year, which places us in number 18 worldwide.

 

Uses and customs

Nobody really knows where it originated from, but in the states of Sonora and Sinaloa in Mexico, in the farm zones and cattle ranches, there is a tradition of brewing coffee talega style. This is done with a percolator resembling a teapot and a cone-shaped fabric filter called "talega". This filter is placed over the percolator, filled with ground coffee, and hot water is poured into the cone.

Coffee prepared in this style is known affectionately as Coffee of Talega.



It is commonplace to see to ranchers first thing in the morning (4 or 5 in the morning) preparing their coffee of talega before a day's work.

Lately, however, this custom has slowly been disappearing due to the different options available today for preparing coffee in more easier and comfortable ways.