Coffee, a drink consumed daily by many people during their breakfast or throughout the day. It is a drink that comes from warm countries: warmth and humidity are very important during its production. Do we know the path of this drink that unites and brings people together before the service of the baristas?
Coffee is a wild plant that comes from Ethiopia, the cradle of humanity and coffee production. Its production stages pass from the selection of the plant, its planting and then follows its course, until its tasting. There are more than 25 varieties of coffee plants, on the other hand, coffee makers tend to choose two specific varieties for a traditional coffee for consumption: arabica: used to produce more caracteral and structured coffees and robusta: used to produce traditional coffees. And like the vine, it takes four years for the tree to give fruit ready to produce coffee.
The harvest of coffee, manual or mechanical – when cherries (fruits) no longer have its green color, some varieties have the yellow color when it matures – are at Christmas or in summer, it will depend on the country of origin of the plant, so it can take place two to three times a year. No cherry must remain on the tree. The drying of the grains is done in the sun, on suitable tables where the grains will be stirred regularly to be put in jut bags. There is a stage of fermentation of coffee, it happens before drying, made in specialized machines – it consists of separating the pulp from the grain and then separating them by size and weight (the most walled of the green ones). The coffee is often sold green and will then be roasted by the buyer. The roasting is the most important step because, at this stage, the seller will know what aromas the coffee will give during the tasting. It is the transformation of green coffee into brown due to its high temperature exposure.
My dad picking up the coffee at home in Brazil. Photo: lulumaurin
Quickly cooled the coffee is ready for moulding to give the maximum flavor in one cup. Now it’s the baristas who come on stage, they’re professionals specializing in high-quality coffee – the sommelier of coffee. Baristas create coffee-based drinks and are experts in all stages of coffee life. His work is to offer coffee from all parts of the world in different extractions to give the customer the maximum aroma. And tomorrow, will we enjoy a ristretto? Or a lungo coffee?
