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The origins of coffee are shrouded in time, and more in folklore than history. One of the more colourful legends attributes its discovery to goats in Ethiopia. After eating the fruit, the goats' herdsman noticed that his usually placid flock became quite uncharacteristically active, leaping and frolicking. He tried the substance himself with the same rather spirited results. He took the berries to the nearby monks and they made a drink of it, which they found wonderful, as it kept them awake during prayers! Well, who knows how it was really discovered! It is however certain that the plant was discovered in Ethiopia and that it was the people of Arabia who first used the fruit, initially as a food staple, then a wine and eventually, as the beverage we know today. Coffee became known as the Wine of Araby and indeed, the Arabic named ‘Kaffe’, from which ‘coffee’ was derived, means wine. Although coffee became increasingly popular, it was not without great opposition. Until the 1600’s home beverages consisted of wines, beers and ciders. At least coffee did one thing; it got the booze off the breakfast tables in Europe! Today, coffee is a vital commodity in world trade. It is grown in over 50 countries and is consumed across the globe, with an estimate of over 1 billion cups being consumed, every day. The coffee tree is evergreen and pruned to an accessible height of approximately three metres for ease of picking. The plant flourishes in warm, humid conditions that have good sunshine and even rainfall. From seed to commercial production, it takes about four years. Two coffee beans are usually contained within a cherry like fruit. When the fruit becomes a deep red, it is ready for picking. After picking, there are two processes that follow. One known as the dry method, which literally involves the sun drying of the beans with the fruit: and the wet method, which is described below as it generally produces a better quality product. The pulp or cherry is removed by water fed machine known as a pulper. The beans are washed and soaked for up to 72 hours. This process is known as fermentation. The beans that are encased in a hard parchment-like are then dried, and finally hulled to remove the parchment, and polished. Coffee is graded according to bean size, bagged and shipped to world markets. The characteristics of the various coffees are derived from the soil, climate, altitude, efficiency of the farmer and the standard of processing and not least the species.Among the many varieties of coffee in existence, mainly two are commercial ones:
It is the raw green coffee we import. Purchases are made against samples and if the quality on arrival is fully up to standard, the next process is roasting which is vitally important. Roasting develops the flavour, characteristic, aroma and taste. Since all coffees are different to a degree in colour, size, hardness, age and moisture content, roasting is quite an art. Each roast takes between 13-18 minutes at varying degrees of heat. Once the desired degree of roast is reached, the beans must be cooled to ensure that the precious oils are not lost. It is this extensive knowledge and passion for the art of coffee making, that over the years have helped us win the hearts of coffee-holics across Australia and this time we're here to win your hearts with a cup of the finest brews of coffee, known to man. The blend used at Aromas Coffee Shops is known as Chicago Dark. An extensive range of other blends, as well as origin coffees are available for purchase from our Coffee Shops. COFFEE BENEFITS
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