Het verhaal over koffie begint als een gewas in Ethiopië in Afrika. Koffiebonen groeide snel in populariteit zodat op dit moment koffie groeit of vrijwel alle continenten. Er zijn meer dan 75 landen waar koffie geproduceerd wordt en het lijkt het erop of de populariteit van koffie alleen nog maar blijft toenemen.
Beste omstandigheden
This doesn’t mean to say that coffee can be grown absolutely anywhere. In order get great coffee beans that can produce fantastic tasting coffee you need to grow it in areas that have both long periods of sunshine and periods of time with heavy rainfall. As a result, the most suitable areas are those with tropical climates. Coffee production is centered on the equator in a band that is 25 degrees to the North and 25 degrees to the South. This strip, right around the globe, provides just the right conditions for coffee plantations to grow at their best. Each country and even regions within them produces coffee beans with their own distinctive characteristics and distinctive flavors.
Ideale locaties
This makes tropical areas of South America such as Brazil and Columbia ideal locations to grow coffee beans. In actual fact these areas now produce more coffee than anywhere else. This coffee all goes towards producing the beans needed to provide the more than 400 billion cups of coffee that are consumed every year throughout the world. As well as providing all of these coffee beans it also provides valuable work and business profits for the people in the coffee producing countries. Brazil is by far the largest coffee bean producer and has a 28% market share. Almost six million people in Brazil are involved in growing and harvesting the coffee beans. It is a major employer in this fairly poor country. This is not to say that all the best coffee comes from South America.
There are other countries of note, which produce their fair share of coffee beans and they all have their own characteristics which add to the joy of trying different coffee beans. Indonesia and Mexico are 2 other big coffee producers, and in America we have Hawaii which produces fantastic coffee including Kona which is a popular choice for Java aficionados. Not only is the country location important when it comes to growing coffee beans, but also the landscape of the growing area. Tropical areas that are high above sea level are very good for producing coffee. Here the sun bathes the growing plants all day and then tropical rainstorms do their part at night when they keep the plants nice and moist. However, the most important thing is the variety of conditions in different growing countries because this allows specific flavors and characteristics to develop.
This all leads to the amazing variety of flavors and aromas that we can choose from, when we are deciding which coffee to try next. In Brazil there are huge plantations and in Columbia the mountain regions are ideal for coffee production. Indonesia is a tropical island of great beauty which is ideal for growing coffee. Mexico has a multitude of small coffee growers which all add their own character. In Hawaii they reckon that the volcanic ash in the soil adds its own magic ingredient to the coffee beans that they grow. Africa is also a large coffee producer with countries such as the Ivory Coast and Kenya playing a big part.