coffee makers either in the comfort of a kitchen or at the local coffeehouse.
Ethiopia gave birth to the coffee craze that has flooded across worldwide
borders. It still produces coffee from wild treed forests its sub-tropical
environment. Coffee can only be grown in that environment or in the world's
tropical regions, where they get plenty of sun and needed rain. Coffee growth is
restricted to a narrow ring from 23° North to 25° South A Turkish proverb
describes it as ‘… black as hell, strong as death, sweet as
love…' In fact coffee is a commodity that is 2nd only to the oil industry
in dollar for volume production. Over 70 countries now supply it.The largest
coffee production is found in Brazil – 28% of the world total. Columbia
produces only 16%. Indonesia provides only 7%, and Mexico follows closely with
4%.The best beans are grown in higher altitudes, but many varieties have
acclimatized to other regions. Brazilian coffee plantations cover huge areas.
Hundreds of laborers are employed to tend the young plants. Columbia is more
mountainous, but it is restricted to mule or Jeep transportation to get it to
major centers.In Hawaii, coffee plantations benefit from Mauna Loa's volcanic
soil. Volcanic ash is combined with volcanic rocks. However the sunshine is
strong and the area gets its ample share of tropical rains.In the former Dutch
colony of Indonesia, coffee has been produced on its 1000's of islands since the
1600's. However, despite all the best technology being used worldwide, the best
coffee climates are the damp and warm ones found around the hundreds of small
farms on Sumatra, Sulawesi and Java. They provide at least a third of the
world's coffee.The famous Altura beans of the higher altitudes of Mexico can be
found growing in Chiapas, Veracruz and Oaxaca. The rest of the country is
dotted with 100's of thousands of these tiny farming plantations.Over the past
years Vietnam has been resurrecting its Tonkin region after a long time of
misuse and is now rivaling Indonesia for third place. French missionaries
planted the famous aribica coffee trees in the middle of the 1800's. It is now
home to the robusta plant.The African countries of the Ivory Coast and Kenya
have become renowned for their darkish big beans that produce a mild and fruity
flavoured coffee. Their production is relatively small in comparison the other
producers, but the coffee that is grown at the foot of Mount Kenya and the
expresso beans from the Ivory Coast, the world's largest robusta expresso
producers are becoming more well known now in North America, despite their
popularity in Europe for many years.Coffee continues to rival tea for dedicated
and devout fans worldwide. The array of varieties is seemingly endless, even
coming from as far away as Indian or Tanzanian, or as close to home as Costa
Rica.