Echo Valley Coffee

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Coffee is a brewed drink prepared from roasted seeds, commonly called coffee beans. Coffee beans are seeds of coffee cherries that grow on trees in over 70 countries. Green (unroasted) coffee is one of the most traded agricultural commodities in the world. Due to its caffeine content, coffee can have a stimulating effect in humans. Today, coffee is one of the most popular beverages worldwide.
It is thought that the energizing effect of the coffee bean plant was first recognized in Yemen in Arabia and the north east of Ethiopia, and the cultivation of coffee first expanded in the Arab world. The earliest credible evidence of coffee drinking appears in the middle of the fifteenth century, in the Sufi monasteries of the Yemen. From the Muslim  world, coffee spread to Italy, then to the rest of Europe, to Indonesia, and to the Americas.

COFFEA ARABICA

Coffea Arabica is a high quality coffee with remarkable properties. It makes 75-80% of world’s coffee production. This coffee variety is grown on the high plateaus at 600 to 2000 m above sea level. In natural surroundings, can grow on up to 6 meters tall trees, but coffee trees on the plantations are usually pruned to a height of 3 meters for easier harvesting. The first blossom appears 3 years after planting and the first harvest takes place a year afterwards. The maximum fruit yield is not reached until the sixth season. One coffee tree produces between 1 and 3 kg of coffee and the main harvest season in Brazil takes place from May to August. Both in Serbia and in the world, the best-known varieties of Arabica are Minas and Santos, named after their cultivation areas in Brazil. Besides these, there is a large number of other varieties of coffee:–
Sigri from New Guinea, offspring of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee.
Mexico Maragogip, with biggest beans and lowest caffeine content.
Ethiopia Moka Harar with chocolate-like aroma.
Kenya AA Jumbo, the best African Arabica coffee.

COFFEA ROBUSTA (Coffea Canehora)

Coffea Robusta is grown in tropical areas of Africa, India, Indonesia and Vietnam, at lower elevations of up to 600 meters above sea level. This is a dominant variety of coffee on the African continent due to its easier cultivation, faster growth and resistance to coffee berry diseases and pests. Robusta takes up 20-25% of each production and is significantly cheaper. It differs from Arabica in size and appearance of the beans – they are light brown in colour, rotund and irregular in shape. Robusta beans are also smaller than Arabica beans and poorer in appearance for the preparation process doesn’t include previous washing and is carried out by applying mechanical separation from the hull. Robusta coffee contains larger quantity of impure ingredients and black beans. Robusta coffee drink lacks the enjoyable taste and cannot without blending be used for preparation of a coffee drink. Robusta coffee drink tastes pungent and sour and has no distinct aroma but is used in blends for its extract and high caffeine content, giving a rich flavour. Robusta is blended with Arabica but at a smaller proportion. It adds full flavour to the drink whereas the strong black coffee aroma comes from Arabica. The major Robusta producers and exporters are: Vietnam, Indonesia, Uganda, India and Ivory Coast.