What is coffee made from? Where is coffee made? Instant coffee production

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Unlike tea, which is brewed from a wide variety of plant materials (herbs, flowers or berries), coffee is made exclusively from grains of rubiaceae trees. But despite the specific narrowness, breeders have bred many varieties of this delicious, invigorating morning drink. The history of its discovery is shrouded in legends. The path he traveled from Ethiopia to the tables of European gourmets was long and fraught with peril. Let's find out what coffee is made from and what process red beans go through in order to turn into a fragrant black drink with a beautiful foam.

Legend of invention

The legend tells the following. A certain Kaldi, an Ethiopian shepherd, noticed that his goats, having eaten the leaves and reddish-brown berries of the coffee tree, become vigorous and hardy. He told about the plant to the abbot of the monastery, who decided to trythe effect of grains on the monks, forcing them to chew bitter fruits before the vigil. And later, the monks learned to dry and roast the seeds, to make a drink from it. This was around the middle of the ninth century. Thus began the cultivation of a wild tree with wonderful grains. But for a long time no one outside of Ethiopia knew what coffee was made from.

True story

For a long time, raw berries were simply chewed, getting a charge of vivacity from them. Then in Yemen they learned to make a drink from dried green grains. "Kishr" or "geshir" is also called "white coffee". It was produced by grain pressure. A method of mixing ground berries with animal fat was also common. A little milk was added to the mass, balls were rolled up, which were taken on the road to raise the tone and restore strength. By the way, green (raw) coffee perfectly burns excess fat. And now it is used with various dietary supplements for weight loss. What green coffee is made of - raw beans - was then roasted. After undergoing heat treatment, the berries released their aroma and rich taste, perfectly prayed. The Arabs poured such a powder with water and brought it to a boil. They used a drink without sugar, adding various spices to it (ginger, cardamom, cinnamon). But until the 12th century, the Arabs maintained a monopoly on coffee production.

Victory march across the planet

It is known from Turkish chronicles when the first specialized drink store was opened. Istanbul "Kiva Khan" opened its doors to buyers in 1475. Also the capitalThe Ottoman Empire originated the idea of public coffeehouses: the first of them opened in 1564. Italian merchants brought grain to Europe, buying them in Turkish ports. But the drink was not very popular, because they used it, copying the Arabs, without sugar. Everything changed in 1683 with another siege of Vienna by the Turks. The Ukrainian Cossack Yuriy-Franz Kulchitsky led the allied troops to the besieged and helped them to throw the Turks to flight. As a reward, the Cossack was recognized as an honorary citizen of Vienna and they gave him the cargo left by the enemies - 300 bags of reddish-brown grains. It was not enough for Kulchitsky to know what coffee was made from, he needed to somehow make the Viennese become addicted to this drink. Therefore, the quick-witted Cossack is also considered the inventor of advertising. He guessed to add sugar and milk to the drink. His first promotion was associated with a bagel, which every patriot considered necessary to eat (with a cup of coffee, of course) in memory of the victory over the Turks. Kulchitsky opened his coffee house in Vienna in 1684. A couple of years later, a similar institution started operating in Paris - Pascal himself was the owner of Le café Procope. France - a recognized trendsetter - simply doomed coffee to a global success.

Expanding the range of trees

Despite the pan-European boom, world coffee production was concentrated only in North Africa. But the pilgrims of the Islamic world went to Mecca not only for the Hajj. In the 17th century, one such traveler smuggled out a seedling of a coffee tree to India. Around the same time, Dutch merchants brought the plant tothe islands of Java and Sumatra. At the beginning of the 18th century, the French made attempts to plant coffee plantations on the island of Bourbon (modern Reunion). Thus, the monopoly of the Arabs was not only undermined. It turned out that the taste of coffee changes depending on the area where the trees grow. Bourbon Arabica (from the island of the same name), Blue Mountain (from the mountain terraces of Jamaica) and others appeared.

What coffee is made of

The Rubiaceae family of madder trees has more than ninety species. But only two are used in industry. These are Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora. The second type is most often called Robusta or Congolese drink. World coffee production is based on Arabica. This species accounts for about 69% of all production volumes. Arabica is pleasant in all respects: aroma, taste, high foam. Oblong grains have a curved line in the shape of the letter S. But Robusta contains more caffeine, and therefore, invigorates better. Trees of this species grow, unlike arabica, at an altitude of 600 meters, they are unpretentious and resistant to pests. This fast-growing species accounts for about 29% of the world's coffee production. The other two percent are too expensive to become a mass product. So, the Kopi Luwak variety needs to be passed through its gastrointestinal tract by the palm civet animal. Approximately the same technological process goes through the beans of the Monkey Coffee variety.

Where is coffee made?

In this matter, one should distinguish between countries that grow trees andharvesting, and states where the grains go through a complex technological process from roasting to grinding and packaging. After all, the taste and aroma of the drink largely depend on how exactly the grains were prepared: they mixed the optimal melange, brought it to the desired degree of calcination, and created all the conditions for maximum preservation of the aroma. Grains are grown in more than 60 countries of the equatorial and tropical climatic zones. The generally recognized leader in the production of coffee is Brazil. It accounts for approximately 40% of the total production. In exporting countries, grains are only cleaned of natural shells and dried. They are transported in a green - raw - form.

Closer to the consumer

In our hectic age, scientists are working hard to make the product faster and easier to prepare. This surprises coffee lovers a lot: after all, for them, the very process of making a drink is a sacred ceremony. However, if you are in a hurry to work, it is important to get the result as quickly as possible. How is instant coffee made? Just pour the powder into boiling water. Those who like sweet coffee pour sugar into the cup before adding water. And then you can pour a little cream or milk. Instant coffee was released back in 1899. It was created by Max Morgenthaller, a chemist from Switzerland. More than a hundred years have passed since then, and during this time the production of instant coffee has not stood still. Scientists have worked hard to bring the taste of a drink obtained from a chemical powder as close as possible to natural, brewed from ground grains.

Caffeine blockade

Scientists have longdetermined which substance is responsible for the invigorating and "awakening" effect of this amazing drink. This is a series of purine alkaloids, to which, by the way, if you consume a drink quite often, the body develops dependence. Caffeine, theophylline, and theobromine can also cause insomnia and spikes in blood pressure. Therefore, scientists conducted research in the direction of reducing the negative effects of the drink on the body. Chance helped them in this. One day, a ship carrying coffee to Europe was caught in a storm. As a result of a small hole, sea water got into the hold and pretty wet the cargo. The owner did not want to give up so easily and took the coffee to an expert, the German chemist Ludwig Rosemus. He examined the grains and was surprised to find that the drink had not lost its taste and aromatic qualities, however … completely lost unwanted alkaloids.. Now you probably guessed how decaffeinated coffee is made. After Rosemus received a patent in the US, such "harmless" grains became widely known around the world.

Coffee in Russia

In Ukraine, due to the Turkish conquests, coffee has been known for a long time. But he began to penetrate into Russia only during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich. True, then it was used exclusively as a bitter mixture for migraine and other diseases. Peter I, in his own voluntaristic way, tried to introduce “drinking coffee” at his court. As historians assure, the tsar “brought his boyars closer to Europe” by forcibly shaving their beards and giving them “bitter liquor” to drink. Petersburg in 1703The first coffee shop is opened. But the fashion for a drink - at least in the highest circles - was introduced by Empress Elizabeth. She not only consumed coffee in large quantities, but also made beauty scrubs out of it.

Coffee production in Russia is very well established. For example, a powerful Paulig plant has been operating in Tver since 2011. There is a complete production cycle of grain from South and Central America and India. First, the raw materials are selected and blended. Then the green berries are fried to varying degrees, sent for grinding and vacuum-packed.

Roasting

Well, in the end, let's look at how to make a delicious drink. Which coffee is better to choose? It depends on where you will prepare the drink - in a traditional cezve, geyser or filter machine, espresso or French press. Both roasting and grinding depend on the method. There are four degrees of heat treatment of grains. Scandinavian roast is the weakest. The grains remain greenish. Stronger - Viennese, French and Italian. Scandinavian roasting is used to prepare a drink in a French press (a special flask where the thick is separated with a strainer). Dark, almost black "Italian" beans are made for espresso machines.

Grinding

The finer the grains are, the more they give off their flavor. If you are preparing coffee in a cezve (another name for this vessel is a Turk), you need to grind the beans very finely, into dust. And coarse grain crushing is suitable for a French press or filter-type coffee maker. It is betterjust buy roasted beans. After all, no matter how you store the ground powder, it still loses its amazing aroma after some time. To prepare a delicious drink, the smell of which will caress the nostrils of not only your household, but also your neighbors, grind the grains just before drinking.

Is there any good instant coffee?

All of the above applies to natural grains. But what about such a convenient powder? Can it meet those high requirements for taste and smell? For a long time, connoisseurs of the drink in unison repeated a categorical “no!” But now the production of instant coffee has made some progress. The fact is that the powder was obtained in two ways. The first is high-temperature, also called the spray-drying method. Finely ground grains were treated with boiling water for four hours under a pressure of about fifteen atmospheres. Then this natural coffee was filtered and dried with hot air. It turned out a frank ersatz of the famous drink. The new method of "sublimation" is that the finished natural coffee is frozen, the ice is crushed. Then they pass through a special tunnel, where the snow evaporates in a vacuum, bypassing the liquid state. This method allows you to save all the taste of natural coffee.