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COFFEE (Fr: cafe, Ger. Kaffee)

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Originally appearing in Volume V06, Page 649 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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COFFEE (Fr: cafe, Ger. Kaffee)  . This important and valuable See also:article of See also:food is the produce chiefly of Coffea arabica, a Rubiaceous plant indigenous to See also:Abyssinia, which, however, as cultivated originally, spread outwards from the See also:southern parts of See also:Arabia . The name is probably derived from the Arabic K'hawah, although by some it has been traced to See also:Kaffa, a See also:province in Abyssinia, in which the See also:tree grows See also:wild . The genus Coffea, to which the See also:common See also:coffee tree belongs, contains about 25 See also:species in the tropics of the Old See also:World, mainly See also:African . Besides being found wild in Abyssinia, the common coffee plant appears to be widely disseminated in See also:Africa, occurring wild in the See also:Mozambique See also:district, on the shores of the See also:Victoria See also:Nyanza, and in See also:Angola on the See also:west See also:coast . The coffee See also:leaf disease in See also:Ceylon brought into prominence Liberian coffee (C. liberica), a native of the west coast of Africa, now extensively grown in several parts of the world . Other species of economic importance are Sierra Leone coffee (C. stenophylla) and See also:Congo coffee (C. robusta), both of which have been introduced into and are cultivated on a small See also:scale in various parts of the tropics . C. excelsa is another species of considerable promise . The common Arabian coffee See also:shrub is an See also:evergreen plant, which under natural conditions grows to a height of from 18 to 20 ft., with oblong-ovate, See also:acuminate, smooth and shining leaves, measuring about 6 in. in length by 2Z wide . Its See also:flowers, whichare produced in dense clusters in the axils of the leaves, have a five-toothed calyx, a tubular five-parted corolla, five stamens and a single bifid See also:style . The flowers are pure See also:white in See also:colour, with a See also:rich fragrant odour, and the See also:plants in blossom have a lovely and attractive See also:appearance, but the See also:bloom is very evanescent . The See also:fruit is a fleshy See also:berry, having the appearance and See also:size of a small See also:cherry, and as it ripens it assumes a dark red colour .

Each fruit contains two seeds embedded in a yellowish pulp, and the seeds are enclosed in a thin membranous endocarp (the "See also:

parchment") . Between each See also:seed and the parchment is a delicate covering called the " See also:silver skin." The seeds which constitute the raw coffee " beans " of See also:commerce are piano-See also:convex in See also:form, the See also:flat surfaces which are laid against each other within the berry having a See also:longitudinal furrow or groove . When only one seed is See also:developed in a fruit it is not flattened on one See also:side, but circular in See also:cross See also:section . Such seeds form " See also:pea-berry " coffee . The seeds are of a soft, semi-translucent, bluish or greenish colour, hard and tough in texture . The regions best adapted for the cultivation of coffee are well-watered See also:mountain slopes at an See also:elevation ranging from loon to 4000 ft. above See also:sea-level, within the tropics, and possessing a mean See also:annual temperature of about 65° to 70° F . The Liberian coffee plant (C. liberica) has larger leaves, flowers and fruits, and is of a more robust and See also:hardy constitution, than Arabian coffee . The seeds yield a highly aromatic and well-flavoured coffee (but by no means equal to Arabian), and the plant is very prolific and yields heavy crops . Liberian coffee grows, moreover, at See also:low altitudes, and flourishes in many situations unsuitable to the Arabian coffee . It grows wild in See also:great abundance along the whole of the See also:Guinea coast . See also:History.—The See also:early history of coffee as an economic product is involved in considerable obscurity, the See also:absence of fact being compensated for by a profusion of conjectural statements and mythical stories . The use of coffee (C. arabica) in Abyssinia was recorded in the 15th See also:century, and was then stated to have been practised from See also:time immemorial .

Neighbouring countries, how-ever, appear to have been quite ignorant of its value . Various legendary accounts are given of the See also:

discovery of the beneficial properties of the plant, one ascribing it to a See also:flock of See also:sheep accidentally browsing on the wild shrubs, with the result that they became elated and sleepless at See also:night ! Its physiological See also:action in dissipating drowsiness and preventing See also:sleep was taken See also:advantage of in connexion with the prolonged religious service of the Mahommedans, and its use as a devotional antisoporific stirred up fierce opposition on the See also:part of the strictly orthodox and conservative section of the priests . Coffee by them was held to be an intoxicating beverage, and therefore prohibited by the See also:Koran, and severe penalties were threatened to those addicted to its use . Notwithstanding threats of divine retribution and other devices, the coffee-drinking See also:habit spread rapidly among the Arabian Mahommedans, and the growth of coffee and its use as a See also:national beverage became as inseparably connected with Arabia as See also:tea is with See also:China . - Towards the See also:close of the 16th century the use of coffee was recorded by a See also:European See also:resident in See also:Egypt, and about this See also:epoch it came into See also:general use in the near See also:East . The appreciation of coffee as a beverage in See also:Europe See also:dates from the 17th century . " Coffee-houses " were soon instituted, the first being opened in See also:Constantinople and See also:Venice . In See also:London coffee-houses date from 1652, when one was opened in St See also:Michael's See also:Alley, Cornhill . They soon became popular, and the role played by them in the social See also:life of the 17th and 18th centuries is well known . See also:Germany, See also:France, See also:Sweden and other countries adopted them at about the same time as Great See also:Britain . In Europe, as in Arabia, coffee at first made its way into favour in the See also:face of various adverse and even prohibitive restrictions .

Thus at one time in Germany it was necessary to obtain a See also:

licence to roast coffee . In See also:England See also:Charles II. endeavoured to suppress coffee-houses on the ground that they were centres of See also:political agitation, his royal See also:proclamation stating that they were the resort of disaffected persons " who devised and spread abroad See also:divers false, malicious and arabica . scandalous reports, to the See also:defamation of His See also:Majesty's See also:government, and to the disturbance of the See also:peace and quiet of the nation." Up to the close of the 17th century the world's entire, although limited, See also:supply of coffee was obtained from the province of See also:Yemen in See also:south Arabia, where the true celebrated Mocha or Mokka coffee is still produced . At this time, however, plants were successfully introduced from Arabia to See also:Java, where the cultivation was immediately taken up . The government of Java distributed plants to various places, including the botanic See also:garden of See also:Amsterdam . The Portuguese introduced coffee into Ceylon . From Amsterdam the Dutch sent the plant to Surinam in 1718, and in the same See also:year See also:Jamaica received it through the See also:governor See also:Sir See also:Nicholas See also:Lawes . Within a few years coffee reached the other West See also:Indian islands, and spread generally through the tropics of the New World, which now produce by far the greater portion of the world's supply . Cultivation and Preparation for See also:Market.—Coffee plants are grown from seeds, which, as in the See also:case of other crops, should be obtained from selected trees of desirable characteristics . The seeds may be sown " at stake," i.e. in the actual positions the mature plants are to occupy, or raised in a nursery and after-wards transplanted . The choice of methods is usually determined by various See also:local considerations . Nurseries are desirable where there is See also:risk of drought killing seedlings in the open .

Whilst See also:

young the plants usually require to be shaded, and this may be done by growing See also:castor oil plants, See also:cassava (Manihot), See also:maize or Indian See also:corn, bananas, or various other useful crops between the coffee, until the latter develop and occupy the ground . Sometimes, but by no means always, permanent shading is afforded by See also:special shade trees, such as species of the See also:coral tree (Erythrina) and other leguminous trees . Opinions as to the See also:necessity of shade trees varies in different countries; e.g. in See also:Brazil and at high elevations in Jamaica they are not employed, whereas in See also:Porto Rico many look on them as absolutely essential . It is probable that in many cases where shade trees are of ad-vantage their beneficial action may be indirect, in affording See also:protection from See also:wind, drought or See also:soil erosion, and, when leguminous plants are employed, in enriching the soil in See also:nitrogen . The plants begin to come into bearing in their second or third year, but on the See also:average the fifth is the first year of considerable yield . There may be two, three, or even more " flushes " of blossom in one year, and flowers and fruits in all stages may thus be seen on one plant . The fruits are fully ripe about seven months after the flowers open; the ripe fruits are fleshy, and of a deep red colour, whence the name of " cherry." When mature the fruits are picked by See also:hand, or allowed to fall of their own See also:accord or by shaking the plant . The subsequent preparation may be according to (1) the dry or (2) the wet method . In the dry method the cherries are spread in a thin layer, often on a See also:stone drying See also:floor, or See also:barbecue, and exposed to the See also:sun . Protection is necessary against heavy See also:dew or See also:rain . The dried cherries can be stored for any length of time, and later the dried pulp and the parchment are removed, setting See also:free the two beans contained in each cherry . This See also:primitive and See also:simple method is employed in Arabia, in Brazil and other countries .

In Brazil it is giving See also:

place to the more See also:modern method described below . In the wet, or as it is sometimes called, West Indian method, the cherries are put in a tank of See also:water . On large estates galvanized spouting is often employed to convey the beans by the help of See also:running water from the See also:fields to the tank . The mature cherries sink, and are See also:drawn off from the tank through pipes to the pulping See also:machines . Here they are subjected to the action of a roughened See also:cylinder revolving closely against a curved See also:iron See also:plate . The fleshy portion is reduced to a pulp, and the mixture of pulp and liberated seeds (each still enclosed in its parchment) is carried away to a second tank of water and stirred . The See also:light pulp is removed by a stream of water and the seeds allowed to See also:settle . Slight See also:fermentation and subsequent washings, accompanied by trampling with See also:bare feet and stirring by rakes or special machinery, result in the parchment coverings being See also:left quite clean . The beans are now dried on barbecues, in trays, &c.,or by artificial See also:heat if See also:climatic conditions render this necessary . See also:Recent experiments in Porto Rico tend to show that if the See also:weather is unfavourable during the See also:crop See also:period the pulped coffee can be allowed to remain moist and even to See also:malt or sprout without injury to' the final value of the product when dried later . The product is now in the See also:state known as parchment coffee, and may be exported . Before use, however, the parch-, ment must be removed .

This may be done on the See also:

estate, at the See also:port of shipment, or in the See also:country where imported . The coffee is thoroughly dried, the parchment broken by a See also:roller, and re-moved by winnowing . Further rubbing and winnowing removes the silver skin, and the beans are left in the See also:condition of See also:ordinary unroasted coffee . Grading into large, See also:medium and small beans, to secure the uniformity desirable in roasting, is effected by the use of a cylindrical or other See also:pattern See also:sieve, along which the beans are made to travel, encountering first small, then medium, and finally large apertures or meshes . Damaged beans and See also:foreign See also:matter are removed by hand picking . An average yield of cleaned coffee is from 1i to 2 lb per tree, but much greater crops are obtained on new rich lands, and under special conditions . See also:Production.—The centre of production has shifted greatly since coffee first came into use in Europe . Arabia formerly supplied the world; later the West Indies and then Java took the See also:lead, to be supplanted in turn by Brazil, which now produces about three-quarters of the world's supply and controls the market . Brazil.—Coffee planting is the See also:chief See also:industry of Brazil, and coffee the See also:principal export . The states of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, See also:Minas GeraesandSantos,containthechiefcoffee-producinglands . Theannual output ranges from about 10,000,000 to 16,000,000 bags (of 120 lb each), whilst the world's annual See also:consumption is more or less stationary at about 16,000,000 bags . The overwhelming importance of the Brazilian output is thus evident .

Recently efforts have been made to restrict production to maintain prices, and the Coffee See also:

Convention See also:scheme came into force in Sao Paulo on See also:December r, 1906, and in Rio de Janeiro and Minas Geraes on See also:January t, 1907 . The cultivation in general is very primitive in See also:character, periodical weeding being almost all the See also:attention the plants receive . Manuring is commonly confined to mulches of the cut weeds and addition of the coffee husks . New lands in Sao Paulo yield from 8o cwt. to too cwt. of cleaned coffee per t000 trees (700 go to the See also:acre) ; the average yield, however, is not more than 15 cwt . The plants are at their best when from 10 to 15 years old, but continue yielding for 30 years or even more . Other South See also:American Countries.—See also:Venezuela, See also:Colombia, See also:Ecuador, See also:Peru, and to a much less degree See also:Bolivia and See also:Paraguay, produce coffee, the annual crops of the two former countries being each of about £1,500,000 in value . Central See also:America.—See also:Guatemala produces the most in this region; the coffee estates are mainly controlled by Germans, who have brought them to a high See also:pitch of perfection . The crop ranges in value from about £1,000,000 to £1,500,000 per annum . See also:Costa Rica and See also:San See also:Salvador produce about See also:half this amount In See also:Nicaragua, See also:Honduras and See also:Panama, coffee is extensively cultivated, and all export the product . West Indies.—Coffee is grown in most of the islands, often only for local use . See also:Haiti produces the largest amount, the annual value of the crop being about £500,000 . Porto Rico formerly had a flourishing industry, but it has declined owing to various causes .

The interior is still expected to be devoted largely to coffee, and the U.S . See also:

Department of See also:Agriculture has carried out experiments to improve methods and ensure the cultivation of better varieties . Jamaica produces the famous See also:Blue Mountain Coffee, which compares favourably with the best coffees of the world, and also ordinary or " See also:plain grown "; the Blue Mountain is cultivated at elevations of from 3000 to 4500 ft . Coffee usually ranks third or See also:fourth in value amongst the exports of the See also:island . Africa, the native country of the coffees, does not now contribute any important amount to the world's output . In See also:Liberia, the See also:Gold Coast and elsewhere on the West Coast are many plantations, but the low prices ruling of recent years have caused coffee to be neglected for more remunerative crops . Coffee is, however, still the principal export of Nyasaland (See also:British Central Africa), where it was introduced as recently as 1894 . The See also:area under coffee has been greatly reduced, owing partly to more attention being paid to See also:cotton, partly to droughts and other causes . In See also:Somaliland and Abyssinia coffee cultivation is of very See also:ancient date . Two kinds are exported, Harrari and Habashi . The former compares favourably with Mocha coffee . The industry could be very considerably extended .

Phoenix-squares

In See also:

Natal, See also:Rhodesia, &c., coffee is grown, but not in sufficient quantity to supply the local demand . Arabia.—The name " Mocha " is applied generally to coffee produced in Arabia . See also:Turkey and Egypt obtain the best grades . Traders from these countries go to Arabia, buy the crops on the trees, and supervise its picking and preparation themselves . The coffee is prepared by the " dry method." 648 See also:India is the principal coffee-growing region in the British See also:empire, and produces about one-fifth of the See also:total supply of the See also:United See also:Kingdom . There are some 213,000 acres under coffee, mostly in southern India . The See also:official See also:report states that the production of coffee is restricted for the most part to a limited area in the elevated region above the south-western coast, the coffee lands of See also:Mysore, See also:Coorg, and the See also:Madras districts of See also:Malabar and the See also:Nilgiris, comprising 86 % of the whole area under the plant in India . About one-half of the whole coffee-producing area is in Mysore . In See also:Burma, See also:Assam and Bombay, coffee is of See also:minor importance . During 1904–1906 there was a reduction of the area under coffee in India by 21,554 acres . Ceylon . The history of coffee in Ceylon is practically that of the coffee-leaf disease (see below) .

The Dutch introduced Arabian coffee in 1720, but abandoned its cultivation later . It was revived by the British, and developed very rapidly between 1836 and 1845, when there was a temporary collapse owing to See also:

financial crisis in the United Kingdom . In 1880 the exports of coffee were of the value of about £2,784,163 . Ten years later they had fallen to £430,633, owing to the ravages of the coffee-leaf disease . The output continued to decrease, and the value of the crop in 1906 was only £17,258 . Liberian coffee, which is hardier and more resistant to disease, was introduced, but met with only partial success . Dutch East Indies.—Coffee from this source passes under the - general name of " Java," that island producing the greatest amount; See also:Sumatra, See also:Borneo and the See also:Celebes, &c., however, also contribute . The Java plantations are largely owned by the government . Much of the coffee from these islands is of a high quality . See also:Australasia.—Coffee can be cultivated in the See also:northern territories of See also:Australia, but comparatively little is done with this crop ; Queens-See also:land produces the largest amount . See also:Hawaii, &c.—In all the islands of the Hawaiian See also:group coffee is grown, but nine-tenths or more is raised in Hawaii itself, the Kona district being the chief seat of production . The exports go mostly to the United States, and there is also a large local consumption .

Coffee thrives well also in the Philippines and See also:

Guam . The World's See also:Trade.—The following figures, from the Year-See also:book of the U . S . Department of Agriculture, indicate the relative importance of the coffee-exporting countries . 1904 . 1905 . Country . Exports coffee Exports coffee in lb. in lb . America 1,431,328,038 Brazil . 1, 326, 027, 795 Colombia 130,000,000 (est.) 70,000,000 Venezuela 128,000,000 94,370,090 Haiti 81,407,346 45,244,232 Salvador 75,314,003 61,822,223 Guatemala 71,653,700 81,081,600 See also:Mexico . 41,855,368 42,456,491 39,788,002 Costa Rica 27,730,672 . Nicaragua .

21,661,621 18,171,515 Porto Rico . 15,330,590 Jamaica 5,781,440 9,046,464 See also:

Asia 77,168,254 72,864,649 Dutch East Indies British India . 36,920,464 40,340,384 See also:Singapore (port of export) 12,367,156 11,935,034 Other countries . . 216,891,567 220,132,690 Total . 2,268,109,976 2,238,581,412 In 1906 there was an increased total of 2,68o, 855, 878 lb, due to the Brazil export rising to 1,847,367,771 lb . The aggregate value of the coffee annually entering the world's markets is about £40,000,000 . Coffee Consumption.—The United States of America consume nearly one half of all the coffee exported from the producing countries of the world . This might of course be due merely to the States containing more coffee-drinkers than other countries, but the average consumption per See also:head in the country is about 11 to 12 lb per annum, an amount equalled or excelled only in See also:Norway, Sweden and See also:Holland . Whilst one great See also:branch of the Anglo-Saxon stock is near the head of the See also:list, it is interesting to See also:note that the United Kingdom and also See also:Canada and Australia are almost at the See also:foot, using only about i lb of coffee per head each year . Germany, with a consumption of about 6 to 7 lb per See also:person per annum uses considerably less than a See also:quarter of the world's commercial crop . France, about 5 lb per head, takes about one eighth; and See also:Austria-See also:Hungary, about 2 lb, uses some one-sixteenth . Holland consumes approximately as much, but with a much smaller See also:population, the Dutch using more per head than any other See also:people—14 lb to 15 lb per annum .

Their See also:

taste is seen also in the relatively high consumption in South Africa . Sweden, See also:Belgium and the United Kingdom, follow next in See also:order of total amount used . In many tropical countries much coffee is drunk, but as it is often produced locally exact figures are not available . The average consumption in the United Kingdom is about 50,000,000 lb per annum; about one-fifth only is produced in the British empire, and of this about nineteen-twentieths come from India and one-twentieth from the British West Indies . Coffee-leaf Disease.—The coffee industry in Ceylon was ruined by the attack of ,a fungoid disease (Hemileia vastatrix) known as the Ceylon coffee-leaf disease . This has since extended its ravages into every coffee-producing country in the Old World, and added greatly to the difficulties of successful cultivation . The fungus is a microscopic one, the See also:minute spores of which, carried by the wind, settle and germinate upon the leaves of the plant . The .1' 1, Part of leaf showing diseased are forming a cluster of patches. spores . 2, Cluster of uredospores . 4, Ripe uredospores . 3, Transverse section of a 5, A teleutospore . diseased patch in the leaf 6, A uredospore germinating, showing the hyphae of the the germ-See also:tube is penetrating fungus pushing between the the leaf .

leaf-cells and tapping them 7, Uredospore germinating. for nourishment . The hy- u, Uredospore . phae have broken through t, Teleutospere . in the upper face and 2-7, Highly magnified . fungal growth spreads through the substance to the leaf, robbing the leaf of its nourishment and causing it to See also:

wither and fall . An infected See also:plantation may be cleansed, and the fungus in its nascent state destroyed, by powdering the trees with a mixture of See also:lime and See also:sulphur, but, unless the See also:access of fresh spores brought by the wind can be arrested, the plantations may be readily reinfected when the lime and sulphur are washed off by rain . The separation of plantations by belts of trees to windward is suggested as a check to the spread of the disease . Microscopic Structure.—Raw coffee seeds are tough and horny in structure, and are devoid of the See also:peculiar aroma and taste which are so characteristic of the roasted seeds . The minute structure of coffee allows it to be readily recognized by means of the See also:microscope, and as roasting does not destroy its distinguishing peculiarities, microscopic examination forms the readiest means of determining the genuineness of any See also:sample . The substance of the seed, according to Dr Hassall, consists " of an assemblage of vesicles or cells of an angular form, which adhere so firmly together that they break up into pieces rather than See also:separate into distinct and perfect cells . The cavities of the cells include, in the form of little drops, a considerable quantity of aromatic volatile oil, on the presence of which the fragrance and many of the active principles of the berry depend " (see fig . 3) .

Physiological Action.—Coffee belongs to the medicinal or See also:

auxiliary class of food substances, being solely valuable, for its stimulant effect upon the See also:nervous and vascular sys-'tg tem . It produces a feeling of buoyancy and exhilaration comparable to a certain See also:stage of alcoholic See also:intoxication, but which does not end in depression or collapse . It increases the frequency of the See also:pulse, lightens the sensation of fatigue, and it sustains the strength under prolonged and severe See also:muscular exertion . The value of its hot infusion under the rigours of See also:Arctic See also:cold has been demonstrated in the experience of all Arctic explorers, and it is scarcely less useful in tropical regions, where it beneficially stimulates the action of the skin . The physiological action of coffee mainly depends on the presence of the See also:alkaloid See also:caffeine, which occurs also in tea, Paraguay tea, and cola nuts, and is very similar to theobromine, the active principle in See also:cocoa . The percentage of caffeine See also:present varies in the different species of Coffea . In Arabian coffee it ranges from about 0'7 to 1.6%; in Liberian coffee from I .o to 1'5% . Sierra Leone coffee (C. stenophylla) contains from 1.52 to 1.70%; in C. excelsa 1.89% is recorded, and as much as 1'97% in C. canephora . Four species have been shown by M . G . See also:Bertrand to contain no caffeine at all, but instead a considerable quantity of a See also:bitter principle . All these four species are found only in See also:Madagascar or the neighbouring islands .

Other coffees grown there contain caffeine as usual . Coffee, with the caffeine extracted, has also been recently prepared for the market . The commercial value of coffee is determined by the amount of the aromatic oil, caffeone, which develops in it by the See also:

process of roasting . By prolonged keeping it is found that the richness of any seeds in this peculiar oil is increased, and with increased aroma the coffee also yields a blander and more mellow beverage . Stored coffee loses See also:weight at first with great rapidity, as much as 8% having been found to dissipate in the first year of keeping, 5% in the second, and 2% in the third; but such loss of weight is more than compensated by improvement in quality and consequent enhancement of value . Roasting.—In the process of roasting, coffee seeds swell up by the liberation of gases within their substance,—their weight decreasing in proportion to the extent to which the operation is carried . Roasting also develops with the aromatic caffeone above alluded to a bitter soluble principle, and it liberates a portion of the caffeine from its See also:combination with the caffetannic See also:acid . Roasting is an operation of the greatest nicety, and one, moreover, of a See also:crucial nature, for equally by insufficient and by excessive roasting much of the aroma of the coffee is lost; and its infusion is neither agreeable to the See also:palate nor exhilarating in its See also:influence . The roaster must See also:judge of the amount of heat required for the adequate roasting of different qualities, and while that is variable, the range of roasting temperature proper for individual kinds is only narrow . In See also:continental countries it is F the practice to roast in small quantities, and thus the whole See also:charge is well under the See also:control of the roaster; but in Britain large roasts are the See also:rule, in dealing with which much difficulty is experienced in producing See also:uniform torref action, and in stopping the process at the proper moment . The coffee-roasting apparatus is usually a malleable iron cylinder mounted to revolve over thefire on a hollow See also:axle which allows the See also:escape of gases generated during torref action . The roasting of coffee should be done as See also:short a time as practicable before the grinding for use, and as ground coffee especially parts rapidly with its aroma, the grinding should only be done when coffee is about to be prepared .