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Portal:Coffee

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Introduction

A cup of black coffee

Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially available. There are also various coffee substitutes. Typically served hot, coffee has the highest sales in the world market for hot drinks.

Coffee production begins when the seeds from coffee cherries (the Coffea plant's fruits) are separated to produce unroasted green coffee beans. The "beans" are roasted and then ground into fine particles. Coffee is brewed from the ground roasted beans, which are typically steeped in hot water before being filtered out. It is usually served hot, although chilled or iced coffee is common. Coffee can be prepared and presented in a variety of ways (e.g., espresso, French press, caffè latte, or already-brewed canned coffee). Sugar, sugar substitutes, milk, and cream are often added to mask the bitter taste or enhance the flavor.

Though coffee is now a global commodity, it has a long history tied closely to food traditions around the Red Sea. The earliest credible evidence of coffee drinking as the modern beverage appears in modern-day Yemen in southern Arabia in the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines, where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed in a manner similar to how it is now prepared for drinking. The coffee beans were procured by the Yemenis from the Ethiopian Highlands via coastal Somali intermediaries, and cultivated in Yemen. By the 16th century, the drink had reached the rest of the Middle East and North Africa, later spreading to Europe. (Full article...)

Person sorting coffee beans in Ethiopia
An example of the coffee bean sorting process in Hawassa, Sidama Region

Coffee production in Ethiopia is a longstanding tradition which dates back dozens of centuries. Ethiopia is where Coffea arabica, the coffee plant, originates. The plant is now grown in various parts of the world; Ethiopia itself accounts for around 17% of the global coffee market. Coffee is important to the economy of Ethiopia; around 30-35% of foreign income comes from coffee, with an estimated 15 million of the population relying on some aspect of coffee production for their livelihood. In 2013, coffee exports brought in $300 million, equivalent to 24% of that year's total exports. (Full article...)

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Barbajada, also italianized as barbagliata, is a Milanese sweet frothy drink, popular in the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century, but still occasionally served today. It is made with whipped chocolate, milk and coffee in equal parts, along with any amount of sugar, and possibly topped with cream. It is served warm in winter, usually to accompany desserts such as the panettone or other Milanese delicacies. In the past there was also a cold version served in summer.

Reportedly, the recipe was a creation of Domenico Barbaja (hence the name), who was at the time a garzone (waiter) in a café. The drink was so successful that barbaja eventually grew rich enough to become a theatrical impresario, as well as the owner of a café in the luxury venue of Piazza della Scala. (Full article...)

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Roasted coffee beans
Roasted coffee beans
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