Happy mornings begin for million persons with a cup of coffee just made and its aroma filling the home space. This is the second most sold product after oil and the Caribbean countries are precisely among the main producers.

The origin of coffee tree is located between Ethiopia and Cape Horn, but it was in Yemen, ancient Arabia, where its cultivation began around the year 575 after Christ. The route of coffee is full of legends, some state that Sudanese slaves that passed by Ethiopia towards Arabia carried with them some coffee beans to survive. Others claim that Arabs introduced coffee in Sri Lanka in 1505. Nevertheless there are many who hold the view that a pilgrim by the name of Bada Budan was the responsible of coffee dissemination in the 17th century when setting out for the Mecca carried to India a couple of fertile seeds. Throughout history, many testimonies have been stated on the "magic" characteristics of this plant. According to a study carried out in Troy in Homer times, was regarded as a "wonderful beverage". Helene of Troy took it from Esparta to Troy. Abigaíl offered it to King David and Esaú and Ruth tasted it. In southern Arabia in 850, a shepherd discovered the wonderful properties of the bean after observing the excitement caused in his herd after eating the beans and he did the same. Another legend of the 18th century goes that a sheik by the name of Omar, once in exile discovered some coffee beans and tired of the same food, he boiled the beans and drank the liquid.

COFFEE IN EUROPE Venetian traders carried this item and introduced it in Europe in 1615 and it is claimed that before half of that same century, was already in Paris and London. Dutch managed to carry a coffee tree from Moka, the capital of Yemen to the Low Countries. Nicolas Witson, Burgomaster of Holland was a key figure in the development of coffee. He entrusted the Major of Calabar with the mission to transport coffee to Java, then a Dutch colony, though the plants did not develop any root, some slips for planting were transplanted to Java, thus the first European coffee plantation was founded that proved to be beneficial, paving the way for other plantations. France had failed in all its attempts until Louis XIV received from Amsterdam, a coffee tree of 1.5 m high. This was the known antecedent of coffee trees in many French colonies and in central and southern Caribbean countries. According to tradition, Norman Gabriel Mathieu de Clieu, Captain of Infantry, was the person who introduced most of the varieties planted in the Antilles. In Martinique he shared with a coffee tree the only water ration left he had. In addition to have found persons interested in its cultivation, on the other side of the Atlantic, coffee has also found a hot and humid weather, similar to that of its native Africa. From Martinique, in the Lesser Antilles, the plant was expanded all over the Caribbean and in the continent. In 1777 more than 18,000 coffee trees were planted in Martinique and from there, the trees were exported to Haiti, Santo Domingo and Guadeloupe. Its path towards Brazil shows the difficulties overcome by this crop, since in 1727 was introduced hidden in a bunch of flowers that the wife of the Governor of French Guiana gave to Lieutenant Francisco de Mello Palheta. In 1730 British introduced coffee in Jamaica, starting the fascinating story of Blue Mountain coffee in this island. Coffee cultivation started in Guatemala between 1750 and 1760. In 1737, coffee was already planted in Haiti and in 1755 its production was equal to that of sugar, transporting it to the metropolis in bags and barrels. When the 1791 Revolution began, the plantations were abandoned and this country was no longer the first producer of both items in the world. It was Francisco Xavier Navarro who introduced coffee trees in Cuba and Costa Rica and in 1790 its cultivation began in Mexico.

The elaboration process of coffee

Harvest.- Thus in Ecuadorian countries, the coffee harvest can be made all year round. In Central America countries located at the north of the equator, the harvest season is from September to December while in the countries to the south is from April to May. There are two traditional techniques to pick up coffee: the first one is called strip picking, cherries are picked up just once. With the second selective method, every six to ten days, the fully ripened cherries are taken from the trees on several stages. Most of the coffee beans are picked up by hand. To discard undesired beans, the pneumatic method is currently used, with an air compressor which classified beans according to their weights. Coffee beans pass on a sort of conveyor belt for their selection, thus removing the black, old, reddish, fermented beans and those which still conserve their shell.

Coast. - This operation will contribute to the aroma and flavor, depending on roast temperature or time, coffee will be more or less bitter or sour. Roast process causes a number of chemical reactions, being the main one the protein decomposition that will be seen on the bean surface in the form of oil. They are described as, coffee essence, coffee oil or "cafeol" and they have both flavor and aroma. In general, the longest roast, the worse quality and the relevant characteristics of each coffee are lost. Coffee transformation processes reduce the time of taste conservation.

Grind process.- However, the new packing processes as that of vacuum-packed have achieved to fully preserve coffee properties even after being ground for a long time. The main grind characteristics are: gross (kitchen salt) suitable for the coffee cooking pot; medium grind (table salt) for the percolator in general, or fine grind for coffee obtained by paper filters or by the espresso process.

FIRST CAFÉS

The first cafés established were called kahvev-kanes in the Mecca, its function was a religious one, but soon turned into a place for social and intellectual gatherings. From there, cafés extended to Adin, Median and Cairo. In 1517 the plant reached Constantinople when Selim I conquered Egypt. Then it was expanded to Damascus in 1530. In the hands of Venetian traders, coffee arrives in Europe and it was in 1683 that the first café as an establishment was founded in Venice. Café Florián at San Marcos Square was inaugurated in 1720. In England in 1650, the first café was opened in Oxford. In London the first one was established in 1652 at St. Michael’s Alley, being the pattern for other facilities later opened. In France, the Turkish sultan Soliman Aga offered coffee to Louis XIV and its court. Soon coffee was successful in Paris. In Spain, coffee was introduced by Italian traders at the end of the 18th century. The first café was opened in Madrid in 1764 by the Gippnini brothers, under the name of Fonda de San Sebastián. In Barcelona, the oldest one is Café Fai founded in 1781. In the Americas, Mexico opened Café Manrique in Tacuba street in 1789. In Buenos Aires, along the ports, café-cantantes are born. In North America the first dates are from 1688. In Boston, London and Gutteridge cafés were founded in 1691. In New York, King’s Arms café was set up in 1696.