Ann Mullen asked me to write more about where coffee comes from and how the flavours differ…so here we go! I have slightly rewritten this post for my darling as a guest blog for her Meat Free Monday  on Lover of Creating flavours today.

Around about 600 AD, legend has it that a young Ethiopian goatherd by the name of Kaldi saw his goats feeding off particular shrubs which, upon eating their reddish-brown berries, seemed to energize them. He too tried the ‘berries’, as did some monks who observed him, and so the buzz that coffee gives us was discovered. Not surprising, given the fact that the Yirgacheffe region is known for its intensely dark, fruity coffee and the country is renowned for its espresso coffees in particular.

By 1000 AD, the Arabians were roasting and brewing the bean and by the 13th century, the Muslim nations were regular coffee drinkers. In those days, Muslims were trading in Africa, the Mediterranean and India, so its popularity gradually spread around the world. However, the Arabian traders boiled their beans before selling them, ensuring this would make them infertile and so the cultivation of the bean would remain confined to Arabia and Africa.

This monopoly was finally broken when an Indian pilgrim to Mecca, Baba Budan, smuggled some beans out of the country and by 1616 the Dutch had established the drink throughout Europe and by 1696, had set up the first coffee estate in Java. The Dutch, to this day, are leaders in coffee production. In 1792, Lt. Col. Francisco de Melo Paleta smuggled the bean to Brazil and although it started out as a drink for the elite, it very quickly became a favourite with the entire populace, and so the long and noble tradition of coffee cultivation there began.

So let’s start with Brazil, which is the largest coffee bean producer in the world. Ironically, its tiniest island, Réunion, formerly known as Bourbon, produces a cultivar of particularly aromatic beans, that are dark, with a delicate balance of acids. Other great coffee from this part of the world is the bean from Colombia, which has a much lighter, sweeter flavour, the one from Panama, that has a much fruitier overtone and Nicaraguan coffee which is powerful and full bodied.

Move further north to Cuba, where the coffee is as punchy as the cigars; it is seriously strong with a kick like a mule. Jamaica, my homeland, produces one of my favourites, the mellow nectar that is Blue Mountain coffee and Hawaii cultivates a bean that is very full-flavoured yet simultaneously smooth.

Travel round the world to Indonesia and Malaysia for the famous Javan – so famous that a java is American slang for a coffee. The Sumatran is not as harsh as the Javan, having a thicker, sweeter, gentler flavour. Move on to India,  where it seems that Indian coffee appeals to the European palate because its reputation for producing a fruiter, sweeter, less acidic coffee was ratified at the Grand Cus de Café contest in Paris in 2004, where an Indian coffee won 3 gold medals. Then travel west to Yemen which produces some of the most famous mocha coffee in the world. Mocha is actually a port on the Red Sea in Yemen, which is famous for its coffee beans. The word mocha is now synonymous with the coffee beans which have an intense chocolate overtone.

Some won’t forgive me for not including El Salvador, which produces a coffee bean that is chocolately, nutty and has a hint of caramel, or Papua New Guinea, also nutty and chocolatey, or Costa Rica, whose beans produce a fruity coffee with a creamy finish. You will all have your personal favourites, this post is just a small illustration of the fact that coffee, just like wine,  differs radically according to its provenance. I just urge you to broaden your horizons, educate your palates and see how wonderfully diverse the world of coffee truly is….