| Coffee, the drink made from the roasted and ground | | | | Japan, and west Germany. Brazil produces about 30 |
| beans of the coffee plant, is the favorite hot drink in | | | | percent of the world's coffee crop. Coffee is vital to |
| almost every country in the world. | | | | the economies of many Latin American countries. |
| The United States ranks as the largest consumer of | | | | The scientific name of the common coffee plant is |
| coffee. Americans drink about 400 million cups | | | | Coffea arabica. It originally grew wild in Ethiopia. It is |
| everyday. The rich aroma of coffee ads much to the | | | | now cultivated in Java, Sumatra, India, Arabia, |
| pleasure of drinking it. The coffee break has become | | | | equatorial Africa, Hawaii, Mexico, Central and South |
| integral part of the business world. Each morning and | | | | America, and the west Indies. Coffea arabica is a |
| afternoon, millions of workers pause for a few | | | | shrub with glossy, evergreen leaves. It is 14 to 20 |
| minutes of relaxation over a cup of coffee. | | | | feet (4.3 to 6.1 meters) high when fully grown. As a |
| On the average, each person in the United States | | | | rule, coffee growers prune it under 12 feet (3.7 |
| drinks the brew from about 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) | | | | meters). It has white flowers that are self-pollinating. |
| of coffee annually. Each year, the United States uses | | | | The coffee fruit is called a berry. It begins to grow |
| about 2,600,000,000 pounds (1,180,000,000 | | | | while the plants is blossoming and ripens from green |
| kilograms) or about one fifth of all the coffee grown | | | | to yellow to red. The average plant produces enough |
| in the world. Other leading coffee consuming | | | | berries each year to make about 1 1/2 pounds (0.7 |
| countries include Brazil, France, Great Britain, Italy, | | | | kilogram) of roasted coffee. |