The Coffee Bean

Coffee is a beverage, served hot or with ice,the highlands outside of San Jos, archetypal estate
prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffeecoffee is La Minita.
plant. These seeds are almost always called the* Guatemala Huehuetenango - Grown at over 5000
coffee bean. It is one of the most popular beveragesfeet in the northern region, one of the most remote
in adults today.growing regions in Guatemala
The coffee bean, itself, contains chemicals which are* Ethiopian Harrar from the region of Harar, Ethiopia
mind-altering (in a way some find pleasing) to humans* Ethiopian Yirgacheffe from the area of the town of
as a coincidental result of their defense mechanism;Yirga Cheffe in the Sidamo (now Oromia) region of
those chemicals are toxic in large doses, or even inEthiopia
their normal amount when consumed by many* Hawaiian Kona grown on the slopes of Hualalai in
creatures which may otherwise have threatened thethe Kona District on the Big Island of Hawaii.
coffee beans in the wild.* Jamaican Blue Mountain From the Blue Mountain
A coffee bean from two different places usuallyregion of Jamaica. Due to its popularity, it fetches a
have distinctive characteristics such as flavor (flavorhigh price in the market.
criteria includes terms such as "citrus-like" or* Java from the island of Java, in Indonesia. This
"earthy"), caffeine content, body or mouthfeel, andcoffee was once so widely traded that "java"
acidity. These are dependent on the localbecame a slang term for coffee
environment where the coffee plants are grown,... and more.
their method of process, and the genetic subspeciesSome coffee bean varieties are so well-known and
or varietal.so in-demand that they are far more expensive than
Some well-known arabica coffee beans include:others. Jamaican Blue Mountain and Hawaiian Kona
* Colombian - Coffee was first introduced to thecoffees are perhaps the most prominent examples.
country of Colombia in the early 1800's. TodayOften these coffee beans are blended with other,
Maragogype, Caturra, Typica and Bourbon cultivarsless expensive coffee beans and the suffix "blend"
are grown. When Colombian coffee is freshly roastedadded to the labelling, such as "Blue Mountain blend"
it has a bright acidity, is heavy in body and isor "Kona blend" even though they only contain a
intensely aromatic. Colombia produces about 12% ofsmall amount of the coffee bean mentioned.
the coffee in the world, second only to Brazil.One unusual and very expensive variety of robusta is
* Colombian Milds - Includes coffees from Colombia,the Indonesian Kopi Luwak and the Philippine Kape
Kenya, and Tanzania, all of which are washedAlamid. The coffee bean is collected from the
arabicas.droppings of the Common Palm Civet, whose
* Costa Rican Tarrazu - from the Tarrazu Valley indigestive processes give it a distinctive flavor.