Coffea Canephora; Caffeinated Salvation

Coffea canephora (Robusta Coffee; syn. Coffea robusta) originated in the western part of Africa. This species of coffee beans is widely grown in Africa and Brazil where locals called it as Conillion. The French colonist led the way of cultivating this particular coffee species around late 19th century.

The plant is characterized by a large umbrella-shaped growth. The leaves are thinner that that of any types of coffee plant. They may vary in shape, some being oval with obtuse base and apex having acuminate tip and other being elliptical with acute base and apex. The edge of the leaf is scalloping. The flowers are white with 5-6 petals. The coffee beans which are smaller than Arabica are closely clustered when ripe, hey are blood red, some being solid in color and other are with fine strip of dark red and light red.

Canephora is easier to cultivate than the other major species of coffee, Coffea Arabica, and, because of this, is cheaper to produce. Roughly one third of the coffee produced in the world is robusta because farmers choose to grow the faster growing coffee plant to balance the upswings in the price of coffee beans.

Coffea Arabica; a healthy coffee indeed!

Arabica (coffea Arabica L.) This species of coffee has the best cup quality healthy coffee because of its excellent flavor and aroma. The plant is glabrous shrub smaller than Liberica and Canephora (Robusta)trees. The lateral branches are opposite in arrangement, horizontal and in pairs. The leaves are dark, glossy, green on the upper surface light green underneath.

Arabica coffee is deemed to be the first of the types of coffee to be cultivated, being grown in southwest Arabia for more than 1,000 years. It is considered to produce better coffee than the other chief commercially grown coffee beans, Coffea canephora (Robusta). Nevertheless Arabica contains less caffeine compared to any other cultivated species of coffee.

Because Arabica coffee beans are known to be the best quality cup of coffee, it’s also the more if not the most expensive kind of coffee. It’s not easy to cultivate and demands a higher cost in production. Gourmet coffees are almost exclusively high-quality mild varieties of coffea arabica.

The Healthy Coffee; A look back in the past

Coffee is a global healthy tonic drink prepared from roasted seeds, generally called coffee beans, of the coffee plant. The term coffee was first coined in year 1598 through Italian caffè. This was created via Turkish kahve, which later on becomes an Arabic qahwa, a short term for qahhwat al-bun or in English “wine of the bean”. In the past, a cup of coffee becomes the suitable alternative to wines because; it has always been a customary to Islam to forbid the use and consumption of any alcoholic beverage.

According to history, coffee was first discovered and consumed on the highland of Ethopia by a man named Kaldi who was a herder of sheep. Some version of the stories said that Kaldi was a goatherd while other claims that he’s simple a shepherd who happens to stumble upon a goat. This goat has an enormous energy and his liveliness is extraordinary. Kaldi noticed that this goat is in fact eating a weird looking black berries and he come up with a conclusion that these beans are responsible for such in increase level on the goat’s energy. He to tried and gobble up the mysterious beans and was amazed by the result.

The history of coffee had another side of the story which involves an Arabian guy named Omar who was exiled in the dessert along with his servants. Being without food, they had no choice but to risk their lives on boiling a black fruit from a certain plant found in the dessert. Drinking the liquid from boiling the coffee beans amazingly sustained their life. The nearby village called Mocha, heard of this news and considered the event as a message from heaven. In honor of the God, they have named the coffee plant with the same name of their village Mocha.

There are in fact a lot of legendary stories about the origin of coffee. One thing similar is the appreciation of the ancient people in the health benefits of coffee beans. It’s just surprising that this once unknown plant turns out to have health benefits and has become undeniably the beverage of all time. No wonder a cup of cofffee is called a wonder liquid!

A Cup of Coffee Break

Coffee is considered one of the most prestigious beverages in the world and to attest to this, only a very few homes from north to south of the world are without a cup of coffee to grace their tables. This probably is due to the invigorating effect of healthy coffee and to some extent, the medical purpose attached to its use.

Most business deals are discussed over a "cup of coffee" even in plush offices. Labor groups fight for a "a cup of coffee break" where important events of the day are common subjects of discussion. Media men get into their day's beat from "healthy coffee talks". A farmer primes himself in the early dawn with streaming, black strong coffee before he meets the vagaries of nature. These are only a few of the things that makes coffee ticks wherever it is found.

Some of the uses of the caffeine in a cup of coffee which will perhaps explain its popularity are: it stimulates respiratory, gastric and renal activities, it assists in assimilation and digestion; it reduces the amount of blood circulation in the brain; it allays the sense of prolonged mental or physical fatigue and keeps off sleep for sometime; it relieves opium and tobacco poisoning, it serves as a palliative in spasmodic asthma, whooping cough, hysterical affections, and as remedy for diarrhea, typhoid fever in the early stages and vomiting after a surgical operations.

Since the discovery of coffee drinking, it has gone far and wide sipped and enjoyed by men of different nationalities and religion. Coffee as a commodity has become a tool in international politics and economy.