Coffee

"…comforteth the Brain, and Heart, and helpeth Digestion."

Francis Bacon, 1561-1626

Coffee (Coffea arabica) has a limited western history but was first cultivated around 850 AD. The plant originally came from Ethiopia and was widely drunk in the Arab World. European use dates from the 16th Century when it was introduced to the elite of Constantinople. The coffeehouses of Britain were described by Charles II as ‘seminaries of sedition’, but were the meeting places of great thinkers and artists including: Jonathon Swift, Christopher Wren, Isaac Newton, Thomas Gainsborough, and Samuel Johnson. If it had not been for an outbreak of rust in Ceylon and India in 1870’s and 1880’s, the British would have been a nation of coffee drinkers and not tea drinkers. The rust attacks the plant through air-borne spores landing on the leaves – a Bordeaux mixture (not discovered at the time of the outbreak) treats the fungus but does not kill it.

The other type of coffee (Coffea robusta) is resistant to rust and very hardy but the quality of the bean is not as good. This is the coffee bean primarily used in the production of instant coffee. Some commercial mixes combine arabica and robusta beans. The best quality grows in the highest parts of regions between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.

Companion Planting:

It is an evergreen shrub that can grow to 30 feet (9 metres); the leaves are dark green, smooth and shiny. Leaves are paler underneath and about 15 cm long. Flowers in dense white clusters at the base of the leaves that only last 2 days. Green berries may take up to a year to ripen to a brilliant rich red. Starts producing fruit on 3 to 5 year old plants.

Growing:

Plant in a part shade, frost-protected area in well-drained rich soil. Keep pruned to a height of 2 to 4 metres to enable picking of the fruit. May require spraying with Bordeaux mix when the weather is very warm with misty rains. Water well during extended dry periods. Fertilise regularly. This is definitely not a plant for the Highlands and heavy frost areas.

Harvesting:

Collect the berries when they have turned bright red. There are two seeds in each berry. Soak the berries to remove the outer pulp (can take a while). Dry and store the green seed (keeps for a very long period if kept dry). Note: The preparation of coffee beans has up to 20 steps, most of which are still done by hand. Consult reference books for a list of all the steps.

Culinary Use:

Makes a great stimulating drink (can you tell I’m a ‘Java Junkie’?). Remove the layer of ‘parchment’ and filament from the dried green bean. Roast the bean in a roasting dish in the oven, turning the bean occasionally. Roasting longer makes the coffee darker. Take care, as the roasted bean should be varying shades of brown. Roasting too long (bean turns black) makes it bitter and undrinkable. Insufficient roasting and it is astringent and undrinkable. Commercial roasters coat the beans with molasses to make beans glossy and to prevent the loss of aroma. This also allows the use of inferior and damaged beans.

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