The Beloved Belt
When you think of coffee, do you ever ponder its origin? Most may guess Brazil or may not have ever considered the place of birth for the warm awakening beverage. Or maybe you did not know that coffee is actually a seed inside a cherry that grows in bunches on beautiful trees with waxy, dark-green leaves. I digress…back to origins. Coffee now magically appears on the trees planted within nearly sixty countries, all of which are situated between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn…the Coffee Belt.
Coffee grows naturally within this Belt due to the ideal climate and soil the picky crop depends on. The temperature must remain in a sweet spot to ensure an even ripening, flowering and disease/pest prevention. Arabica may require a lower and more marginal temperature whereas Robusta is a bit more well…robust. Another article will describe the difference between the two.
Rainfall, on the other hand, must also be evenly distributed throughout the year to ensure coffee and the environment it grows in remain stable and healthy. For example, if an area receives too much rain, flooding and erosion can strip an area of its soil and take with it the intricate root systems of coffee trees. Not to mention the creation of prime habitats for pesky pests such as the Coffee Berry Borer (future article). Drought, however, will dry out coffee leaves and prevent uptake of nutrients within the soil. Too much or too little rain can cause significant issues for coffee. This is why climate change is such a major issue for coffee - it is so sensitive and needs rainfall at certain periods of the year and a set temperature. This also impacts flowering and fruiting. Without the proper environment, coffee may not develop properly and can lead to decreased yields and lower quality. With an ever-increasing demand and growth of specialty coffee, it is essential to maintain the aforementioned factors of coffee production.
It is interesting, however, to see the spread of coffee growth in different countries within the Belt. Production began in Ethiopia and Yemen then spread to other African countries such as Kenya, Rwanda and Burundi. In order to produce more and make trade easier, coffee was then transplanted to South and Central America. The French transplanted the first coffee plant to the Caribbean with the help of a naval officer where it moved throughout Mexico and Haiti to then spread to Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and finally Panama.
Jesuit priests introduced coffee to Colombia in the 1700s via Spanish Colonists which led to the emergence of small coffee farms throughout the country, now the third leading producer. In the 1800s, coffee reached the northern regions of Brazil where it trickled down to Rio de Janeiro within 50 years. Estates and plantations were large and produced enormous swathes of coffee thanks to the forests cleared for coffee production.
In Asia, coffee grew roots from Yemen to India and throughout Indonesia. Today, however, Vietnam is the second leading producer of coffee and other Asian countries such as China, the Philippines and even Nepal are beginning to also produce coffee.
Mapping the spread of coffee production would become a spaghetti-like display of trade routes and colonization. Future posts will highlight specific countries and their histories because I feel each country has a special story and can produce spectacular coffees differing significantly from neighboring countries within the Belt.
What is your favorite origin? Isn’t it perplexing to think of that Ethiopian monk who first discovered the coffee plant via his goats and decided to throw the cherries into the fire only to discover the amazing aromas created by roasting the coffee? I wonder what that first coffee tasted like and how the taste has changed over the centuries and decades.
