How was coffee discovered? I Where does coffee grow? I What are biggest coffee producing countries? I What is a coffee plant like? I What is a coffee berry? I What is a peaberry? What is a black bean? I Can I grow my own coffee? I What are different grinds used for? I What is a GMO? I What do different coffee roasts mean? I What spices go well with coffee? I How is coffee picked? I Is coffee healthy? I How can I get a coffee stain out? I How much caffeine is there in a cup of coffee? I How should I store an opened coffee package? I Why does coffee taste different in different countries? I How does caffeine take effect? I What is cupping? I Is water quality important for coffee? 

The legend of Kaldi. Coffee, like many of the good things in life, was discovered accidentally. There are many legends about how coffee was first found. The best-known legend tells of a goatherd named Kaldi from the Caffa region of Ethiopia. One day he found that it was hard to get his goats to settle down for the night. The goats had been chewing on the glossy leaves of a coffee tree and the red berries growing on its branches. He tried the berries himself and very soon became as restless as his herd. Later he threw some berries onto his campfire. A delicious aroma wafted up from the flames. Later on, someone got the idea of crushing the berries and mixing them with hot water to tame their strong flavour. This is how coffee became a drink.

Coffee grows in the tropics, the region between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, in different parts of the globe. There are five major areas where coffee is cultivated: 

• South America
• Central America
• Africa
• Asia
• Oceania

Coffee is produced in about 60 countries. The biggest coffee producing countries are: 

• Brazil
• Colombia
• Vietnam
• Indonesia
• India

Botanically coffee belongs to the family Rubiaceae among with gardenias and quinine. The coffee plant can grow to a great height and because of that it is described as a coffee tree. In the wild it can grow as high as 10 metres. On plantations and coffee producing farms, they are pruned to a height which is most comfortable for harvesting. The flowers of the plant are white and smell like jasmine and orange. 

The coffee fruit is the size of a cherry and when ripe the colour is usually dark red or yellow. The berries are ripe for picking about nine months after flowering. They don’t all ripen at the same time, so a single tree has to be picked several times. Each fruit contain two coffee beans. Coffee beans grow pressed together inside the berries.

The outermost berries on the branches of a coffee bush contain a single bean, they are known as peaberries. A black bean is one that has been spoiled by incorrect processing after picking, giving it a very unpleasant taste. Batches of ingredients which contain black beans are rejected.

You can grow a coffee bush by planting a seed bean 1-2 cm deep in soft, well fertilised soil, with the flat side down. To begin with, water the beans twice a day. Keep the pot in a warm place sheltered from draughts while it is sprouting and as a seedling. Sprouting takes 6-7 weeks. A coffee bush may yield its first harvest in three years, but usually it takes four. In home conditions coffee bush can grow to a height of 2-4 metres and yields 1-2 crops per year.

When preparing coffee it is important to use right grind level. What grind level is needed depends on the preparation method we want to use. For example, if you use extra fine grind to prepare filter coffee, the result in the cup will be very burnt and bitter. If you will coarse grind to prepare espresso, the result will be nothing close to real espresso. Paulig ground coffee packages bear symbols that shows which preparation method you should use for it.

GMO is an acronym for a genetically modified organism. This means a plant, animal or microbe whose characteristics have been altered by transplanting genetic material into it, for example from another species. Paulig does not use genetically modified green coffee.

Coffee roasting is a chemical process. The lighter the roast, the more acidic the taste of the coffee will be, and the darker the roast the more bitter it is. So the taste of a coffee blend is to a very great extent determined by the roasting process.

In the Paulig roast level indicator there are five different roast levels

Presidentti, Juhla Mokka, Paulig Mundo Brazil, Paulig Guatemala Paulig Classic, Presidentti Dark Roast, Paulig Colombia Organic, Paulig Kenya, Paulig Ethiopia Paulig Espressos Paulig Parisien

Cardamom, aniseed, cinnamon and vanilla go very well with coffee. Ground coffee is best spiced just before you make it. In other respects, you can make your coffee with any method you like. A dab of whipped cream adds the finishing touch to a spiced coffee drink, and you can further embellish it with coffee or cocoa powder, hundreds and thousands (nonpareils), or chocolate or almond flakes. Instead of white sugar or artificial sweeteners, you can put honey, syrup or brown sugar in your coffee.

Depending on the country and region, coffee is picked by hand or with machinery. Hand-picking is typical, for example, in Colombia, Central America and Africa, where the plantations are mainly on steep mountain slopes and the berries ripen unevenly. Mechanical picking is possible in places like Brazil, where plantations are on plains and the harvest ripens evenly. However, even in Brazil most of the crop is harvested by hand.

There has been a great deal of research on coffee in different parts of the world. Studies have shown that healthy individuals can drink 4-5 cups of coffee a day without concern. It has many benefits.

It is a well-known fact backed by a lot of research that coffee increases alertness and decreases the sensation of fatigue. Drinking coffee improves performance when our level of alertness is low also as well as boosting short-term memory. In addition, there is increasing scientific evidence that coffee also may protect against diabetes type 2, liver diseases like cancer and cirrhosis, and Parkinson’s disease. Caffeine helps to relieve the symptoms associated with this disease, but it can also have a protective effect on nerve cells. Caffeine seems to relieve the symptoms of asthma. Coffee contains a lot of antioxidants, which may be of great benefit in improving the quality of life by preventing or postponing the onset of degenerative diseases.

Paulig actively supports and monitors scientific research into coffee in the international PEC (Physiological Effects of Coffee) working group.

A pure coffee stain can be removed if fresh with cold water. If this does not work, use an enzyme detergent for white washes and spot stain remover. If the coffee stain is old, soak the affected part in water containing washing-up liquid (½ teaspoon washing-up liquid/5l water) and wash with detergent for white washes and spot stain remover. A coffee-and-cream stain can be removed if fresh with cold water. Wash as appropriate for the fabric with an enzyme detergent for white washes and stain remover. Wash at max. +40 degrees Celsius. Soak an old stain in washing-up liquid (½ tsp washing-up liquid/5 l water) and wash as above.

It is very important to store coffee correctly so it will not lose its freshness and flavour qualities.

Hints:

• Always store coffee in the original package
• Prevent air from coming into contact with coffee beans and ground coffee by keeping packages tightly closed
• Store coffee away from humidity
• Store coffee away from sources of heat and direct sunlight

 Things not to do:

• Don’t pour coffee out of the original package
• Don’t leave a package open

The flavour preferences associated with coffee and ways of drinking it are culturally determined. Consumers and roasteries in different countries have their own ideas about how coffee should look and taste. This determines the grades of green coffee used and the darkness of the roast. The quality of the water also affects a lot the taste of coffee because 98.5 per cent of a cup of coffee is water.

Caffeine stimulates you. This is because of the activating effect of caffeine on the central nervous system. The stimulating effects last about 2-4 hours, depending on the amount and the individual’s metabolism. For one thing, caffeine passes through the system of a smoker faster than with non-smokers. Pregnancy slows down the process of metabolising caffeine.

Cupping is a technique used to determine the quality (taste and aroma) of a particular sample of coffee. Preparation methods are standardized for each sample, and the coffee aroma is inhaled and the sample then tasted, often side-by-side with other samples. Importers and roasters use this technique in order to evaluate batches of green beans for both quality and sensory description. Cuppers will usually fill out detailed evaluation forms that describe multiple aspects of the coffee that they are cupping. At Paulig coffee laboratory samples are analysed on a daily basis by professional cuppers.

The quality of the water affects a lot the taste of coffee because 98.5 per cent of a cup of coffee is water. When making coffee, you should use only water that tastes good enough to drink straight. It is thought that the best cups of coffee are made with filtered tap water or bottled water. Do not mistake distilled water for filtered: the former is lacking in minerals that contribute to the water's flavour and aid in extraction. The water should be fresh; if it has been sitting too long (or has been heated then cooled), it will lack the dissolved air that is an important component of the water's taste. The water should also start cold: hot water has lost some of its dissolved air, and may have picked up minerals or soluble matter from the plumbing.