Coffee is a caffeinated beverage made from roasted and ground coffee beans. As one of the three major beverages in the world, coffee is becoming more and more popular in China. Coffee giants such as Starbucks and Luckin Coffee are opening more and more stores in China. Latte, cappuccino, macchiato... these are all well-known and popular coffee names... But when we drink coffee, how many people really understand it? Here we will introduce the origin and categories of coffee.

coffee

The origin of coffee

The history of coffee is not long, and it can be traced back to only more than a thousand years. It is said that in the 9th century AD , a shepherd in Ethiopia, Africa, went out to herd sheep and found that the sheep became very excited and lively after eating the red fruits of a plant. The shepherd threw the fruits into the firewood pile to roast and found that the fruits after roasting were extremely mellow. After trying to eat them, people also became more excited, and coffee was discovered in this way.

However, it was not until around the 11th century AD that people began to boil coffee beans to make beverages.

In the 13th century , the Ethiopian army invaded Yemen and brought coffee to the Arab world. Since then, coffee drinks have quickly become popular in the Arab region. The word coffee also comes from the Arabic word Qahwa, which means "plant beverage". The methods of coffee planting and production have also been continuously improved and gradually perfected by the Arabs.

At the end of the 16th century , coffee was introduced to Europe, and during the Age of Discovery, it spread to all parts of the world and became popular around the world.

Coffee Cherry

Classification by native coffee tree species

If coffee is classified by native coffee tree species, there are three main native coffee tree species in the world, namely Arabica, Robusta and Liberica . Among them, the yield of Liberica coffee trees is very small and is basically not used for commercial purposes. Arabica coffee accounts for more than 75% of the world's commercial coffee, and the rest is Robusta coffee. Of course, the proportion of Arabica coffee that can be made into high-quality coffee will not exceed 10%.

1. Arabica Coffee

Arabica coffee is a coffee plant native to Yemen and Ethiopia . It grows best in high-altitude areas, and its production areas are mainly concentrated in tropical areas of South America such as central Brazil, East Africa, and southern Asia.

Arabica coffee beans are oval in shape, with a small bean body and an oblong front. The crack in the middle is narrow and curved like an S. The arc on the back of the bean is relatively flat. The caffeine content is low, accounting for only 1% of the total weight of coffee. It has low acidity and a more aromatic taste. Therefore, it is regarded as a high-quality coffee bean by many coffee lovers. The Blue Mountain coffee and Mocha coffee we often drink are produced from Arabica coffee beans.

2. Robusta Coffee

Robusta coffee is native to Congo, Africa , and its production areas are mainly distributed in subtropical and tropical regions such as Madagascar Island in central, western and eastern Africa, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Laos, Hainan, Guangdong in Asia.

Robusta coffee beans are oval in shape, small in size, with a straight crack in the middle, weak aroma, strong bitterness, and caffeine content about twice that of Arabica coffee. They have the aroma of trees, wheat and other plants. They are mainly used to make instant coffee, while high-quality Robusta beans are usually used to blend Italian coffee.

Arabica vs Robusta

Of course, due to differences in climate, soil, planting methods, etc. in different places, even the same variety of coffee trees will produce different qualities of coffee beans.

Classification by roasting degree

The aroma of coffee depends mainly on the degree of roasting. Generally, the darker the roasting, the stronger the bitterness, and the lighter the roasting, the stronger the sourness. The roasting depth depends mainly on the characteristics of the raw beans, the region, personal preferences and other factors. According to the American grading method, the roasting of coffee beans can be divided into eight stages from light to dark.

1. Very light baking

Very light roasting is the lightest roasting degree of all roasting stages. The surface of the coffee beans in this roasting stage is light cinnamon color and has a strong grassy smell. The taste and aroma are poor and it is almost undrinkable in this state.

2. Light roasting

Light roasting is also called cinnamon roasting. The coffee beans will appear cinnamon-colored in appearance. The grassy taste of the raw beans has been removed. The acidity is strong and slightly aromatic. It is often used to brew lighter American coffee.

3. Micro-medium baking

After lightly roasted coffee beans, the bitterness of the coffee has already appeared, and the aroma, acidity and body are also relatively moderate. The surface of the coffee beans is chestnut color, and the taste is light, slightly sour and bitter, with moderate aroma. The original flavor of the coffee beans is retained, and it is often used to brew American coffee or as a blended coffee.

4. Medium baking

Medium roasting is also called concentration roasting. The coffee beans of this roasting degree have a little dark tea color on the surface and the bitterness becomes stronger. The coffee tastes sour and bitter, with a strong aroma. Medium roasting is popular in Japan and Central Europe.

5. Medium-dark roast

Medium-dark roast is also called city roast. It has a balance between bitterness and sourness and is often used in French coffee.

6. Dark roast

Dark roasting is also called dark city roasting. The color of the coffee beans becomes quite dark, the bitterness is stronger, and the sourness is strong. It belongs to the Central and South American roasting method and is suitable for making various iced coffees.

7. French Baking

French roasting is a deep roasting method. Its color is dark tea color and the sour taste is no longer noticeable. It is most popular in Europe, especially in France. Because the fat has penetrated to the surface, it has a unique aroma and is very suitable for café au lait and Viennese coffee.

8. Italian Baking

Extremely dark roasting, the degree of roasting is before carbonization, with a burnt smell, mostly used in Italian espresso series, such as cappuccino and so on.

Coffee colors at different roasting levels

The black and white coffee we often see are due to different degrees of roasting. Black coffee is deeply roasted, while white coffee is lightly roasted at low temperature. This reduces the bitterness and sourness to a minimum, retaining the natural flavor and mellow aroma of the original coffee.

Classification by extraction method

According to the extraction method, coffee can be divided into espresso, drip coffee, immersion coffee, boiled coffee...Among them, espresso is also known as the "soul of coffee ".

1. Drip coffee

Drip coffee is made by pouring hot water on coffee powder under normal atmospheric pressure and extracting the aromatic substances of the coffee powder through a filter. The coffee made in this way is also called hand-brewed drip coffee. Drip coffee is most popular in Southeast Asia, especially Vietnam. Its coffee culture is to let hot water slowly seep through the coffee powder and drop into the condensed milk drop by drop. The rich aroma lingers around you. During the five or six minutes of waiting, it also drips out the slow-paced lifestyle of Vietnam.

Drip coffee

2. Immersion coffee

Immersion coffee is to soak coffee powder and hot water together to achieve a more consistent extraction of aroma, bitterness, etc. The coffee made in this way will retain more oil and have a thicker and richer taste.

3. Boiled coffee

Boiled coffee is made by mixing coffee powder with water and boiling it. Because the water temperature can be easily raised, the coffee brewed in this way is very strong and has a stronger bitter taste.

4. Espresso

Italian espresso (Italian coffee) is known as the "soul of coffee". It was invented by Italian MR. Gaggia in 1946.

Italian coffee is made by grinding 7-8 grams of deeply roasted mixed coffee beans (Arabica and Robusta coffee beans) into extremely fine coffee powder, and then rapidly extracting 30 ml of concentrated coffee liquid in 15 seconds through 9 atmospheres of pressure and 92 degrees Celsius hot water. The most typical feature of Italian coffee is the thick layer of brown-red oil foam floating on its surface, namely Crema , which is composed of vegetable oil, protein and sugar.

Italian coffee has a lower caffeine content because it is extracted in a very short time.

Italian coffee

Using espresso as the base and mixing it with other substances (such as water, milk, milk foam or cocoa powder), we can make the types of coffee we are familiar with, such as Americano, latte, cappuccino and macchiato, etc.

1) Americano

American coffee refers to coffee extracted by an American drip coffee machine. In fact, coffee made by adding water to espresso in a ratio of 1:5 is also called American coffee. This is because during World War II, American soldiers in the European battlefield were not used to drinking espresso and could only add water, which gave rise to today's Americano, or American coffee.

Because American coffee takes a relatively long time to extract (about four or five minutes), it has a lighter taste and a higher caffeine content.

Americano

2) Caffe Latte

Latte is a mixture of espresso and milk. It is made by pouring nearly boiling milk into freshly made Italian espresso. Latte has more milk and less coffee. If you add some frothy milk to the hot coffee, it becomes American latte. The ratio of espresso to hot milk and milk foam in American latte is 1:2:1 .

Latte

3) Cappuccino

Traditional cappuccino is made of espresso, hot milk and milk foam. The milk foam is thicker and takes up nearly 30% of a cup of coffee. It spreads on the surface of the coffee and protrudes from the edge of the cup. The ratio of the three is roughly 1:1:1 . However, the amount of milk foam in modern cappuccino is less, accounting for about 20% of a cup of coffee. Because there is more coffee, the taste of cappuccino is richer than latte, and it is easier to taste the quality and flavor of the coffee itself.

Cappuccino

4) Caramel Macchiato

Macchiato coffee is also a kind of milk coffee. It is made by mixing milk and vanilla syrup, adding milk foam, then pouring coffee, and finally pouring grid-shaped caramel on the milk foam.

Macchiato Coffee

Of course, there are more coffee-based drinks than the ones listed above, so I will not describe them one by one here.

Regarding the differences between latte, cappuccino, macchiato and other coffees, the following image can help you distinguish them well.