Introduction of Coffee from 53 Coffee producing areas in the World (4)

Thirty-one. Rwanda

Premium coffee comes from washed Arabica beans and has a unique and perfect flavor

Rwandan coffee in its washed Arabica bean form is of absolute quality. As far as Africa is concerned, its coffee industry stands out because the country thrives mainly on producing the best possible coffee beans.

The taste of Rwandan coffee is described as "grassy" with tropical climate characteristics. The country's fertile soil and favorable climate help plants grow, and coffee trees seem to be driven or forced to grow upwards, or to grow too fast to produce the best coffee beans. But anyway, the soft, rich flavor of the coffee is great.

Thirty-two. St. Helena

Napoleon thought the only good thing coming out of this island was coffee.

St Helena is located in the Atlantic Ocean, 2000 km from Africa and 3500 km from Brazil, with a population of about 5000. Of course, the island is famous because Napoleon was banished here after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and died there in 1821.

Coffee was first grown on St. Helena in 1732, shipped from Yemen on a ship called the Houghton. Although other plants introduced since the 1860s have failed, coffee has taken root and flourished here.

The island has also experienced a coffee improvement movement, where in the mid-1980s, David W. David Henry set out to develop the island's coffee industry with the goal of producing the best coffee possible. Coffee trees on St. Helena are grown entirely under natural conditions, with no machinery, no tractors and even the miscellaneous wood cut down to make room for new coffee trees is recycled.

Thirty-three. Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe

A small, soft, rich Arabica coffee bean.

The Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, a volcanic archipelago, is the second smallest independent state in Africa and was a Portuguese colony until 1975 when it won independence. The equator crosses the archipelago, where the climate is hot and humid, the soil fertile, well irrigated and rich in coffee.

Arabica coffee trees were introduced from Brazil in 1800, and 98% of the product is still Arabica coffee. But only 1000 bags of coffee are exported each year, most of them to Scandinavia.

Thirty-four. South Africa

Aromatic and less acidic, reminiscent of coffee beans from Central America.

Coffee production in South Africa is mainly in the north-east of the country, from Natal between Lesotho and Mozambique, extending northward to Transvaal, with the southernmost limit being 30° south latitude; further south, coffee cannot be grown due to the damage of early frost.

The country's coffee trees originate in Kenya and are of excellent quality. In 1975, only 1000 hectares of cultivated land was devoted to coffee cultivation, but in 1987 a new nine-year plan was drawn up to expand the cultivated area, thus adding another 6000 hectares.

Interestingly, coffee trees in the country produce fruit more like Central American coffee beans (Kenya is the origin of the tree), with aromatic flavors and less acidity.

Thirty-five. Tanzania

Gourmet coffee is soft in acidity, inviting in aroma and an absolute value treat.

Tanzania's coffee exports occupy an important position in the overall national economy. Bean berry coffee is produced in large quantities and is said to be stronger than regular coffee. Generally speaking, Tanzanian coffee beans are of exceptional quality. For example, the finest Tanzanian Chagga AA coffee produced in the Moshi region near Kilimanjaro is known for its full-grain, aromatic quality.

Political instability and pest infestation have disrupted Tanzania's coffee industry, leading to a decline in overall coffee levels and instability in quality, which in turn has led to lower prices, which usually lead to further declines in the coffee industry. More notably, it is estimated that more than 12 percent of the Arabica coffee grown in northern Tanzania between 1969 and 1985 was smuggled into Kenya. However, the coffee industry has recently shown signs of improvement. Although the progress is slow, it is encouraging because Tanzania's coffee is of excellent quality.

In the past, Tanzania's coffee industry has been dominated by plantation cultivation, but now more than 85% is cultivated by smallholders. Many small farmers have organized themselves into cooperative organizations, the most important of which is the Kilimanjaro Cooperative Union (KNCU). Tanzanian coffee is sold at auction by the Tanzanian Coffee Marketing Board (TCMB) to private exporters. In the 1980s, most coffee sales in Tanzania shifted from auctions to direct sales to the Tanzanian Coffee Marketing Board. This has changed. The coffee industry is being reformed to allow individuals or groups to buy coffee in the future. Coffee will also be graded in different ways to attract buyers from Germany, Finland, Belgium and Japan.

Thirty-six. Sudan

The civil war almost destroyed coffee production.

Sudan's on-off, disastrous 20-year civil war has claimed millions of lives and caused unspeakable damage to rural areas, including the coffee industry.

Robett coffee is now grown in the south as it used to be, while Arabica coffee, which was originally wild, is grown in the north and east of the country.

Historically, Arabs transported blacks from southern Sudan to Arabia as slaves, and slaves brought coffee beans with them to satisfy their hunger. It is said that these coffee beans are also imported into Yemen. It was these unfortunate Sudanese slaves who first began growing coffee that made it the widely grown and traded agricultural product of today.

At present, Sudan's coffee industry is on the verge of extinction, with very little coffee exported.

Thirty-seven. Yemen

Yemen was known as Arabia until the 6th century AD, so coffee trees transported from Yemen to other places were also called Arabic coffee trees. But the origin of these trees is Ethiopia, and it was the Dutch who spread these coffee trees around the world. Dutch merchants sailing east around the Cape Of Good Hope had to pass the east coast of Africa to the port of Mocha in Yemen before embarking on their long trek to India. In 1696, the Dutch introduced coffee trees to Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka) and then Batavia in Java.

Mocha beans are smaller than most coffee beans, which makes them look like peas-in fact, peaberrybeans are sometimes referred to as mocha beans. Mocha coffee beans are similar in appearance to Ethiopian Harrar coffee beans, which are small in size, high in acidity, and mixed with a strange and indescribable spicy flavor. Careful tasting can also discern a hint of chocolate, so the attempt to add chocolate to coffee is a natural progression.

In Yemen, coffee growers plant poplars to give coffee the shade it needs to grow. As in the past, these trees are planted on steep terraces to maximize use of less rainfall and limited land resources. In addition to tipika and bourbon coffee trees, more than a dozen different coffee species originating in ethiopia are grown in yemen. But even good coffee, such as premium mocha coffee, dries and the rind remains attached to the beans. Yemen has until now often used traditional stone mills to remove the dry hard husks, which makes the coffee beans irregular in shape and often damages the beans.

Although yemeni coffee is of good quality and creamy aroma, it has some drawbacks: quality is not always guaranteed and the classification of coffee beans is uncertain. Traditionally, Yemen's best coffee beans come from Mattari, followed by Sharki and then Sanani. These beans are low in caffeine and are exported from December to April. There has always been a problem with coffee from the north being adulterated before shipment from the southern port of Aden. Only coffee shipped from the port of Hodeida can be identified as truly originating in the north. Yemeni coffee is mostly grown naturally, mainly because growers lack funds.

Thirty-eight. Uganda

In Uganda, Arabica coffee beans account for only 10% of the country's coffee production, but it is enough to attract attention. Uganda's best coffee is mainly grown in the Elgon and Bugisu mountains along the Kenyan border in the north and the Ruwensori mountains in the west, where coffee is available for export in January or February of each year.

The equator crosses Uganda, and the right climate makes it the world's leading producer of robert coffee beans. In the 1960s Uganda's coffee production remained at 3.5 million bags per year. By the mid-1980s, mainly for political reasons, coffee production had dropped to 250 bags a year. But coffee production is picking up again and is now about 3 million bags a year. One of the major problems facing the coffee industry is the lack of good roads to transport coffee to ports such as Mombasa in Kenya or Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

In order to improve coffee quality and reduce costs, Uganda abolished the exclusive rights of the Coffee Marketing Board (CMB) in November 1990. Most of the work previously undertaken by the Coffee Marketing Committee has now been transferred to cooperative organizations. Privatized coffee generates two-thirds of the country's export revenue, so the government imposed a tax on coffee in the hope of raising much-needed revenue. This has led to a 20% drop in coffee exports and an increase in coffee smuggling.

As in Tanzania, where rising coffee prices in recent years have encouraged farmers to return to plantations and reclaim once-abandoned land for coffee, Uganda's coffee industry looks promising.

Thirty nine. Zambia

Coffee was introduced to Zambia early in the 20th century from Kenya and Tanzania, and now it also produces giant beans and bean-shaped berry beans.

High quality Zambian coffee is on the rise, although slightly lighter in flavor, but similar in flavor to Kenyan coffee and at exactly the same price. Zambian coffee is mainly grown in Kasama region in the north and Nakonde and Isoka regions near Lusaka, the capital.

Forty. Zaire

The best Zairian coffee is grown in the north-east of the country, especially in the provinces of Oriental and Kivu, and these areas used to produce the best bean-berry coffee beans and giant coffee beans. Unfortunately, the quality of Zairian coffee is dwindling, but the taste of Zairian coffee is still excellent. Like Kenyan coffee, Zaire coffee has ideal acidity, rich aroma and moderate taste.

The recent gradual privatization of the Zairian coffee industry and the possibility of raising prices in order to facilitate the investment necessary to revive the industry. Zaire has about 40,000 hectares of arable land devoted to Arabica coffee beans and 220,000 hectares to Robett coffee beans. Before Zaire became independent in 1960, most coffee was grown on plantations. World coffee prices collapsed in 1989 and many farmers abandoned their estates. Coffee cultivation in Zaire is now dominated by small farmers.