Coffee Arabica is a species of coffee that originated in the Arabian Peninsula. Along with tea, coffee is our planet's most popular beverage, and nearly 80% of all the coffee consumed in the world comes from Arabica coffee plants.
As legend has it, approximately 1500 years ago in Yemen, a herder named Kaldi noticed his goats acting excessively excited after they chowed down on the beans of a coffee plant. This is where Arabica coffee gets its name. (However recent scientific evidence has shown that coffee was first discovered in present-day Ethiopia.) Either way, the coffee bean has taken the world by storm and has become a global phenomenon.
Although Arabica coffee has its roots in what is now the Middle East, the term Coffee Arabica has come to encompass any beverage that is formed from the Arabica coffee bean. For example, a large portion of Arabica coffee is grown in South America, where the tropical climate and mountainous terrain creates the ideal soil for growing this Arabica coffee plants.
Different regions of the world produce different types of Arabica coffee beans. Plants grown in South America, as mentioned above, are relatively mild and often act as the main ingredient in many types of coffee blends. The Caribbean islands of Jamaica, Costa Rica, and Martinique all produce full-bodied coffee beans that have a high acidic content. African and Middle Eastern coffee beans are known for their tangy, bittersweet taste and are commonly drank black. Asia and the Pacific Islands seem to produce a strong coffee that is dark and acidic, making it the perfect bean to mix with the milder South American coffee bean.
Millions of people around the world start their day with a steaming cup of coffee, yet few are aware of how the drink was brewed and where it originated. An in-depth looking at the interesting and intricate world of coffee may be just as much of an eye-opener as the feeling of caffeine rushing to your brain.