There are several popular versions of its discovery, the most entertaining being the goatherd who sampled some red berries after his goats ate some an promptly kicked their heels in the air in excitement.

By the fifteenth century, coffee was certainly being cultivated in the Middle East, and its production was a closely guarded secret. The export of raw berries or growing plants was strictly forbidden by the rulers of the time, however, some enterprising smugglers found a way around the embargo and introduced coffee to other regions of the world.

Coffee soon became very popular in England, and in 1650 the first coffee house was opened here, long before tea established its hold on the British market.

In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, coffee was introduced to the Americas, which today boast the two largest exporters of raw coffee - Brazil and Colombia.

Coffee belongs to the botanical genus Coffea, which is a member of the family Rubiaceae.  There are at least 25 major species of coffee, all of which are indigenous to Africa and certain islands in the Indian Ocean. The plants range from small shrubs to trees over 10 metres tall, with great variations in leaf size and colour etc.

It is a tropical  plant which grows between the latitudes of 25 degrees North and 255 degrees South.  However, local conditions such as rainfall, sunlight, temperature, wind and soils are important for commercial growth and greatly affect the characteristics of individual coffees.

The two most important species are Coffea arabica (Arabica coffee) and Coffea   canephora (Robusta coffee), which are economically dominant in terms of world trade.  Arabica is the more important of the two and accounts for 70 per cent of world production.

After oil, coffee is the most important commodity in world trade.  It is estimated that globally between 20 and 25 million people are dependent upon coffee for their livelihood.  Many countries derive over half their export earnings from coffee, including Colombia, Ethiopia and Uganda.

How did we discover of the taste and properties of roasted coffee? No one is sure. There are however, many interesting old legends: One relates to how cherries had been gathered after a forest fire. The taste of the cherries was so pleasant that since that time the coffee was always roasted before consumption.

In the most famous legend however, coffee was first discovered when a goat herder named Kaldi observed how lively his goats got after having eaten the cherries of a certain tree. The goat herder noticed that the fruit had the same effect on him and told the prior of a nearby monastery of his experiences. This prior went out to investigate the matter, made a drink with the berries and discovered that it kept him alert for the long hours of evening prayer. He shared his discoveries with the other monks and from then on the energising effects of the coffee berries began to spread.

Coffee cultivation was rare until the 15th century when Arab traders brought back coffee berries from Ethiopia to the Arabian peninsula. In the 16th century the use of the coffee bean spread throughout Arabia and later via the Ottoman Empire to Turkey. At that time coffee was mainly used for medicinal purposes.

The first coffee house, Kiva Han, opened in Constantinople in 1475. In the 16th century the Ottoman Empire expanded its power through the Balkans and the north coast of Africa bringing along not only coffee but also the Turkish tradition of coffee houses. In the 17th century the first coffee shipment entered Europe through the port of Venice. From there, coffee and the coffee house culture quickly spread all over Europe. In the major European cities, coffee houses were quickly becoming centres of social activity and communication.

Soon after coffee had been introduced to Europe, Captain John Smith, who is also known to have founded the colony of Virginia at Jamestown, brought coffee to North America. In the 18th century, a French infantry captain, Gabriel de Clieu, managed to transport one healthy coffee seedling across the Atlantic and transplanted it to the Caribbean Island of Martinique. That seedling was the start of coffee plantation in the tropical regions of South and Central America. In the two centuries that have elapsed since, the coffee business has turned into a giant global industry. Coffee is ranked second after petroleum in terms of dollars traded world-wide. It is the worlds most popular beverage, its consumption totalling around 100 million 60kg bags per year.

The following conditions, however, are crucial for its growth:

• Climate: Hot and wet
• Ideal Temperatures: Between 17-23C
• Rain: 1000 - 3000 mm. a year. The atmosphere must be humid.
• Sunshine: A few hours a day; as it must not be exposed to over bright sunlight, tall leafy trees are planted among the coffee trees to give shade e.g. in Colombia.
• Soil: Rich and porous with well-drained sub soil.

• Brazil 26.5
• Colombia 12.0
• Vietnam 7.5
• Indonesia 7.2
• Mexico 5.0

Acidity
Acidity, which is a desirable characteristic in coffee, is the pleasant sharpness which coffee produces around the edges of the tongue and in the back of the mouth. Without acidity, coffee will tend to taste flat and dull.

Arabica
One of the two basic species of coffee trees; flat coffee bean with rather sharp edges; accounts for 75% of the world coffee production. The main suppliers are Brazil, Colombia and Central America.

Aroma
Aroma refers to the smell or bouquet of the coffee and contributes to the flavours we discern on our palates.

Blend
A mixture of one or more varieties or species of coffee beans (Arabicas and Robustas). By mixing different types of coffees one can create different tastes and flavours.

Body
Body refers to the physical properties (heaviness, thickness, richness) of coffee as perceived in the mouth during and after ingestion.

Caffeine / Decaffeinated Coffee
One of the 800 components (so far known) in coffee is caffeine. It has a stimulating effect on the heart, brain and blood pressure, keeps you going, neutralises the depressant effects of alcohol.
Arabica beans contain between 1% and 3% caffeine, Robusta beans contain between 2% and 4 %.
There are three processes during which 97 percent or more of the bean’s naturally occurring caffeine is removed.

Cherries
The fruit of the coffee tree which carries the seeds (coffee beans).

Extraction
Often called the brewing process. The coffee flavouring material is released from roasted and ground coffee particles.
Hot water breaks the cell walls of the coffee particles and makes it permeable through which the required aroma contents defuse.

Flavour
Flavour refers to the overall perception of coffee in the mouth. Aroma, acidity and body are all components of flavour.
Typical flavour characteristics are for example smoky, nutty, sweet, earthy, etc.

Grinding
The process of breaking down the coffee bean into small particles to aid extraction of flavour components during brewing.
The choice of particle size distribution is selected to give the optimum extraction in a limited time.

Roasting
The application of heat to green coffee beans for the purpose of bringing out certain flavour characteristics.
The roasting degree is one of the dominant parameters in defining the final quality and taste of coffee.
When roasting the coffee in hot air (up to 500C), moisture will evaporate, the sugars caramelise and the colour changes from yellowish to brown, all within 4–6minutes.

Robusta
One of the two basic species of coffee trees; slightly bulb-shaped coffee bean: accounts for about 25% of world coffee production.
The main suppliers are Africa and Indonesia.

• Coffee is grown in more than 50 countries around the world
• More than 25 million people are employed in the coffee industry
• Coffee cherries are still predominantly picked by hand as the ripening of coffee cherries varies even on the same tree.
• More than 400 million cups of coffee are consumed per day
• It takes a coffee tree about 4-5 years before it produces its first crop; thereafter it produces consistently for about 20-25 years.
• The average coffee tree only produces one to two pounds of roasted coffee per year
• Approximately 2,000 Arabica cherries (one cherry contains 2 coffee beans) are needed to produce just one pound of roasted cherries.
• If you consume a pound of roasted coffee a week, your annual consumption amounts to the crop of about 45 coffee trees.
• Coffee would be more expensive than wine if it were taxed like wine.
• Arabica beans contain half the caffeine of the robusta beans
• One foul bean (a bean which is over fermented) may spoil a whole package or an entire brew.

What is Fair Trade?

Fair Trade aims to ensure that producers of agricultural commodities in less developed countries receive a price for their produce which reflects an adequate return on their input of skill, labour and resources and a share of the total profit commensurate with their input. By this means it is hoped that such countries can be better integrated into the world economy.

In the case of coffee, where the price is agreed internationally, a minimum Fair Trade price is set so that producers receive a return above the world price for their produce. This enables producers to adopt improved production systems and working conditions to the benefit of farmers and workers and the environment.

Fair Trade initiatives give consumers the opportunity to contribute towards sustainable economic and social development in developing countries through their purchasing preferences.

How does Fair Trade work in practice?

There are a number of ways to promote Fair Trade. First, individual companies and retailers can ensure that, in making their purchases, they establish trading relationships and improved commercial opportunities for producers in order to bridge the gap between developed and less developed countries. Another means of promoting fair trade is through fair trade certification. For example, the Fair Trade Labelling Organisations International (FLO) is a body which co-ordinates a number of fair trade certification agencies. Producers and traders can apply to the certification agencies to be granted the right to use a fair trade label on their products. The label can only be used if the goods imported from producers in developing countries meet certain fair trade criteria about the production and marketing of the product.

For example, the FLO has laid down detailed requirements for coffee producers. To be FLO registered, producers must meet a number of specific conditions; they must be democratically organised as small farmer associations that are independent and transparent, and the members must be small farmers that are not dependent on hired labour. In this way, the FLO aims to ensure that coffee comes from small-scale farms and not plantations and that there is no potential exploitation of hired labour.

It is important to remember two points:

a significant volume of beans from Fair Trade producers is sold on the world market and enters the traditional supply routes from which all world coffee is sourced;

just because coffee does not bear an FLO mark, it does not mean that it has been produced or purchased unfairly or unethically.

Our Policy and Practice - We support ethical trading

We are committed to using coffees that meet the highest quality standards consistently and support the overall aims of Fair Trade and Ethical Trading. We produce a large number of different coffees to satisfy the palates of all of our consumers and at the moment we have not been able to identify a Fair Trade certified source for these coffees which meets the quality standards our consumers expect.

We are keeping our policy and practices in this area under close review in the event that sources of Fair Trade beans of the quality we need become available and that consumer demand for a Fair Trade variety increases.