【正文】 ca and robusta coffees. Gourmet coffees on the other hand, are almost exclusively the more aromatic and flavorful Arabicas. Coffee Arabica grows to the height of 78 meters in the wild. Cultivated plants are cut to the height of 2 4 meters to get more width. The leaves of the coffee tree are 1015 cm long ellipsoids, lustrous dark green with lighter underside. The flowers emerge from the branches together with the leaves. The white coffee flower has five petals with a scent reminiscent of jasmine. The delicate flowers last only for 23 days. The coffee berries are cherrysized and green at first, turning dark red later on. The ripening takes eight months. The coffee tree is slow maturing and begins flowering when 24 years old. It’s first coffee bean crop is usually around one pound. From the first flowering/ bean producing year on it can have flowers and berries in all stages of development, simultaneously. The coffee tree39。s fruit does not all ripen at one time, in fact it will have blossoms and berries (or cherries if you prefer) in various stages of ripening. The best growing conditions are in a tight temperature range of 65o F to 75o F at the altitude best suited to the species of coffee tree. Liberica and Robusta thrive at altitudes below 20xx feet and Arabicas prefer loftier heights between 20xx and 6500 feet. Plentiful rainfall and weather patterns that switch between the heavy rain and sunshine brings the berries to full maturity. Soil type is not critical as long as there is good drainage.. An interesting fact is that the coffee plant cannot stand frost but will survive an occasional cold night. It’s water requirements are about an annual rain volume of 1500 millimeters. Coffee plantations are generally situated between 900 to 6000 feet altitude within a narrow band around the Equator. Having ripe and unripe cherries as well as flowers, plicates the harvesting of coffee since only the ripe berries can be picked. If the berries are left too long their beans will spoil, and the berries cannot be picked when green since they will not ripen once picked. The pickers who harvest quality coffees return to each tree numerous times to harvest its berries. Since each tree only yields about two pounds of beans per year, this equates to a great deal of labor for every cup of coffee that you drink. The growers of lesser grade coffees often use methods to harvest their coffees that are not labor intensive. Unfortunately, these methods produce poor grade, harsh flavored coffees and damages the coffee trees which often require years to recover. An example is the ruinous practice of stripping the whole branch of the tree at once, leaves, flowers, green and overripe berries. A less damaging method is shaking the trees causing the berries to drop to the ground for collecting. In both cases however, all the berries, green, ripe, or overripe, are included in the harvest resulting in a harsh and often bitter brew. The coffee tree does not begin to produce its full yield until its sixth year and will continue produce for about ten years. The tree if left alone will grow to a height of between 16 and 40 feet. In most coffee plantations the trees are kept at a manageable six feet to get the best yield and to make it easy to harvest. With only three main species of coffee tree, one might wonder why there are so many different varieties of beans. The different varieties can be attributed to the astonishing difference in the growing regions. Each region has specific climatic, altitude, and soil conditions that bring each coffee it’s own distinctive characteristics. Although coffee trees grow in tropical and subtropical areas, these areas have a wide range of climatic differences. Thus, coffee grown in the highlands of Central America where the temperatures are cooler with a great deal of wind and fog will taste pletely different from those grown in the hot, steamy lowland jungles of Africa or in the variable conditions of the Caribbean. Processing the Harvested Beans Preparing the harvested beans for market requires that the fruit, inner parchment, and outer hull of the bean be removed. These outer layers are removed by either the wet method or the dry method. In the wet method, the beans are mechanically depulped and then soaked in fermentation tanks for up to three days. These washed coffees have characteristically higher acidity and sharper flavor than dry processed beans. In the dry method, the berries are either sundried or machine dried with the outer fruit intact. After drying they are dehulled mechanically, producing beans that are characteristically lower in acidity, yet fullerbodied and more plex in flavor than washed coffees. The coffees produced by the dry method are referred to as naturals and have the advantage of aging better than those produced by the wet method. The availability of abundant supplies of clean, fresh water often determines which processing method the coffee producer will use. In Central and South America, the wet method is predominately used while in East Africa and Yemen, the dry method is used. Even though the wet method is considered to be superior by many experts because it tends to produce a more flavorconsistent bean, some excellent coffees are being produced by the dry method as well. After having gone through either of the above methods the coffees are sized, sorted and graded by hand. Coffee is produced and exported by a large number of countries. Each country has its own system for classifying the over one hundred types of coffee. But there are some basic groups and classifications that are used. The three basic groups of coffees are: Milds are all of the arabicas grown outside of Brazil. These coffees include the premium or quality coffees that are used by the gourmet coffee industr