Not until I've had my first cup of coffee...

Our Panamanian guide next to a demonstration coffee plant

Coffee, it's "essential" for many of us to get our day started, but where does it actually come from? What does it look like growing? This is part one of a multi-part journey based on the drink we all need to get going in the morning, or an afternoon pick-me-up, or to burn the midnight oil.

The coffee plant is in the family Rubiacea; popular relatives include: Quinine (that's what gives tonic water it's taste) and West Indian Jasmine. And while people often use the term coffee beans, the botanical term is a bit off, the coffee you drink is actually the seed of a fruit. Beans tend to be associated with the pea family (Fabaceae), but that's enough botany for one day.

Legend has it that coffee was discovered by an Ethiopian goat herder by the name of Kaldi. While out herding his goats, when he noticed that they were more energetic than usual. Curious, Kaldi noticed that they were chewing on this bush with what looked to be cherries on them. Being the brave, adventurous man he was, Kaldi also tried some of the red berries from the shrub, and was delighted to see that the berries gave him a boost of energy. Coffee is believed to be first cultivated in Yemen around 575 AD. From it discovery, coffee growing has taken two very different avenues of production. We start our journey in the fields of Brazil, Colombia, or in the case of all these photos, Panama.

This is what the coffee plant looks like. It's a shrub, but can reach heights of 25 feet.

There are two major species grown commercially. The first is Coffea arabica, which prefers higher altitudes, 900 feet or higher. This species is described as "delicate". Coffea arabica is the original domesticated variety, and tends to be more prone to heat and disease. Additionally, the flavor in arabica tends to be finer, with less caffeine content per bean. The arabica plant is typically grown under shade, as to alleviate excessive heat. Traditionally, they growers have used trees to provide shade, which was employed well before the advent of shade-houses, or shade cloths. This created what is known as a polyculture. A polyculture is when more than one crop is grown in a region at the same time. This is beneficial for many reasons, polycultures have fewer pest problems, and tend to be less damaging to the environment. In a polyculture, songbirds can still nest in the trees, this was a big selling point for smaller growers of shade coffee. This is also a good way for small growers to hedge their risk. If the coffee fails, they can always harvest the timber. Small growers also pick the fruit by hand. This is great when demand is low, but when demand increased, people needed a better way to produce coffee.

Presenting, Coffea canephora var: "robusta", commonly called robusta. This was a variety that was developed much later, around 1850, and addresses many of the shortcomings of arabica. Robusta coffee has much more tolerance to heat and disease; however, most of the alluring traits of arabica simply aren't there. Robusta coffee is, as the variety name suggests, a more robust bean, containing more caffeine, and what experts call a harsher taste, including more astringency and bitterness. Given the nature of this species, it does not have to be grown under shade, so, just like many of the other commercially produced crops, this species can be grown as a monoculture, more commonly called sun coffee by industry officials. A monoculture, as the name suggests, is a system where only one crop is grown at a certain period of time. This can lead to a more precarious state for profits, if a fungal pathogen comes in and wrecks the entire crop, there's no safety net. However, the payoff is a more efficient system to harvesting coffee. More efficient harvest can lead to more product to sell.

Sun coffee can be seen growing on the hillside in Cerra Punta, Panama 

Coffee is grown in several tropical and subtropical nations, with the largest producers being Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Mexico, and Ethiopia in that order. A more extensive list can be found here. In 1996, the world production of coffee was estimated to be 13.6 billion pounds. During this same time period, approximately 26.8 million acres were dedicated to coffee production.

Most of the coffee in the world is still hand harvested. For many in these regions, coffee harvest is a way of life. Workers are typically paid by the basket, known in the US as piecework. Entire families will show up to these plantations during harvest to earn a living. In many cases, being paid one dollar for a basket full of ripe cherry-like berries is the only means of income for families. For every dollar spent on coffee in the supermarket, about 8 cents goes to the farm labor, and 5 cents goes to the grower. So the next time you claim that you NEED coffee, just remember that a world away, there's a family that needs coffee as well, but for a totally different reason.

Further Reading:

One large resource throughout my research was The Coffee Book, available on Amazon, or at your local library.

These are excellent websites, and you will most likely see resources in others parts. Coffeescience.org has all sorts of facts on the health benefits of coffee. Coffeegrail also has a lot of information, including on some southeastern Asian coffee, which we almost never see in the US or Europe.