Legend has it that coffee was first discovered in or around the 9th century in Abyssinia (Ethiopia) by a young goatherd. He noticed that his goats liked to graze upon berries, which seemed to have interesting side effects—the goats jumped around, seemingly full of energy! Realizing that the berries must have some magical property, the young goatherd took a few back to the village elders. They boiled them with water and soon discovered the stimulating potential of the brew.
Today coffee drinking has been turned into a national past time in many countries, and is well established in India. “The taste of a particular coffee is determined by two factors—method of preparation and location or origin of the coffee,” explains Akshay Tripathi, F&B Manager, Taj Lands End, Mumbai. The preparation of coffee is basically categorized under two styles—the French method of using a press, and the Italian way of machines and pressurized water.
Here are a few popular coffees from around the world that are now freely available in this country and worth a sample.
Single Origin Coffees
This is defined as coffee grown within a single known geographic origin. It could be a standalone farm or a specific collection of beans from a single country. The name of the coffee is then usually the place it was grown to whatever degree available.
Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee is one of the most desirable, and therefore the most expensive coffees in the world. It is ground from beans grown on coffee plantations located in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. “The coffee is known for its intense aroma, sweet taste, and fairly good body (feel in the mouth). There are no off flavours. The berries are always bluish-green and uniform in size,” says culinary expert, Karen Anand.
This story is from the September 2015 edition of Hi!BLITZ.
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This story is from the September 2015 edition of Hi!BLITZ.
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