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	coffee cod coddle coeur à la crème coffee Cointreau Colbert sauce Comice pear Definition: Ethiopia is thought to be the motherland of the first coffee beans, which found their way to Brazil and Colombia--the two largest coffee producers today. Coffee plantations abound throughout other South and Central American countries, Cuba, Hawaii, Jamaica and Africa. There are hundreds of coffee species but the two most commercially viable are coffea robusta and coffea arabica. The sturdy, disease-resistant coffea robusta, which thrives at lower altitudes, produces beans with a harsher, more single-dimensional flavor than the sensitive coffea arabica, which grows at high altitudes (3,000 to 6,500 feet) and produces beans with elegant, complex flavors. The coffee plant is a small tree that bears the "coffee cherry" fruit. Growing and tending these trees is labor-intensive because blossoms, unripe (green) and ripe red cherries can occupy a tree simultaneously, necessitating hand-picking the fruit. The coffee cherry's skin and pulp surround two beans enclosed in a parchmentlike covering. Once these layers are discarded, the beans are cleaned, dried, graded and hand-inspected for color and quality. The "green" beans (which can range from pale green to muddy yellow) are then exported, to be roasted, blended and ground at their destination. Coffee consists of a single type of coffee bean or a blend of several types; blended coffee produces a richer, more complex flavor. The length of bean roasting time will affect the color and flavor of the brew. Among the most popular roasts are American, French, Italian, European and Viennese. American roast (also called regular roast) beans are medium-roasted, which results in a moderate brew--not too light or heavy in flavor. The heavy-roasted beans are French roast and dark French roast, which are a deep chocolate brown and produce a stronger coffee, and the glossy, brown-black, strongly flavored Italian roast, used for espresso. European roast contains two-thirds heavy-roast beans blended with one-third regular-roast; Viennese roast reverses those proportions. Instant coffee powder is made by heat-drying freshly brewed coffee. Freeze-dried coffee granules (or crystals) results from brewed coffee that has been frozen before the water is evaporated. Freeze-dried coffee is more expensive and more flavorful than regular instant coffee. Coffee contains caffeine, a stimulant that affects many parts of the body including the nervous system, kidneys, heart and gastric secretions. With the exception of the Madagascar coffee species--mascarocoffea vianneyi--which grows decaffeinated beans, coffee beans must be processed to produce decaffeinated coffee. The caffeine is removed by one of two ways, both executed before roasting. In the first method, the caffeine is chemically extracted with the use of a solvent, which must be completely washed out before the beans are dried. The second method--called Swiss water process--first steams the beans, then scrapes away the caffeine-rich outer layers. Though there was once concern about the safety of solvent residues, research has found that the volatile solvents disappear entirely during roasting. Coffee loses its flavor quickly. To assure the most flavorful brew, buy fresh coffee beans and grind only as many as needed to brew each pot of coffee. Inexpensive grinders are available at most department stores. Store whole roasted beans in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 2 weeks. For longer storage, wrap and freeze whole beans, up to 3 months. Since room-temperature ground coffee goes stale a couple days after it's ground, it should be refrigerated in an airtight container and stored up to 2 weeks. See also café au lait; café brulot; café latte; café macchiato; café mocha; cappuccino; espresso; Greek coffee; Irish coffee; Thai coffee; Turkish coffee; Viennese coffee. --Copyright (c) 1995 by Barron's Educational Series, from The New Food Lover's Companion, Second Edition, by Sharon Tyler Herbst
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