Coffee – A Global Growing Presence

Coffee is a dominant beverage in many parts of the world. Each country seems to have its own coffee specialty with its own unique style of enjoying the drink. Coffee is popular in the places where it is grown also, including Brazil, Colombia, and Indonesia. However, the coffee plant is grown in more than fifty countries around the world.  The caffeine drink has made its mark in places like America and Australia. Coffee is one of the few beverages that has a global presence, and can be found almost everywhere you go. The drink is highly important to the world economy, and is one of the most valuable products in world trade. The cultivation, processing, trading, and marketing of coffee provide employment for millions of people around the world. It is a major contributor to the economies and politics of many countries. For many countries, the export of coffee accounts for a substantial amount of their foreign exchange earnings and may even account for more than 80 percent for some countries.  

Coffeehouses are increasing in popularity in the United States, and the most popular coffeehouse is Starbucks. The popularity of Starbucks began to rise in the 1990s, and the coffeehouse has expanded to many other countries with its many choices for coffee drinks. Starbucks can be found almost everywhere in America, and malls readily feature coffee carts that serve a wide variety of coffee drinks. The quality of the American coffee drink was greatly improved in the 1970s when the café culture swept Seattle, Washington, which is known as the spiritual home of American coffee. Instant coffee was also a phenomenon in the United States, and Folger’s® could be found in millions of homes in the United States. The popularity of coffee in the United States is also expanding as home-espresso machines grow in popularity, which allow consumers to make their favorite drinks at home.

Coffee is grown in abundance in South and Central America, and there are some countries in South America that are top producers of coffee beans. Brazil has been the world’s largest producer of coffee for more than a century. A third of Brazil’s landmass is suitable for the growth of coffee trees, and the country produces some of the most top quality blends of coffee, including Bahia and Minas Gerais. Colombia is the world’s second largest producer and is even more greatly known for its blends of coffee than Brazil. The country of Colombia is famous for its Supremo, which is a brew that has vanilla notes and hints of semi-sweet chocolate. Mexico is also a producer of coffee with its beans that have a delicate body and light acidity, which gives the coffee a mellow flavor. Café cubano is a coffee drink that is native to the country of Cuba, and often seen as one of their specialties. 

The Middle East is also well known for its top quality coffee producers. Indonesia is a country that is known for its aged coffees, because the warm, damp climate slowly produces coffee that has a deep body and less acidity than most coffee drinks. Indonesia is also the world’s fourth largest producer of coffee. Thailand is famous for its chicory-tinged blend of coffee that is served with ice and condensed milk. Mauna Loa, Hawaii in the United States is the home of the Kona, which is a sweet, medium-bodied and aromatic coffee. On the other hand, the Java from Sumatra is full-flavored and rich. 

Europe is also a good place to find the finest coffees. France is famous for the café au lait, which is half milk and half coffee, and Austria is known for its two-thirds dark, one-third regular traditional Viennese blend. Luigi Bezzera introduced espresso to the world of Italy in 1901, and they have since become famous in many coffeehouses around the world. Of course, coffee is routed in Ethiopia and it maintains a presence in Africa also. Coffee is one of the most widely known and widely drank beverages, and its global presence is unsurpassed by any other product.