Coffee
cof·fee (kô?fe, kof?e) noun
1.a. Any of various tropical African shrubs or trees of the genus Coffea, especially C. arabica, widely cultivated in the tropics for their seeds that are dried, roasted, and ground to prepare a stimulating, aromatic drink.
b. The beanlike seeds of this plant, enclosed within a pulpy fruit. c. The beverage prepared from the seeds of this plant.2.Color. A moderate brown to dark brown or dark grayish brown.
3.An informal social gathering at which coffee and other refreshments are served.
[Alteration (influenced by Italian caffè, from Turkish), of Ottoman Turkish qahveh, from Arabic qahwah.]Word History
Would one be as ready to drink chaoua, kauhi, or coffa as coffee? Most of these exotic early forms of our word reflect the fact that coffee, though a normal accompaniment to the life of many English speakers, was originally an exotic substance. Coffee came to Europe from the Middle East, where its name was qahveh, an Ottoman Turkish pronunciation of Arabic qahwah, the Turks having borrowed the word and the drink from the Arabs. The first three forms cited above show the influence of the Middle Eastern words for coffee. Our form coffee results from combining caffè, the Italian version of the Middle Eastern word, and the vowel of the Middle Eastern word, represented by o. Coffee is first recorded in English in 1601 with the spelling coffe.Coffee Plant
Coffee, common name for any of a genus of trees of the madder family, and also for their seeds (beans) and for the beverage brewed from them. The shrub or small tree grows to 4.6 to 6 m (15 to 20 ft) and bears white, fragrant flowers that bloom for only a few days. The mature fruit, which resembles a cherry, grows in clusters and usually contains two beans, surrounded by a sweet pulp. The Arabian (Coffea arabica), robusta (Coffea canephora), and Liberian (Coffea liberica) species are the most important.Coffee grows well on the islands of Java and Sumatra and in Arabia, India, Africa, the West Indies, and South and Central America. The seeds are planted directly in the field or in specially prepared nurseries. Two methods of harvesting are used. One is based on selective picking; the other involves shaking the tree and stripping the fruit. Beans picked by the first technique are generally processed by the so-called wet method, in which the beans are softened in water, depulped mechanically, fermented, washed again, and finally dried. The so-called dry method, used generally for beans harvested by the second technique, entails only drying the beans and removing the outer coverings. In either case the final product, called green coffee, is sorted and then graded according to size.
Several varieties of green coffee usually are blended and roasted together. Roasted coffee may be packaged and shipped to retail stores, where it is custom ground on purchase, or it may be ground before shipment. Ground coffee loses its unique flavor within about a week unless it is specially packaged. Instant coffee is prepared by mixing coarsely ground and roasted coffee with hot water. The water is then evaporated from the extract by spray driers, high-vacuum equipment, or other methods. The principal physiological effects of coffee are due to caffeine, an alkaloid that acts as a mild stimulant. Caffeine can be removed from coffee through special treatment of the green beans.
Exactly where and when coffee was first cultivated is not known, but some authorities believe that it was grown initially near the Red Sea about AD 675. In the 15th and 16th centuries, extensive planting of the coffee tree occurred in the Yemen region of Arabia. In 1714 the French brought a live cutting of a coffee tree to the island of Martinique. This single plant was the genesis of the great coffee plantations of Latin America.
Scientific classification: Coffee makes up the genus Coffea of the family Rubiaceae.