Nobody knows exactly how or when the UK’s favourite caffeinated beverage was created and there are many legends around its discovery and incarnation.
In this guide, we will look into coffee's mysterious origins, coffee production and Cafe2U’s delicious coffee blend.
Where did coffee come from?
The coffee that is now grown worldwide can supposedly trace its roots back to the ancient coffee forests of the Ethiopian plateau. It was there that a goat herder allegedly discovered the potential of these incredible beans, when he noticed his goats were so energetic they didn’t want to sleep after eating the berries from a certain tree.
The goat herder reported this finding to the Abbot of the local monastery, who made a drink with said berries and found that it kept him alert through his evening prayers.
Word of this energising drink spread quickly east as the legend of coffee began its journey around the world.
The production process
The coffee we enjoy each day has gone through a lot before it arrives in our cups - from the time they are picked, these magic beans go through a long process to ensure they reach their full flavour potential:
Farming
At Cafe2U we use 100% traceable, grade 2 beans from micro-lots. The coffee seeds are planted in large, shaded nursery beds until they are strong enough to be permanently planted. Farming a micro-lot gives the farmer more contact time with the crop, as there is typically only one harvest every year.
Processing
Once the coffee has been picked, processing must begin quickly to prevent spoilage. Coffee is generally processed in one of two ways:
The Dry Method: the freshly picked cherries (beans) are spread out on a large surface to dry in the sun.
The Wet Method: the cherries are put through a pulping machine to separate the skin and pulp from the bean.
If the beans have been processed using the wet method they must be dried to 11% moisture so they can be stored correctly - these dried beans are known as “parchment coffee.”
Milling
The beans are then sorted and polished - generally, they are sorted by size, weight and colour. Defective beans are then removed from the final batch.
Exporting
Milled beans, or green coffee, are now loaded into jute or sisal bags for shipping to roasting facilities.
Roasting
Roasting the beans turns green coffee into the brown aromatic beans we enjoy every day. Most roasting machines maintain a temperature of 550 degrees Fahrenheit.
When the beans reach an internal temperature of around 400 degrees they begin to turn brown and the caffeoyl, a fragrant oil locked inside the beans, emerges - this process is called pyrolysis and produces the flavour and aroma of coffee that we all love so much.
To the cup from our baristas
After such a long journey our baristas are trained to get the very best out of our fabulous beans - the way the coffee is ground, poured and served is what makes Cafe2U’s coffee so great.
Our baristas are trained to deliver a consistently high-quality coffee experience from their mobile coffee vans. They weigh each coffee to one-tenth of a gram out of the grinder and time each shot to get you the perfect Cafe2U coffee every time.
If you would like to learn more about more coffee simply follow this link.