The World of Coffee
From an ancient Ethiopian plateau to the corner café where your best conversations happen, coffee is more than a drink. It is the world's favorite reason to sit down together.
Start exploringA Rich Heritage
Legend has it that a 9th-century Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi noticed his goats dancing with unusual energy after eating red berries from a local tree. He brought the berries to a nearby monastery, sparking a global phenomenon.
While the legend is fun, coffee's actual roots in the Ethiopian highlands are a well-documented fact. By the 15th century, Sufi monks in Yemen brewed the beans to stay alert during long nights of prayer. The drink soon spread through the Arab world. By the 16th century, coffeehouses known as qahveh khaneh became the intellectual heartbeat of Ottoman cities.
When Venetian traders brought coffee to Europe in the early 1600s, some church officials initially condemned it as "the bitter invention of Satan." But after Pope Clement VIII tasted it, he supposedly declared it far too good to ban. The beverage quickly took over Europe, establishing a cultural ritual that endures today.
c. 850 AD
Coffee plants are first observed in the Kaffa region of Ethiopia. Local populations chew the energizing berries mixed with animal fat.
c. 1450
Sufi monasteries in Yemen begin systematically cultivating and brewing coffee as a beverage, calling it qahwa.
1500s
Qahveh khaneh spread across the Ottoman Empire. Mecca, Cairo, and Istanbul become home to the world's first coffeehouses, often called schools of the wise.
1600s
Venetian merchants bring coffee to Europe. London's first coffeehouse opens in 1652. Institutions like Lloyd's of London and the London Stock Exchange actually started in these early coffeehouses.
1884 to 1901
Angelo Moriondo patented the earliest espresso machine in 1884, and Luigi Bezzera refined it in 1901. Meanwhile, Satori Kato patented soluble instant coffee, transforming café culture forever.
Today
Today, coffee is one of the most traded agricultural products on the planet. The rise of specialty cafes has turned brewing into a highly respected craft.
Coffee is the common man's gold, and like gold,
it brings to every person the feeling of luxury and nobility.
Abd al-Qadir al-Jaziri, In Praise of Coffee, 1587
From Seed to Cup
Getting coffee into your cup is a massive global effort. It starts with a seed in volcanic soil and ends with the crema on your morning espresso.
Coffee thrives in the "Bean Belt," a tropical band between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Plants need rich soil, mild temperatures, and steady rainfall. A tree takes three to four years to produce its first full crop of cherries.
Two main species: Arabica (nuanced, aromatic) and Robusta (stronger, more caffeine)
Farmers still pick most specialty coffee by hand, pulling only the ripe fruit. A good picker can harvest up to 200 pounds of cherries in a single day. That translates to about 40 pounds of roasted beans.
Peak seasons vary: October to February in Central America, April to August in East Africa
Before roasting, the fruit has to be stripped from the seed. Washed processing uses water for a clean flavor, while natural processing dries the whole cherry in the sun to create a fruity profile. Honey processing sits between the two.
Processing method profoundly shapes a coffee's flavor profile
Heat turns the raw green seeds into the brown beans we know and love. Light roasts highlight the plant's natural acidity, while dark roasts bring out bold, smoky flavors. Medium roasts find a balance of sweetness and body.
The Maillard reaction creates 800+ flavor compounds during roasting
Water temperature, grind size, contact time, and ratio all matter enormously. Espresso forces hot water under pressure through finely ground coffee in 25 to 30 seconds. Pour-over, French press, and cold brew each extract flavor differently.
Ideal water temperature: 90 to 96°C (195 to 205°F)
People experience coffee differently depending on where they live. An Italian might drink a quick espresso standing at a bar, while someone in Ethiopia might spend hours participating in a traditional coffee ceremony.
The espresso ritual: under 30 seconds, consumed standing at the bar
The Bean Belt
Soil, elevation, and climate give beans from different regions their own distinct personality. Just like wine, coffee reflects exactly where it was grown.
As the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia produces beans with incredibly complex, floral, and wine-like flavors. The wild-growing Arabica plants here offer a taste you just can't find anywhere else.
The world's largest coffee producer, accounting for roughly a third of global supply. Brazilian beans are the backbone of most espresso blends. They are generally nutty, chocolatey, and low in acidity.
Year-round harvesting in the Andes mountains yields balanced, mild, and pleasingly bright coffees. Colombia's coffee triangle produces some of the most recognizable beans on the market.
Jamaica Blue Mountain is among the most prized and expensive coffees in the world. Grown in a legally protected region at high elevations, it is famously smooth and mildly sweet. Most of it is exported straight to Japan.
Sumatra, Java, and Sulawesi produce heavy, earthy, full-bodied coffees with distinct herbal notes. A unique processing method called wet-hulling gives these beans their signature syrupy character.
Where coffee cultivation began. Yemeni Mocha beans are dried on ancient stone terraces at high altitudes. They carry layers of dark fruit, chocolate, and spice. The supply is very limited, but demand is always high.
What's in the cup
Here are twelve popular ways to enjoy coffee around the world, each with its own dedicated fan base.
The foundation of café culture. Hot water is pressurized through finely ground coffee for 25 to 30 seconds, producing a concentrated shot topped with hazelnut-colored crema.
🇮🇹 Italy · Late 19th centuryEqual parts espresso, steamed milk, and dense microfoam. This drink is traditionally consumed only in the morning in Italy. Ordering one after lunch will earn you a curious look from any barista in Naples.
🇮🇹 Italy · Named after the Capuchin friarsA smaller, stronger cousin to the latte. It uses a double ristretto with velvety microfoamed milk served in a smaller cup. It is hotly contested whether Australia or New Zealand originally invented it.
🇦🇺🇳🇿 Australia / New Zealand · 1980sCoarsely ground coffee steeped in cold water for 12 to 24 hours. The slow extraction produces an exceptionally smooth, low-acid concentrate that you can dilute or serve straight over ice.
🇯🇵 Japan · Kyoto slow drip is the ancestorVery finely ground coffee simmered with water and sugar in a small copper cezve. Served unfiltered in small cups. Drinkers let the grounds settle before sipping, often reading fortunes in the remaining sediment.
🇹🇷 Ottoman Empire · 16th centuryHot water poured slowly and deliberately over grounds in a filter, usually in circular motions. The manual control over flow rate lets skilled brewers highlight distinct terroir and process notes in the cup.
🇩🇪 Germany · Melitta Bentz, 1908A simple shot of espresso served with a thin slice of lemon on the rim. The citrus oils cut through bitterness and cleanse the palate. Counterintuitively, despite the name, it is rarely drunk in Rome.
🇮🇹 Italy · Origin pleasingly disputedA latte enriched with chocolate, usually syrup or cocoa powder mixed with espresso before the steamed milk is added. It is named after Mocha, Yemen, the historic coffee port that once supplied the world.
🇾🇪 Named for Yemen's port city of MochaRobusta espresso topped with a creamy, whipped blend of egg yolk and sweetened condensed milk. It was created in Hanoi in the 1940s as a milk substitute during wartime scarcity and never went out of style.
🇻🇳 Vietnam · Nguyen Van Giang, 1946Instant coffee, sugar, and hot water whipped into a thick, caramel-colored foam, then spooned over cold milk. It went viral in 2020, but the foam technique has roots in South Korea, Pakistan, and Macau long before social media discovered it.
🇰🇷 South Korea · Popularized 2020A shorter, more concentrated espresso shot using the same amount of coffee but half the water (about 15ml). The result is sweeter and less bitter than a standard espresso, with intensified aromatics.
🇮🇹 Italy · "Restricted" in ItalianGreen beans are roasted over charcoal, ground by hand, and brewed in a clay jebena pot. Served three times in small cups. The first cup (abol) is the strongest, while the third (bereka) represents a blessing. This beautiful ceremony can take hours to complete.
🇪🇹 Ethiopia · Ancient ritual, still practiced dailyThe Names Behind the Cup
From legacy Italian roasters to modern specialty cafes, these brands heavily influenced how we experience coffee today.
Founded 1933 · Trieste, Italy
Francesco Illy invented the first automatic coffee machine in 1933 and pioneered the pressurized tin that keeps coffee fresh. Today, Illy's signature blend is recognized worldwide for its reliable Italian precision.
Founded 1895 · Turin, Italy
Luigi Lavazza's small grocery shop grew into Italy's best-selling coffee brand over the last 130 years. Lavazza actually popularized the concept of blending coffees from different regions, making them a household name around the world.
Founded 1971 · Seattle, USA
What began as a single store in Seattle's Pike Place Market became a massive global chain. Howard Schultz wanted to bring the Italian espresso bar experience to America, and his idea completely changed how a generation drinks coffee.
Founded 1986 · Lausanne, Switzerland
Nestlé found a brilliant way to let people brew a perfect espresso at home with a simple aluminum capsule. Combined with some clever marketing, Nespresso became the standard for effortless luxury in domestic brewing.
Founded 1971 · London, UK
Founded by Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa, Costa Coffee started as a wholesale operation supplying roasted coffee to caterers. It grew to become the second-largest coffeehouse chain in the world, known for its consistent quality and relaxed atmosphere.
Founded 1950 · Quincy, USA
Originally "Open Kettle" and later renamed, Dunkin' became famous for its donuts and coffee, focusing on fast service and affordability. It's an iconic American brand offering a wide range of coffee beverages, often emphasizing convenience and a strong, accessible brew.
You didn't know this
A few surprising details behind the daily habit.
Coffee beans are actually the seeds of a small, cherry-like fruit. The fruit itself is sweet and tastes a bit like watermelon or hibiscus. In some places, farmers dry the husks to brew a tea called cascara.
If you measure by the scoop, light roast beans contain more caffeine than dark roasts. Dark roasting puffs the bean up, meaning fewer beans fit in your scoop. By weight, however, the caffeine content is basically the same.
A huge percentage of what we perceive as coffee's taste is actually its aroma. We process these smells as we sip, which explains why a cup of coffee often smells much richer than it tastes.
Italy might be famous for espresso, but Finland consumes the most coffee per capita. The average person there drinks around 26 pounds of coffee every single year. The rest of Scandinavia is right behind them.
A single coffee tree only produces enough cherries to make one or two pounds of roasted coffee per year. That means your daily morning habit requires the entire annual harvest of several different trees.
In 1511, the governor of Mecca banned coffee because he thought coffeehouses encouraged radical ideas. The ban didn't last long. The Sultan soon overturned the ruling and had the governor executed.
The Book That Started It All
Over the last twenty years, Tracie Zerpoli has sat down with friends, strangers, and everyone in between to ask the questions we usually keep to ourselves. Coffee was the excuse to meet, but the conversations were the real point.