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Do you want to create an amazing science fair project for your next exhibition? You are in the right place. Read the below given article to get a complete idea on coffee: 1. History of Coffee 2. Location and Area of Coffee 3. Varieties 4. Coffee Board 5. Quality.
Contents:
- Science Fair Project on History of Coffee
- Science Fair Project on Location and Area of Coffee
- Science Fair Project on Varieties of Coffee
- Science Fair Project on Coffee Board
- Science Fair Project on Quality of Coffee
Science Fair Project # 1. History of Coffee:
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It has been stated that the coffee plant of commerce is native of Abyssinia, where it is called bun or boun, and coffee must have been used in that country from very early times. There is very fair evidence in Arabic literature that the use of coffee was introduced into Aden by a certain Sheikh Shihabuddin Dhabhani, sometime about the middle of the fifteenth century.
From Yemen it spread to Mecca in 1511, then to Cairo to Damascus and Aleppo, and to Constantinople, where the first coffee house was established in 1554. The first European mention of coffee of Aleppo is in 1573.
The first mention of a coffee shop hi Great Britain occurs in 1652. Coffee is spoken of as being in use in France in 1640, and the first public cafe was opened in Paris in 1669. Shortly after it became general throughout Europe.
It was introduced into Ceylon by the Arabs, prior to the invasion of this island by the Portuguese. Its systematic cultivation about 1690 was undertaken by the Dutch but on the cession of their territory its cultivation was continued by the natives of Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
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As regards the history of its introduction into India, most writers agree that it was brought to Mysore (now Karnataka) some three centuries ago by a Muslim pilgrim named Baba Budan, who on his return from Mecca, brought seven seeds with him.
George Watt writes in his ‘Dictionary of the Economic Products of India’: “Coffee planting in India at the present day is concentrated in the Madras Presidency, and as a Euiopean Industry it may be said to date from Mr. Cannon’s plantation at Chikmuglur in Mysore.
This was established in 1830, but as a curiosity Major Bevan grew coffee in the Wynaad in 1882. It w as cultivated by Mr. Cockburn on the Shevaroys in 1830; Mr. Glasson formed a plantation at Manantoddy in 1840: the plant was taken to the Nilgiris in 1846 and to Darjeeling in 1856.”
Science Fair Project # 2. Location and Area of Coffee:
Coffee is grown in India on the sunny slopes of the Western Ghats and it spurs extending eastwards where the ecological conditions are ideal for the growth of first-class coffee. The F.A.O. has listed India as one of the eight countries in the world possessing optimum conditions for the growing of coffee.
The total area under coffee in India is 3,20,570 acres (or 1,29,730 hectares). About 58% of this coffee area is in the Karnataka State, 20% is in the Tamil Nadu State and 21% in the Kerala State. The remaining 1% is scattered, in small pockets in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Assam and West Bengal States, besides the Andaman’s.
India produces about 100,000 metric tonnes of coffee every year. About 60,000 metric tonnes are exported to different destinations like U.S.A., Russia, West Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, U.K., Belgium and Canada. Indian Coffee in all grades—is among the best in the world and is used to blend with coffees of other origin to improve the quality.
Science Fair Project # 3. Varieties of Coffee:
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Two main varieties of coffee are grown in India. They are Coffea arabica Linn.; and Coffea robusta Linden.
Indian Coffee is processed in two ways, i.e., by wet process (washed coffee) and by dry process (unwashed coffee). The washed coffee is known as Plantation or Parchment coffee. The unwashed coffee is called cherry coffee.
Thus according to the process, coffee under arabica and robusta is described as under:
Plantiation of Indian Coffee:
Arabica coffee processed by the wet or washed method is called Plantation coffee. This is an elaborate and time-consuming process in which the outer skin of the fruit and the mucilaginous matter beneath it are removed, by pulping and subsequent washing with fresh water, channelled from the springs in coffee-growing areas.
The pulping and washing release the coffee beans from the coffee berries. But each bean is still encased in a soft parchment covering. The parchment-covered coffee is then dried in the sun on barbecues in the estates. Coffee in this form is known as Parchment coffee.
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Curing with Indian Coffee:
Parchment coffee is sent to curing works where it is further dried in the sun, if necessary, to a moisture content of not more than 10 percent. The well-dried parchment coffee is fed through the peeling machine to remove the thin brittle parchment cover.
The beans obtained are then graded according to shape and size, and carefully garbled by hand, or using electronic sorters and pneumatic separators to remove blemished and defective beans. The final product of these processes gives the Plantation coffee of commerce.
Cherry Coffee:
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The other method of preparing Arabica coffee for the market is simpler. The berries are harvested, dried in the sun till their outer skin, the parchment cover and pulpy matter in between, dry up to form a thick husk leaving the beans loose inside.
The dried cherry is then decorticated by passing through a huller, graded and garbled according to prescribed standards. The final produce of this process is known as Arabica cherry coffee or simply cherry coffee.
Robusta Coffee:
Robusta coffee is also processed by both wet and dry methods, and the resultant beans are known in trade parlance as Robusta Parchment or washed Robusta and Robusta cherry respectively.
Characteristics:
The two types of coffee have certain characteristics:
Grading:
Both Arabica and Robusta can have round beans, called PEABERRY (PB) or flat seeds called FLATS. Classification into A or B or AB is done according to the size of seeds.
The main grades of coffee released for export are Plantation A, B and Triage; Arabica Cherry AB and Triage; Robusta Cherry AB and Triage; Robusta Parchment AB.
The main grades are tabulated below:
Science Fair Project # 4. Coffee Board:
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The production, internal marketing, export marketing, quality control, research, etc., are controlled by the Coffee Board which is a Statutory Body under the Ministry of Commerce of the Government of India.
All coffee produced in India is delivered to the Coffee Board, Bangalore, a statutory organization, comprising representatives of coffee growers, curers, traders, workers, consumers and others connected with the industry.
Marketing:
One of the major functions of the Coffee Board is the marketing of Indian coffee, through a common pool.
At the beginning of each season the coffee crop is estimated and after making provision for the internal market, the export allotment is made, so that the coffee trade may operate on the assurance of known quantities of available for export. This quantity is subsequently increased, if warranted by actual crop realisations.
Exports:
Coffee for export is sold in open auctions in which exporters who have registered with the Board, bid for the lots. Foreign firms can participate in these export sales by registering their names with the Coffee Board, through their Agents or Branch offices in India.
Export auctions are held once in two to three weeks. The dates of the sales are widely notified in advance. Facilities are provided for drawing the samples of coffee offered for sale and the dispatch of the coffee to prospective buyers abroad.
Coffee is normally exported from the West Coast ports of Mangalore and Cochin. The normal packing is in new gunnies of 60 kg. net. Prices are normally quoted in rupees per 50 kg., f.o.b. New Mangalore/Cochin.
There was a record production of coffee, one lakh and twenty thousand tonnes in 1977-78. Thirty-six thousand tonnes of coffee worth Rs. 89 crores were exported in 1977-78.
Science Fair Project # 5. Quality of Coffee:
Many steps are taken by the Coffee Board to ensure the export of only the best quality of Indian coffee. The measures are aimed at maintaining and improving the quality of coffee right from the stage when the coffee is a tender plant in plantations to the time it is fully cured and exported.
Use of improved strains of coffee, scientific control of pests, application of balanced nutrition and extension of coffee research results to the field ensure growth of quality coffees.
Curing of the coffee is done so as to conform to rigid standards set for curing. The cured coffee is again examined by a screening panel before being made available for exports. Production of quality coffee on estates is encouraged by awarding premium points for good quality coffee. A cup testing unit has been established by the Coffee Board to select the best coffee for exports, on the basis of cup test.
Instant Coffee:
India can also offer instant coffee of the highest standards in 50 gms., 100 gms. and 25 kg. bulk packings. This instant coffee is manufactured from Green Coffees of other origin to raise the quality of the latter.
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Monsooned Coffee:
A speciality of Indian coffee is the Monsooned coffee, which is in good demand in several countries of Europe, particularly the Scandinavian countries.
Monsooning of coffee is done by coffee curers on the West Coast of India. Monsooned coffee had its origin in the days of sailing ships, when it took about six months for unwashed coffee to be sent to Europe.
During this period of voyage, the coffee in the damp holds of the ship lost its original colour and acquired a special flavour which has been liked by consumers in Norway, France and Switzerland.
With the opening of the Suez and speedy transport of steamships, consumers in Europe complained that they missed the special flavour of the unwashed Indian coffee! The curers on the West Coast rose to the occasion and perfected the process known as ‘monsooning’, by which coffee acquired the special flavour. Indian monsooned coffee is coffee with a golden colour.
With the outbreak of the South-West Monsoon, late in May or early in June, unwashed coffee (Arabica Cherry or Robusta Cherry coffees) is evenly spread, about 4 to 6 inches thick, in airy godowns, open on all sides. It is racked, from time to time, for about four or five days. It is packed loose in gunny bags and stacked in piles with sufficient space between rows, to enable the monsoon air to circulate freely around each bag.
The coffee beans are bulked and repacked, once a week, or they are poured from one leaf to another, prevent their getting mouldy and ensure even monsooning. In about a month and a half, the coffee assumes golden colour, when it is considered to be fully monsooned.
At this stage, the coffee beans are carefully hand-garbled to remove those beans that are not up to the required standard. After mild fumigation treatment to prevent attacks by weevils, the monsooned coffee is ready for shipment.
Monsooned coffee is generally sold for export during October to December, every year. The grades offered for sale are Monsooned Malabar AA, Monsconed Basanally and Monsooned Robusta AB.
Why Indian Coffee is one of the Finest? Lovers of good coffee often wonder how Indian coffee is distinctive, delicious and distinguishable. To comprehend fully the principal reasons for Indian coffee being one of the world’s finest coffees is to understand pretty well a whole range of coffee facts and operations in the country.
Nature with its generous Indian climate and rich soil, pampers coffee’s growth. Careful scientific cultivation of the coffee on hill slopes, programmed picking of the coffee fruits by deft human hands and the gentle painstaking manner in which they are processed, unlock the full flavour latent in every bean.
Rigid assessment of quality leads to the export of only the finest beans accounting for the superiority and fine aroma of India’s high grown mild coffees.
Many of the different growths of Indian coffee, like Biligiris, Bababudans, other Mysores, Coorgs, Nilgiris, Naidubattams, Shevaroys, Anamallais, Pulneys, Nelliampathis, and Nilagiris Wynaad are familiar to importers of coffee in different countries of the world, as being synonymous, with supreme quality coffee.
This is because the Indian Coffee Industry has to its credit three hundred years of continuous service in growing and making available high grown, good quality, mild coffee.
Indian coffee has a high reputation in the world market. This is because of the high quality of Indian coffee and the infinite care taken by the Coffee Board to maintain high standard at each stage of processing Indian coffee from the seed to the cup and special attention given to the screening and selection of only the best coffee for export, so that coffee connoisseurs around the world can always enjoy the superior and fine aroma of India’s high-grown mild coffees.
