Latin American and The Caribbean

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The coffees produced in this growing region are distinguished by their light body, simplicity and sharp acidity. They are typically thought of as having bright flavours with a clean, crisp finish.

Mexico: Mexico produces large quantities of unremarkable coffee that is often used for dark roasts and blending. The state of Vera Cruz produces many of these average coffees in its low laying regions, but in its mountains near the city of Coatepec an excellent coffee called Altura Coatepec is produced. These high grown, or altura, coffees are light bodied, nutty, with a chocolate tang and acidic snap.Altura Orizaba and Altura Huatusco are other fine coffees produced in Vera Cruz. The state of Oaxaca in the central mountains also produces some good coffees, referred to as either Oaxaca or Oaxaca Pluma.. Chiapas, near the Guatemalan border, produces coffee under the market name Tapachula, and is also gaining a reputation for its above average organic coffees. Coffees are produced using the wet-process.

Guatemala: Some of the world's greatest coffee is produced in the central Highlands of Guatemala. The most famous regional marketing names are: Antigua, Coban and Huehuetenango. High quality Guatemalan coffees are produced using the wet-process and are of high acidity and medium body, with smoky, spicy and chocolate flavours. Guatemalan coffee is often marketed by grade, with the highest grade being strictly hard bean, which indicates coffees grown at 4,500 feet or above. A secondary grade is hard bean, designating coffees grown between 4,000 and 4,500 feet.

El Salvador: The flavour of Salvadorian coffee is mild, with good balance, medium body, sharp acidity and a hint of sweetness. The best grade of Salvadorian coffee is called strictly high grown. El Salvador produces an excellent certified organic coffee under the brand name of Pipil. All coffees are produced using the wet-process.

Nicaragua: The best known Nicaraguan coffees are produced by the wet-process in the Jinotega and Matagalpa regions and are light to medium bodied and fairly acidic. Nicaraguan coffee trees produce large beans that contain salty acidity and heavy body when brewed.

Costa Rica: Costa Rican coffee is grown primarily around the capital city of San Jose. The most famous of these coffees are San Marcos di Tarrazu, Tres Rios, Heredia, and Alajuela. These coffees are wet-processed, and are full bodied and sweet, with a hearty richness and lively acidity. In Costa Rica coffee grown above 3,900 is call strictly hard bean, while coffee grown at an altitude between 3,300 and 3,900 is called good hard bean. Costa Rican coffees are usually identified by the estate, cooperative, or facility where they are processed. One of the most famous of these estate coffees is La Minita.

Coffee plants were originally grown in Costa Rica in the early 1800s as curious ornamentals for the middle classes. Then, a 19th century president decided that Costa Rica would have to have an export crop in order to enter the international marketplace. It was decided to be coffee. Every family was then ordered, by national decree, to have a few bushes growing in their gardens. The government gave everybody free plants and awarded extensive grants of land to those who were willing to become coffee farmers.

The Costa-Rica - European connection occurred when, in 1843, an English ship, returning to England from the Western coast of the USA, was forced to stop at Costa Rica's port town of Puntarenas, in need of ballast to weigh it down in the heavy seas. 1843 was one of the best years in the country's history for coffee production - farmers had more beans than they could possibly sell, so it was proposed to fill the ship's holds with coffee, as ballast. The ship returned to England and two years later the captain returned to pay the coffee farmers their profit. The trade took off from there!

Honduras: Honduran coffee is wet-processed and mainly used as a cheap blending coffee. Some excellent coffees are grown here, but they are often blended with inferior beans before they are exported and are difficult to find.

Panama: Coffee produced in Panama is sweet, bright and balanced, and similar to coffee from the Tres Rios region of Costa Rica. This wet-processed coffee is often used for blending, but is excellent served as a breakfast brew.

Jamaica: Jamaica is the home of Jamaican Blue Mountain, one of the world's most controversial coffees. Once a superb coffee characterized by a nutty aroma, bright acidity and a unique beef-boullion like flavour, recent overproduction, lack of attention to quality and profiteering have led to a mediocre, over-priced product. Some confusion exists about where the boundaries for growing this coffee actually lie, and often coffees of lesser quality are packaged under its name.Jamaican High Mountain is a term that applies to coffees of lesser quality that are grown at a lower altitude than Jamaican Blue Mountain . Both coffees are produced using the wet-process.

Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, Puerto Rico: Coffees from these countries are grown at moderate altitudes and are full-bodied with moderate acidity and uncomplicated flavours. These wet-processed coffees are best suited for dark-roasted espresso blends. Cibao, Bani, Ocoa, and Barahona are the four main market names for coffees from the Dominican Republic.

Colombia: Colombia produces 12% of the world's coffee supply, and is second only to Brazil. The bulk of Colombian coffee is of high quality, and the country has done an excellent job marketing its product through the visage of Juan Valdez. Peasants grow the coffee at high altitudes, and it is processed using the wet method. Three mountain ranges, called cordilleras, trisect Colombia from north to south. The central and eastern cordilleras produce the best coffee. The most famous coffees in the central cordillera are: Medellin, Armenia, and Manizales, named for cities where they are marketed. Medellin is the most famous, and has heavy body, rich flavour and balanced acidity. Armenia and Manizales have less body and acidity. In the US all three coffees may be marketed together as MAM. In the eastern cordillera, Bogota and Bucaramanga. are the most famous coffees. Bogota is considered one of Colombia's finest coffees, and contains less acid than Medellin, but is equally rich and flavourful. Bucaramanga has a low level of acid, but is rich in body and flavour.

Venezuela: The highest quality Venezuelan coffee is grown in the western part of the country near the Colombian border. Maraciabos, as this coffee is known, refers to the port from which the coffee is shipped. The most famous Maraciabos are Cucuta, Merida, Trujillo and Tachira. Coffee grown in the eastern mountains is called Caracas, after the capital city. Venezuelan coffees differ from other coffees grown in the region in that they are much lower in acidity.

Ecuador: Ecuador produces a large amount of coffee. These coffees are undistinguished, with light to medium body and mild acidity.

Peru: Because of its mild character, Peruvian coffee is used for blending, French roasts, and as a flavoured-coffee base. Some good coffee can be found high in the Andes in the Chanchamayo and Urubamba Valleys, and northern Peru is developing a reputation as a producer of good quality, certified organic coffees.

Brazil: Brazil grows approximately 35% of the world's coffee, but only Santos is considered important by the specialty coffee industry. Another coffee, Rio, is also well known for it's medicinal taste, and is often used in New Orleans coffee with the addition of chicory. Bourbon Santos is Brazil's finest grade of coffee, and the beans from the arabica trees that produce this coffee are small and curly for the first three or four years of production. During this time, the coffee is called Bourbon Santos. As the trees age, the beans become larger and lose quality. They are then referred to as flat bean Santos. Bandeirante is a popular estate grown Brazilian coffee that is often found in the United States. Brazilian coffee is generally produced using the dry-process.

Hawaii: Hawaii boasts a thriving coffee industry, that's mostly geared toward visitors and gourmets. Coffee is grown commercially on four of the six major islands: Maui, Hawaii, Molokai and Kauai. It grows wild on Oahu where it was first planted. It primarily grows, however, on the the islands of Hawaii and Kauai, with the coffees of the Kona region of the island of Hawaii being the most highly prized. Kona possesses the perfect environment for growing arabicas. The best estates grow beautiful, large, flat beans, which produce a medium-bodied brew, with buttery, spicy characteristics. The brew is rich, somewhat acidic and intensely flavourful.

The Kona area has 525 farms yielding 1,800 acres of coffee. Kona coffee, marketed as a gourmet item, produces an estimated $10 million a year for farmers. Consumers should beware that many coffees being sold as Kona blends may contain only 10% Hawaiian coffee, typically blended with Latin American coffees. Kona coffees demand a premium price, and the flavour characteristics of many lower priced Latin American coffees are considered superior.

Coffee was introduced to Hawaii over 170 years ago, in 1825, when Chief Boki, Governor of Oahu brought coffee to Hawaii aboard the British warship HMS Blonde. The ship was returning to Hawaii with the bodies of King Kamahameha II and Queen Kamamalu who had died in London during their trip. Chief Boki had acquired coffee plants in Rio de Janeiro during the return voyage.

Even though coffee was in Kona in the late 1820s it was not immediately seen as a viable agricultural commodity. However, the particular conditions in Kona's climate and soil turned out to be some of the best known in the world for growing coffee. The coffee plant thrived in it's new environment.

It was not until the late 1800's, the period following the Californian gold rush, that the coffee industry in Kona saw its first boom. In 1898 the Kona hillsides were consumed by coffee trees; over three million of them spread out over six thousand acres.

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