African countries contribute about a fifth of
world production.
The History of Coffee Brewing The original
version of brewed roasted coffee beans is the
Arab version, which still thrives in the Middle
East, Turkey, and Greece. The finely
powdered beans are combined with water and
sugar in an open pot, the mixture boiled until
the pot foams, then settled and boiled to a
foam once or twice more, and finally decanted
into small cups. This is the coffee that found
its way to Europe around 1600; it’s
concentrated, includes some sediment, and
has to be drunk right away or the sediment
will increase the already considerable
bitterness.
French Refinements The first Western
modifications of coffee brewing date from
around 1700, when French cooks isolated the
solid beans within the liquid by enclosing the
grounds in a cloth bag, and thus produced a