Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2012/January 2013 | Page 106

FOOD

Coffee
to café
Mark Horton, owner
of French Franks,
Newport, continues his
Island Life coffee guide
In this edition I will explain a little of the extraordinary
journey from the coffee plantation to the café.
There is little doubt that coffee plants originated in
East Africa and strong mythology of Ethiopian goat
herders noticing how spritely the birds and goats
behaved after eating the coffee berries. Monks
and scholars were reputed to be the first to develop
roasting and drinking the liquid which kept them
awake and alert.
Nearly all coffee is grown within the tropics of
Cancer and Capricorn, Latin America, Central Africa
and Asia Pacific regions. The best qualities are
obtained at altitudes of 3,000 to 6,000ft in regions
where there is moderate rainfall and rich soils.
I spent many years working in exactly these areas
around the globe with other crops but largely ignoring
the coffee plantations. However, last year I went back
to Guatemala and really looked at coffee from the
plantation right through to cup.
The coffee plantation is in the central highlands of
Guatemala near Antigua. Coffee trees take about
five years to produce, and each one produces only
around 500g of beans annually. When coffee cherries
are ripe (bright red) they are picked by hand.

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