Legend has it that coffee was discovered by an Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi who noticed that his animals acted peculiarly energetic after eating the fruits from a certain tree.
Coffee almost certainly did originate in Ethiopia, possibly discovered by the nomadic Oromo people. It made its way north to the Arabia Peninsula sometime during the 13th century where it was first roasted to be used as a drink we’d recognise today and was especially popular for the purpose of alertness during lengthy prayers. By the 15th and 16th centuries, the crop was grown throughout the Middle East and North Africa. European traders soon discovered what became known as the “noble tree” (or “Satan’s drink” by some Christians, until it received papal approval from Clement VIII) and was exported to be grown in their new colonies in Asia and South and Central America.
Today, Europe accounts for most of the world’s top 10 coffee drinking nations per capita, and, according to some estimates, New Zealand isn’t far too behind. A study by Wild Bean found that more than 70 percent of Kiwis consume at least one coffee a day, with nearly a quarter consuming at least three; the most popular order of course being the flat white.
“Coffee wasn’t a big thing in New Zealand when filter was the only option, but when espresso bars started popping up in the early 90s, we managed to pair espresso with our amazing dairy industry to make – and possibly create – the flat white,” says Andrew Smart, owner of Espresso Workshop, one of Auckland’s first roasteries. “The flat white is an absolute phenomenon in New Zealand, and we take great pride in preparing it to the highest standard. New Zealanders love to brunch too. We’ve been pioneers in brunching, taking late-morning casual dining to a higher standard than you would see in many other prominent cities around the world.”
The backstory of the flat white is of course the cause of some beef between Aotearoa and Australia, perhaps even more contentious than who owns Russell Crowe, or pavlova. According to Aussie Alan Preston he coined the phrase at his Sydney café in 1985, inspired by the 1960s cafes of his home state Queensland that sold ‘White coffee – flat’. But former Wellington barista Frank McInnes claims he came up with the flat white by accident in 1989 when he messed up a cappuccino by not properly frothing the milk, telling the customer: “Sorry, it’s a flat white.” Throwing a spanner in the works (or a spoon in the flat white?!), coffee book author and founder of Sydney’s Belaroma Coffee, Ian Bersten, reckons the drink more likely originated in 1950s Britain.
“The flat white is an absolute phenomenon in New Zealand, and we take great pride in preparing it to the highest standard.”
Are there other coffee-related facts or stories that most are unaware of?
“People needlessly obsess about how how crema looks. There are things you can tell about an espresso shot by looking at crema, but here’s the kicker: crema tastes like crap! It’s dry and astringent, and if there’s lots of it, your espresso will not taste good. I always wait for the crema to dissipate before drinking espresso.”
Andrew also urges against the drinking of Indonesia’s kopi luwak (known as weasel coffee in Vietnam) said to be the world’s most expensive and exclusive coffee owing to it being made from the partially digested – and fully excreted – beans of the palm civet, a small Southeast Asian mammal (often nicknamed civet or tree cats, but they’re not types of cats).
“Talk about overhyped and unethical. Most of the kopi luwak coffee out there tastes bad and is fake, and even if it’s not fake then just think about how inhumane it is to process enough coffee cherries through those poor palm civets to produce a 60-kg sack of green coffee. Horrible!”
With greater awareness of responsibly-made products and sustainable farming practices, there’s a growing number of people interested in the backstory of their coffee too.
“Many coffee consumers want to feel good about what they are drinking, whether that’s for quality, or social or ethical reasons,” adds Andrew. “There’s a segment of the coffee market who are very interested about the story of the coffee, the farm details, the processing method, the varietal of coffee, and so on – all of which will also indicate how the coffee will taste. It’s really down to the development of the industry, which I think is not just reflected in coffee but in many other products that are traded globally.”
Andrew emphasises that coffee shouldn’t be viewed as just a product, but an experience to be enjoyed like tastings at vineyard.
“Coffee is not just a cup of joe. It offers so much more than that. I’ve always used the analogy of comparing it to the wine market. People are very aware of the characteristics of certain wine regions, and coffee is no different – the terroir is a huge driver in coffee-taste characteristics. You can have some amazing flavour experiences with coffee, I’d recommend people google the coffee flavour wheel to see the amazing range of aroma and flavour descriptors. We want to offer the customer some insight into that world of flavour variation. I’ve always held the belief that our customers don’t mind change, so long as it tastes good.”
Bean There, Done That
- Coffee trees only grow in sub-tropical and tropical regions in around 60 countries, with Brazil being by far the biggest producer accounting for nearly a third of the world’s coffee. Vietnam is next, producing around half of Brazil’s tally.
- The Fairtrade Foundation estimate over 125 million people rely on coffee for their livelihoods, with 25 million smallholder farms producing 80% of the world’s supply.
- Fairtrade coffee farmers produce around 560,900 tonnes of coffee a year – enough for nearly 60 billion single espressos.
- It takes up to five years for a coffee tree to reach full maturity, producing fruit (called coffee berries or cherries) ready to be harvested, usually by hand. A single tree averages 5-6kg of berries yearly, good for 2kg of coffee beans.The trees can live for as long as a century, producing fruit for around 20 years.
- The bean is the tree’s seed, protected by the pulp and husk of the berry that needs to be removed, either by hand or machine. Most berries contain two seeds pressed against each other, which is why one side of those roasted coffee beans is flat.
- The methods by which the seed is extracted then washed, dried, and treated is known as processing. This varies between regions and affects the flavour. Once dried, the green beans are ready to be packaged and shipped to be roasted (that takes only around 10 minutes), the final step before they’re ground to be brewed to be enjoyed by you.
