You may have come across Fair Trade certified coffee beans sold at mass retailers such as Starbucks, Tully's, Muji, and Ogawa Coffee.
How are these different from other beans?
First of all, fair trade means fair trade.
Behind fair trade is unfair trade.
The idea behind fair trade is to correct this unfair trade and make it fair trade.
The process from growing coffee to becoming a cup of coffee can be broadly divided into:
① Cultivating the coffee tree
② Refining
③ Packaging and shipping
④ Roasting
⑤ Extraction

While walking around town, you might come across a shop with a fragrant aroma.
The sign reads "Home-Roasting Coffee Shop."
When I say fragrant, I mean a different aroma from the aroma you get when beans are ground in a 7-Eleven coffee maker; it has a distinctive caramel-like aroma.
This aroma comes from roasting green coffee beans to brown them.
Home-roasting shops differ from coffee shops and cafes that sell pre-roasted beans in that they start with the green beans.

Ethiopia is said to be the birthplace of coffee.
I think the person who discovered coffee is amazing.
He discovered that roasting the seeds of the plant gives them a fragrant aroma, and that drinking them in hot water was delicious.
I wonder if he experimented with various plants?
Ethiopian coffee is often called Mocha.
Although it's rare, Yemeni coffee is also called Mocha.
This is because Mocha is the name of a port town in Yemen, and Ethiopian and Yemeni coffee beans were exported to the world through Mocha.

Are Brazil and Colombia the most commonly mentioned coffee-producing countries? The actual ranking of green bean production by country is Brazil in first place, Vietnam in second, Indonesia in third, and Colombia in third.
Brazil certainly has the image of producing the most coffee beans.
However, Colombia also has a presence, with coffees like Georgia's Emerald Mountain and Inoda Coffee's Colombian Emerald.
Perhaps these are the top two in South America?
While Brazilian coffee has a milder acidity, Colombian coffee is said to be characterized by a fruity acidity.

The Frappuccino is an original Starbucks product.
It is a portmanteau of frappe and cappuccino.
A frappe is a cold drink made with crushed ice and can be found in convenience stores and fast food restaurants.
A cappuccino is espresso mixed with steamed milk.
It was first sold at Starbucks in the United States in 1995.
Originally, Starbucks was a store that specialized in coffee, but coffee sales declined in the summer, so the Frappuccino was launched as an opportunity to sell cold drinks.

Apparently, coffee was drunk by Yemeni Sufi sects around the 15th century to wake them up for nighttime prayers.
So it was a drink to keep them awake at night.
Yemen is a coffee-producing country, known for its mocha.
In the 16th century, coffee was introduced from the Middle East to Europe via the Ottoman Empire.
Then, due to the colonial policies of the Netherlands, France, and Britain, its cultivation spread to Indonesia, the Caribbean, Central and South America, and Africa. Coffee houses were established in London and Vienna in the 17th century.

Now that we've talked about espresso, I'd like to write about cappuccino as well.
How is cappuccino different from regular coffee?
And how is it different from espresso?
Cappuccino is coffee milk with an espresso base.
You could say it's espresso milk.
As I mentioned here, espresso is richer and more fragrant than regular coffee.
Also, the milk used in cappuccino is steamed milk, which is milk heated and frothed with steam.
By exposing the milk to high-temperature steam, fine bubbles containing air are created, bringing out the sweetness.

When you think of regular coffee, many people think of the kind of coffee you get when you order a blend or iced coffee at a cafe.

At more discerning coffee shops, they might also offer straight coffee or single-origin coffee. But what about espresso?

Is it different from these types of regular coffee?

Espresso is much richer than regular coffee, with a concentrated bitterness, sweetness, acidity, and aroma. It's extracted under high pressure in a special machine, extracting finely ground beans in a short time of about 20 to 30 seconds.

Coffee bean production areas are limited. Because they are located in tropical and subtropical highlands, they are concentrated in an area known as the coffee belt, an area 25 degrees north and south of the equator.
The average annual temperature is 18-24°C for Arabica and 24-30°C for Robusta.
There is also a temperature difference between day and night, and the ideal climate is one with an annual rainfall of around 1500mm-2000mm, with a dry season and a rainy season.
Also, it is said that the highest quality coffee is produced at altitudes of around 1000-2000m.

Grinding your own coffee beans at home will ensure delicious coffee.
Beans that are ground immediately before brewing will taste significantly better.
You can also adjust the grinding method depending on the brewing method, such as for drip, French press, or espresso.
People who are particular about the taste of their coffee are particular about the brewing method, which is why they grind their beans at home.
Even with the same beans, the way they are ground can result in different levels of acidity and bitterness.