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Brazilian Coffee


Adultery, deceit and politics, all the makings of a modern-day best-seller, yet this story is over 250 years old and what ultimately led to brazilian coffee. In 1727 a Brazilian official named Francisco de Melho Palheta was invited to mediate a heated border dispute between French and Dutch Guiana. Both governments were actively growing coffee in Guiana and closely guarded their financial interests by not allowing the exportation of viable coffee seeds.

Palheta quickly accepted the invitation with hopes of somehow obtaining some seeds for planting coffee in Brazil. While in Guiana Palheta became romantically involved with the French Governors wife. Upon his departure, after successfully mediating a solution to the border issue, the Governors wife presented him with a bouquet of flowers in which she had disguised several coffee seedlings.

The Brazilians quickly learned the rudiments of growing coffee with emphasis on quantity over quality, which is still the prevalent philosophy when it comes to growing coffee in Brazil. Brazil is by far the largest producer of coffee in the world with over forty percent of all coffee coming from this country. However, the vast majority is of marginal quality and what the major commercial processors such as Folgers, Maxwell House etc? rely on as the base product for their blends. By adding small amounts of higher quality coffee they are able to enhance flavor, body and aroma and provide a product that is acceptable to the masses at a reasonable price.

The production of coffee in Brazil had a dark side. As the cultivation of coffee in Brazil grew, so did slavery. Without enough local labor to handle the ever increasing demand for coffee, the Brazilian Government imported slaves by the tens of thousands. By 1828 well over a million slaves, nearly a third of the population, labored on the coffee plantations.

In response to pressure from the British Government, who had outlawed slavery and were boycotting Brazilian slave-grown coffee, Brazil half-heartedly outlawed slavery. Though importation of slaves declined, it did not cease and the two-million or so slaves that were already in the country remained in bondage. It would be another fifty years before slavery was truly abolished.

As production of coffee in Brazil modernized, modern being a relative term for a third-world country. A few growers established a reputation for providing high-quality coffee and edged their way into the American specialty market.

The best coffee in Brazil comes from the region around San Paulo and is named for the port through which it is exported, Santos. Santos is known for its smooth flavor, medium body and moderate acidity. While Santos is the best coffee in Brazil, it is still far from extraordinary when compared to other gourmet coffees of the world.

Even with the reputation of providing low-grade coffee to the masses, the impact Brazil has had on the world coffee trade is undeniable. Without Brazilian coffee to stabilize the market, coffee prices could be three to four times what they are. Imagine paying $15-20 for a one pound can of Folgers. I, for one, am grateful to Brazil for providing the world with cheap coffee.

© Copyright Randy Wilson, All Rights Reserved.

Randy has more articles on coffee such as Colombian Coffee, Coffee and Alzheimers and Coffee Breaks.


MORE RESOURCES:

Miami Daily Business Review

Brazil Coffee Crop to Drop Up to 20% on Cycle, Costs
Bloomberg - Jan 8, 2009
8 (Bloomberg) -- Coffee output in Brazil, the world’s biggest producer, will drop as much as 20 percent this year as most trees enter the slower half of a ...
Brazil coffee crop to fall up to 20 pct. in '09 The Associated Press
all 60 news articles


Seattle Post Intelligencer

Morning Coffee Frames The Offseason
Burnt Orange Nation, TX - 8 hours ago
by PB @ BON on Jan 9, 2009 6:10 AM CST in Football Time for Bob Stoops backlash? It only took Ohio State two BCS flops to earn a sour reputation, ...
Senators sing a song - for victory in BCS game Tampa Bay's 10
Senator Nelson places risky bet on Gators Juice
Meyer, Stoops Took Long Road To Fast Track Tampa Tribune
CNN
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Shop serves coffee and community
Lexington Dispatch, NC - 1 hour ago
Confluence Coffee Shop manager Brian Leimone (front) and shift supervisor Wes Sellers stand in the spacious business as some customers work on a personal ...


al.com

Alabama RB Glen Coffee to forego senior season, enter the NFL Draft
The Birmingham News - al.com, AL - 54 minutes ago
TUSCALOOSA -- Alabama running back Glen Coffee has decided to forego his senior season and enter the NFL Draft, a source close to the player told The ...
Report: Coffee to enter NFL draft Capstone Report
Glen Coffee says he will declare for NFL draft Press-Register - al.com
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CES 2009: Microsoft demos Internet-enabled coffee maker, plans ...
TG Daily - 5 hours ago
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Food News Round-Up: Topless Coffee Shops to Bruised Hooters Girls
Epicurious - 1 hour ago
... is at war with itself because an entrepreneur proposes turning a motel into a topless coffee shop (the waitresses would be topless, not the building). ...


WHDH-TV

Town approves topless coffee shop
United Press International - 21 hours ago
8 (UPI) -- The planning board in a rural Maine town has approved plans for a topless coffee shop, and by the way, the vote was unanimous. ...
Topless Coffee Shop Gets Approval WMTW
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The Associated Press - ChattahBox
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Meet your Poconos state legislators at League of Women Voters coffee
Pocono Record, PA - 15 hours ago
On Saturday, the League of Women Voters of Monroe County will host several state legislators at the group's annual Legislative Coffee at the Hughes Library ...
Meet state representatives of Monroe County on Saturday Pocono Record
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Rwandan Coffee Production Rises 33% on Yields, Farming Methods
Bloomberg - 11 hours ago
9 (Bloomberg) -- Rwanda’s coffee production rose 33 percent in 2008 because of better weather and improved farming methods, the state-run Rwanda Coffee ...


Scientific American

Coffee helps prevent oral cancers
NDTV.com, India - Jan 8, 2009
Recent research indicates that drinking coffee lowers the risk of developing mouth and gullet cancer. Previous studies have shown a protective effect of ...
A perk for coffee lovers: java may lower oral cancer risk Scientific American
Coffee might lower risk of oral cancer The Gazette (Montreal)
Health Matters: Coffee Fighting Cancer WCTV
About - News & Issues - 7Online.com
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Coffee - Google News

       
   
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