For twenty-one years Virginia Christine (1920-1996) played Mrs. Olsen, Folgers’ famous TV commercial character who helped one beleaguered housewife after another change her husband’s insults into praise by introducing her to “mountain grown coffee—the richest kind!” In truth nearly all coffee is mountain grown, as this subtropical perennial thrives at altitudes ranging from 1800 to 7000 feet, with the highest growing elevations closest to the equator. On Earth, the narrow equatorial region of land within the latitudes 24° N and 25° S produces virtually the entire world’s supply of coffee.
Species of Coffee
The coffee plant is one of over 6500 species of the Rubiaceae family and is related to the Quinine tree and the Gardenia. It is woody and grows to tree size, with some species reaching heights of 50-60 feet tall if left unpruned, although most coffee plants are kept pruned to shorter heights to keep the tree strong and to make berry harvesting easier. There are at least 26 species of coffee but only two are commercially produced, coffea arabica and coffea robusta.
Robusta can be grown in hotter climes and lower elevation than arabica, and most of it is produced by West and Central Africa, South-East Asia, and some parts of South America. It accounts for approximately 15-20% of coffee production. Arabica requires more careful cultivation and a more controlled clime, but its beans are brighter in flavor and less bitter than robusta, and all the varieties of coffee that make up 75-80% of the world’s consumption are arabica.
Those who live outside the coffee-producing equatorial girdle may never be able to successfully plant a commercial coffee plantation, but that doesn’t mean they can’t raise their own coffee tree. Coffee trees like shade and do well with grow-lights. They are fast growing and will flower and produce berries after 2-3 years. The beans can then be harvested, roasted, ground and brewed. The quality of the coffee is unlikely to be great—like wine, the quality of the bean’s flavor is dependent on the combination of soil, climate, and altitude, but the plant is attractive, the flowers fragrant, and the berries are a fun novelty. The Coffee Research Institute offers instructions for planting and caring for a coffee tree.
In need of a smile? Enjoy this vintage Folgers commercial featuring that paragon of coffee-making virtue, Mrs. Olsen.
Folgers Coffee Commercial #1 (1960s)
Sources & For more info:
coffeeresearch.org
Where and How to Start a Coffee Orchard
Exotic Coffee Cultivars?
Wikipedia: Coffee
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Comments
After volunteering for the California Rare Fruit Growers Association for a number of years, I've learned that coffee plants can be grown in Southern California, but don't expect to harvest any coffee. It would take ages, if ever, to get enough to brew a cup of coffee.
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