Arabia first led in coffee production but was replaced in turn by the West Indies, java and Brazil. Sri Lanka was an important producer from 1830-1875 when the industry was destroyed by blight. Brazil then became the predominant producer with over 50 percent of the world’s supply. This then diminished and other areas of the Western Hemisphere began to increase coffee acreage. About 85 percent of the world’s coffee was being grown in the Western Hemisphere by the 21st Century. Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Haiti are most important. Jamaica coffee with low acreage is probably the most expensive and of the best quality. Central American coffees are milder in flavor and richer bodied. In India especially Kannur in Kerala they consume coffee in a large quantity. There are number of Coffee shops in Kannur. Blend cafe is the main trade name.
Beverages with caffeine content are used worldwide for their stimulating and refreshing qualities. Typically each ancient center of civilization had its own beverage plants. Coffee that originated in regions adjacent to Southwestern Asia is now used by over half the world’s population. Tea that is associated with Southeastern Asia is used by over half the world population. Cocoa is a product of tropical America and which today serves as booth food and drink for many worldwide. There are other less known beverages that are equally important. These include maté, a principal drink in South America; cola, a favorite beverage and masticatory in Africa; haat, used in Arab countries; guarana, another South American drink that has higher caffeine content than any other beverages.
Caffeine is an alkaloid with definite medicinal values. It acts as a diuretic and nerve stimulant. It is harmful in large quantities so it is present only in very small amounts, rarely over two percent, in beverages. Especially children should avoid excessive quantities of such beverages.
Coffee is one of the most important beverage plants from a commercial viewpoint despite the fact that tea is in wider usage. The coffee plant is believed to be native to Abyssinia and coffee surely had been used in that area since ancient times. It was brought to Arabia in about the 16th Century and that area produced most of the crop for 200 years. Coffee gradually was introduced elsewhere in the world tropics. It reached Ceylon and Java by 1700, the West Indies in 1720 and Brazil in 1770 (Hill 1952). Coffee began to be in general use about 1700. From Arabia it spread to Egypt and Palestine and then to Constantinople. It reached Venice in 1615, Paris in 1645 and London in 1650 (Hill 1952). In both France and England coffee gained widespread popularity for a time and this led to the beginning of the famous coffeehouses, gathering places of the literary people of the day.