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Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Dark-colored and bitter, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans due to its caffeine content; however decaffeinated coffee is also commercially available. There are also various coffee substitutes.
Coffee production begins when the seeds from coffee cherries, the Coffea plant's fruits, are separated to produce unroasted green coffee beans. The "beans" are roasted and then ground into fine particles. Coffee is brewed from the ground roasted beans, which are typically steeped in hot water before being filtered out. It is usually served hot, although chilled or iced coffee is common. Coffee can be prepared and presented in a variety of ways, e.g., espresso, French press, caffè latte, or already-brewed canned coffee. Sugar, sugar substitutes, milk, and cream are often added and change the flavor.
Though coffee has become a global commodity, it has a history tied to food traditions around the Red Sea. The earliest reports of coffee drinking pertain to the plant's use among the Sufis of Yemen in southern Arabia in the middle of the 15th century. Up to the end of the 17th century, most of the world's coffee was imported from Yemen. As it gained in popularity, coffee started to be cultivated in Java in the 17th century and the Americas from the 18th century. (Full article...)