CHAPTER VIII 



BEVERAGES 



Of the large list of plant substances used in tropical coun- 

 tries for preparing beverages only a few have attained com- 

 mercial importance. These are coffee, tea, cacao, mate, and 

 kola nuts. There are many other tropical plants which fur- 

 nish beverages, used on account of their flavor or as stimu- 

 lants, but for the most part they are consumed only by natives 

 of tropical countries and are not prepared on a commercial 

 scale. In the United States the only tropical beverages used 

 in considerable quantities are coffee, tea, and cacao. Coffee 

 stands at the head of the list in commercial importance, but 

 in recent years the consumption of tea is increasing in the 

 United States. At first green teas were preferred but recently 

 the demand for black teas is increasing. 



COFFEE 



There are several species of coffee of which the berries are 

 used in preparing the familiar breakfast beverage. Chief 

 among these species are Coifea arabica, C. robusta, and C. 

 Hberica. The first named species is commonly known as Ara- 

 bian coffee, a native of Abyssinia. The Liberian coffee is na- 

 tive of west tropical Africa, while Coffea robusta comes origi- 

 nally from the Congo. Coffee was apparently first used as a 

 beverage in Aden and later in Constantinople. It appeared in 

 Venice in 1615, in Paris in 1645, and in London in 1650. The 

 habit of drinking coffee spread rapidly in all towns in which 

 the product was introduced. Until 1690 the world's supply 



64 



