One of the most popular beverages in the world is coffee.First discovered in the highlands of Ethiopia, other countries in the middle east, the Americas and Europe soon began demanding it.In terms of dollars traded, coffee ranks second in the world, with oil ranking first. All the coffee in the world is grown on tropical climates, located in places between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.

The cultivation of coffee has become an art form in a few places in the world.While Brazil grows the highest volume of coffee in the world, Southeast Asia produces the most expensive coffee.Kopi Lewak is first processed by being eaten and passed through the digestive tract of the Common Palm Civet.The outer shell of the beans is digested, but the inner bean is not. The beans are then picked up off the ground and processed. Coffee aficionados believe this to be the finest coffee in the world. It costs about 600 dollars a pound, or roughly 50 dollars a cup.

Lots of different blends and roasts of coffee are available.Some of the most popular are the dark rich roasts and of course decaffeinated.But a new trend is toward low acid coffees. Coffee beans contain tannic acid along with other acids. While these acids have benefits to the body, some people find them hard to digest, particularly those with acid reflux disease.Since acid softens tooth enamel dentists often recommend that patients limit their intake of coffee and tea. Tyler's Coffee is one of the finest low acid coffees on the market. This wonderfully robust Arabica is roasted in Arizona with a state of the art process that produces a rich smooth coffee.Tyler's coffee was started by a very bright 13 year old boy in Tucson, Arizona.The company has since grown and today is producing one of the best low acid coffees available.

Between being grown and being brewed in your coffee pot, coffee goes through an intense process.When coffee plants produce coffee pods, they resemble cherries since they are red in color, and by the time they plant produces its first pods it is already 3 years old.The cherry itself is not what the farmers are after however. Inside each cherry there are two coffee beans, similar to the way peanuts grow two to a shell.To prevent over fermenting the beans must be processed quickly after being picked.The most common process is called the "wet" process where the beans are washed and slightly fermented several times to get them out of there shell.

They are then sorted, bagged and sent to the roaster.The roasting process is the most important part of making coffee.It determines the flavor of the end product and it takes a very experienced roaster to turn out a fine coffee. Raw coffee beans are a light green color and taste somewhat bitter, but by roasting the flavor is developed, from mild roasts to rich dark roasts, to some that are so dark they taste almost burnt.