Guadeloupe Bonifieur

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The Guadeloupe Bonifieur is a variety of coffee grown in Guadeloupe. Guadeloupe Bonifieur is the ancestor of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee [1] [ citation needed ] and is very rare. [2] The fresh air, high altitude, and abundance of rain create ideal conditions for growing this Arabica variety. [3] The variety is called Guadeloupe Bonifieur because of its high quality and great taste[ citation needed ], and because, in the past, it was used to enhance lower quality blends. [2] Connoisseurs consider it one of the best coffees in the world, [2] [4] even though it is only available from a few distributors.

Coffee production in Guadeloupe

Coffee production in Guadeloupe, an overseas region of France in the Caribbean Sea, has had commercial importance at various times in its history. The island's coffee heritage is being promoted through ecotourism.

An ancestor is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent. Ancestor is "any person from whom one is descended. In law the person from whom an estate has been inherited."

Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee classification of coffee grown in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica

Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee or Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee is a classification of coffee grown in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. The coffee was introduced to Jamaica in 1728.

Contents

Definition

The name Bonifieur comes from the French "to improve", and is derived from the coffee's enhancing qualities [1] [ citation needed ]. The Guadeloupe Bonifieur is considered by connoisseurs as "one of the best coffees in the world" [1] [ citation needed ]. [2] Nevertheless, there is no official definition of the Bonifieur[ citation needed ]. Producers refuse to establish a product characterisation[ citation needed ] because of the extreme diversity of cultural techniques and inconsistent quality[ citation needed ]. Some historians even have different version of the name's origin[ citation needed ]. According to some, the producers would keep the Guadeloupe Habitant, of superior quality[ citation needed ], for themselves and the rest, of lesser quality was exported. According to others, the “café bonifieur” was of better quality, therefore was exported.[ citation needed ] Guadeloupe Bonifieur is notorious for its mystery, as some claim it to be mythical. [5]

History

The French Revolution, and coffee diseases decreased the plantation[ citation needed ]. In 1859, only 2009 hectares remained[ citation needed ]. The Grande Riviere valley only accounted for 6 great estates then: Loiseau, Vitalis, Sainte – Anne, Beausejour, La Grivelière, Barthole[ citation needed ]. The French colony used to export 6000 tons of coffee to mainland France at the end of the 17th century under the name “cafe bonifieur”[ citation needed ]. However, the increase in taxes due to the Blocus in early 18th century reduced the export to 1000 tons[ citation needed ]. Heavy competition damaged the coffee industry, and the production decreased to 225 tons during the 18th century[ citation needed ]. Coffee still dominated the landscape in the early 20th century, but new diseases like the yellow rust, and a 1928 hurricane, destroyed this failing production[ citation needed ]. The banana tree, primarily used to protect the coffee trees, recovered quicker and developed at the expense of coffee trees.[ citation needed ] After the war, the rural exodus broke the growth that took place where the export volume increased by 25%[ citation needed ]. Altitude plantations were progressively abandoned[ citation needed ], the plots were concentrated in the piedmonts, and coffee was not mentioned in the agricultural statistics after 1965[ citation needed ]. Some dynamic producers revived the culture, with economic plans and identity assertion in the zone[ citation needed ]. They leaned on the patrimonial value of the “cafe bonifieur”: its reputation, typicality and history.[ citation needed ]

French Revolution social and political revolution in France and its colonies occurring from 1789 to 1798

The French Revolution was a period of far-reaching social and political upheaval in France and its colonies beginning in 1789. The Revolution overthrew the monarchy, established a republic, catalyzed violent periods of political turmoil, and finally culminated in a dictatorship under Napoleon who brought many of its principles to areas he conquered in Western Europe and beyond. Inspired by liberal and radical ideas, the Revolution profoundly altered the course of modern history, triggering the global decline of absolute monarchies while replacing them with republics and liberal democracies. Through the Revolutionary Wars, it unleashed a wave of global conflicts that extended from the Caribbean to the Middle East. Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history.

Today, the Guadeloupe Bonifieur is experiencing a rebirth [2] and is now available thanks to a cooperative of coffee growers on the Basse Terre. The objective is to revive and organise coffee growing on Guadeloupe[ citation needed ]. Although only 30 tons of Guadeloupe Bonifieur is produced annually, [2] it is sought after because of its rarity and good quality. Guadeloupe Bonifieur is the only coffee other than Jamaican Blue Mountain to be exported in barrels. The famous Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is the same variety [1] [ citation needed ], and was imported from Martinique to Jamaica by Sir Nicholas Lawes and grown in the three Blue Mountain parishes. Guadeloupe Bonifieur and Jamaican Blue Mountain are very similar.[ citation needed ] Cultural events, museums, demonstration plantation and reconstructed farms are among the initiatives put in place [6] and managed to attract tourists and local residents.

Sir Nicholas Lawes was Governor of Jamaica from 1718 to 1722.

Botanics

Guadeloupe Bonifieur is green, long, and slightly thick bean, [7] covered by a pellicule of whitish silvery color, which separates from the bean in the roast[ citation needed ]. It has excellent cup qualities.

Coffee bean seed of the coffee plant

A coffee bean is a seed of the coffee plant and the source for coffee. It is the pit inside the red or purple fruit often referred to as a cherry. Just like ordinary cherries, the coffee fruit is also a so-called stone fruit. Even though the coffee beans are seeds, they are referred to as "beans" because of their resemblance to true beans. The fruits – coffee cherries or coffee berries – most commonly contain two stones with their flat sides together. A small percentage of cherries contain a single seed, instead of the usual two. This is called a "peaberry". The peaberry occurs only between 10 and 15% of the time, and it is a fairly common belief that they have more flavour than normal coffee beans. Like Brazil nuts and white rice, coffee beans consist mostly of endosperm.

Guadeloupe Bonifieur is a strain of the Typica de Coffea Arabica known as le Bourbon Pointu. [2] It originated from the Java offered to Louis XIV [ citation needed ] and bred in the Jardin des Plantes. [8] The modern day coffee plants are descended from this line, which gives them a strong patrimony specificity and value.[ citation needed ]

Java island of Indonesia

Java is an island of Indonesia, bordered by the Indian Ocean on the south and the Java Sea on the north. With a population of over 141 million or 145 million, Java is the home to 56.7 percent of the Indonesian population and is the world's most populous island. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is located on its northwestern coast. Much of Indonesian history took place on Java. It was the center of powerful Hindu-Buddhist empires, the Islamic sultanates, and the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies. Java was also the center of the Indonesian struggle for independence during the 1930s and 1940s. Java dominates Indonesia politically, economically and culturally. Four of Indonesia's eight UNESCO world heritage sites are located in Java: Ujung Kulon National Park, Borobudur Temple, Prambanan Temple, and Sangiran Early Man Site.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Guadeloupe Bonifieur History and Facts". coffeemachinereviewer.com.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The Isle of Gadeloupe Tourist Board
  3. ↑ Coffee museum
  4. ↑ The Isle of Guadeloupe
  5. ↑ Research from the CIRAD
  6. ↑ France Guide
  7. ↑ Green and Roasted Coffee Characteristics
  8. ↑ Auguste Lacour, Histoire de la Guadeloupe, vol. 1 (1635-1789). Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, 1855 full text at Google Books, p. 235f

Sources

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