http://buyorganiccoffee.org/533/buy-arabica-organic-coffee/ Buy Arabica Organic Coffee There are two basic species of coffee, Arabica and Robusta. Arabica coffee is generally believed to be the first type of coffee to be cultivated. So, if you buy Arabica organic coffee you are buying into a tradition stretching back over a thousand years. The so called coffee shrub of Africa is believed to have originated in the mountains of Yemen although there is also evidence that the species originated in the highlands of Ethiopia and the Sudan. When you buy Arabica organic coffee you are choosing the species of coffee with superior taste according to many experts. Café Arabica also contains less caffeine than Robusta. Although wild Arabica coffee plants can reach 12 meters in height coffee growers typically prune the plant to no more than 5 meters and often as short as 2 meters high to make the coffee easier to pick. Arabica coffee grows best at just under a mile in altitude although it is grown at sea level and as high as 7,500 feet. This healthy organic coffee species does well with a meter or meter and a half of rain a year, planted on hillsides with good drainage. Growing Arabica Coffee When you buy organic Arabica coffee you are supporting environmentally friendly coffee farming practices by which you can benefit from the organic coffee antioxidants in Arabica coffee while avoiding as many as 150 of the contaminants often found in regular coffee. The world’s leading producers of Arabica coffee are not in Africa where the plant originated but in Brazil and Colombia in South America. Organic coffee in these regions is commonly grown on small family farms devoted to sustainable growing practices. Because of the higher price that organic coffee commands these growers can profit from the extra work required for organic farming, using organic fertilizers, and keeping all organic coffee, processing, and storage separate from any regular coffee in the supply chain. Because Arabica coffee prefers a light shade to full sun this species is a natural for spacing among other plants and trees. There is more work involved and production per acre is less but when you buy Arabica organic coffee you are getting a great product and helping the environment as well. Buy Arabica Organic Coffee and Buy the Best The world’s second leading producer of Arabica coffee, by quantity is Colombia. Colombia is commonly felt to be the best producer of gourmet Arabica coffees. Juan Valdez organic coffee from Colombia may be organic coffee sold by a well-known chain of coffee shops in Colombia. It is also a trade name of the Colombian Coffee Growers Association and tells the buyer that he or she is getting 100% Colombian coffee. The majority of Coffee in Colombia is grown in the cafetero, a region surrounding Manizales, Colombia at 7,000 and extending north toward Medellin and South to Cali with a smaller part in the Caucas Valley on the Pacific Coast.