Ah.. coffee. I only have one vice and it's coffee. Well perhaps it's the only one I'm prepared to own up to at this point in time. Actually thinking about my life now as a father to two very young little people it really is my only vice! I do find it very addictive , so I view it as a drug. It always amazes me how it takes me 2-3 days to get rid of the withdrawal symptoms, the headaches, grumpiness and a fogged brain. Feeling very in control of my life when I perform such a journey of abstinence I generally revert back into the pleasures of the drugged ones. Usually this is because I really love the taste and I can usually feel ok about its perceived health benefits and can conveniently forget about its addictiveness and any other possible health issues it may lead to.
Just google benefits of coffee and problems with drinking coffee pending which part of the journey you are on when seeking motivation to either stop or start. So what of the facts and fallacies? The worst I see and come across all the time is storing coffee in the freezer! If you doubt me on this one, next time you pass an establishment roasting coffee ask them where their freezer is. Refrigeration also causes condensation on the coffee, causing the flavour to deteriorate rapidly. Cool and Dry folks in a sealed container. You don't find it in the fridge at the supermarket do you? I have no idea where it came from but it's out there and I found several dodgy web sites still recommending it. Don't do it.
It seems most historians agree the Ethiopians were the first to brew a coffee after watching some frisky goats chew on some buds from a coffee plant. The percolator though wasn't invented until the early 1820's by a thirsty Frenchman. There are two main species, Arabica and Robusta. They both can produce crops for 20-30 years if cared for in the appropriate manner. 75% of the world coffee comes from Arabica beans. Brazil produce the most coffee with over 4million trees and believe it or not over 7 million tons of green beans are produced world wide every year. There are over 50 countries that produce coffee and they all lie along the equator tucked between the tropic of Capricorn and the tropic of Cancer. North Americans drink the most coffee, which is probably no real surprise but surprisingly Germany per capita slot in at the second largest consumers of this black gold wolfing down an average 7.1kg each person per year. I actually just did a quick calculation of my own consumption whish is around 200gm a week. So I drink on average 10.4kg of coffee a year. doh!
What is interesting is that only 23% of American coffee drinkers add a sweetener of any type whilst 43% of the average German consumer's choose to sweeten up their brew. We can blame the Americans though for introducing flavoured coffee's into the market during the 1970's. I'm not a fan myself, I really like my coffee to taste like coffee, go figure! I also cringe at how they must get these flavours into your coffee, I'm guessing it's not going to be a natural process. Dieters can rejoice in a cup of coffee a day as it has no calories if drunk black with no sugar and if you live in Turkey and the oldest at the table tradition deems you will get the first cup. So what is Fair Trade Coffee? Being a 12 billion dollar industry that involves 20 million workers or employees directly, this is big business.
Currently there is estimated to be around 2200 ships dedicated to moving coffee around the planet. Apart from petroleum coffee is the next most traded product on the planet. Fair Trade is an international, consumer-driven movement to guarantee that small-scale farmers in developing countries receive a "fair" price for their product. In order to sell through the Fair Trade market, the producers must belong to democratically organized cooperation's that are certified by an independent organization based in Germany. Although it has widespread appeal in many Western European countries, Fair Trade did not take root in the U.S. until the late 1990s with the establishment of Trans Fair USA As the sole certifying agency in the U.S. , Trans Fair grants licenses to coffee importers and roasters and works to increase awareness of Fair Trade at the consumer level. The offering of Fair Trade Certified products in the U.S. has expanded from specialty coffee to include tea, chocolate and several types of fruit, all of which are designated with a black-and-white logo showing a human form. As a licensed roaster, Alterra pays at the least the minimum set price for all coffees they purchase through the Fair Trade market as well as a quarterly fee that goes back to Trans Fair.
All of their thirteen Fair Trade single-origin coffees, blends and decafs also are certified organic. I buy fair trade organic coffee whenever I have the choice and you may also consider this choice when you next have a cup of your favourite. More coffee info and recipes at http://www.theworldrecipebook.com/
Just google benefits of coffee and problems with drinking coffee pending which part of the journey you are on when seeking motivation to either stop or start. So what of the facts and fallacies? The worst I see and come across all the time is storing coffee in the freezer! If you doubt me on this one, next time you pass an establishment roasting coffee ask them where their freezer is. Refrigeration also causes condensation on the coffee, causing the flavour to deteriorate rapidly. Cool and Dry folks in a sealed container. You don't find it in the fridge at the supermarket do you? I have no idea where it came from but it's out there and I found several dodgy web sites still recommending it. Don't do it.
It seems most historians agree the Ethiopians were the first to brew a coffee after watching some frisky goats chew on some buds from a coffee plant. The percolator though wasn't invented until the early 1820's by a thirsty Frenchman. There are two main species, Arabica and Robusta. They both can produce crops for 20-30 years if cared for in the appropriate manner. 75% of the world coffee comes from Arabica beans. Brazil produce the most coffee with over 4million trees and believe it or not over 7 million tons of green beans are produced world wide every year. There are over 50 countries that produce coffee and they all lie along the equator tucked between the tropic of Capricorn and the tropic of Cancer. North Americans drink the most coffee, which is probably no real surprise but surprisingly Germany per capita slot in at the second largest consumers of this black gold wolfing down an average 7.1kg each person per year. I actually just did a quick calculation of my own consumption whish is around 200gm a week. So I drink on average 10.4kg of coffee a year. doh!
What is interesting is that only 23% of American coffee drinkers add a sweetener of any type whilst 43% of the average German consumer's choose to sweeten up their brew. We can blame the Americans though for introducing flavoured coffee's into the market during the 1970's. I'm not a fan myself, I really like my coffee to taste like coffee, go figure! I also cringe at how they must get these flavours into your coffee, I'm guessing it's not going to be a natural process. Dieters can rejoice in a cup of coffee a day as it has no calories if drunk black with no sugar and if you live in Turkey and the oldest at the table tradition deems you will get the first cup. So what is Fair Trade Coffee? Being a 12 billion dollar industry that involves 20 million workers or employees directly, this is big business.
Currently there is estimated to be around 2200 ships dedicated to moving coffee around the planet. Apart from petroleum coffee is the next most traded product on the planet. Fair Trade is an international, consumer-driven movement to guarantee that small-scale farmers in developing countries receive a "fair" price for their product. In order to sell through the Fair Trade market, the producers must belong to democratically organized cooperation's that are certified by an independent organization based in Germany. Although it has widespread appeal in many Western European countries, Fair Trade did not take root in the U.S. until the late 1990s with the establishment of Trans Fair USA As the sole certifying agency in the U.S. , Trans Fair grants licenses to coffee importers and roasters and works to increase awareness of Fair Trade at the consumer level. The offering of Fair Trade Certified products in the U.S. has expanded from specialty coffee to include tea, chocolate and several types of fruit, all of which are designated with a black-and-white logo showing a human form. As a licensed roaster, Alterra pays at the least the minimum set price for all coffees they purchase through the Fair Trade market as well as a quarterly fee that goes back to Trans Fair.
All of their thirteen Fair Trade single-origin coffees, blends and decafs also are certified organic. I buy fair trade organic coffee whenever I have the choice and you may also consider this choice when you next have a cup of your favourite. More coffee info and recipes at http://www.theworldrecipebook.com/
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