• Germany is the world’s second largest consumer of coffee in terms of volume at 16 pounds per person.
• Over 53 countries grow coffee worldwide, but all of them lie along the equator between the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn.
• An acre of coffee trees can produce up to 10,000 pounds of coffee cherries. That amounts to approximately 2,000 pounds of beans after hulling or milling.
• The percolator was invented in 1827 by a French man. It would boil the coffee producing a bitter tasting brew. Today most people use the drip or filtered method to brew their coffee.
• With the exception of Hawaii and Puerto Rico, no coffee is grown in the United States or its territories.
• Up until the 1870’s most coffee was roasted at home in a frying pan over a charcoal fire. It wasn’t until recent times that batch roasting became popular.
• Each year some 7 million tons of green beans are produced world wide. Most of which is hand picked.

• 27% of U.S. coffee drinkers and 43% of German drinkers add a sweetener to their coffee.
• The world’s largest coffee producer is Brazil with over 3,970 million coffee trees. Colombia comes in second with around two thirds of Brazil’s production.
• Hard bean means the coffee was grown at an altitude above 5000 feet.
• Arabica and Robusta trees can produce crops for 20 to 30 years under proper conditions and care.
• Most coffee is transported by ships. Currently there are approximately 2,200 ships involved in transporting the beans each year.
• The popular trend towards flavored coffees originated in the United States during the 1970’s.
• October 1st is the official Coffee Day in Japan.
• The first coffee tree in the Western Hemisphere was brought from France to the Island of Martinique in the 1720’s.

Studies indicate coffee reduces the risk for diabetes and Parkinson’s

Some studies have shown that coffee may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. After analyzing data on 120,000 people over an 18-year period (1), researchers at Harvard have concluded that drinking 1 to 3 cups of caffeinated coffee each day can reduce diabetes risk by several percentage points, compared with not drinking coffee at all.

Even more significant, is the fact that in this study, having 6 cups or more per day slashed men’s risk by 54% and women’s risk by 30% over those who avoided coffee. This study is the latest of hundreds of studies which suggest that coffee may be something of a health food - especially in higher amounts.

Over the past 20 years, over 19,000 studies have been conducted to examine the impact of coffee on one’s health. Overall, the results are good news for the 110 million Americans who routinely enjoy this traditional morning ritual.

“By and large, the studies (2) show that coffee is far more beneficial than it is harmful,” says Tomas DePaulis, PhD, researcher at Vanderbilt University’s Institute for Coffee Studies, which conducts its own research and tracks coffee studies around the globe. For most individuals, studies show that very little bad comes from drinking coffee, but a lot of good.

At least 6 studies (3) indicate that people who drink coffee on a regular basis have up to 80% lower risks of developing Parkinson’s disease, with 3 of those studies indicating that the more coffee they drink, the lower the risk. Other studies indicate that, compared to not drinking coffee, drinking at least 2 cups per day can lead to a 25% lower risk of colon cancer, an 80% drop in the risk of liver cirrhosis, and nearly 50% the risk of gallstones.

Studies indicate that it might be both those factors.

“The evidence is very strong that regular coffee consumption reduces the risk for Parkinson’s disease and that in the case of Parkinson’s disease, the benefits are directly related to caffeine,” according to Dr. DePaulis (2).

Researchers believe that some of coffee’s reported beneficial effects are a direct result of its higher caffeine content: An 8-ounce cup of coffee contains about 85 mg of caffeine - about 3 times more than the same serving of tea or soda.

In another study (4), researchers looked at the coffee consumption and caffeine intake in 8,000 Japanese-American men. During the course of the study which lasted nearly 30 years, about 100 men developed Parkinson’s disease. The risk of developing Parkinson’s decreased gradually as the daily consumption of coffee rose from 4 ounces to more than 24 ounces per day.

In addition, the researchers found the same decrease in risk regardless of the source of caffeine. The men whose intake was less than 2.8 milligrams of caffeine per day were nearly 3 times more likely to develop Parkinson’s than those whose caffeine intake was more than 107 milligrams from non-coffee sources.

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Tastewell Foods Enterprises conquers Cash and Carry.

Filipino Business Expo
August 1-15, 2008
Cash and Carry mall Activity Center

Lots of Cafe Amadeo coffee were sold, and we got good feedbacks on our Atsara free taste. Stocks was almost sold out.

here are some pics of the event.

Coffee What?
The civet (aka alamid, bearcat or musang) eats ripe coffee cherries, but can’t digest the beans, so they pass it out. People scour the forest floor in search of this (undigested coffee beans or alamid shit, for short), clean it, dry it, roast it, and sell it for an arm and a leg. On my climb to Mt. Cristobal, I even chanced on alamid coffee shit. There wasn’t enough of it, so I didn’t bother to scoop it up.

Arm and a Leg
I’ve talked about alamid coffee on a few occassions, but never had a chance to try it, until now. Why? Well, it’s a celebratory gift for getting my website, TheLoneRider.com, #1 in Google’s organic search for “mountain biking mountaineering”. A 100-gram jar of alamid coffee was being sold for P700 at a coffee bean stall at Baguio Market. At this price level, it’s more expensive than Jamaican Blue Mountain, the Rolls Royce of coffee. Even with that price level (or perhaps because of it), supply has never caught up with global demand.

Coffee Quadrant
Coffee is really a complex beverage that balances four things: acidity, aroma, texture and taste. Kenya AA boosts of its acidity (yes, in coffee, acidity is a good thing). Jamaican Blue Mountain is velvety smooth (ha-ha, assuming the coffee purveyor in New York gave me the real thing). Indonesian Java has a gamey taste and Colombian Supremo has great aroma. Some coffee don’t excel in any of those but serve as an excellent base for blending, like Brazillian Santos. It’s very rare for any one single coffee to possess all those attributes. That’s why master blenders blend various coffees to arrive at that optimum balance.

Verdict
Assuming I was sold the genuine article (ha-ha, the next door competition hinted it wasn’t), here’s the lowdown, after brewing alamid coffee side-by-side with Kalinga Arabica using the plunger pot method. The texture is exceptionally smooth. The acidity is almost non-existent. There is no aroma and the taste is ok…yes, just good. If I paid the regular price for this coffee, around P120/kilo, I would say it’s very good coffee for the price. But at P7000/kilo, it’s a friggin rip-off. If you wanna spend this kind of dough on alamid coffee, there’s a bridge in Brooklyn that’s going for a steal.

Widely considered to be one of the worlds best, if not the best, coffees, Jamaican Blue Mountain is a rich, smooth roast. This aromatic and flavorful coffee has to be experienced to be believed.

The Beginning of Jamaica’s Coffee Trade

The history of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is just as rich and interesting as the coffee itself. According to one legend, King Louis XV of France sent three coffee plants to French colony Martinique around 1723. Just one of the three plants survived, and this particular coffee plant was given to Sir Nicholas Lawes, a former Jamaican Governor, approximately five years later. Once this coffee plant arrived on Jamaican soil, a coffee crop was quickly established thanks to soil rich in nitrogen, potash, and phosphorous. Less than ten years later, coffee exportation had already begun. More than 600 coffee plantations had been established by the early nineteenth century.

It is believed that all of the coffee plants grown in Jamaica today are descendents of that single plant, of the Arabica typica variety, that arrived in Jamaica from France, via the island of Martinique.

The Blue Mountains Factor-why does that Coffee Taste so Good?

The fantastic Blue Mountain taste is achieved by a combination of three different factors: altitude, a special kind of rich, nutrient-laden soil called volcanic soil, and the treatment processes undergone by the beans once they are harvested.

The hub of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee production is, of course, Jamaica’s Blue Mountains, a magnificent mountain range that rises more than seven thousand feet above sea level. The high altitude, dense cloud cover, and low annual rainfall of the region all serve to slow down the maturation rate of the coffee crop. In this region, crops take up to ten months to mature, whereas in most other parts of the world, the average time taken is five to six months. The longer maturation time produces beans that are larger and have a more concentrated and complex flavor.

Like every other mountain in the islands of the Caribbean, Jamaica’s Blue Mountains are the peaks of extinct volcanoes. Throughout centuries of eruptions, the soil created on the peaks of the Blue Mountains has become extremely nutrient-rich due to the decomposition of plant life, and the deposition of accumulated biomass. This extraordinarily rich soil is an important ingredient in producing the exceptional quality coffee beans that go into every cup of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee.

This is not the entire story, however. There is one more important factor, without which Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee would not be as highly-regarded as it is today. The production and distribution of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is rigorously regulated and protected by the Jamaican government to ensure that every bean roasted and every cup brewed is of the highest quality.

For example, only coffee grown at an altitude of between 3,000 and 5,500 feet is allowed to bear the name Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee. If the coffee plants are grown between 1,500 and 3,000 feet, the coffee is known as Jamaica High Mountain Coffee, and plants grown below 1,500 feet are Jamaica Low Mountain or Jamaica Supreme Coffee. These regulations ensure that all Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is grown at the special altitude that delays maturation of the coffee plants and produces that complex and rich flavored coffee. In addition, there are geographical requirements as well as elevation requirements, in that to bear the Jamaican Blue Mountain, the coffee plants must be grown in one of only four parishes in the region.

Another unique aspect of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is that pulped and washed coffee beans are allowed to age for a full six weeks, which is a particularly unusual part of the preparation process. Finally, before export of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is allowed, it is checked for appearance and taste, to ensure that every single batch of coffee is of the highest quality.

How to Best Enjoy Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee

Once you have made the effort to purchase one of the very best coffees in the world, it would be almost criminal if you did not ensure that your coffee is properly stored and brewed!

Storing your coffee properly requires that it be sealed in an airtight container, away from any foods with strong odors or flavors, such as curry powder and other spices. Refrigeration in an airtight container is the ideal way to store ground beans.

You can keep your coffee tasting great by cleaning your coffee pot immediately following each use. Never use detergent or other cleaners in your coffee pot, this can affect the taste. Simply empty the pot, brush and rinse thoroughly with hot water. Additionally, give the pot a rinse with hot water before making a fresh batch of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee, and enjoy.

When I think of fresh, there are four parameters: harvest, roast, grind, brew.

Harvest fresh being within 3-4 months off milling from parchment state or progressively packed in ‘non-jute’ to preserve that fresh flavor profile. From 4-7 months off harvest, coffees will be fine but aromas will already begin to diminish. 6 months and on, you are pushing how well the coffee can hold up and the acidity will diminish or turn rancid. Forget the soft coffees from places like Brasil or Colombia, they will be long gone by then. Wood, paper, lacking aroma… Do I really need to explain this again?

Roast freshness is the boutique industry(the online cognoscenti and niche roaters) standard. This seems to be the only way most ‘Specialty’ roasters distinguish themselves from the major chains. While most aggregate to the 2 week mark, a handful put best by dates going as far as six months out. You can almost guarantee these roasters have a market at a Whole Foods type grocer where turnover is hard to control. No roast date though, no idea of freshness.

Grind is a shop to shop issue. While more and more shops are grinding fresh or on demand, a lot of shops are still using the auto feature and filling hoppers or pre grinding drip brew. Whether the blades are serviced or sharp is another issue. As a home user, unless you absolutely cannot afford a grinder, there is no excuse for pre grinding coffee. Think of it this way: The bean is the final package and once it’s open, all the flavors can escape.

Brewing fresh is a classic pitch that goes way back. Everyone has experienced the poor flavor of a pot that sat too long.

How important are all of these factors really? Do the customers care?

In the common market place, probably not. When you are asked to justify paying a bit extra for a shot or you are requested to splurge a bit at a cafe, yes. Not every shop in every market place can make these points matter but if one boutique roaster jumps in the deep end on all these points, it’s likely many others will follow. Think about what that would mean for the purists among us wishing to really treat certain coffees like high end teas or begin to glimpse the wine model of labeling and marketing. A few bits and pieces to chew on while you think about what goes in your cup.

Coffee is a widely-consumed stimulant beverage prepared from roasted seeds, commonly called coffee beans, of the coffee plant. Coffee was first consumed in the 9th century, when it was discovered in the highlands of Ethiopia. From there, it spread to Egypt and Yemen, and by the 15th century had reached Armenia, Persia, Turkey, and northern Africa. From the Muslim world, coffee spread to Italy, then to the rest of Europe and the Americas. Today, coffee is one of the most popular beverages worldwide.

Coffee berries, which contain the coffee bean, are produced by several species of small evergreen bush of the genus Coffea. The two most commonly grown species are Coffea canephora (also known as Coffea robusta) and Coffea arabica. These are cultivated in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Once ripe, coffee berries are picked, processed, and dried. The seeds are then roasted, undergoing several physical and chemical changes. They are roasted to varying degrees, depending on the desired flavor. They are then ground and brewed to create coffee. Coffee can be prepared and presented by a variety of methods.

Coffee has played an important role in many societies throughout modern history. In Africa and Yemen, it was used in religious ceremonies. As a result, the Ethiopian Church banned its consumption until the reign of Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia. It was banned in Ottoman Turkey in the 17th century for political reasons, and was associated with rebellious political activities in Europe.

Coffee is an important export commodity. In 2004, coffee was the top agricultural export for 12 countries, and in 2005, it was the world’s seventh largest legal agricultural export by value.

Some controversy is associated with coffee cultivation and its impact on the environment. Many studies have examined the relationship between coffee consumption and certain medical conditions; whether the effects of coffee are positive or negative is still disputed..