Words About Things

I found this interesting video about the history of Espresso and Coffee in general. Did you know that Coffee was invented by an Ethiopian goat herder called Kaldi? This video was made by Douwe Egberts and features this an other interesting facts about black gold.

Not that long ago it seemed like Coffee was considered a Bad Thing. We were encouraged to give up caffeine and drink unfeasible amounts of water in order to have more energy and clearer skin. Now it seems like there are quite a few health benefits to wake up juice and it could be considered a vital part of a balanced diet.

According to Wikipedia coffee can reduce the risk of:

Alzheimer’s and Dementia
gallstones
Parkinson’s disease
Gout
Cirrhosis of the liver

It has also been shown to increase short term recall and IQ (presumably this means it can increase your performance during an IQ test, rather than actually make you cleverer). It has also been proven that Coffee does not have a dehydrating effect: ‘current evidence suggests that caffeinated beverages contribute to the body’s daily fluid requirements no differently than pure water does.’

A recent study has found that consuming 400mg of Caffeine a day (about 2 and a half cups) could lower your risk of suffering a heart attack.  Dr Carrie Ruxton who undertook the study even suggested that children be given Coffee and Tea as it “could be better for them than juice”. Personally I wouldn’t want to have to deal with a child experiencing a caffeine buzz but I can imagine it would be better for them than Ribena which if I remember rightly is about 95% sugar.

The new Nestle intant coffee advert is a true triumph of marketing. It attempts to convince the viewer that their freeze dried soluble coffee substitute is ‘fresh’ and ‘bright’ and ‘Coffee’. The advert features a man trekking through the jungle catching glowing coffee beans in a jar with a sense of wonder. The tag line is ‘Nescafe – Coffee at its brightest’.

Anybody who has even consumed a cup of instant coffee knows it is anything but bright. It has a bland one-dimensional flavour with no depth. The taste is in no way comparable to  real, great Coffee. I understand that there is a place for instant coffee, I even keep some in the house for emergencies/ unwanted guests, but there is no way is can possibly be considered fresh. Most instant Coffee is made from 100% Coffee beans with nothing added but the process is far from natural. Freeze drying involves:

Agglomerated wet coffee granules are rapidly frozen (slow freezing leads to large ice crystals and a porous product and can also affect the colour of the coffee granules).

Frozen coffee is placed in the drying chamber, often on metal trays.

A vacuum is created within the chamber. The strength of the vacuum is critical in the speed of the drying and therefore the quality of the product. Care must be taken to produce a vacuum of suitable strength.

The drying chamber is warmed, most commonly by radiation but conduction is used in some plants and convection has been proposed in some small pilot plants. A possible problem with convection is uneven drying rates within the chamber, which would give an inferior product.

Condensation – the previously frozen water in the coffee granules expands to ten times its previous volume. The removal of this water vapour from the chamber is vitally important, making the condenser the most critical and expensive component in a freeze drying plant.

The freeze-dried granules are removed from the chamber and packaged.

None of this really matters of course, if people want to drink instant Coffee it’s their loss but it’s no big deal. Nestles human rights record is however a big deal. Nestle recently began buying milk from a farm owned by Robert Mugabe’s Wife Grace. The farm was seized from its original (white) owners in order to be given to landless black Zimbabweans along with many other farms in Zimbabwe, this never happened however and now Nestle are directly paying the Mugabes.

Nestle has previously caused controversy by marketing Intant Milk to mothers in developing countries. They allegedly encouraged mothers to use formula rather than breast milk despite the possible risks from mixing milk powder with unclean water. There is nothing ‘bright’ about that.

Life isn’t easy for coffee farmers. Coffee beans are finickity and require just the right conditions to thrive. They are mostly grown at high altitudes in hard to reach areas and too much or not enough rain can have a disastrous effect on production. Most smaller farms make little money and the majority of each years profits and used to maintain the next years crops. After a year of abnormal weather there will be less beans on the world market which leads to higher prices for the consumer but not necessarily better profits for the growers. Even farmers who are lucky enough to be part of a fair-trade scheme aren’t insured against changes in the weather.

As the problem of climate change deepens those who’s industry is reliant on certain weather conditions are likely to suffer. The weather will become increasingly unpredictable as this will have a knock on effect on the finances of those at the bottom of the coffee producing chain. Most beans are grown at between 1800-6300 feet and as far as i can tell (please comment if you know otherwise) coffee plants cannot be grown under artificial conditions.

The effect to those of us who enjoy drinking coffee is likely to be an overall increase in price. During years when weather conditions are particularly bad in Colombia, El Salvador or India prices are likely to increase dramatically. Huge companies like Starbucks and Nescafé may be able to absorb these price increases but smaller local companies will suffer.

Peter Baker of CAD International believes that

More adaptive, participatory research is needed to find out how best to help farmers, and there should be a greater emphasis on long-term research to develop crop varieties more resistant to climate extremes, pests and diseases. Neither NGOs nor private companies can hope to manage many such activities. And there is an unresolved paradox: sustainability is about imposing order and stability, whereas climate change is about adapting and transforming.

Yet another reason to combat global warming and climate change.