From Cherry to Bean

Beans for Botanists 

Going back to the beginning, coffee beans are actually seeds found inside the bright red, cherry-like fruit of a coffea tree. There are different species of coffea tree, but generally, they grow to around ten feet and flourish in tropical conditions (hot and high), between the tropics of Capricorn and Cancer. The coffea tree blooms fragrant, white flowers three times a year and the cherries begin to grow after each bloom, reddening from green as they ripen. 

Each cherry contains two green seeds that, once processed, become what we know as coffee beans. Arabica vs. Robusta Arabica is the species of plant from which all specialty (and also most commercial) beans are currently derived. It’s a princess of plants: fragile, susceptible to attacks by pests and relatively needy—requiring particular degrees of moisture, sun, shade and soil richness to thrive. 

But, it’s also capable of producing a wide taste range. There are a number of varieties, strains and cultivars of arabica. From Cherry to Bean 17 Robusta is the other species that’s commercially farmed. It’s just beginning to emerge onto the specialty coffee market, but is commonly used in instant coffee brands. It’s a hardier plant with a higher yield of beans that are higher in caffeine but have been described as having “a neutral to harsh taste range.” Still, a small number of coffee growers are experimenting with specialist robusta—time will tell if it catches on. 

The Process It takes a lot to turn a cherry into a coffee bean. After it’s picked, often by hand (one cherry at a time), the raw fruit is processed to remove the cherry pulp from the seed (or bean). There are various ways to do this. The most meticulous process, which requires custom equipment, is wet processing (also referred to as washed coffee), where the pulp is allowed to ferment before being washed off, then the bean is dried and hulled to remove the parchment around the seed. 

Another commonly used process is the dry process (also known as natural coffee), where the whole fruit is dried and then hulled, which removes the parchment and pulp in one process. There is a third, in-between process called semi-drying (sometimes called semi-washed, or
wet-hulled) in which the pulp is removed by custom-built machines, before the seeds are stored for a day, washed, then partially dried. Once the bean has been completely separated from the fruit, it’s cleaned and sorted according to its density, size and color, then graded.

SLOW COOKER GINGERBREAD LATTE RECIPE

 

PREP TIME: 5 MINS 

COOK TIME: 5 HOURS 

TOTAL TIME: 5 HOURS 5 MINS 

SERVINGS: 6 

INGREDIENTS 

• 8 cups whole milk 
• One-quarter cup pure maple syrup 
• 2 tbsp packed refined sugar 
• 3 tsps ground ginger 
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 
• 2 cinnamon sticks 
• pinch cloves 
• half tsp fresh ground nutmeg 
• 3 half cups strongly brewed coffee either es Puto 
• whipped cream graham cracker crumbs, caramel sauce, and gingerbread cookies for garnish (if you want) 

INSTRUCTIONS 

1. Add all ingredients to a big slow cooker. 
2. Cook on poor for 3 hours either till heated through. Monitor to prepare sure this doesn't seethe. 
3. Turn slow cooker to warm setting and prepare for anElse two hours, mixing sometimes. 
4. Stir again right before submitting and taste.
5. Dip rims of cups in caramel gravy and then in graham cracker crumbs to Make the look above (if you want). top with fresh whipped cream and caramel syrup supposing desired. For extra fun, top with gingerbread cookies.
6. Enjoy! 

Successful Pre-Opening Activities of Coffee shop

 

This chapter lists and describes the essential pre-opening activities and procedures which must be completed by any prospective coffee, espresso, and tea shop owner. 

There are bucks to be made in quality beans and loose tea leaves, but only if you get it right from the start. Before engaging in any business activity, seek the guidance of a lawyer who can guide you through the many legal issues that are specific to your requirements. You can save yourself a lot of hassle if you seek legal counseling during the early stages of the opening period. 

The services of a local accountant or CPA also should be retained. The accountant will be instrumental in helping you set up the business, and can provide you with a great deal of financial advice to inform your decision-making. A carefully structured, formal business plan is fundamental to the setup of any successful venture is; your future success depends upon it. Your formal business plan will be your road map for success. 

Business Plan Outline Elements of a Business Plan 

I. Cover sheet 

II. Statement of purpose 

III. Table of contents 

A. The Business 

  1. Description of business 

  2. Marketing 

  3. Competition 

  4. Operating procedures 

  5. Personnel 

  6. Business insurance 

  7. Financial data 

B. Financial Data 

   1. Loan applications 

   2. Capital equipment and supply list 

   3. Balance sheet 

   4. Break-even analysis 

   5. Pro forma income projections (profit and loss statements) 

       a. Three-year summary 

       b. Detail by month, first year 

       c. Detail by quarters, second and third years 

       d. Assumptions upon which projections were based 

   6. Pro forma cash flow 

       a. Follow guidelines for number 5 

C. Supporting Documents 

    1. Tax returns of principals for last three years 

    2. Personal financial statement (all banks have these forms) 

    3. Copy of proposed lease or purchase agreement for building space 

    4. Copy of licenses and other legal documents 

    5. Copy of resumes of all principals 

    6. Copies of letters of intent from suppliers, etc. 

What to Include in Your Business Plan It is vital that your business plan shows clearly where you want to go with your coffee, espresso, and tea shop business; the plan must include immediate and short- and long-term goals. 

You also must indicate that you are prepared to cope with the challenges and setbacks that will inevitably occur at various stages along the route to success. Questions need to be asked, and answers provided to cover all likely eventualities. 

The body of the business plan can be divided into four distinct sections: 

1) the description of the business, 

2) the marketing plan, 

3) the management plan, and 

4) the financial management plan. 

Addenda to the business plan should include the executive summary, supporting documents and financial projections

Background to the Brew

It’s said that we’re in the third wave of coffee, so what were the first two waves? Well, the first wave didn’t come until the mid-twentieth century, but let’s not ignore the hundreds of years of coffee that came before. 

As far as we know, coffee (the drink) has been around since the fifteenth century, when someone in the south-western highlands of Ethiopia (possibly a goatherd, possibly a starving, exiled saint—nobody seems quite sure) realized that boiling the seeds of the native coffea tree produced a drink that was both flavorsome and gave a pleasant little energy kick to the drinker. 

The drink spread throughout the Middle East, and by the end of the sixteenth century these beans were being traded across Europe, from where they were shipped to growing colonies throughout Asia, the Pacific and America. The next big shift came during World War II, when someone figured out how to freeze-dry their brew and the world was granted the (debatable) joy of instant. It became easy and cheap to take coffee across continents and oceans, later to be brought to life with just a splash of boiling water. This is known as the first wave of coffee, which took the stuff into homes and offices across the developed world.

The second wave was the arabica bean boom—companies like Lavazza and Peet’s started roasting higher-quality arabica to be sold to cafés and supermarkets. This was the era that saw massive coffee chains such as Starbucks taking over entire shopping strips, and good coffee became all about the espresso machine. 

And now for the third wave, where we go back to the bean and all it has to offer. It’s all about seeing the production of coffee as an art—like winemaking or micro-brewing beer. Concerns about exploitation in the coffee industry have led to a new age of transparency, where baristas, roasters, importers and growers are more intent than ever to open up. And the best thing about this is that it’s becoming easier for anyone to learn the ropes, without having to spend thousands of dollars on equipment. 

CHAI TEA LATTE MILKSHAKES RECIPE

 

PREP TIME: ten MINS 

TOTAL TIME: ten MINS 

SERVINGS: 2 

INGREDIENTS

• one cup milk 
• 4 chai tea bags 
• 1 cinnamon stick 
• 2 cups coffee ice cream ground nutmeg and whipped cream for garnish 
• IF YOU WANT: A splash of Bailey's Irish Cream to prepare this extra fun! h

INSTRUCTIONS 

1.  Pre ready tea by heating milk in a average saucepan top average heat. 
2. Add cinnamon and tea bags and allow to simmer for Approximately 5 mins. 
3. Take away from Warmth and allow to steep for five more mins before removing cinnamon and tea bags. 
4. Allow to cool down for 20 mins, then Place tea and ice cream (and Bailey's supposing you're top 21) to a blender and pulse till well mixd. Supposing too thin, Place more ice cream either ice to the mix. 
5. Serve topped with whipped cream and ground nutmeg. Enjoy!

CAN YOU TELL ME THE FLAVOR PROFILE OF THE COFFEE FROM LOCATION X?

 

THIS IS A QUESTION THAT EVERYONE ASKS AT SOME POINT. THE WINE INDUSTRY, THE GRANDDADDY OF ALL SPECIALTY FOOD INDUSTRIES, HAS SPENT ITS LIFETIME BUILDING ON THE IDEA THAT WHERE A WINE IS 32 GROWN, REGIONALLY, IS NECESSARILY RELATED TO ITS FINAL TASTE. 

THE TERM USED TO DESCRIBE THIS IS TERROIR. IT IS A FRENCH WORD MEANING “LAND” BUT ALSO “THIS SPECIFIC LAND” OR “LOCAL”. 

IN AN AGRICULTURAL CONTEXT, IT REFERS TO EVERYTHING THAT PLAYS A ROLE IN THE PRODUCTION OF A CROP— INCLUDING SOIL, CLIMATE, AND TOPOGRAPHY. 

THE IDEA IS THAT THE GESTALT OF A PLACE IMPRINTS A PRODUCT AND THAT THE PRODUCT, NO MATTER WHERE ELSE IT IS PRODUCED, WILL NEVER TASTE QUITE THE SAME ANYWHERE ELSE; THIS IMPRINT SUPERCEDES THE EFFORTS OF ANY INDIVIDUAL FARMER. THE COFFEE INDUSTRY (AND TEA INDUSTRY AND CHOCOLATE INDUSTRY) TOUTS THE SAME THING: PLACE IS IMPORTANT.

IS IT?

To answer this, it helps to first understand all the different things that can influence the taste of a coffee on the farm. Well, coffee is a bit unusual in that some relevant postharvest events occur that deserve to be considered. So, let’s consider all the events leading up to the point where coffee can be roasted, as this is where it is a stable, tradable product. 

As has been discussed elsewhere, within the English language, peer-reviewed scientific literature, the following things have been proven to influence the taste of coffee: genetic make-up, elevation (with some equivocation), pests/diseases, cherry processing, drying, sorting, and storage. 

Notice the things we haven’t researched/can’t research, don’t seem to play a role, or don’t have enough information to draw a conclusion on their effect: light levels, health of the tree (having sufficient nutrients and water), soil type, source of fertilizer, exposure to agrochemicals, plant age, and harvesting (though nobody believes this isn’t acutely important). 

A cynical way to summarize our knowledge at this point is that we don’t really know how to produce a good cup of coffee, rather, we just know how to avoid screwing it up. 

Did you know? 

Coffee drinking has no effect on the risk of prostate, stomach, ovarian, and pancreatic cancers. It seems to reduce the risk of liver, kidney, endometrial, head and neck, breast, and colorectal cancers, but it may increase the risk of bladder cancer.

It certainly seems to be the case that where and how a coffee is grown influences its taste. Thus, there is a terroir for an individual farm. Is there a terroir to an entire growing region, though? There are seven categories of things that influence a coffee’s taste, each having multiple variations, some of which might interact with each other, and nevermind the other items we’re agnostic about but might need to be moved up in importance. 

That’s quite a few potential influences. For the idea of terroir to hold true, then all these things must interact in such a way as they can never be duplicated anywhere in the world. Currently, at least eighty-seven countries produce coffee to some extent (not all of them are commercial producers) and most of them have multiple regions growing coffee. 

Let’s say ten regions per country for the sake of our discussion. The International Coffee Organization estimates there are some 26 million farmers in the coffee business, which, even if that were broken into six-member families, would leave 4.3 million coffee farms on the planet. With eighty-seven countries, each with ten regions, distributed amongst 4.3 million farms, the number of farms per region is 5,977. Using these values and assuming

every farmer within a region is doing the exact same things to their farms, for terroir to be true, there would have to be 5,977 unique coffee flavor profiles on the planet that are recognized by tasters.

Did you know? 

There are many ways to go from the fresh coffee seed on the tree to a dried, green coffee bean. Each of them will influence the quality of the coffee. That’s a pretty large number. While it is possible to generate that many combinations of flavors based on the seven known factors mentioned above, it seems unlikely that there is that much nuance in the world of coffee. 

Even more difficult to believe is that all the farmers in a single region—even a single mountainside—are farming in the exact method. This last idea seems the most relevant to me in this discussion. If all these factors can influence a cup of coffee and each farmer has the freedom to farm and process their coffee as they choose, it is very likely that the coffee from individual farms in a region are going to vary from each other. 

If this is true, how true can terroir be? 36 I submit that regional terroir for coffee is an artifact of logistics and we are quickly leaving it behind. The artifact is that for most of coffee producing history, all the coffees from various farms within a region, sometimes even a country, were blended together. This blending occurred post-harvest at the wet mill or at the dry mill. 

When so many individual farms’ coffees are homogenized like this, the taste of the end product will be some kind of average that accounts for all the coffees that went into it. Then, those coffees were stored and shipped together (not always so well), giving them time to change and equilibrate even more because of the time it took to get them to roasters elsewhere. 

Terroir, then, was an artificially created phenomenon that arouse out of the logistics of coffee processing, storage, and shipping, not out of the inherent magic of the climate, topography, and farming. This might just be a semantic argument because it is perfectly reasonable to let logistics be represented in the taste of a place. Yes, at one point, coffees from a country or region in a country probably had consistent flavor profiles and in places that still operate in such a way, these profiles, likely still exist. 

However, the past few decades have seen diversification in the coffee industry which suggests coffee terroir is no longer true. One of the hallmarks of the specialty coffee industry is the celebration of individual coffee farms. Coffees of a particular variety, from a particular farm, that used a particular processing method can be easily found at specialty coffee roasters. 

These coffees are celebrations of diversity within a particular place. Roasters are seeking and finding coffees that they want to be different from the region’s norm. If these special coffees can be found, how can there be an overarching influence of place on the cup profile? The reality is that two farmers, separated by just a fence, can produce very different coffees. 

If this is the case, which one represents the terroir of the region? If there are hundreds and thousands of farmers in a region, all able to do their own thing, then who gets the honor of having their coffee be the poster child for the region? As more and more farmers are able to keep their coffees apart from farmers in their region and strive to produce a rare coffee, the potential of terroir being true falls dramatically. 

CHILLED COCONUT CARAMEL FRAPPE RECIPE

 PREP TIME: 5 MINS 

TOTAL TIME: 5 MINS 

SERVINGS: 2

INGREDIENTS 

• one cup Gevalia Caramel Cold Brew Concentrate 
• one cup 2% milk 
• half cup shredded coconut 
• half cup milk chocolate chips 
• One-quarter cup chocolate syrup 
• 3 cups ice

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Beat all ingredients in a high powered blender till fully sleek. Place more ice and Beat supposing you'd like the drink thicker. 
2. Top with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and caramel gravy supposing desired. 
3. Enjoy!

WHY DOES MY ROASTER TALK ABOUT CHERRY PROCESSING?

 

AS THE COFFEE SEED IS THE PART OF THE COFFEE CHERRY THAT INTERESTS US THE MOST, WE HAVE TO EXTRACT IT FROM THE FRUIT AND GET IT TO A POINT WHERE IT CAN BE ROASTED. 

ESSENTIALLY, ALL THE LAYERS MUST BE REMOVED AND THE SEED NEEDS TO BE DRIED DOWN FROM ITS APPROXIMATE 50 PERCENT MOISTURE CONTENT TO 9 TO 12 PERCENT MOISTURE CONTENT. WE CAN THEN DISCARD (OR FIND A USE FOR) THE FLESH AND OTHER UNWANTED LAYERS. 

THUS, CHERRY PROCESSING IS A CRUCIAL STEP IN GETTING COFFEE INTO A MUG. WITHOUT IT, THE COFFEE WILL NEVER BE READY FOR INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE.

Exactly how that happens is less important than doing it well. The pulp and mucilage are high in water and sugar content—two attractive resources to microorganisms whose overabundant presence during drying is suspected of negatively impacting the cup quality of the coffee. Minimizing or eliminating their growth is a key aspect of cherry processing. 

Ultimately, individual farmers decide how to process the cherries depending on the available resources, cost of processing, the climate at the time of processing, the potential of a price premium, and/or the desired taste outcome. There are three common methods of cherry processing: natural, pulped natural, and washed. There are variations on these but to go into them all is overwhelming. 

We’ll stick to these three. In the natural process, also known as the full natural or the dry process, the entire fruit remains intact while the seeds are dried. The seeds are not removed until every layer, including the seeds, has been dried. On farms where coffee is harvested mechanically, many cherries are already dry when the coffee is harvested. 

These cherries, sometimes called raisins, can be separated and sold as natural coffee. The pulped natural process is one step removed from the natural process. The cherries are pulped (the skin and fleshy pulp removed) and the seeds, still covered by the parchment and mucilage, are dried. This process sometimes goes by alternate names, but “honey” is the most common.

On average, about 100 gallons (378.5 L) of water are required to produce 20 grams (0.7 oz) of roasted coffee, enough to brew about one 11-ounce (325 ml) cup of coffee.

The washed process (a.k.a. the wet process) removes not only the skin and pulp but also the mucilage before drying down the coffee. There are several ways of doing this. Traditionally, the mucilage is removed by fermentation, either by covering the coffee with water until the mucilage is degraded or simply leaving the coffee to sit and ferment without water (known as dry fermentation). 

The term “fermentation” is used because microorganisms, naturally occurring on the coffee or in the environment, consume the mucilage and degrade it via metabolic fermentation processes, though microbial enzymes also play a role. When the mucilage is completely degraded and removed, we deem the fermentation process complete. The fermentation process takes as few as six hours and as many as forty-eight to complete, though typically it lasts twelve to thirty hours. 

The time required depends on the volume of coffee, ambient air temperature, and temperature of the water (if present) used for soaking. An alternative method uses a demucilager/demucilator to mechanically remove the mucilage just after pulping, eliminating the need for any kind of fermentation before drying. A demucilager forces the coffee into a small space, causing the seeds to rub and push against each other and the sides of the container. The pressure liquefies the mucilage, allowing it to be washed away in a few minutes by the small amount of water added to the process.

Since water is used to rinse the coffee seeds upon completion, we call these coffees “washed coffees.” Whether a washed coffee is fermented or demucilaged, the cup quality tends to be similar. It is well accepted by both the coffee industry and scientists that processing affects the cup profile. A generality on perfectly pampered and accomplished processing on farms where hand-harvest methods are used is that going from washed to pulped naturals to full naturals creates an increasing intensity of sweetness, fruitiness (ferment to some), acidity, and body. 

Some people suggest that the coffees become increasingly complex through this progression. On farms where coffee is mechanically harvested, the results of perfect dry processing on cup quality aren’t as predictable. Natural processed coffees from these farms can be more acidy and fruity than washed coffees, or they can be earthy and/or spicy. “Coffee is a language in itself.”

There are three common methods of cherry processing: natural, pulped natural, and washed. Notably, there is little data addressing how processing affects flavor. The second response is related to water stress. Natural processed coffees accumulate a much larger amount of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a molecule known to occur in water-stressed plant cells. As explained earlier, this disparity exists because the natural processed coffees remain metabolically active for a longer time than the washed coffees. 

These responses indicate a significant amount of metabolic activity that is captured by just a few molecules, and the actual changes within the seeds go much farther than just these molecules. It is reasonable to hypothesize that the differences in flavor from different cherry processes stem from these metabolic processes. Yet, until more research is done, we can only hypothesize as to whether the flavor comes from seed metabolism, a migration of compounds into the seed from the mucilage and fruit, or both.

BULLETPROOF COFFEE RECIPE

 

PREP TIME: ten MINS 

TOTAL TIME: ten MINS 

SERVINGS: 1

INGREDIENTS 

• 12 ounces Bulletproof Brewed Coffee hot,
• 2 tbsp Ghee click to find out more 
• 1 tbsp MCT oil 
• pinch pink salt if you want half tsp ground cinnamon if you want IF YOU WANT QUICKER INGREDIENT (SEE NOTE) 

INSTRUCTIONS 

1. Place all ingredients in a blender and Beat till fully mixd and sleek. 

2. Serve immediately. Enjoy! NOTES NOTE: else if you want ingredients include stevia, unsweetened cocoa powder, protein powders, sugar free syrups, collagen peptides, and more!

IS ONE ROUND PEABERRY BETTER THAN TWO FLAT-FACED BEANS?

 

BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER. AT LEAST, THAT’S HOW THE SAYING GOES.

 WHEN IT COMES TO PEABERRIES, THOUGH, IT JUST MIGHT BE TRUE. THE TRUTH IS, WE DON’T REALLY KNOW.

Inside the coffee fruit, two seeds typically develop. As the seeds enlarge and mature, they push against each other. The result of this pushing is the flat face of a coffee seed. 

On every coffee tree, a percentage of the cherries contain only a single seed. With no opposing seed in the cherry, the lone seed has no flat face. Rather, it is entirely round, almost pealike. This seed is called a peaberry. The percentage of peaberries on a given tree varies, but most of the time it is 4 to 8 percent. 

There have been several reports, however, of trees that produce percentages from 30 to 35 percent. Why peaberries occur is not known, though many scientists over the years have speculated on a variety of possibilities. These include genetic factors, plant age, climatic conditions, poor pollination, and nutritional deficiencies. Scant research exists that examines any of these potential influences. 

Ultimately, some kind of malfunction occurs at the cellular level, which prevents the growth of the seed. The malfunction could occur prior to fertilization. For example, the pollen tube— an organ that grows from a pollen grain after it has landed on a stigma and whose purpose is to deliver its gamete to the receiving gamete in the flower’s ovule— might be disrupted, preventing it from delivering its package. 

Another possibility is that the gamete reaches its destination, but either the female egg or the ovule itself are inviable, preventing fertilization. Alternatively, fertilization may occur without incident, but the zygote or ovule aborts, leaving an empty chamber behind. What has become clear is that there is a strong genetic component to peaberries. Offspring can produce different percentages of peaberries than their parents. Irradiating seeds with neutrons or X-rays, then letting them grow into plants, increases the percentage of peaberries. 

Even manually cross-pollinating flowers decreases the occurrence of peaberries. Peaberries have captured the imagination of coffee drinkers who seem quite happy to pay a premium for them and roasters are just as happy to supply them. This suggests that there is something different or special about the physiology, biochemistry, or taste of peaberries. 

Unfortunately, there isn’t much research on the subject. Peaberries germinate just as often as their flat-faced brethren. There are studies that show some biochemical differences in the seeds when they are unroasted, but those differences largely disappear after roasting. 

As for taste, no research, complete with statistical analysis, could be found comparing flat-faced seeds to corresponding peaberries. In the literature where their taste is discussed, peaberries are considered to taste the same or inferior to flat-faced seeds, though the research was just anecdotal. 26 An important consideration with peaberries and taste is how they respond to roasting. 

A round, somewhat uniform shape will interact with heat differently than an asymmetric shape. If the heat transfer during roasting is different between the two shapes, resulting in different roast profiles, then a taste difference could arise. If this is the case, then the taste difference is an artifact of roasting, not the internal characteristics of the seed. 

I hypothesize, then, that the taste difference would be fairly small and nothing of the scale usually touted by retailer or consumers. With the potential of no important difference, do peaberries warrant their higher price? As peaberries do only occur in low percentages, they are rare; typical supplydemand curves would suggest a higher price. In addition, while farmers have no control over their occurrence, their maximum potential yield is never reached. 

Each percentage increase of peaberries results in a 0.5 percent decrease in potential yield. This is just a numerical difference. Peaberries tend to be smaller and weigh less than most flat-faced seeds, making the yield, as measured by weight, even lower! Thus, farmers have a sense of being penalized by nature and are keen to make up for the economic loss. 

Finally, at mills where the peaberries are removed manually, there is an added cost of labor for that effort. Although, large mills with lots of equipment typically have machines that sort coffee by size, separating out the peaberries, and these mills incur no additional cost or effort. 

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if there is a statistically significant difference in the biochemistry or taste of peaberries or whether they cost more to produce. If consumers continue to pay a premium for them and believe them to be better, then they are better, at least in the mind of the buyer.

THAI ICED COFFEE RECIPE

 

PREP TIME: 5 MINS 

TOTAL TIME: 5 MINS 

SERVINGS: 4

INGREDIENTS 

• Strong black regular ground coffee enough to brew 4 cups 
• 2 tsps ground cardamom 
• One-quarter cup sweetened condensed milk plus more supposing desired 
• 1 tsp almond extract for NON-alcoholic version 
• 3 ounces Amaretto for COCKTAIL version 
• crushed ice 

INSTRUCTIONS 

1. Add the cardamom to the ground coffee. Brew the coffee therefore to makers instructions. 
2. Rain the coffee in a pitcher either big glass. Place the Amaretto (or almond extract), and Stir to mix. 
3. Fill four 12 ounce glasses with crushed ice. Rain the coffee in every glass and top every with one tbsp of sweetened condensed milk. Taste and Place more sweetened condensed milk supposing desired. 
4. 4. Enjoy!

SHADE-GROWN COFFEE?

IT SEEMS SILLY TO ASK WHETHER A PLANT NEEDS SUNSCREEN. MOST PLANTS WE ARE FAMILIAR WITH JUST GROW UNDER WHATEVER LEVEL OF SUNLIGHT TO WHICH THEY ARE ADAPTED. IF THE RIGHT CONDITIONS EXIST, THEY’LL GROW. IF THE WRONG CONDITIONS EXIST, THEY WON’T GROW. PRETTY SIMPLE, RIGHT?

Not quite. Humans found coffee growing in the forests of Ethiopia and Sudan. These plants were happy enough with the low light levels of the forest understory. They didn’t produce much coffee, but they produced enough that people found it worthwhile to farm the coffee deliberately. 

For the vast majority of coffee farming history, most coffee was always grown under the shade of trees because farmers struggled to keep plants healthy when they grew them in full sun. With the advent of synthetic fertilizers and then the Green Revolution, farmers discovered they could grow healthy coffee in the full sun.

It was easier to grow and the trees produced much more coffee than they did in the shade. How does this work? Coffee, just like any plant, needs light, just as it needs water, nutrients, and carbon dioxide. Light often serves other purposes in plants in addition to being an ingredient for life. 

For many plants, light also serves as a signal to the plant. The light quality, quantity, and intensity can all convey information to a plant. This information can lead to a variety of changes in the plant. Flower production is one factor that seems to be directly affected by light. Coffee plants exposed to lower light levels produce fewer flowers than plants exposed to higher light levels. With more flowers comes more coffee fruit and more coffee seeds. 

Thus, growing coffee in the shade produces less marketable product than growing the same plant in full sun. When the plant produces more fruit than it otherwise would because of excess light, it requires more water, nutrients, and carbon dioxide. If nutrients aren’t available in sufficient quantities, the whole plant suffers because it can’t sustain the nutrient demand of the fruits. 

Short-term symptoms of nutrient deprivation include chlorotic (yellow) leaves followed by premature fruit ripening, then leaf and fruit drop. When this happens, not only is the current harvest affected, but the next harvest is as well. The only way to recover is to stump or heavily prune the trees and forego any harvest the following year. 19 So, in the shade of trees, coffee produces a small amount of fruit that can be sustained by the available nutrients. 

The only way to successfully grow coffee in full sun is to supplement the soil with sufficient nutrients (more water is needed, too, but the increase is smaller). When synthetic fertilizers became available, farmers realized they could grow coffee healthily, easily, and profitably in full sun. While full-sun coffee can also be grown successfully in an organic coffee production system, it is difficult and expensive. Thus, most farmers who grow organically have shade trees to help mitigate the plant’s nutrient needs.

Shade trees completely change the biological makeup of a coffee farm in all kinds of ways. In summary, full sun coffee produces more coffee than shade coffee but it requires more inputs to make it successful. Actually, it isn’t that simplistic! Having or not having shade trees completely changes the agricultural and biological system of a coffee farm in all kinds of ways. Shade trees interact with the soil by adding nutrients via the decomposition of leaf litter, holding it in place (thereby preventing erosion), producing root exudates, and possibly bringing water from deeper regions to higher regions via hydraulic lift. 

Farms with a larger diversity of shade tree species tend to harbor a great deal of biodiversity, from ants to birds, whereas full sun farms tend to have relatively little biodiversity. Shaded systems encourage some pests and diseases while suppressing others. Also, shaded systems tend to have fewer weeds (since weeds tend to be sunloving). 

Finally, shade trees can provide additional resources to farmers, like firewood or food. There is also the question of whether shade (or light) has an influence on the flavor of the coffee. There is a romantic notion that because shaded coffee ripens slower and it can be part of a harmonious, complex, biodiverse system that it will taste better than coffee grown in full sun. 

The available data is noisy, meaning, some research shows a bit of a difference in taste while other research shows no difference in taste. Thus, one can interpret the data both ways. Taken all together, this scientist (who has done research on this very topic), concludes that the amount of light in which a coffee grows has no influence on its taste. 

So, does coffee need sunscreen in the form of big trees? No, it can do just fine without it, so long as the farmer is able to supply it with the resources it needs. There are, however, many reasons why a farmer might choose to cultivate their coffee under shade trees. Optimizing potential yield, though, is not one of them. 

Vanilla Keto Coffee Recipe

 

PREP TIME: 5 MINS 

TOTAL TIME: 5 MINS 

SERVINGS: 1 

INGREDIENTS 

• 8 ounces brewed strong coffee hot 
• 1 tbsp Vanilla Omega Power Creamer  
• Strew ground cinnamon if you want 

HIGH-ALTITUDE COFFEE?

IT IS PRETTY COMMON TO HEAR PEOPLE TALK ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF GROWING COFFEE AT HIGH 

 

As it turns out, the scientific data is equivocal on the subject. Some research demonstrates a difference in taste as elevation changes while some does not. Many people in the coffee industry, including this author, have noted that different altitudes produce different cup profiles; coffees grown higher up tend to be more acidy and complex while lower elevations tend to be more intensely coffee flavored. 

If there really is a difference in elevation, what’s going on? Any athlete will tell you that the air is thinner at higher altitudes. This is because at higher altitudes there’s lower air pressure (the weight of all the air that presses down on everything), which means less oxygen is present in any given breath of air since it isn’t compressed as much as air at lower altitudes. 

Plants, however, don’t seem to mind this. While nobody has tested the effects of different air pressures on coffee plants, researchers doing space research (astronauts need to eat, right?) have shown that lettuce leaves changed somewhat when grown in different air pressures. 

However, none of the research examines the taste. Radishes, on the other hand, barely responded at all to different air pressures (unless the air pressure was very, very low). More interesting, the flavor of radishes and some chemical markers that stand in for flavor didn’t change when the radishes were grown in different air pressure conditions. 

Lettuce (leaves) and radishes (roots) are different types of plant organs than coffee (seeds), so it is hard to draw a strong comparison from these examples. However, considering the nature of the changes in lettuce and the fact that coffee is a seed (organisms tend to be conservative when allowing things to influence their children), it is unlikely that air pressure is influencing the cup quality of coffee.

 A change in air pressure is only one of the differences noticed at higher altitudes. The temperature also drops at higher elevations. It has been well documented that temperature affects many aspects of plant growth and development across a range of species, including food plants like coffee. 

As air pressure doesn’t seem to be too important in influencing coffee’s taste, it is reasonable to assume, then, that the change in temperature at higher elevations is what is influencing our brew. To support this, we must consider that, across the globe, temperature is influenced not just by elevation. A major factor is latitude. 

As the distance from the equator increases, temperatures at a given elevation decrease. So, 2,500 feet (762 m) above sea level in Hawaii is a much cooler climate than 2,500 feet (762 m) above sea level in Colombia. 

Whereas coffee grown in Hawaii at that elevation can be acidy and complex, it is rarely found to be so in Colombia, even though the elevation is the same. While many factors influence the flavor of a cup of coffee, the temperature at which it grows seems to be one of them. 

Thus, looking at elevation alone is not very useful, rather, the interaction of altitude and latitude and their influence on temperature is what matters.

MOST COFFEE SOLD AS SPECIALTY OR GOURMET COFFEE OFTEN IS PROMOTED AS BEING 100% ARABICA

 

THE IDEA IS THAT THERE IS SOMETHING BETTER (TASTING) ABOUT ARABICA COFFEE THAN OTHER COFFEE. MOST OF THE TIME, THIS IS TRUE!

Arabica refers to a specific species of coffee: Coffea arabica. It is celebrated in contrast to its relative, Coffea canephora, also known as robusta. 

These species are the two common commercial species out of the 124 species in the genus Coffea. This genus is a member of the Rubiaceae family, which contains the delightfully aromatic gardenia and the unpleasantly aromatic, but purportedly healthy, noni species. Arabica coffee is the most commonly grown species of coffee around the world. It has always been considered to be the best tasting coffee species. In fact, it is nearly unanimously considered to produce a tastier cup than robusta. 

So, why would anyone grow robusta, then? Well, for one thing, there are many positive agronomic traits, and robusta has some that help it grow in different environmental conditions than arabica, in addition to having some very handy disease resistance. Historically, it has been considered easier to grow and more robust (hence, robusta!). Oh, and it has about twice as much caffeine as arabica. 

So not only does it give your body more bang per cup, but its hardiness can make it cheaper to grow; cheap caffeine is good caffeine. The differences between robusta and arabica can be a bit surprising once you discover that robusta is not necessarily a cousin of arabica, but possibly a parent! Sometime in the African past, pollen from C. canephora or C. congensis not only landed on the stigma of a C. eugenioides flower (the other parent), but helped successfully create a new species which we know and love as C. arabica (canephora and congensis are so closely related that we aren’t sure which one is the father). 

Like any child, arabica inherited traits from both parents. Clearly, good taste came from mom’s side of the family. In the United States, most coffee consumed is arabica. However, the lower price 14 of robusta and its bonus caffeine content still make it popular in some market segments where it is blended with arabica. It is a rare event that U.S. roasters use robusta, as it has been demonized as too foul tasting to be considered specialty. 

In the past few years, however, some specialty roasters have been exploring the idea that there may be robustas fit for the specialty market, but they must be sought after and discovered. And, farmers need to be encouraged to grow them with the specialty market in mind. The essence of their philosophy is twofold. First, robusta plants have not been treated with the same level of care and attention on the farm and in the mill as arabica has been. 

Consequently, the unpleasant taste of arabica beans is merely a result of lazy farming and processing, not an inherent genetic roadblock. Second, coffee drinkers have a narrow definition of how coffee should taste and if they expanded their horizons, they will find robustas that are quite interesting and complex. Thus, it is very possible that exceptionally tasting robustas exist, but we have to find them, create them, or accept them as they are. Currently, though, arabica rules the US market and it will be some years before that changes.

THE LITTLE COFFEE KNOW-IT-ALL

 People are crazy about coffee. They read coffee blogs, trade magazines, and books and attend conferences, trade shows, and coffee schools. They buy all kinds of coffee brewers, grinders, and related paraphernalia. 

They discuss the nuances of cherry processing, roasting, storage, and brewing at every opportunity. They’ll even wait in line for twenty minutes for a $10 cup of coffee! And these are just ordinary people, not coffee professionals! 

Coffee has become a worthy hobby and intense passion for all sorts of people. People want to learn as much as they can about coffee and they want answers to all sorts of questions brewing in their heads. What, then, is more appropriate than providing answers to some of those questions in a fun way that doesn’t feel too much like a high school classroom? While there are many coffee books available, this one is different. It attempts to look at myriad coffee ideas and explore them using scientific principles, scientifically acquired data, and peer-reviewed publications. 

Even though the scientific method isn’t foolproof and there are other ways of acquiring truth and knowledge, science has generally proven to be a good way of exploring the world. The scientific method The scientific method involves learning about a topic, generating a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, analyzing the results, and drawing a conclusion. This is all done as objectively as possible and according to rules and principles that allow others to scrutinize the process. Science, at its core, is about capturing variation and understanding that variation mathematically. 

In the natural world, there is variation: Human height varies, leaf weight varies, color varies, sugar levels vary…. By examining many randomly selected individuals in a population, you can get a sense of what the average value for a trait is within that population and how much variation (distance from the average) exists. 

The more individuals you measure, the better you’ll understand that population. As an example, measuring the heights of ten people and averaging them will probably give a poor value for average human height because the variation will be so large. But measuring the height of 1,000 people will produce much more accurate values of the variation and the average. 

Ultimately, scientists ask the question of whether two populations are the same or different. They do this by measuring the average values for a trait in each population and then calculating how much the variation overlaps between the two populations. Depending on how much overlap exists, the populations are considered different (although, different is never absolute; scientists always calculate a probability of making an error). All of this calculating is done using the mathematical field of statistics. 

Often, scientists create the different populations they are interested in studying. They may add fertilizer to one field but not another or give three groups of dogs different levels of medication. They strive to control all the sources of variation that might influence the populations so that when they finally measure what they’re interested in, the difference between the populations is a result of their manipulations, not an event related to something else.