Do You Know Your Coffee? By Courteny Rogers

Do you know how coffee came to be the legendary life supplement it is today. Historically then legend goes- there was an Arabian shepherd, who was herding his small flock near the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula, his name was Kaldi. He found his goats dancing (quite the talent) around a dark green leafed shrub with bright red cherries. He decided that it was the cherries on the shrub that was causing the goats to express such strange symptoms of euphoria, and like all good pet owners, he decided to try the cherries himself. As you could expect, the effect was powerful. Apparently he shared the news of his discovery with those around him. The wonderful affect of the cherries was exploited by monks at a local monastery. They used the cherries to stay awake during extended hours of dry prayer and recitation, and eventually it was distributed to other monasteries around the world.

And so coffee was born.

Although this particular story makes coffee an exciting novelty of sorts, dancing goats and sleepy monks- botanical researchers have uncovered evidence that coffee had a different origin. It is suggested that coffee tales should really begin on the plateaus of Ethiopia, and somehow they were brought to Yemen, where it was cultivated as a regular crop since 500 AD. Cairo and Mecca coffee became the home to the first coffee houses, and when an economy adopts a food as worthy of its own attentions it takes on a sort of artistic passion, and is made into more than just a stimulant.

The coffee shrub, is a perennial evergreen dicotyledon, a member of the Rubiaceae family. Because it grows to a relatively large height, it is more often called a coffee tree. It has a main trunk, and primary, secondary, and tertiary branches. The plant takes three to four years to begin to produce fruit. Small bundles of sweet smelling flowers will grow at the axils of coffee leaves. Fruit is only produced in the new tissue. Some varieties of the coffee plant are self-pollinating, like the Coffea Arabica, but others rely on cross pollination, like the Robusta. 6-8 weeks after the flowers are fertilized the first signs of the fruit will appear, but it can take up to 15 weeks after flowering for the fruit to take on the shape of the actually harvested coffee bean. A fleshy pulp will surround the bean, this is what is known as the coffee cherry, eventually it will change from green to red 30 to 35 weeks after flowering. They are then harvested and processed.

These little beans will then be shipped around the world, it takes 2000 of the Arabica cherries to produce a pound of roasted coffee beans. But coffee merchants don't mind that, over 400 billion cups of coffee are consumed each year.

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-Court

Flavored Coffee - A New Trend! By Courteny Rogers

Flavored coffee is an interesting new trend on the market. Every flavor you can imagine has invaded stores and websites. There are classics, like vanilla and Irish Cream, and then there are interesting new flavors that beg for experimental bravery. Such as blueberry, rum raisin, candy apple. I wouldn't be surprised if there you could find any flavor you can imagine. Custom flavors, why not get cretive, mix up some almond avacado, or red bean sugar cane.

The truth of the matter being that there are some serious flaws to this interesting new trend. I mean wasn't the original relief of coffee that of the bouquet of rich smells that came from freshly ground coffee beans. The aromas and flavors of the classics can't really be beaten can they? Well any way these coffee beans are grown makes for better arguments, I mean how do they get the flavor into those beans anyway.

The process usually starts by treating the beans with chemical flavors, yes, its not a natural thing to have rum flavored coffee beans, this being a con on our list of comparisons, to the rich natural flavor that is so loved. Another problem that comes along with flavoring the beloved bean, is the quality of the roasting. If its going to be treated later, why put in so much effort to roast the bean now. So more often than not the job is not well done. So again, it may be the flavor you were looking for. But its poor coffee.

The aroma of the flavors injected chemically tends to give the coffee a very strong smell, I mean, you've smelled your cleaning cupboards before, chemicals naturally release fumes, so whether or not these flavors are injected naturally, they are over powering in the cup. So, we see another flaw in these new overly creative flavors, you may like the smell of your brew. But it won't taste like it smells.

Either way. Its up to you, the original brew has been around for hundreds of years keeping the workforce of the world going. But sometimes the old gets boring. Most people who are switching to flavored beans, do it because its a hassle to have to create your own rich drink. All those spices, and flavorings. When all it takes is a delicious purchase of a bag of freshly flavored coffee beans. What will you choose.

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-Court