Coffee

The rise in popularity of organic coffee over the past decade or so is the direct result of consumers becoming more and more aware and conscientious about what products and produce they are buying. Because companies must detail production methods on their product’s packaging, consumers are able to easily make informed decisions about the products they purchase. Even more than that, consumers are generally becoming more educated about the international coffee manufacturing industry and the chemical processing that goes into the coffee they buy. Coffee, if you don’t already know, is one of the most chemically processed products in the world.

What is certified organic coffee?

The term organic refers to the way a coffee is grown, harvested and produced. It refers to the conditions of the coffee plantation or farm and the conditions under which it is processed. Only coffees grown under the strictest of organic farming guidelines may publicly label their product organic and certified organic.

Organic farming methods avoid any chemical or synthetic processing of the coffee. Organic farmers base their methods on the philosophy of processing coffee as naturally as possible, creating a healthier coffee alternative and keeping the environment as healthy as possible, too. Organic coffee farms never use chemicals as fertilizers or pesticides. Moreover, they do not use chemical flavorings or additives.

Organic farms are always built in line with principles of sustainable agricultural practice and always place importance on the health and quality of their soil. It almost goes without saying that healthy soil produces a healthy crop. And by extension then, that healthy coffee crops means healthier coffee.

These days, everyone knows well enough that chemically processed coffee is adverse to their health. Consumers also know that there are excellent organic alternatives.

Organic shade farming

Coffee is traditionally and naturally grown in the shade. This method is called ?shade coffee farming.? To this day, shade farming produced the best coffee. But large manufacturers have taken to producing coffee quickly and in full sun to meet the demands of the market.

But coffee that is grown in full sun suffers a number of adverse effects, such as from bird and insect pests. This pestilence means that large-scale coffee farmers must use pesticides to protect their crop and this, of course, results in negative effects on a coffee bean’s taste and aroma.

Only organic coffee is grown in natural conditions. The gourmet varieties of Mocha, Java and Kona are grown organically.

Coffee wholesalers who sell organic

When it comes to certified organic produce it is often best to try your local coffee retailer or coffee shop. These are small companies who love their coffee and will most likely be purchasing the very best, organically produced coffee. Next, try online stores that specialize in organic coffee. A simple search on the Internet will bring up many coffee wholesalers and retailers committed to certified organic coffee beans and blends.

Find the best almond flavored coffee [http://www.coffeeateria.com/almond-flavored-coffee-8.html] blend by visiting [http://www.coffeeateria.com], a popular coffee website that specializes in coffee blends, gourmet coffee, and espresso to include information on where to get wholesale gourmet coffee [http://www.coffeeateria.com/the-complete-guide-to-the-very-best-wholesale-gourmet-coffee-sites-online-9.html].

Author: Samantha Evans
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Advice on AdSense

The coffee economics and numbers and details related to coffee production and consumption is extremely mesmerizing for marketers. A glimpse of some of the facts is given below

- Coffee consumption in North America and Europe comes to about one third of the tap water consumed.

- Throughout the world, nearly 25 million small producers derive their livelihood from coffee.

- In Brazil alone, which is the worlds largest producer of coffee, about 5 million people are involved in the labor intensive activity of cultivating and harvesting 5 billion coffee plants with hardly any automation available.

- 6.7 million tons of coffee was produced annually in 1998-2000 and this is slated to touch a figure of 7 million tons by 2010.

- In the United States, the number of retail specialty outlets including cafes, kiosks, coffee carts, and roasters touched 17,400 selling $8.96 billion worth of coffee in 2003.

- According to SCAA, 16% of adults in USA drank coffee daily at one of these specialty coffee outlets.

Considering these scope of these numbers, it is normal that coffee drinkers would be concerned about the price that they have to pay for their daily cup of coffee.

The price of coffee as a commodity has seen huge fluctuations in the recent past, especially after the breakdown of the International Coffee Agreement of 1975-1989 and the lifting of the US imposed trade embargo on Vietnam. The flooding of Robusta beans from Vietnam, which are cheaper and therefore preferred by larger companies, resulted in a crash in the commodity price of coffee. By 2001 the prices had reached abysmally low levels. As it became financially unviable it resulted in loss of livelihood for many coffee farmers in Africa, Indonesia, and South and Central America

The coffee growers retaliated by forming co-operatives and were able to get a better price. The major coffee companies were compelled to pay almost 3 to 4 times the price that they were paying to individual farmers. The Dutch brand ‘Max Havelaar’ also pitched in with a concept of fair trade which tried to guarantee a negotiated pre-harvest price to the growers. Nowadays, the price of coffee is also impacted by the trading done in futures and options on the commodity exchanges. These are financial assets based on a standardized contract for future sale or purchase at a settled price.

The correct perspective of the economics of what you pay for a cup of coffee is revealed by what transpires after coffee reaches the manufacturer’s premises. Raw beans are roasted, grinded, and packed for distribution. This adds to the cost but still would not tantamount to the kind of prices that you pay. A cup of coffee would still cost you hardly anything above a few cents to make at home and a bit more at a small coffee shop. Still customers are ready to pay much more in espresso bars at premium locations.

The consumer who visits a café is concerned not only about the quality of the coffee but also the service that comes with it. This need of the discerning consumers is met by companies that open outlets that sell specialty coffees within an ambience.

Specialty coffee is not purchased on the commodity exchanges and is an entirely different economic product than the wholesale coffee that is traded in these exchanges. Large companies usually enter into multi year private contracts at prices sometimes doubles the price that one gets to see in the newspapers’ commodity columns. When you go to a specialty retail outlet, you are not only getting your coffee the way you relish it but also the service and the ambience that accompanies it.

The discerning consumer looks for an experience that may be relaxing, fun, lavish or pampering. One look around the décor, the lighting, and the ambience in specialty retail outlets like Starbucks, The Hard Rock Cafe, FAO Schwarz, Niketown, and The Geek Squad will give an idea about the manner in which experiential marketing is taking the world by storm.

Coffee City | Offers extensive articles and resources on coffee, espresso, coffee beans, coffee making, etc.

Author: Mel Ng
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Video news

I first remember hearing the word “origin” when I was about 3 years old. My father, the son of a Presbyterian minister, was debating the Origin of Species with my mother over dinner. Like any good Presbyterian he was an evolutionist- not that I knew what origin, evolutionist or Presbyterian meant way back then. The next time the word “origin” became important to me was when I was at University. It was not part of my official studies, but rather a fundamentally important concept relating to my part-time job as a wine waiter at one of Wellingtons new 5 star hotels. We were taught that not only was grape variety important in determining the character of a particular wine, but also the origin- the specific area or appellation where the grapes where grown. A sauvignon blanc grape grown, picked and vinted in Marlborough, New Zealand, would display very different aroma, taste and body compared to the same grape varietal grown in Margaret River, Western Australia. It is for this reason that wine labeling clearly displays the origin, grape type as well as the year that the wine is made. It is to tell the customer exactly what to expect in the bottle. We were taught to pick the difference between a Chardonnay and a Riesling, a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Pinot Noir. To start with it was a little difficult to pick the “cut grass, gooseberry, ripe lime” in a Sav-Blanc, or the “Deep ripe plum, soft peppergrass” of a Cab-Sav, but it soon became part and parcel of our lives as wine stewards.

Fast forward to the modern error. These days “Origin” is not only a very important part of my job working with coffee, it is also a word that sometimes wakes me at night, like a the noise of a rusty file scraping over a old, painted blackboard. Origin, in coffee, is not as simple or as transparently honest as many coffee proffesionals would like it to be.

The ICO, or International Coffee Organisation, is somewhat responsible for controlling origin labels on coffee in the fact that any coffee shipped from a growing country must be accompanied by a Certificate of Origin. However… the shipper of the coffee often will fill out the ICO form- adding the origin in as he/she sees fit. The system is based on honesty. If the coffee is Arabica grown in Java, the origin certificate should correctly read “Java Arabica” along with the appropriate grade, weight etc. It should not read “Sumatra Mandehling”, “Bali Arabica” or “Sulawesi Toraja Arabica”. That I am writing this means that it is sadly sometimes fact, not fiction, that mislabeling sometimes intentionally occurs.

Why is this wrong? For starters put aside the fact that it is fraud, misrepresentation and lying, it is more importantly doing huge disservice to the true coffee coming from that origin. Coffee, like wine, has a particular character that is found in the beans growing in a particular geographical area. In fact the flavor of coffee, more so than wine, is almost entirely molded by where it is grown. Take 100 identical seedlings of Typica Arabica and send 25 plants to Aceh, 25 to Central Java, 25 to Flores and 25 to Indonesian Papua. 6 years later the cherries from these trees, ripe and processed, will display vastly different tastes (or cupping characteristics).

To most coffee professionals it is simply a preposterous presumption that anyone would try and mislabel coffee on purpose. Yet, it happens. Sometimes the deceit fools even hardened regulars. Not too many years ago there were two big cases of coffee fraud- one involving fake Hawaiian Kona coffee, the other Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. In both cases the origins were mislabeled because both Jamaica and Hawaii coffees demand a premium on the world market. In both cases the perpetrators were eventually caught out.

Think of it this way- if you were to buy a brand new BMW, you would expect the engine not to have already done 100,000km, and the body not to have been panel beaten to make the car look brand new. If someone tried to pass off such a used vehicle as new- that would be serious fraud.

The more common problem, and one which is beginning to cause real problems for coffee as a quality product, is not the blatant examples of cheating but rather what is call the ‘creeping boundary of origin’ (or CBO). Many years ago coffee origins were perhaps more clearly defined by geographics than they are today. For instance, in Indonesia Mandehling Coffee was picked and marketed from a fairly small area in North Sumatra- thus meaning the characteristics of that coffee were as clear to the drinker as day is to night. These days the geographical or ‘catchment’ area “Mandehling” comes from is 15-20 bigger than what it was 25 years ago. This means that almost by default the characters that the coffee was once famous for- the ripe paprika, fresh cut grass, passion fruit and earthiness are very seldom found to the same degree as coffee from that area today. Its like saying that Italians are the same as Germans. They are not. Lines are drawn on the map- Italians are Italians, Germans are…well…Germans. The French- they have perhaps identified this problem and dealt with it strictly. Not in regards to coffee, but to the labeling of one of their national treasures: Champagne. Only grapes grown and vinted in a particular way, with in a strictly identified area, may be called “Champagne”. Anything else can only be called “Methode Champagne” or similar. Seems pedantic? Coffee should look at this as being part of a solution to a problem which longterm threatens to affect customer perception of coffee in general.

Recently on a trip to coffee savvy New Zealand, a coffee professional was surprised to find just how the problem of labeling origin incorrectly can conspire to creating changes in perception of the customer. He was meeting with an eminent marketing guru who had brought along some material a well known company had put out to support its product. The professional was was not surprised to see “Java” and “Sumatra” on the list of coffee that this company sold. What was surprising was the fact that “Java” was a described as a blend of Guatamalan and Sumatran and “Congo” a blend of Colombian and Sumatran. As in the above European example- Java is likewise not Guatemala or Sumatran!

On the positive side many coffee professionals realise that the future of specialty coffee is going small, not labeling big/expansive origins. Small is easier to define, more difficult for unscrupulous brokers to mislabel. The SCAA’s Cup of Excellence Awards recognise quality origins may be as small as a tiny Finca producing 1000kg of coffee a year. This think small, produce superior beans idea hopefully will result in a better cup of coffee.

In the end thats what it is all about. Despite the complexities of choice faced at a coffee shop, ultimately the customer wants a great cup of Java. However if he wants “Java”it should be the coffee grown on that Indonesian Island, not a mixture of beans from Africa and South America. And if its pure Kopi Luwak that customer is looking for? Well then that is another story altogether.

Alun Evans is a coffee roaster based in West Java, Indonesia. His company Merdeka Coffee, is pioneering relationship coffee with farming communities throughout the country.

Author: Alun Evans
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Electrical Pressure Cooker Online

The words “Gourmet Coffee” are coming up in conversation more often these days. Is there any substance to it or is it just a term some elite coffee snobs have come up? What makes a coffee “gourmet” and who decides this? This article attempts to sift through the hype and give some straight facts.

As an adjective, gourmet is defined as: Referring to fine food. So, gourmet coffee is fine coffee, that doesn’t help narrow it down much more. It may be stating the obvious, but what makes a coffee fine is its taste. There are five primary taste sensations; salty, sour, sweet, bitter and umami (savory). Understanding how these sensations apply to coffee is not important to the majority of us. What’s important is our preference; what tastes good, bad and to what degree. People have huge variations in preference. A coffee you may love, I might hate. C’est la vie!

This variation in preference is where gourmet coffee fills a need. Gourmet coffee offers choice and variety. These choices come in countless combinations of international coffee beans, varying degrees of roasting, flavoring and preparation.

International Coffee Beans

International coffee is probably the biggest factor in gourmet coffee; it’s the starting point for variety and choice. From a purest point of view the bean’s original flavor should play a bigger role than artificially flavored coffees or specialty coffee drinks.

Coffee is international by nature, even though all the world’s coffee beans are grown within 1000 miles of the equator – from the Tropic of Cancer in the north to the Tropic of Capricorn in the south. Two varieties make up nearly all of the beans; Arabica and Robusta. Arabica contains less caffeine, it is the most popular and it grows between 1,500 and 6,000 feet above sea level. Robusta contains the most caffeine and grows at lower elevations.

South American, Central American and Caribbean coffee beans for the most part are lighter in body than other regions, a bit sweeter and slightly more acidic. These beans are often described as smooth and nutty. Central American varieties are not usually as sharp as the South American. African and Middle Eastern coffees often have a more medium body and what can be described as a wild and syrupy feel. African beans are strong, sharp and assertive. The majority of the world’s Robustas are grown along the African coast. Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean and Indonesian coffees are almost completely Arabicas. Characteristics include spicy, heavy body and low acidity.

Flavored Coffee

Flavored coffees become popular in the 1990s but can be traced back centuries ago to the Turks, who used a unique method of preparing coffee that is still popular in the area today. Spices like clove, cinnamon, anise, and cardamom were added to flavor the coffee. People typically have strong feelings towards flavored coffee; they love it or prefer to let the natural flavor of the bean to prevail.

Coffee is typically flavored by adding flavor oils to the beans after roasting and prior to grinding. Flavoring oils are combinations of natural and synthetic flavor chemicals which are created by flavor chemists. There are also liquid flavors which are added to coffee during preparation much like adding cream or sugar. Flavored coffees are generally classified into four categories:

• Spice based flavors – like cinnamon.
• Fruit based flavors – like coconut or raspberry.
• Chocolate based flavors – like chocolate mint.
• Nut based flavors – like vanilla, hazelnut or macadamia nut.
• Cremes – like Irish Creme or French Vanilla.

Specialty Drinks and Preparation

There seems to be a million ways to prepare coffee these days; Dark roast, light roast, espresso (and all its derivatives), regular coffee, with cream and sugar or simply black. Coffee preparation is a topic that’s been the subject of many other articles. However, like all facets of gourmet coffee the theme of choice and variety applies.

Most of the fancy coffee drinks start with espresso, which is just coffee that is brewed a particular way. The beans are finely ground to an almost powder consistency then very hot water is forced through the grinds at high pressure. Some examples of Espresso based coffee drinks are Espresso Macchiato, Espresso Con Panna, Caffé Americano, Cappuccino, Caffé Latté and Caffé Mocha. Specialty coffee drinks are becoming very popular but most people still drink regular coffee optionally adding different amounts of cream or sugar.

Summary

The bottom line is Gourmet Coffee offers today’s selective coffee drinker choice. These choices come in the form of beans farmed around the world, flavored coffees and vast array of specialty drinks and preparation techniques. Some people drink coffee only as a means to an end, to wake up! More and more people are starting to take notice of the flavor. People’s taste evolve, many people start out drinking coffee with lots of cream and sugar and overtime take less or even drink it black. With all the choices available, why not try something new for your next coffee.

Chris Brown is a regular contributor to the The-Best-Coffee-Maker.com and his favorite coffee is an Italian dark roast from a quaint local cafe that roasts its own beans. For information and resources about coffee makers and gourmet coffee visit The-Best-Coffee-Maker.com

Author: Christopher Brown
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Duty tariff