Coffee ☕️

 This is an article about the world’s most addictive drug, Caffeine. More importantly where Caffeine is most abundant in, Coffee. Everyday a billion people consumes at least one cup of coffee each day. If we assume that all 1 billion people drink a 500-millilitre cup of coffee every day, then every year, the world consumes around 182 trillion millilitres of Coffee or about 64 million tons of coffee. Making it the second most consumed drink on the planet behind Water and in front of Tea, Orange Juice and Beer. 

I was 10 when I drank my first cup of coffee, in an IKEA by the way, and now I am hooked on it, I’m like a puppet under his rule and I seriously can’t shake this addiction off. I don’t think I can go a week without this drink. So I dedicate this article to the drug that is coffee. 

Chapter 1 - A Brief Introduction to the type of Coffee

There are more than a 100 different species of Coffee but we only domesticate two of the hundreds of coffee. They are called Robusta and Arabica.

-> Robusta makes up about 30% of the World’s Coffee Production. It’s high in caffeine and is way more bitter and can grow between 200-300 metres in altitude. It also the more cheaper type of coffee found in your coffee powder, homemade sachets and more.

-> Arabica is the good type of coffee. It makes up about 70% of the World’s Coffee Production and is less in caffeine, higher in sugar. But Arabica coffee is known for being a pain in the back to grow. It’s sensitive to altitude [can only grow between 800 to 1200 metres] temperature [can only grow between 16-24 degree celsius]. But, Arabica is the expensive type of coffee, used by Starbucks, Coffee Bean, Tim Hortons and is the type you can buy everywhere. 

Chapter 2 - The Coffee Process

Coffee is grown in a few main countries. Indonesia, Brazil, Colombia and more. Coffee starts off as a plant before it takes approximately 3-4 years to grow before the beans can be harvested. Then the beans, are picked, roasted, grind before its shipped to various countries where coffee is then brewed to be sipped into your mouth. The entire process takes roughly 5 years from the planting of a coffee seed to the brewed liquid essence of coffee is poured into your mouth. 

Chapter 3 - Naming Coffee

Today there are over 50 types of Coffee, the most common are Black Coffee (coffee and coffee), Latte (coffee and milk), Espresso (a shot of coffee), Americano (coffee and water),   Cappuccino (coffee, milk and too much foam), Frappuccino (coffee, milk and too much sugar), Mocha (coffee and chocolate) and finally add Iced Coffee (coffee and ice).

Notice that most of the names of coffee are Italian, yup. While coffee does not originate in Italy, it was where coffee really blew and grew in size. All coffee names (except coffee itself) is from Italy. The following are some translations to coffee.

Italian - English  

Latte - Milk

Espresso - Pressed Coffee

Doppio - Double (Double shot Espresso)

Ristretto - Restricted (Because of the concentration of black coffee)

Cappuccino - Hood (The foam on the top acts like a hood on a jacket)

There are obviously some exceptions including Mocha which takes its name from a port in Yemen and the usual Black and White Coffee is English and there’s the exception of Americano. There is no official story of how it came to be but the story goes that during the Second World War, when American soldiers and G.I. landed in Italy, they diluted their coffee as it was too strong.

Chapter 4 - Coffee and the World

To simplify the story, let’s begin in the mid 1600s. Coffee had spread from it’s possible origin in Yemen and Sudan and up into Arabia where the name Arabica probably originates from, then it spread west to Europe and east to Asia. And before long, a new corner shop emerged in different parts of Europe. The creation of the Cafe, where old and wealthy Europeans lounged at while reading the paper. Before long came the colonial period, and the Dutch eventually popped on a ship and sailed to Indonesia where it began exporting coffee in 1711. 

Then came America, the Brits brought coffee and a lot of other stuff to America and after they were kicked out, America took coffee as demand increased. Meanwhile, the rest of America was exporting coffee as well. First, Haiti which began coffee production in the 1720s and then Brazil in 1727 and then Colombia a few years later. This grew coffee production and soon, most coffee was imported from South America. 

Let’s fast forward to the civilised world where in 1884, Angelo Moriondo invented and patented the world’s first Espresso Machine before the Steamless Espresso Machine invented a mere 54 years later. Which brings us to the new world coffee. 

Chapter 5 - Coffee in the New World

In 1907, George C. L. Washington (Not the President), a Belgian Inventor, invented the world’s first Instant Coffee. For the first time, an addict like you could pour hot water into coffee powder and then magic before you get your nicely brewed coffee. This followed with the first modern coffee brand, Nescafe (parent company Nestle) Founded in 1938, it became the world’s largest coffee powder producer. Then in 1947, coffee vending machine was created and while its no longer popular as it was before, it still is an important invention in the coffee universe. This is where the script cuts to a small shop in Seattle, USA. Where the story of the largest coffee brand on the face of the Earth begins…

Starbucks was founded in 1971 and has grown to become one of the most successful companies in the World. In just 50 years, it now has a net revenue of $26 Billion. Starbucks was the world’s first coffee chain and spread coffee to 83 countries to date. While expensive, the experience is worthwhile and thousands flock to Starbucks every day for their daily cup of coffee. And while I can nag about Starbucks for half of this article, let me direct you to The Starbucks Experience, a book by Joseph Mitchelli all on Starbucks and the 5 principles it follows. The link to buy the book is here. 

But then came the return of Nestle, Nespresso. Founded in 1986, for the first time, you could get an electric espresso machine drilled into your house that can deliver that brewed coffee in minutes. Coffee also came with a green premium and so the capsules that you slot into your machine could now be recycled and reproduced. 

Chapter 6 - Health Effects of Coffee

We’ve talked about Consumption, History, Production. But we are missing the most important component, why people drink coffee in the first place? Coffee increases attention span and I’m seriously saying, decreases your chances of getting Diabetes, Cancer, Liver Disease, Parkinson’s Disease and also improves Digestion and Mental Health. In an experiment conducted, participants who drank coffee had increased attention span from 57 minutes to 73 minutes. This and all the other health benefits is one of the many reason why Coffee is so nice and so good to the health. 

Everyday a billion people consumes at least one cup of coffee each day. And the World just can’t get enough of this drug. Hell, we can’t unplug, the world is nothing without starting with a cup of Coffee. 

Chapter 7 - Global Warming and the Coffee Crisis

Alas, the world would suck without coffee, it fuels the lives of millions and it runs in our blood. But not everything in the world is good. As mentioned, Arabica coffee beans (the good one) is extremely sensitive to its natural environment. And this isn’t helpful because Climate Change. With temperatures increasing, coffee farmers now have to move up to a higher altitude because of the hot air. Some of these thousands of farmers were raised by coffee and now they have to rely on other farmable crops. 

Experts and Scientists conclude that by 2050, half of all fertile coffee land will be gone. And as Global Warming gobbles the world up, it looks like Coffee will go with it. 

“A day without coffee is a wasted one”

Happy Reading!

Approved by the International Coffee Code 2021 - Farren’s Opinion Corner