Gourmet Coffees

Doctors say coffee is actually not bad at all.

For years, we've heard mostly negative health myths associated with drinking coffee. But recently, more and more doctors have found good reasons for having another cup of joe.

According to information publishished by Harvard Medical School, "Current research reveals that in moderation—a few cups a day—coffee is a safe beverage that may even offer some health benefits."

"The latest research has not only confirmed that moderate coffee consumption doesn't cause harm, it's also uncovered possible benefits. Studies show that the risk for type 2 diabetes is lower among regular coffee drinkers than among those who don't drink it. Also, coffee may reduce the risk of developing gallstones, discourage the development of colon cancer, improve cognitive function, reduce the risk of liver damage in people at high risk for liver disease, and reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease. Coffee has also been shown to improve endurance performance in long-duration physical activities." Read full article.

There are two major types of coffee beans species but for coffee connoisseurs only the Arabica beans qualify as Specialty Coffee or Specialty Gourmet Coffee. Arabica beans are the only ones to be drunk on there own, unblended.

All of the Costa Rican coffees from Tarrazu are designated specialty gourmet Arabica beans.

Guatemala City According to preliminary estimates from the Guatemalan National Coffee Association, Anacafe, damages to coffee plants due to Hurricane Stan could amount to some 80,000 60-kilo bags (about 2.37% of the crop) or $10.6 million.

The president of Anacafe, Jose Angel Lopez told daily La Prensa Libre that the worse damages were reported in the departments of San Marcos, Retalhuleu, Quetzaltenango, Sololá and Suchitepéquez. He added that losses could reach $26.5 million (about 6% of the crop) if plantations and infrastructure are not rehabilitated soon.

This is a another setback for the gourmet coffee industry. The Guatemala coffee is very similar in taste and charactrer to the Costa Rica coffee.

The executive director, Nestor Osorio, said he saw no signs of any probable increase in production during the current season from any country. This seems a little odd given that many producers are expected to produce more this season compared with last. However, we concede the increases will be marginal and certainly will not make up for the slump in production from Brazil and Vietnam. He also said that prices had dropped during September because of fund long liquidation because of increased activity in the Petroleum markets. Although it is true that the funds were very active in the energy markets it is highly unlikely they would need to liquidate positions in one market to fund another. Like many Osorio has been surprised by the markets recent weakness and seems to be trying to talk levels higher. It does look as if his next report could be more positive.

Bloomberg News: Nestle SA, the world's largest buyer of green coffee, will start selling a brand of "fair-trade" coffee in the United Kingdom to grab a share of one of the industry's fastest-growing markets.

Nescafe Partners Blend instant coffee will debut in mid-October, Nestle's U.K. unit said.

Switzerland-based Nestle is introducing fair-trade coffee -- which guarantees growers a minimum price for their crops -- as more consumers seek out such products on store shelves.

U.K. sales of fair-trade coffee are rising almost 20 percent annually, compared with a yearly drop of 1 percent for instant coffee, according to figures cited by Cafedirect, a British seller of fair-trade coffee.

"This is a step in the right direction for Nestle, albeit a small one," said Amy Barry, a spokeswoman on trade for Oxfam. The U.K.-based aid agency helped found Cafedirect.

The Partners' Blend coffee will be made from Arabica beans bought from farmers in El Salvador, Nestle said.

Surpised it took the U.K. to wait so long to join the Fair Trade Coffee band wagon.

Coffee bean prices are set to rise, but this is one price spike you can't blame solely on Hurricane Katrina. Industry analysts have been warning for months that shortages caused by production slowdowns in Latin America would hike prices for your morning java, not to mention that afternoon frappucino. Read Full Story

Coffee futures are subdued after post-Hurricane Katrina price spikes, with ongoing stability probable after reports that 700,000 bags of coffee beans stored in New Orleans warehouses were left undamaged by the hurricane. Read Full Story

Rwanda is best known for the 1994 genocide in which 800,000 people were slaughtered during fighting between Hutu tribesmen and their Tutsi rivals. Coffee, one of the country's biggest exports, was also a casualty of that massacre. For Michigan State University professor Dan Clay, a specialist in Third World agricultural development, rebuilding Rwanda's coffee industry proved a double-edged challenge: how to get the industry on its feet yet avoid the commodity trap that dooms many farmers to subsistence living in a world where coffee is abundant.Read Full Story

According to legend coffee history began with an Arabian goatherd named Kaldi found his goats dancing joyously around a dark green leafed shrub with bright red cherries in the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Kaldi soon determined that it was the bright red cherries on the shrub that were causing the peculiar euphoria and after trying the cherries himself, he learned of their powerful effect. The stimulating effect was then exploited by monks at a local monastery to stay awake during extended hours of prayer and distributed to other monasteries around the world. Coffee was born.

Despite the appeal of such a legend, recent botanical evidence indicates that Coffea arabica originated on the plateaus of central Ethiopia and some how must have been brought to Yemen where it was cultivated since the 6th century. Upon introduction of the first coffee houses in Cairo and Mecca coffee became a passion rather than just a stimulant.

The coffee plant belongs to the Rubiaceae family. It has a main vertical trunk (orthotropic) and primary, secondary, and tertiary horizontal branches (plagiotropic). Two main species of coffee are cultivated today. Coffea arabica known as Arabica coffee accounts for 75-80% of the world's production. Coffea canephora, known as Robusta coffee, is more robust than the Arabica plants, but produces an inferior tasting beverage with a higher caffeine content.

The coffee plant can grow to heights of 10 meters if not pruned, but producing countries will maintain the coffee at a height reasonable for easy harvesting.

Specialty coffee is one of the finer things in life meant to be enjoyed as a reward for your hard word and earnings. It's rich taste is a treat from the ordinary and far above the average coffee.

The coffee market in New Orleans is grinding its way back to life, but it could take weeks before inspectors and insurers determine the extent of the damage to the coffee beans stored in this hurricane-ravaged city, market sources say.

Katrina and Rita -- two powerful hurricanes -- slammed into the U.S. Gulf Coast less than a month apart, leaving death and destruction in their wakes. Katrina struck on Aug. 29 and the smaller Rita plowed into the region on Sept. 24. Read full article.

Coffee in New York soared 7 percent, the most since November, as the second hurricane in less than a month threatened to damage inventories in New Orleans. The price fluctuation was the biggest of any commodity today. Read full article.

"Parts is parts" said Clara from the old Wendy's commercial. Well a Kona Blend is not Kona Coffee. That same goes for every single origin coffee. Here is an article where one of the scamers got caught.

"When consumers see a package saying Kona blend, they think this is a blend of Kona coffees from the gently sloping hillsides of Hawaii. Nothing could be further from the truth and nothing more disparaging to coffee growers of Kona," said Mark Zuckerman of Pasqua Coffee. Read full article

Make sure your Kona Coffee is 100% pure .

A battle for coffee drinkers' consciences is about to begin with the launch of a rival to the Fairtrade label. Now that nearly half of shoppers consider the ethical dimension of goods, competition for the moral high ground is big business.

The Rainforest Alliance certificate
Fair trade coffee's big selling point is that it offers small coffee farmers in the developing world a guaranteed price for their beans if commodity prices fall below $1.26 (68p) a pound.

Its competitor, Rainforest Alliance Certified, guarantees that coffee is produced in a way that preserves the forest and its wildlife and ensures that workers, who are often temporary, enjoy good working conditions, housing and pay. It pays a premium of a few pence a pound. Read full article.

Roasting coffee beans is considered an art, as the roaster needs to determine when the process has brought the beans to their peak of flavor. Read this article for more information on Roasted Coffee Beans.

The best burr coffee grinder on the market is the Cusinart Supreme Grind Automatic Burr Mill. This elegant burr coffee grinder with brushed stainless steel has a container to store your beans at the top. Get more details about this burr coffee grinder.

Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee is an extraordinary coffee is grown in the majestic Blue Mountain range in Jamaica reaching approximately 7,402 feet at the highest peak, thus making it is one of the highest grown coffees in the world.

Like anything else in life there is bad, just okay and then there is perfect. To get to perfection you really need the knowledge on how to do it and the motivation. See the perfect cup of coffee for the recipe to get you enjoying your gourmet coffee.

The country supplies one-third of the world`s coffee, with exports totaling 26.4 million 60-kilo bags worth $2 billion last year -- twice as much as its nearest rival, Vietnam. But nearly 90% of Brazil`s coffee is exported as green beans, while much of the rest is processed into instant coffee. Neither is much known for its quality. "Brazil has always been an exporter of quantity rather than quality," says Glauco Carvalho of Embrapa, an agricultural research company in Campinas. That`s starting to change. The first step was the abolition in 1992 of a government agency that bought up farmers` coffee beans regardless of how they tasted. Since then, Brazilian producers have competed in the open market, forcing them to pay more attention to quality.

Nowadays, specialty Brazilian coffees sold at online auctions can fetch more than $1`000 a bag, compared with a Brazilian average of $100. Ipanema Coffees, a small specialty producer, sells its Brazil Ipanema Bourbon brand coffee through Starbucks Corp.`s chain. By roasting and blending coffee rather than exporting it raw, these companies keep for themselves the added value that usually goes to foreign roasters. They are still a tiny part of the industry, but they are growing year by year.

Café Bom Dia is one of the few Brazilian companies active in every stage of the production chain, from growing to roasting, blending, and packing. The company says exports of roast coffee are set to reach $20 million this year -- a four-fold increase over 2004. The company supplies Royal Ahold and Carrefour, among others. Café Bom Dia is quickly building a following stateside. Its exports to the U.S. are now running as high as $2 million per month. The company sells its Marques de Paiva brand of coffees, including an organic variety, through Wal-Mart Stores Inc.`s Sam`s Club chain and other retailers.

Food & Wine Magazine recently conducted a national taste test of gourmet coffees across the country and rates Volcanica Coffee as one of their "Best Boutique Roasters." Their favorite coffee was the Gran Reserve Kona Coffee. We are extremely proud of this designation by a major magazine.

Many thanks to the staff at Volcanica for their dedication and for maintain the high standards that been recognized. See the ratings at Food & Wine Magazine. The entire article appears in the March issue.

Drinking hot beverages at work can help workers be more productive according to a new survey released by the National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA). The research indicates 79% of employed U.S. adults with access to office hot beverage service at work report that they are more productive and 63% view coffee as a good way for people to get some energy, according to NAMA VP of Membership Services and Coffee Service Dean Gilland. Said Gilland, "This research suggests that companies that make an investment in the coffee they serve their employees pays off in terms of more productive workers.

The study also suggests that employees appreciate the convenience and free or low cost service as well. Companies that don`t already offer coffee service now have documented evidence that the investment will help them increase the productivity of their workforce." Added Gilland, "In addition to workers with access to coffee at work who say they are more productive, the study found that, on average, going outside of the office to get coffee takes almost three times longer than it does to get a cup of coffee from their office hot beverage service. That figure alone should be a wake up call to companies who don`t provide this valuable benefit to their employees."

The study was conducted online, by Harris Interactive® among 3`232 U.S. adults 18 years of age or older, from September 9 through 20, 2005 and included interviews with 534 consumers who are employed full or part time and have a hot beverage service in their office. The study was conducted to help NAMA better understand the coffee drinking environment and coffee services consumer.

Good news for yhou coffee drinkers! A new study has revealed that caffeine is good for something after all. It may help modulate short-term working memory.

There is good news for all coffee addicts who are concerned about the ill effects that it may have, as now a study has revealed that your favourite brew may after all have some good, for caffeine modulates short-term working memory.

“We were able to show that caffeine modulates a higher brain function through its effects on distinct areas of the brain,” the paper's lead author, Florian Koppelstdtter, M.D., Ph.D., radiology fellow at Medical University Innsbruck in Austria, was quoted as saying.

Dr. Koppelstdtter and colleagues used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to determine the effects of caffeine consumption on brain activation in a network of modules sub serving short-term memory of 15 healthy adult volunteers during a working memory task. Read the full article.

Brazil accounted for 30% of total world shipments of coffee in the accumulated from January to November, 2005. In the period, Brazil exported 23.680 million bags, practically the same volume of the same period in 2004, which was 23.662 million bags. The data is from the International Coffee Organization (ICO). In the comparison with the 2004/2005 closed season (July to June), Brazil has lost market share, since it closed the period with 31% of thetotal world exports.

Total world exports from January to November, 2005 were 79.711 million bags, against 82.358 million bags in the same period in 2004, in other words, down by 3% in the comparative.

Vietnam has the second largest share of shipments (16%), and Colombia is in third with 12%.

During the Kona Coffee Council's 20-year history, elections for its board of directors typically have been low-key affairs in which there often were just enough people running to fill the vacant seats. But this year's election and its aftermath have some members steamed.

As the Big Island trade association's newboardprepares for its first meeting today, some members are crying foul, saying the election was swayed by candidates who used questionable -- but completely legal -- tactics to vault themselves into power. And some say this could have significant consequences for coffee producers and consumers.

Only pure Kona coffee can be labeled 100 percent Kona. Read the full article.