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The Language of Coffee
Next to petroleum, coffee is the most widely traded commodity.
The consumption of coffee is about 400 billion cups a year and is
still growing. Like any other commodity that is popular, coffee has
its share of controversies.
Over the years and in many countries, depending on who rules that
particular country, controversies over coffee had been fomented. It
had been called the drink of the devil, the drink that caused man to
be impotent, an evil brew and many other expletives. Over a cup of
coffee was made literary masterpieces, national testaments and
oratories that has changed the course of history, medical advances,
huge business deals all of which of course were not due to coffee
but are incidental to it.
But a coffee is a coffee. Nothing’s fascinating to it except that
the world loves it.
Like wine, it takes special preparation. Like wine it takes
dedication and specialized processes and cultivation although it is
an antithesis to wine. Wine you see will relax the body and tend to
make the thinking a little more phlegmatic. Not so with coffee.
Coffee sobers rather than intoxicates. Coffee stimulates rather than
dulls the senses. As the famous line says, “ It cheers the spirit
without making one mad.
And like wine, coffee needs blending, brewing and the so many other
preparations that go with excellent drinks. Coffee also has its own
language. To be truly familiar with coffee here are some of its more
famous terms:
Coffee Acidity – Carrot and coffee has almost the same pH. Acidity
in coffee gives it a special liveliness, color and brightness.
Coffee Arabica - Arabica is one of the other types of coffee. The
other is Robusta. Coffee Arabica contains less caffeine, it is
harder to cultivate as it can grow best at altitudes between 3,500
to 7,000 feet, it is superior full bodied taste compared to Robusta
and consequently the more expensive.
Bourbon is a variety of coffees Arabica grown off the coast of
Africa. Its cultivation was not seriously pursued for sometime
because, although it has more character and taste, it does not yield
as well as the other Arabica variety. With the current popularity of
coffee however, its cultivation is again being rejuvenated.
Coffee Blends - Blending coffee is much like an artist making colors
on his palette. Coffee blenders take beans grown from all over the
world, mixes them to craft a taste that is special that cannot be
achieved with coffee of single origin.
Body - Refers to the “feel” of coffee in the mouth. The body of the
coffee could be made light, delicate, thin, syrupy or buttery.
Decaffeinating / Decaf – is a process of reducing the caffeine
content of the coffee beans. Several processes could be applied to
remove the caffeine content. One is through use of chemicals;
another is through the use of different water processes and lastly
the use of carbon dioxide. In all decaffeinating process, the
paramount concern though is to preserve the natural flavor of the
coffee bean.
Coffee Grade - is classifying the beans by its density and its size.
The highest grade is called premium and is sold at a higher price.
Processing - is the separation of the flesh from the coffee bean.
The two types of processing are the dry and washed processing. With
the dry processing, the cherries are spread on the ground to dry in
the sun. It is raked several times each day so that drying is even.
After two to three weeks, the dried flesh is cracked off. Dry
processing produces earthier flavor and a syrupy texture in your
coffee. The washed processing is cutting the skin off the coffee
bean and allowing it to stand so that it ferments until the skin can
be easily washed off with water. The beans are then dried. This kind
of processing preserves the natural flavors in the coffee.
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