Green Coffee Philosophy: Our GreenCoffee.Org Story

Green Coffee Philosophy: Our GreenCoffee.Org Story

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GreenCoffee.org offers everything related to making available the powerful health components and nutritional values of raw green coffee beans, including extracts and supplements. The company believes that pure green coffee bean extract and coffee berry fruit will change the way people view coffee. Its goal is to support the natural health movement by promoting the powerful health benefits inherent in green coffee.

With site contributors and coffee enthusiasts spread around various parts of the world, we aim to bring you the raw essence and health power of the coffee berry-cherry super-fruit. We plan to showcase, innovate, and shed light about GREEN COFFEE as our promise and commitment is to provide quality information and scientific health facts about the healing properties contained with healthy pure green coffee beans/seeds.

HISTORY OF INSTANT COFFEE

HISTORY OF INSTANT COFFEE
A Timeline of the Discovery and Advances in Instant (Soluble) Coffee 1771 - The first “instant coffee” is made in Britain. Referred to as a “coffee compound” it was granted a patent by the British government. 1853 – The first American instant coffee product is created. During the Civil War experimental “cakes” of instant coffee are given to soldiers. 1901 – A Japanese man named Dr. Sartori Kato, who is a chemist in Chicago, Illinois, develops the first successful method of creating a stable soluble coffee powder, or instant coffee – just add water! Kato initially develops the technique  to make instant tea, and then applies it to coffee. In 1903 he gets a patent for the method. 1909 - For the first time, instant coffee is mass produced. This occurs in America and is done by an American inventor who immigrated from Belgium. His name is George Constant Louis Washington (1871-1946), and he makes the product after seeing, when he was in Guatemala, coffee powder that had deposited on the spout of a silver coffee pot. Though Washington receives a patent for what will be come the first mass-produced instant coffee, many considered the taste quite unsatisfactory. Washington names it Red E Coffee and begins marketing it in 1909. An American soldier writes this letter from the trenches: “I am very happy despite the rats, the rain, the mud, the draughts [sic], the roar of the cannon and the scream of shells. It takes only a minute to light my little oil heater and make some George Washington Coffee…Every night I offer up a special petition to the health and well-being of Mr. Washington.” 1914-1918 – Instant coffee becomes widely popular, particularly with the U.S. military as they buy all available supplies. During World War I the soldiers call it a “cup of George.” When the troops return home they continue to desire the product. 1930 – The Brazilian Coffee Institute asks the chairman of the Nestles company to create a flavorful soluble coffee product (e.g., “instant coffee”) to help Brazil deal with its abundant coffee surplus, and also possibly increase overall coffee sales. Some liquid and crystallized coffee products are available at this time but their flavors are considered very inferior. Nestle begins several years of intense research to solve the problems. 1937 – Nestle scientist Max Morgenthaler develops a new instant coffee making technique at Nestle’s Switzerland research center laboratory. The new product is named Nescafe, which comes from combining Nestle and cafe. 1938, April 1 - Nestle begins selling Nescafe in Switzerland, and also in 1938 they begin making it at their London factory. Their new instant coffee process involves drying equal amounts of coffee extract and soluble carbohydrates, and the technique produces a better tasting instant coffee which quickly becomes a popular product. The U.S. military becomes a major buyer. 1939-1945 – During World War II instant coffee is very popular with the soldiers. Nescafe and other brands of instant coffee supply large quantities to a growing market. During one year of the war the U.S. military buys more than one million cases of Nescafe – their entire annual output of Nestle’s U.S. plant. 1943 - George Constant Washington’s company is sold to American Home Products shortly before Washington passes away. The George Washington coffee brand continues until 1961, but George Washington Seasoning & Broth is still for sale today. 1950s - Coffee is the favorite beverage of teenagers listening to rock and roll at coffeehouses. Nestle introduces their new Blend 37 in 1955, providing a “continental taste.” 1954 – Nescafe develops a method to produce instant coffee using only coffee, having previously added carbohydrates for stabilization. The following year they introduce Nescafe Blend 37. 1960s - A better looking instant coffee is developed using a process called agglomeration, which involves steaming the instant coffee particles to get them to stick together in clumps. Unfortunately the second heating/drying cycle further hinders the coffee’s flavor. As the method improves, freeze-drying becomes the preferred method of making instant coffee. By espressocoffeeguide.com

COFFEE — THE WINE OF ISLAM

Most modern coffee-drinkers are probably unaware of coffees heritage in the Sufi orders of Southern Arabia. Members of the Shadhiliyya order are said to have spread coffee-drinking throughout the Islamic world sometime between the 13th and 15th centuries CE. A Shadhiliyya shaikh was introduced to coffee-drinking in Ethiopia, where the native highland bush, its fruit and the beverage made from it were known as bun. It is possible, though uncertain, that this Sufi was Abul Hasan Ali ibn Umar, who resided for a time at the court of Sadaddin II, a sultan of Southern Ethiopia. Ali ibn Umar subsequently returned to the Yemen with the knowledge that the berries were not only edible, but promoted wakefulness. To this day the shaikh is regarded as the patron saint of coffee-growers, coffee-house proprietors and coffee-drinkers, and in Algeria coffee is sometimes called shadhiliyye in his honor.

The beverage became known as qahwa — a term formerly applied to wine — and ultimately, to Europeans, as "The Wine of Islam." It became popular among the Sufis to boil up the grounds and drink the brew to help them stay awake during their night dhikr. (Roasting the beans was a later improvement developed by the Persians.)

The Shadhili Abu Bakr ibn AbdAllah al-Aydarus was impressed enough by its effects that he composed a qasida (poem) in honor of the drink. Coffee-drinkers even coined their own term for the euphoria it produced — marqaha. The mystic and theologian Shaikh ibn Ismail Ba Alawi of Al-Shihr stated that the use of coffee, when imbibed with prayerful intent and devotion, could lead to the experience of qahwa manawiyya ("the ideal qahwa") and qahwat al-Sufiyya, interchangeable terms defined as "the enjoyment which the people of God feel in beholding the hidden mysteries and attaining the wonderful disclosures and the great revelations."

The Shadiliyya dervishes were active in the world; it is said that Shaikh Abul Hasan ash-Shadhili, the founder of the order, was reluctant to take on a student who did not already have a profession. It soon became apparent that coffees benefits could be extended to the workday and the local economy as well. The southern Arabian climate was ideal for coffee cultivation, and the ports of Yemen, particularly the port of Mocha, became the worlds primary exporters of coffee.

Coffees use spread to Mecca, where, according to an early Arab historian,

It was drunk in the Sacred Mosque itself, so that there was scarcely a dhikr or mawlid where coffee was not present.

Jaziri

By way of pilgrims, traders, students and travelers, coffee spread throughout the Islamic world. Al-Azhar became an early center of coffee-drinking, and a certain amount of ceremony began to surround it. One 16th century writer describes dervish meetings in Cairo:

They drank coffee every Monday and Friday eve, putting it in a large vessel made of red clay. Their leader ladled it out with a small dipper and gave it to them to drink, passing it to the right, while they recited one of their usual formulas, mostly "La illaha ilAllah..."

Ibn Abd al-Ghaffar

Another early Yemeni Sufi devotional ritual involved coffee-drinking accompanied by recitation of a ratib, the invocation 116 times of the divine name Ya Qawi, "O Possessor of All Strength!" — a prayerful and witty juxtaposition of sound and sense.

Over time, coffee even acquired an angelic reputation: according to one Persian legend, it was first served to a sleepy Muhammad by the Angel Gabriel. In another story, King Solomon was said to have entered a town whose inhabitants were suffering a mysterious disease; on Gabriels command, he prepared a brew of roasted coffee beans, and thereby cured the townspeople.

By the early 16th century CE coffee-drinking moved to the secular sphere, and a new institution evolved which transformed social life throughout the Islamic world. Coffee-houses supplied more than beans — they had the needed equipment, the expertise to prepare the brew, and a convivial milieu in which to enjoy it. Ahmet Pasha, the governor of Egypt during the late 16th century CE, actually built coffeehouses as a public works project, thereby garnering great political popularity. In the mid-seventeenth century two Syrian businessmen, Hakm and Shams, introduced coffee to Istanbul, established the citys first coffeehouses, made a fortune in the process, and established a new and profitable arena of economic activity. Evliya Efendi wrote of the coffee-merchants of Constantinople:

The Merchants of coffee are three hundred men and shops. They are great and rich merchants, protected by Shaikh Shadhili, who was girded by Weis-ul-karani with the Prophets leave.

Evliya Efendi

Throughout the first few centuries of its history in the Islamic world, coffees popularity engendered great controversy. Many were suspicious of the effects of caffeine and the gatherings in which it was consumed — they seemed debauched to some and subversive to others. Coffeehouses competed with mosques for attendance, and as unsupervised gathering places for wits and learned men, provided spawning grounds for sedition. The wags of Istanbul jokingly called the coffeehouses mekteb-i irfan, "schools of knowledge." Efforts were launched, and persisted for at least a hundred years, to declare coffee an intoxicant forbidden by Islamic law.

...As to the coffee it is an innovation, which curtails sleep and the generating power in man. Coffee-houses are houses of confusion. Coffee has been by law declared illicit in the great collections of fetwas (legal injunctions) wherein every thing that is burnt is declared to be illegal food.

Evliya Efendi

During Ramadan in 1539 CE Cairos coffeehouses were raided and closed, although only for a few days. Soon after coffeehouses achieved popularity in Constantinople, Sultan Murat IV closed them all; they were to remain dark until the last part of the century. But as soon as the Sultans edict went into effect, the coffeehouse patrons, their money and their social life, went elsewhere:

In Brussa there are seventy five coffeehouses frequented by the most elegant and learned of the inhabitants. All coffeehouses, particularly those near the great mosque, abound with men skilled in a thousand arts... These became famous only since those of Constantinople were closed by the express command of Sultan Murat IV.

Evliya Efendi

The moralists fought a losing battle, for they were opposed by well-educated coffee-drinkers from the highest ranks of the religious and political hierarchy who did not look fondly upon innovative legal prohibitions. The "tavern without wine" offered a respectable gathering place for men to socialize and entertain away from home. Business was especially brisk during Ramadan, when proprietors made extra efforts to draw crowds with storytellers and puppet shows.

Despite coffees eventual secularization, the fondness for it in Sufi circles and the motives for its use were not lost. Helveti dervishes were among those who enthusiastically drank coffee to promote the stamina needed for extended dhikr ceremonies and retreats. Once coffee was readily available throughout the Ottoman Empire, it became a fixture of daily life in the Helveti dergahs, and a legend was born that linked the beneficial effects of a miraculous spring to a morning cup of brew:

Mosslahuddin Mergez, the head of the Dervishes Khalveti... once said to his fakirs, "I heard here underneath the ground a voice saying: "O Sheikh! I am a spring of reddish water imprisoned in this place for seven thousand years, and am destined to come to the surface of the earth by thy endeavor as a remedy against fever. Endeavor then to release me from my subterraneous prison." Upon this speech all his fakirs began to dig a well with him, and forth rushed a sweet water of a reddish color, which if drank in the morning with coffee, is a proved remedy against fever, known all over the world by the name of the Ajasma of Mergez.

Evliya Efendi

In Persia, coffeehouses evolved into hotbeds of lasciviousness and political dispute soon after they were introduced. Shah Abbas I responded to this situation by installing a mullah in the leading Isfahan establishment; he would arrive early in the morning, hold forth on topics of religion, history, law and poetry, then encourage those assembled there to be off to their work. A pious ambience was thereby promoted, an example was set for other coffeehouses, and a potentially volatile social milieu was somewhat controlled. Poets and mystics occasionally took up permanent residence; for example, Molla Ghorur of Shiraz settled in Isfahan in his old age and established himself at a coffeehouse, which soon became a gathering place for those seeking spiritual guidance.

The 17th Century French traveler Jean Chardin gave a lively description of the Persian coffeehouse scene:

People engage in conversation, for it is there that news is communicated and where those interested in politics criticize the government in all freedom and without being fearful, since the government does not heed what the people say. Innocent games... resembling checkers, hopscotch, and chess, are played. In addition, mollas, dervishes, and poets take turns telling stories in verse or in prose. The narrations by the mollas and the dervishes are moral lessons, like our sermons, but it is not considered scandalous not to pay attention to them. No one is forced to give up his game or his conversation because of it. A molla will stand up in the middle, or at one end of the qahveh-khaneh, and begin to preach in a loud voice, or a dervish enters all of a sudden, and chastises the assembled on the vanity of the world and its material goods. It often happens that two or three people talk at the same time, one on one side, the other on the opposite, and sometimes one will be a preacher and the other a storyteller.

Jean Chardin

In private valises, coffee reached Venice in 1615, Marseilles in 1644, and London in 1651; but it did not make its official debut into European high society until 1669, when it was introduced to Parisians by the Turkish ambassador, Suleyman Mustapha Koca. By the end of the century coffee was fashionable throughout Europe, and its cultivation and use subsequently spread to North and South America. Wherever it has been introduced it has become a symbol of hospitality and a vehicle of sociability. The current resurgence in popularity of the coffeehouse is undoubtedly a response to the aggressive marketing efforts of coffee producers and enterprising restaurateurs. It may also contain a longing for the sort of companionship the Shadhiliyya dervishes enjoyed six hundred years ago, as they gathered to remember Allah and passed the cup from hand to hand.

By superluminal.com

CANCER

CANCER
Cancer - Summary - Cancer in Europe - Coffee consumption and cancers of the digestive tract - Coffee consumption and bladder, kidney and prostate cancers - Coffee consumption and breast, ovarian and endometrial cancers - Coffee consumption and cancers at other sites - Mode of coffee preparation - Conclusion - References Summary Current scientific evidence suggests that moderate coffee drinking is not associated with an increased risk of cancer at the majority of body sites. Coffee drinking is not linked to an increased risk of oesophageal, stomach, pancreatic, kidney, prostate, skin, ovarian or breast cancer. Research results also suggest that coffee consumption may be linked to a reduced risk of developing cancer at a number of body sites, including the oral cavity/pharynx, liver, endometrium, brain, colon and rectum. More research is needed to clarify these associations. A possible association has been shown between coffee consumption and bladder and lung cancer risk. However, in both cases, potential confounding factors such as smoking and alcohol consumption remain, and further studies are needed to confirm the association. Cancer in Europe The scale of the issue Cancer causes 20% of deaths in Europe each year[1]. With more than 3 million new cases and 1.7 million deaths annually, cancer is the most important cause of death and morbidity in Europe after cardiovascular diseases[1]. The most common cancers in Europe in 2008 were bowel, breast, lung and prostate which together accounted for nearly 50% of all cancer cases[2]. Lifestyle, diet and cancer risk Tobacco use is a major factor in the development of cancer, as are harmful alcohol use, poor diet and physical inactivity[3]. There has been an ongoing debate about the relationship between coffee consumption and cancer since the early 1970s, following a publication stating that coffee was positively associated with cancer[4]. Since then, over 500 epidemiologic studies worldwide have been devoted to looking at the potential link between coffee drinking and the risk of developing cancer. Coffee consumption and cancers of the digestive tract No evidence for an effect of coffee on cancer of the oesophagus or stomach Two recent large literature surveys, covering studies from Europe, North America and Asia reported an unchanged[5], or reduced, risk of oesophageal cancer with the consumption of 3 or more cups of coffee a day[6]. Another large review in 2006 found no association between coffee consumption and the risk of developing stomach cancer[7]. Moderate coffee consumption linked to reduced risk of cancers of the mouth and throat In a review of observational studies published over a 20 year period[8], overall there appeared to be a 36% reduction in risk for cancers of the oral cavity/pharynx in those drinking between 3-5 cups of coffee a day versus those drinking less than 1 cup a day. There was, however, no relationship between coffee consumption and laryngeal cancer. A further large review of the literature confirmed that coffee consumption is linked to a lower risk of buccal and pharyngeal cancer[5]. Moderate coffee consumption linked to reduced risk of liver cancer Liver Function Topic Overview Four meta-analyses[5, 9-11] have reported a reduction in the risk of developing liver cancer with coffee consumption. This reduction reached an overall level of 30% in coffee drinkers versus non-coffee drinkers with reductions as high as 55% in heavy coffee consumers. Among a group at higher risk of developing liver cancer – chronic Hepatitis B virus carriers, moderate coffee drinkers appear to be at a lower risk of developing liver cancer than those who do not drink coffee[12]. Coffee consumption also appears to reduce the risk of Hepatitis C evolving to cancer by 22% for each cup of coffee consumed per day[13], with a further reduction in disease progression of 62% in those consuming at least 3 cups a day. Moderate coffee consumption not linked to higher risk of pancreatic cancer Despite the positive results of studies looking at coffee consumption and pancreatic cancer in 1970 and 1981, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) now considers the evidence inadequate and attributes the results to confounding factors, including smoking[9]. More recently, the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), in a report reviewing over 50 studies[11], found no increase in risk of developing pancreatic cancer with coffee consumption. Since then, further studies, including four meta-analyses, have confirmed the absence of a relationship between moderate coffee consumption and increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer[5, 14-17]. Some, but not all, of these most recent studies suggest that regular coffee drinking is linked to a lower risk of developing pancreatic cancer[5,14,15]. Moderate coffee consumption linked to reduced risk of colorectal cancer Four large literature reviews, carried out over the last seven years looking at studies from Europe, Japan, the USA and South America, consistently suggest a favourable effect of moderate coffee consumption on colorectal cancer risk[5,18-20]. Regular coffee drinkers appear to be up to 30% less likely to develop the disease than non-coffee drinkers. Further research is needed to confirm this link. Coffee consumption and bladder, kidney and prostate cancers Coffee and bladder cancer: inconclusive evidence Although tobacco use and exposure to aromatic amines are the two main risk factors for bladder cancer, other lifestyle factors are also involved. In 1990, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) considered that there was limited evidence available at that time that coffee drinking was carcinogenic to the human urinary bladder. It classified coffee in Group 2B (possibly carcinogenic to humans). A number of studies since have reported a moderate increase in the risk of bladder cancer with coffee consumption[9]. However, the risk has not been associated with how much coffee has been consumed. or for how long, which suggests that any link between the two is not a straightforward one. Recent evidence also contradicts these earlier findings: those who drink coffee are 18% less likely to develop bladder cancer than those who do not, and this figure increases to 26% in men[9, 11, 21]. A recent, large literature review also suggests that coffee consumption could be linked to a reduced risk of bladder cancer, particularly in men[5]. Therefore the evidence to date is inconclusive. A critical confounding factor is linked to the type of water used to prepare coffee, as chlorinated tap water is thought to increase the risk of bladder cancer, whereas mineral water does not appear to. Another confounder is smoking which usually goes hand in hand with both alcohol and coffee consumption[21]. No association between coffee and kidney cancer The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) identified a total of 23 studies, which all concluded there was no link between coffee consumption and kidney cancer[11]. A further review and another study including around 750,000 participants also found no link[22,23]. Coffee consumption not linked to a higher risk of prostate cancer In 2010, a meta-analysis of studies found no influence of coffee on the risk of developing prostate cancer[24]. Two further, large studies suggest that coffee drinkers are at lower risk of developing prostate cancer than non-coffee drinkers[5, 25]. Coffee consumption and breast, ovarian and endometrial cancers Moderate coffee consumption may reduce risk of breast cancer in pre-menopausal women Research to date has shown that coffee consumption is not linked to an increased risk of breast cancer[5, 26], and no association between coffee consumption and the incidence of breast cancer has been found in post-menopausal women[9-11 ,27, 28]. However, in pre-menopausal women, the consumption of around 4 cups of coffee a day has been associated with a 38% lower risk of breast cancer[9]. This effect seems to be even greater in pre-menopausal women at high risk (because they carry the BRCA1 and BRCA2mutation), as a reduction in risk of 25-70% with daily consumption of 4-6 cups of coffee29has been reported. Studies have also shown an interaction of coffee with another genetic variable related to breast cancer, with a 64% reduction in risk of breast cancer reported in women with a specific genotype* but no effect in women with a different genotype[30]. These studies highlight the potential importance of individual genetic variability on diet-disease associations. * A genotype is the genetic make-up of a cell, an organism or an individual, usually with reference to a specific character under consideration. No effect of coffee on ovarian cancer A recent meta-analysis of studies found no effect of coffee consumption on the development of ovarian cancer[31]. More research is needed to confirm these findings. Moderate coffee consumption may reduce risk of endometrial cancer Coffee drinkers are thought to be 20% less likely to develop endometrial cancer than non-coffee drinkers[32]. Studies show that this effect is even more pronounced in those drinking over 4 cups of coffee a day, where the risk could be up to 49% lower. Further recent studies have all reached the same conclusion, finding a dose-dependent relationship[5, 33-35]. More research is needed to confirm these results. Coffee consumption and cancers at other sites No link between coffee and skin cancer Research does not link coffee consumption with skin cancer. However, a couple of studies suggest that caffeine may protect cancer cells against the harmful effects of UVB radiation. In 2008, a study in mice reported that caffeine added to drinking water, or placed directly onto the skin, induced death of cells damaged by UVB irradiation[36]. In 2009, the same work on human skin cell cultures showed that caffeine doubled the death rate of cells damaged by UVBs, hence potentially decreasing the risk of cancer[37]. Coffee and lung cancer risk: more studies needed A recent review of studies looking at coffee and lung cancer has reported an increased risk of lung cancer in those with a high coffee intake[38]. Individuals reporting an intake of between 5-7 cups daily had a 27% higher risk of developing lung cancer. However, further evidence is required to clarify this association, due to the potential confounding effects of smoking and other factors. Some evidence for lower occurrence of brain tumours in coffee consumers Consumption of at least 5 cups of coffee or tea a day, compared with no tea or coffee, has been associated with a 40% lower risk of brain tumours[39]. This association was not seen with decaffeinated coffee. A European study[40] had similar results, showing a 34% lower risk of developing a brain tumour in individuals drinking more than one cup of tea or coffee a day, compared with those drinking less. More research is needed to clarify the link between coffee and brain tumours. Mode of coffee preparation A recent Swedish study is the first to look at the influence of the method of coffee preparation on cancer risk[41]. It finds that the risk of cancer could vary between drinkers of filtered or boiled coffee. Conclusion To date, approximately 500 studies from America, Europe and Asia have evaluated the potential link between coffee drinking and the risk of developing cancer. They show that moderate coffee drinking does not appear to be associated with an increased risk of developing cancer. They also suggest that, in some cases, moderate coffee consumption may be associated with a lower risk of cancer; however, further studies are needed before any firm conclusions can be drawn. References [1] WHO Europe Cancer http://www.euro.who.int/en/what-we-do/health-topics/noncommunicable-diseases/cancer [2] J. Ferlay, D.M. Parkin, E. Steliarova-Foucher (2010). Estimates of cancer incidence and mortality in Europe in 2008. Eur J Cancer ;46(4):765–81. [3] WHO Cancer Factsheet No 297, February 2011 www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs297/en/ [4] Stocks P (1970). Cancer mortality in relation to national consumption of cigarettes, solid fuel, tea, and coffee. Br J Cancer; 24: 215–225. [5] Yu X, et al (2011). Coffee consumption and risk of cancers: a meta-analysis of cohort studies. BMC Cancer, published online ahead of print. DOI:10.1186/1471-2407-11-96 [6] Islami F, et al (2009). High temperature beverages and foods and oesophageal cancer risk – a systematic review. Int J. cancer; 125: 491-524 [7] Botelho F, et al (2006). Coffee and gastric cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis. Cad Saude Publica; 22: 889-900. [8] Turati F, et al (2010). Coffee and cancers of the upper digestive and respiratory tracts: meta-analyses of observational studies. Ann Oncol; 22(3):536-544. [9] Arab L (2010). Epidemiologic evidence on coffee and cancer. Nutr Cancer;62:271-83. [10] Nkondjock A (2009). Coffee consumption and the risk of cancer: an overview. Cancer Lett.; 277:121-5. [11] WCRF: Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective, 2007. Available from: http://www.dietandcancerreport.org/ [12] Leung WW, et al (2011). Moderate coffee consumption reduces the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in hepatitis B chronic carriers: a case-control study. J Epidemiol Community Health; 65: 556-558. [13] Freedman ND et al (2009). Coffee intake is associated with lower rates of liver disease progression in chronic hepatitis C. Hepatology; 50: 1360-9. [14] Luo J, et al (2007). Green tea and coffee intake and risk of pancreatic cancer in a large-scale, population-based cohort study in Japan (JPHC study). Eur J Cancer Prev; 16: 542-8. [15] Dong J, et al. (2011). Coffee drinking and pancreatic cancer risk: a meta-analysis, World Journal of Gastroenterology, 17(9):1204-10. [16] Turati F, et al (2011). A meta-analysis of coffee consumption and pancreatic cancer, Annals of Oncology, published online ahead of print. DOI: 10.1093/annonc/mdr331 [17] Turati F et al (2011). Coffee, decaffeinated coffee, tea, and pancreatic cancer risk: a pooled-analysis of two Italian case-control studies. Eur J Cancer Prevention; 20(4):287–292. [18] Tavani A, et al (2004). Coffee, decaffeinated coffee, tea and cancer of the colon and rectum: a review of epidemiological studies 1990-2003. Cancer Causes Control; 15: 743-57. [19] Giovannucci E (1998). Meta-analysis of coffee consumption and risk of colorectal cancer. Am J Epidemiol ; 147: 1043–52. [20]Galeone C, et al (2010). Coffee consumption and risk of colorectal cancer: a meta-analysis of case–control studies. Cancer Causes Control;21:1949-59. [21] Pelucchi C, et al (2008). Coffee and alcohol consumption and bladder cancer. Scand J Urol Nephrol;42 (Suppl 218):37-44. [22] Lee JE, et al (2007). Intakes of coffee, tea, milk, soda and juice and renal cell cancer in a pooled analysis of 13 prospective studies. Int J. Cancer; 121: 2246-53. [23] Montella M, et al (2009). Coffee, decaffeinated coffee, tea intake and risk of renal cell cancer. Nutr Cancer; 61: 76-80. [24] Park CH, et al (2010). Coffee consumption and the risk of prostate cancer: a meta-analysis of epidemiological studies. BJU Int.; 106: 762-9. [25] Wilson KM et al (2011). Coffee consumption and prostate cancer risk and progression in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. J Natl Cancer Inst; 103(11):876-84. [26] Fagherazzi G, et al (2011). No association between coffee, tea or caffeine consumption and breast cancer risk in a prospective study. Public Health Nutrition; 14(7):1315-1320. [27] Tang N, et al (2009). Coffee consumption and risk of breast cancer: a meta-analysis. Am J Obstet Gynecol; 200:290.e1-9. [28] Bhoo Pathy N, et al (2010). Coffee and tea intake and risk of breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat; 121:461-7. [29] Nkondjock A, et al (2006). Coffee consumption and breast cancer risk among BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers. Int J Cancer;118:103–7. [30] Kotsopoulos J, et al (2007). The CYP1A2 genotype modifies the association between coffee consumption and breast cancer risk among BRCA1 mutation carriers. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev;16:912–6. [31] Steevens J, et al (2007). Tea and coffee drinking and ovarian cancer risk: results from the Netherlands Cohort Study and a meta-analysis. Br J Cancer; 97 : 1291–4. [32] Bravi F, et al (2009). Coffee drinking and endometrial cancer risk: a meta-analysis of observational studies. Am J Obstet Gyneco ;200:130-5. [33] Bandera EV, et al (2010). Coffee and tea consumption and endometrial cancer risk in a population-based study in New Jersey. Cancer Causes Control;21:1467-73. [34] McCann SE, et al (2009). Higher regular coffee and tea consumption is associated with reduced endometrial cancer risk. Int J Cancer;124:1650-3. [35] Friberg E, et al (2009) . Coffee drinking and risk of endometrial cancer–a population-based cohort study. Int J Cancer;125:2413-7. [36] Lu YP, et al (2008). Effect of caffeine on the ATR/Chk1 pathway in the epidermis of UVB-irradiated mice. Cancer Res; 68 : 2523-9. [37] Heffernan TP, et al (2009). ATR-Chk1 pathway inhibition promotes apoptosis after UV treatment in primary human keratinocytes : potential basis for the UV protective effects of caffeine. J Invest Dermatol; 129 : 1805-15. [38] Tang N, et al (2010). Coffee consumption and risk of lung cancer: a meta-analysis. Lung Cancer;67:17-22. [39] Holick CN, et al (2010). Coffee, tea, caffeine intake, and risk of adult glioma in three prospective cohort studies. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev;19:39-47. [40] Michaud DS, et al (2010). Coffee and tea intake and risk of brain tumors in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort study. Am J Clin Nutr;92:1145-50. [41] Nilsson LM, et al (2010). Consumption of filtered and boiled coffee and the risk of incident cancer: a prospective cohort study. Cancer Causes Control;21:1533-44.

THE HISTORY OF COFFEE

In the Ethiopian highlands, where the legend of Kaldi, the goatherd, originated, coffee trees grow today as they have for centuries. Though we will never know with certainty, there probably is some truth to the Kaldi legend.

It is said that he discovered coffee after noticing that his goats, upon eating berries from a certain tree, became so spirited that they did not want to sleep at night.

Kaldi dutifully reported his findings to the abbot of the local monastery who made a drink with the berries and discovered that it kept him alert for the long hours of evening prayer.  Soon the abbot had shared his discovery with the other monks at the monastery, and ever so slowly knowledge of the energizing effects of the berries began to spread.  As word moved east and coffee reached the Arabian peninsula, it began a journey which would spread its reputation across the globe.

Today coffee is grown in a multitude of countries around the world. Whether it is Asia or Africa, Central or South America, the islands of the Caribbean or Pacific, all can trace their heritage to the trees in the ancient coffee forests on the Ethiopian plateau.

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The Arabian Peninsula

The Arabs were the first, not only to cultivate coffee but also to begin its trade.  By the fifteenth century, coffee was being grown in the Yemeni district of Arabia and by the sixteenth century it was known in Persia, Egypt, Syria and Turkey.

Its popularity was perhaps due, in part, to the fact that Muslims, forbidden alcoholic drink by the Koran, found coffee's energizing properties to be an acceptable substitute.

Coffee was not only drunk in homes but also in the many public coffee houses -- called qahveh khaneh -- which began to appear in cities across the Near East. The popularity of the coffee houses was unequaled and people frequented them for all kinds of social activity. Not only did they drink coffee and engage in conversation, but they also listened to music, watched performers, played chess and kept current on the news of the day.  In fact, they quickly became such an important center for the exchange of information that the coffee houses were often referred to as 'Schools of the Wise.'

With thousands of pilgrims visiting the holy city of Mecca each year from all over the world, word of the 'wine of Araby' as the drink was often called, was beginning to spread far beyond Arabia. In an effort to maintain its complete monopoly in the early coffee trade, the Arabians continued to closely guard their coffee production.

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Coffee Comes to Europe

European travellers to the Near East brought back stories of the unusual dark black beverage. By the 17th century, coffee had made its way to Europe and was becoming popular across the continent. Opponents were overly cautious, calling the beverage the 'bitter invention of Satan.' With the coming of coffee to Venice in 1615, the local clergy condemned it. The controversy was so great that Pope Clement VIII was asked to intervene. Before making a decision however, he decided to taste the beverage for himself. He found the drink so satisfying that he gave it Papal approval.

Despite such controversy, in the major cities of England, Austria, France, Germany and Holland, coffee houses were quickly becoming centers of social activity and communication. In England 'penny universities' sprang up, so called because for the price of a penny one could purchase a cup of coffee and engage in stimulating conversation.  By the mid-17th century, there were over 300 coffee houses in London, many of which attracted patrons with common interests, such as merchants, shippers, brokers and artists.

Many businesses grew out of these specialized coffee houses. Lloyd's of London, for example, came into existence at the Edward Lloyd's Coffee House.

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The New World

In the mid-1600's, coffee was brought to New Amsterdam, a location later called New York by the British.

Though coffee houses rapidly began to appear, tea continued to be the favored drink in the New World until 1773 when the colonists revolted against a heavy tax on tea imposed by King George.  The revolt, known as the Boston Tea Party, would forever change the American drinking preference to coffee.

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Plantations Around the World

As demand for the beverage continued to spread, there was tense competition to cultivate coffee outside of Arabia. Though the Arabs tried hard to maintain their monopoly, the Dutch finally succeeded, in the latter half of the 17th century, to obtain some seedlings. Their first attempts to plant them in India failed but they were successful with their efforts in Batavia, on the island of Java in what is now Indonesia.  The plants thrived and soon the Dutch had a productive and growing trade in coffee. They soon expanded the cultivation of coffee trees to the islands of Sumatra and Celebes.

The Dutch did a curious thing, however.  In 1714, the Mayor of Amsterdam presented a gift of a young coffee plant to King Louis XIV of France. The King ordered it to be planted in the Royal Botanical Garden in Paris. In 1723, a young naval officer, Gabriel de Clieu obtained a seedling from the King's plant. Despite an arduous voyage -- complete with horrendous weather, a saboteur who tried to destroy the seedling and a pirate attack -- he managed to transport it safely to Martinique.  Once planted, the seedling thrived and is credited with the spread of over 18 million coffee trees on the island of Martinique in the next 50 years.  It was also the stock from which coffee trees throughout the Caribbean, South and Central America originated.

Coffee is said to have come to Brazil in the hands of Francisco de Mello Palheta who was sent by the emperor to French Guiana for the purpose of obtaining coffee seedlings. But the French were not willing to share and Palheta was unsuccessful. However, he was said to have been so handsomely engaging that the French Governor's wife was captivated. As a going-away gift, she presented him with a large bouquet of flowers.  Buried inside he found enough coffee seeds to begin what is today a billion-dollar industry.

In only 100 years, coffee had established itself as a commodity crop throughout the world.  Missionaries and travellers, traders and colonists continued to carry coffee seeds to new lands and coffee trees were planted worldwide.  Plantations were established in magnificent tropical forests and on rugged mountain highlands. Some crops flourished, while others were short-lived.  New nation's were established on coffee economies.  Fortunes were made and lost.  And by the end of the 18th century, coffee had become one of the world's most profitable export crops.

WHAT IS COFFEE?

Everyone recognizes a roasted coffee bean but unless you have lived or traveled in a coffee growing country, you might not recognize an actual coffee tree.   Pruned short in cultivation, but capable of growing more than 30 feet high, a coffee tree is covered with dark-green, waxy leaves growing opposite each other in pairs.  Coffee cherries grow along the tree's branches.  It takes nearly a year for a cherry to mature after the flowering of the fragrant, white blossoms.  Because it grows in a continuous cycle, it is not unusual to see flowers, green fruit and ripe fruit simultaneously on a single tree. The trees can live as long as 20 - 30 years and are capable of growing in a wide range of climates, as long as there is no harsh fluctuation in temperature.  Optimally, they prefer a rich soil and mild temperatures, with frequent rain and shaded sun. 

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Botanical Classification

Coffee traces its biological heritage to a genus of plants known as Coffea.  Within the genus there are over 500 genera and 6,000 species of tropical trees and shrubs.  The genus was first described in the 18th century by the Swedish botanist, Carolus Linneaus, who also described Coffea arabica in his Species Plantarum in 1753.  Botanists have disagreed ever since on the exact classification.  This is understandable considering that coffee plants can range from small shrubs to tall trees, with leaves from 1 to 40 centimeters in size, and from purple or yellow, to the predominant dark green, in color. It has been estimated that there are anywhere from 25 to 100 species of coffee plants.

In the commercial coffee industry, there are two important coffee species -- arabica  and canephora, more commonly called robusta.

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Coffea arabica -- C. arabica

Varieties: Bourbon, Typica, Caturra, Mundo Novo, Tico, San Ramon, Jamaican Blue Mountain

Coffea arabica is descended from the original coffee trees discovered in Ethiopia.  These trees produce a fine, mild, aromatic coffee and represent approximately 70 percent of the world's coffee production. On the world market, arabica coffees bring the highest prices.  The better arabicas are high grown coffees -- generally grown between 2,000 to 6,000 feet above sea level -- though optimal altitude varies with proximity to the equator. The important factor is that temperatures must remain mild, neither too hot nor too cold, ideally between 59 - 75 degrees, with about 60 inches of rainfall a year.   The trees are hearty but a heavy frost will kill them.  Arabica trees are costly to cultivate because the terrain tends to be steep and access difficult.  Also, because the trees are more disease prone than robusta, they require additional care and attention. Arabica trees are self pollinating.  The beans are flatter and more elongated than robusta and lower in caffeine

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Coffea canephora -- C. canephora var. robusta

Variety: Robusta

Most of the world's robusta is grown in Central and Western Africa, parts of Southeast Asia, including Indonesia and Vietnam, and in Brazil. Production of robusta is increasing, though it accounts for only about 30 percent of the world market. Genetically, robusta carries fewer chromosomes than arabica and the bean itself tends to be slightly rounder and smaller than an arabica bean.  The robusta tree is heartier, more disease and parasite resistant, which makes it easier and cheaper to cultivate. It also has the advantage of being able to withstand warmer climates, preferring constant temperatures between 75 and 85 degrees, which enables it to grow at far lower altitudes than arabica.  It requires about 60 inches of rainfall a year and cannot withstand a frost. Compared with arabica, robusta beans produce a coffee which has a distinctive taste and about 50-60% more caffeine.  Robusta is primarily used in blends and for instant coffees.

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The Anatomy of a Coffee Cherry

The coffee cherry's outer skin is called the exocarp.  Beneath it is the mesocarp, a thin layer of pulp, followed by a slimy layer called the parenchyma.  The beans themselves are covered in a parchment-like envelope named the endocarp, more commonly referred to as 'the parchment.'  Inside the parchment, side-by-side lie two beans, each covered separately by yet another layer of thin membrane.  The biological name for this membrane or seed skin is the spermoderm, but it is generally referred to in the coffee trade as the 'silver skin.'

TEN STEPS TO COFFEE

From the Seed to the Cup

High on a lush, steep hillside covered with coffee trees, a picker carries a heavy bag filled with a long day's work. The bag contains ripe, red coffee cherries. Months from now, the beans from that day's harvest might be the very ones you purchase at your favorite store. Between the time that he picked them and you purchase them, the beans went through a series of steps very much like this.

 

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A coffee nursery

1. Planting

A coffee bean is actually a seed. When dried, roasted and ground, it is used to brew  coffee. But if the seed is not processed, it can be planted and will grow into a coffee  tree.

Coffee seeds are generally planted in large beds in shaded nurseries.  After  sprouting, the seedlings are removed from the seed bed to be planted in individual  pots in carefully formulated soils. They will be watered frequently and shaded  from bright sunlight until they are hearty enough to be permanently planted.      Planting often takes place during the wet season, so that the soil around the young  trees remains moist while the roots become firmly established.

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Coffee cherries

2. Harvesting the Cherries

Depending on the variety, it will take approximately 3 or 4 years for the newly planted  coffee trees to begin to bear fruit. The fruit, called the coffee cherry, turns a bright,  deep red when it is ripe and ready to be harvested.  In most countries, the coffee  crop is picked by hand, a labor-intensive and difficult process, though in places like  Brazil, where the landscape is relatively flat and the coffee fields immense, the  process has been mechanized. Whether picked by hand or by machine, all coffee  is harvested in one of two ways:

Strip Picked - the entire crop is harvested at one time. This can either be done by  machine or by hand.  In either case, all of the cherries are stripped off of the branch  at one time.

Coffee transported in bags in Ethiopia

Selectively Picked - only the ripe cherries are harvested and they are picked  individually by hand. Pickers rotate among the trees every 8 - 10 days, choosing  only the cherries which are at the peak of ripeness. Because this kind of harvest is  labor intensive, and thus more costly, it is used primarily to harvest the finer arabica  beans.

In most coffee-growing countries, there is one major harvest a year; though in  countries like Colombia, where there are two flowerings a year, there is a main and  secondary crop. A good picker averages approximately 100 to 200 pounds of coffee cherry a day,  which will produce 20 to 40 pounds of coffee beans. At the end of a day of picking,  each worker's harvest is carefully weighed and each picker is paid on the merit of his or her work. The day's harvest is then combined and transported to the processing plant.

 

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Coffee drying on a mat

3. Processing the Cherries

Once the coffee has been picked, processing must begin as quickly as possible to  prevent spoilage.  Depending on location and local resources, coffee is processed in  one of two ways.

The Dry Method    

This is the age-old method of processing coffee and is still used in many countries  where water resources are limited. The freshly picked cherries are simply spread  out on huge surfaces to dry in the sun. In order to prevent the cherries from  spoiling, they are raked and turned throughout the day, then covered at night, or if  it rains, to prevent them from getting wet. Depending on the weather, this process  might continue for several weeks for each batch of coffee. When the moisture  content of the cherries drops to 11 percent, the dried cherries are moved to  warehouses where they are stored             

Wet method processing

The Wet Method

In wet method processing, the pulp is removed from the coffee cherry after  harvesting and the bean is dried with only the parchment skin left on.  There are  several actual steps involved. First, the freshly harvested cherries are passed  through a pulping machine where the skin and pulp is separated from the bean.  The pulp is washed away with water, usually to be dried and used as mulch. The  beans are separated by weight as they are conveyed through water channels, the  lighter beans floating to the top, while the heavier, ripe beans sink to the bottom.

Next they are passed through a series of rotating drums which separate them by size.

After separation, the beans are transported to large, water-filled fermentation tanks. Depending on a combination of factors -- such as the condition of the beans, the climate and the altitude -- they will remain in these tanks for anywhere from 12 to 48 hours. The purpose of this process is to remove the slick layer of mucilage (called the parenchyma) that is still attached to the parchment; while resting in the tanks, naturally occurring enzymes will cause this layer to dissolve. When fermentation is complete the beans will feel rough, rather than slick, to the touch.  At that precise moment, the beans are rinsed by being sent through additional water channels.  They are then ready for drying.

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Drying beans in the sun

4. Drying the Beans

If the beans have been processed by the wet method, the pulped and fermented  beans must now be dried to approximately 11 percent moisture to properly prepare  them for storage.  These beans, still encased inside the parchment envelope (the  endocarp), can be sun dried by spreading them on drying tables or floors, where  they are turned regularly, or they can be machine dried in large tumblers.  Once  dried, these beans, referred to as 'parchment coffee,' are warehoused in sisal  or jute bags until they are readied for export.     

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5. Milling the Beans

Before it is exported, parchment coffee is processed in the following manner:

Hulling

Machines are used to remove the parchment layer (endocarp) from wet processed coffee.  Hulling dry processed coffee refers to removing the entire dried husk -- the exocarp, mesocarp & endocarp -- of the dried cherries.

Polishing

This is an optional process in which any silver skin that remains on the beans after hulling is removed in a polishing machine. While polished beans are considered superior to unpolished ones, in reality there is little difference between the two.

Grading & Sorting

Before being exported, the coffee beans will be even more precisely sorted by size and weight. They will also be closely evaluated for color flaws or other imperfections.

Typically, the bean size is represented on a scale of 10 to 20. The number represents the size of a round hole's diameter in terms of 1/64's of an inch. A number 10 bean would be the approximate size of a hole in a diameter of 10/64 of an inch and a number 15 bean, 15/64 of an inch. Beans are sized by being passed through a series of different sized screens. They are also sorted pneumatically by using an air jet to separate heavy from light beans.

Next defective beans are removed.  Though this process can be accomplished by sophisticated machines, in many countries, it is done by hand while the beans move along an electronic conveyor belt.  Beans of unsatisfactory size, color, or that are otherwise unacceptable, are removed. This might include over-fermented beans, those with insect damage or that are unhulled. In many countries, this process is done both by machine and hand, insuring that only the finest quality coffee beans are exported                    

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A coffee port: Cartehena, Colombia

6. Exporting the Beans

The milled beans, now referred to as 'green coffee,' are ready to be loaded onto  ships for transport to the importing country.  Green coffee is shipped in either jute  or sisal bags which are loaded into shipping containers, or it is bulk shipped inside  plastic-lined containers. Approximately seven million tons of green coffee is  produced worldwide each year.

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7. Tasting the Coffee

At every stage of its production, coffee is repeatedly tested for quality and taste.  This process is referred to as 'cupping' and usually takes place in a room specifically  designed to facilitate the process. First, the taster -- usually called the cupper --  carefully evaluates the beans for their overall visual quality.  The beans are then  roasted in a small laboratory roaster, immediately ground and infused in boiling water, the temperature of which is carefully controlled. The cupper "noses" the brew to experience its aroma, an integral step in the evaluation of the coffee's quality. After letting the coffee rest for several minutes, the cupper "breaks the crust" by pushing aside the grounds at the top of the cup. Again the coffee is nosed before the tasting begins.

To taste the coffee, the cupper "slurps" a spoonful with a quick inhalation. The objective is to spray the coffee evenly over the cupper's taste buds, and then "weigh" it before spitting it out. Samples from a variety of batches and different beans are tasted daily.  Coffees are not only analyzed this way for their inherent characteristics and flaws, but also for the purpose of blending different beans or determining the proper roast.  An expert cupper can taste hundreds of samples of coffee a day and still taste the subtle differences between them.      

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Roasted beans in Costa Rica

8. Roasting the Coffee

Roasting transforms green coffee into the aromatic brown beans that we purchase,  either whole or already ground, in our favorite stores. Most roasting machines  maintain a temperature of about 550 degrees Fahrenheit.  The beans are kept  moving throughout the entire process to keep them from burning and when they  reach an internal temperature of about 400 degrees, they begin to turn brown and  the caffeol, or oil, locked inside the beans begins to emerge.      

This process, called pyrolysis is at the heart of roasting.  It is what produces the  flavor and aroma of the coffee we drink.  When the beans are removed from the  roaster, they are immediately cooled either by air or water. Roasting is generally  performed in the importing countries because freshly roasted beans must reach  the consumer as quickly as possible.

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9. Grinding Coffee

The objective of a proper grind is to get the most flavor in a cup of coffee. How coarse or fine the coffee is ground depends on the method by which the coffee is to be brewed. Generally, the finer the grind the more quickly the coffee should be prepared. That is why coffee ground for use in an espresso machine is much finer than coffee which will be brewed in a drip system.

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10. Brewing Coffee

Before you brew your coffee, take a moment to look carefully at the beans.  Smell their aroma. Think of the many processes that these beans have gone through since the day they were hand-picked and sorted in their origin country. Consider the long way they have traveled to your kitchen.  Prepare your coffee thoughtfully and enjoy it with pleasure.  Many people have been instrumental in bringing it to your cup!