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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