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How coffee took over the world
- sbmthakur 7y agoThat was a good read. There's an interesting discussion (and article) for those who prefer tea over coffee :) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16129454 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16129454
- mensetmanusman 7y agoJust started drinking tea with freshly distilled water. So much smoother taste! :)
- 0xdeadb00f 7y agoThis is a great video on the history of Coffee in Ethiopia, and how it was subsequently spread throughout the world: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1Uj6RPbUXQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1Uj6RPbUXQ
- econcon 7y agoI think coffee requires more skills/equipment (cost) than tea. It's much harder to create good coffee than good tea.
- vbezhenar 7y agoCezve and grinder? That's not a costly equipment.
- sk0g 7y agoIt's still equipment, and tea is more 'fire and forget' to make.
- enitihas 7y agoWhat about Instant Coffee?
- praptak 7y agoInstant coffee is no substitute for the real stuff.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- TheSpiceIsLife 7y agoInstant coffee is a US$30+ billion global market segment, and about half of all coffee drinkers drink instant coffee. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/07/14/almost-half-of-the-world-actually-prefers-instant-coffee/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/07/14/almos...
- Ghjklov 7y agoInstant coffee can be pretty great. I like the Japanese/Korean brands like UCC and Kanu.
- vinay427 7y agoYes. That doesn't make it a substitute for the real thing. I either use a full ceramic burr grinder and Aeropress setup with some recently-roasted single-origin beans OR instant coffee if I only have a few minutes before I have to leave the house in the morning, in which case I do the full brew later in the day. I don't see them as sustainable substitutes any more than tea and coffee are substitutes.
- praptak 7y agoYeah, it's more like beer vs wine. Not really substitutes except in the narrow sense of delivering the active ingredient.
- locuscoeruleus 7y agoIf you want consistency that grinder is going to cost a lot. There are diminishing returns and $60 grinder will get you 80% of the way. But going from 80% to 99% you're looking at a price increase of about $1800. You're obviously not going to buy that equipment for your home though.
- 2muchcoffeeman 7y agoWho are you kidding? Of course we are. I have a $2000 grinder on the way. Edit: I don't buy that a $60 dollar grinder will get you 80% of the way. The output of such cheap grinders that I have seen have very poor consistency. You're looking at low hundreds to get anything decent and even then you will have very clear differences when matched against a top end grinder.
- locuscoeruleus 7y agoOn the continuum from preground coffee to cafe quality pour over, a $60 wilfa burr griner will get you 80% in my opinion. You'll have days when the brew comes out very well, some days it's disappointing. The biggest advantage when going from no grinder to cheap grinder is that you can buy quality beans rather than supermarket coffee and that time from grinding to brewing is minimized, so you lose less flavour. For me, that's 80% of the value for 20% of the effort/money.
- 2muchcoffeeman 7y agoAh, ok sure. I agree.
- throw0101a 7y ago> I don't buy that a $60 dollar grinder will get you 80% of the way. Is a used Baratza Encore much more expensive than that? A new one is US$ 140: * https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-coffee-grinder/ https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-coffee-grinder/
- ntsplnkv2 7y ago
- dominotw 7y agoi used the grider at the grocery store :\
- dzonga 7y agoI use a mortar and pestle, if I can't grind the beans at my local supermarket.
- s_dev 7y agoWhich is why I'm so astonished Americans make tea so poorly. Tepid water with a tea bag on the side is not the way to brew a cup of tea.
- throw0101a 7y ago> Tepid water This is because most American's don't have a kettle (at home or work). I think quite a few Europeans do. It's also why so many (baking) recipes in the US measure (e.g.) flour in cups/volume: most people don't have scales.
- s_dev 7y agoI refuse to believe Americans can't produce a cup of 100 Degree celcius boiling water either at home or at work.
- NikolaeVarius 7y agoIs there a point to the 100 degrees reference? its like saying a lightspeed flashlight
- throw0101a 7y agoBecause the temperature of the water determines how well extraction occurs. Sub-100°C (for black tea) and you get a shitty tasting tea (I like to call it 'herb water'). * https://www.thespruceeats.com/how-to-brew-tea-water-temperatures-766316 https://www.thespruceeats.com/how-to-brew-tea-water-temperat... It's similar to coffee (93°C) * https://www.scaa.org/PDF/resources/golden-cup-standard.pdf https://www.scaa.org/PDF/resources/golden-cup-standard.pdf
- ip26 7y agoI'll admit I can't. (It boils at 95 C)
- rolph 7y ago
- matwood 7y agoIt's probably my lack of experience, but I find tea harder to make correctly. Depending on the tea, should I rinse the leaves ahead of time? How long do I let it steep? How hot should the water be? How much tea should I even use? For coffee, I pour hot water over my ground coffee until the pot underneath is full of coffee.
- tentboy 7y agoThat is a very oversimplified way to describe making coffee - and thats just for one method of brewing. You have so many variations of brewing like pourover, drip, french press, espresso etc. and each of these methods has a ton of individual variables that affect the final product ranging such as water temp, bean freshness, grind coarseness and much more. I am certainly not a coffee expert (I'm too lazy to actually dive into the world of craft coffee I just drink the free coffee at work) but I do enjoy espresso when I am out and love reading about coffee/brewing
- madeofpalk 7y agoHow was it ground? How was it roasted? How hot should your water be?
- tasuki 7y agoThere are two things econcon could've meant by "create" - either what happens before the tea/coffee reaches your shop, or what happens afterwards. I'll go with your interpretation... I'm a fan of tea, ignorant about coffee. Tea brewing generally has three variables: amount/proportion of leaves/water, water temperature, brewing time. With coffee, those three are still applicable. And there's a fourth variable: how finely one grinds it, and perhaps a fifth one: whether/what pressure to apply while brewing. I usually don't even rinse oolongs/greens and it's fine. If you don't rinse your puerh, the first brew is just going to taste like a rinse. No big deal - enjoy the subsequent brews :)
- grecy 7y agoIt's a shame an article like this doesn't tell the economic enslavement story. Ethiopia and other poor countries are unable to reap profits from the coffee they grow thanks to extremely restrictive WTO tariffs that essentially prevent them from processing it before they export it. This means they're forced to export raw beans for pennies, and they'll never really make much money doing so. It turns out coffee growing countries only receive about 8% of the total coffee revenue annually and Germany is actually the fourth largest exporter of coffee in the world, despite never growing a single bean. Schoolyard bullying, on a global scale.
- truth_be_told 7y ago>economic enslavement story This is enraging. Please do share any articles/data/documentaries so that people can know what really is going on with this multi-billion dollar industry.
- grecy 7y agoCheckout this book [1]. It contains myriad of sources and footnotes about how the developed world, WTO, World Bank etc function when you live outside. I.e. Undeveloped countries are slaves to keep the rich countries rich. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Aid-Other-Dirty-Business-Intentions/dp/B00FDVMOFU?tag=dastrbl-20 https://www.amazon.com/Aid-Other-Dirty-Business-Intentions/d...
- ntsplnkv2 7y agoIt's true but it's always interesting how we bring this up in farmer trades often, but not often in the tech space, when a large majority of us on this site have made a lot of money off the backs of cheap labor.
- Stratoscope 7y ago> Ethiopia and other poor countries are unable to reap profits from the coffee they grow thanks to extremely restrictive WTO tariffs that essentially prevent them from processing it before they export it. This means they're forced to export raw beans for pennies, and they'll never really make much money doing so. As someone who has roasted my own coffee for 20 years, I'm confused about what you're saying. What are these "raw beans" that the Ethopians are forced to export? I do buy green coffee beans from Ethopia, and have about 25 pounds of Ethopian at home right now. Are these the raw beans you're talking about? I certainly wouldn't want to buy coffee that was roasted in Ethopia; it would be awfully stale by the time it gets here. I mostly buy dry process beans, occasionally wet process. I've just never heard the term "raw beans". Are you talking about raw unprocessed coffee cherry? I didn't know anyone exports those as is. I thought they would go bad in shipping, and no one would buy them. And the sheer bulk and weight of raw coffee cherry should make it more economical to do a dry process or wet process at the source, to separate the valuable beans from the husk. I do buy a lot of my green beans from Sweet Maria's. They have a Farm Gate program where they work directly with coffee growers to make sure they get a fair price - generally more than the "Fair Trade" pricing. If you can help educate me on what I'm missing here, I would appreciate it - thanks!
- irrational 7y agoHow common are "coffee breaks" still in businesses? I've never worked for a company with mandatory breaks (coffee or otherwise), but maybe that is because I am engaged in more mental that physical labor? Ironically, my company does have a number of fitness facilities on campus and it is entirely kosher to take an hour plus break each day to workout, i.e., engage in physical labor.
- robjan 7y agoIt makes more sense when teamwork involves physically working on the same thing. With information work, which most of us do, there is no real need for a specific coffee break.
- alfiedotwtf 7y agoNot mandatory, but I know a lot of construction jobs have “smoko”, which is a short break before and after lunch for a smoke or coffee
- dmos62 7y agoI'm aware of people whose work social interactions revolve largely around coffee rituals.
- TheGallopedHigh 7y agoA very common ritual in Sweden is the activity “Fika” which is essential time to drink strong coffee and eat cake at work. Usuall mid morning. Said with tongue in cheek: it’s mandatory.
- Mediterraneo10 7y agoIn Finland too. The ironic thing is that most companies worldwide would probably claim that coffee breaks help employees share experience and news of what is going on, but in my experience in Finland, no one actually talks to each other during the coffee break. Everyone just enters, maybe nods in greeting to their coworkers, grabs their coffee, drinks it in silence, and then leaves.
- Dowwie 7y agoWorth repeating from the bottom of the article: "Climate scientists estimate that at least half of the acreage now producing coffee—and an even greater proportion in Latin America—will be unable to support the plant by 2050, making coffee one of the crops most immediately endangered by climate change."
- zeveb 7y agoWould any acreage not now producing coffee be newly-able to support the plant due to climate change?
- chongli 7y agoOne of the major factors in growing high quality coffee is altitude. Coffee beans grown higher altitudes are harder and denser because they have more sugar. The coffee cherries have taken longer to ripen because the soil is less rich and there’s more drainage at altitude. Longer ripening times means more sugar and more flavour compounds. If climate change makes these (already harsh) mountainous regions indispensable to the coffee shrubs, then we may be forced to grow coffee in lowland regions where the quality will not be as good.
- enriquto 7y agoIt seems that they are asking whether, due to global warming, some other countries much further north may be able to grow coffee at the appropriate height (while it is now impossible because they are too cold). For instance, in advanced stages of global warming it may be possible to grow coffee in northern Italy.
- redisman 7y agoThe US has a lot of mountains too in various different climates.
- zeveb 7y agoYes, that's exactly right. Sure, if it gets warmer than one place currently just right will be too warm, but might there be another place too cold which is now just right? Although maybe there aren't enough places of the right altitude at the right elevations, with the right rainfall in new conditions. Also, 'he,' not 'they.' :-)
- nicholassmith 7y agoIf anyone is looking for an interesting exploration of coffees history across the globe the book The Devil's Cup by Stewart Allen is a light hearted travelogue that digs into its history and impact on cultures across the centuries.
- lb1lf 7y ago-And, while taking a break from that (excellent, I might add) book, you could do worse - a lot worse - than picking up Sebastião Salgado's "Scent of a dream", a photographic tour de force documenting how coffee is grown, processed and enjoyed around the world. Heck, you could do a lot worse than picking up anything by Salgado...
- nicholassmith 7y agoThank you so much for this recommendation!
- ksec 7y agoIdly wondering, did Coffee really took over the world, or was it really just Caffeine.
- thomasfl 7y agoCaffeine is unquestionably a drug. While you can even give caffeine freely to kids, use of mostly all other substances may even cause death penalty in some countries. Pure caffeine powder is actually very dangerous, even in small quantities like 1000 milligrams. "That chemical of course is caffeine, which is now the world’s most popular psychoactive drug, used daily by 80 percent of humanity. (It is the only such drug we routinely give to our children, in the form of soda.)"
- LeoTinnitus 7y agoHowever, it's not addictive like many other drugs. Sure you'll suffer withdrawal for a day or too with some bad migraines, but afterward you're off it. I just make sure if I'm gonna miss a day to pack some aspirin to combat the headache.
- dionidium 7y agoModern addiction specialists don't fetishize physical addiction the way many lay people do. What really characterizes "addiction" is problematic usage, i.e. continued use in the face of adverse consequences. Most (all?) caffeine users do not suffer adverse behavioral or physical consequences. That's really the distinction that matters.
- beckingz 7y agoDon't talk to me until I've had my morning coffee. \s Don't talk to me until I've eaten this mug.
- s_y_n_t_a_x 7y agoStimulants, including caffeine, cause irritability among other bad side-effects. The only reason it's not characterized by these "modern addiction specialists", whatever that is, is because of both $$$ and how socially acceptable it is. Since you can get your caffeine fix in anyway for really cheap (or not so cheap if you want) and you can drink it at work without any weird looks it doesn't destroy your social life. Just because it doesn't destroy your social life doesn't mean it's not addictive, but I guess that's just the layman in me.
- MockObject 7y ago> the government launched a program of land privatization, forcing the Indians to either move to more marginal lands or find work on the new coffee plantations. Government forcing people off their own lands is nationalization, which is literally the opposite of privatization.
- LeoTinnitus 7y agoIt's more like the land cosolidation act Britain passed in the 1800s. The peasant holdings making subsistence were forced out or became laborers. The "privatization" is where a business takes over. It's better on a production level simply because the focus is for people to exclusively work on that as opposed to people living the complex life of a farmer. Instead of 100 peasants being marginal jack of all trades, you have maybe 50 be somewhat better at a select few tasks.
- v77 7y agoNot enough uses of the word capitalism for my taste.
- mportela 7y agoFun fact: in Brazil, "breakfast" is usually called "morning coffee" (café da manhã)
- OnuRC 7y ago"breakfast" in Turkish is "kahvaltı" comes from words for after coffee.