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This matters a great deal as the coffee crops are under threat from climate change and if they are to survive at scale will need broad domestication. Large scal
by happytiger 3y ago
This matters a great deal as the coffee crops are under threat from climate change and if they are to survive at scale will need broad domestication. Large scale effort is going into it as it is a very important cash crop.
Understanding where they get their flavor and how to replicate it can only lead to better success in this effort.
- amelius 3y agoAs Asia is increasingly becoming caffeine addicted we can expect these crops becoming a real disaster very quickly. Palm oil will be nothing compared to this.
- the-mitr 3y ago> we can expect these crops becoming a real disaster very quickly. Can you elaborate why?
- afiori 3y agoMy guess would be that they expect massive and irresponsible conversion of wild areas into farmland.
- happytiger 3y agoIt’s complex. Demand is outstripping supply in something economists like to call The Coffee Paradox which actually has a book on the subject by the same name: https://www.amazon.com/Coffee-Paradox-Markets-Commodity-Development/dp/1842774573#:~:text=They%20do%20so%20by%20analysing,and%20other%20'sustainable'%20coffees https://www.amazon.com/Coffee-Paradox-Markets-Commodity-Deve.... More information on the short term and long term issues here: https://financialpost.com/financial-times/peak-coffee-global-thirst-grows-trouble-brewing https://financialpost.com/financial-times/peak-coffee-global... https://m.economictimes.com/small-biz/trade/exports/insights/coffee-prices-poised-to-climb-with-bean-shortfall-nearing-third-year/articleshow/97160098.cms https://m.economictimes.com/small-biz/trade/exports/insights... But the most pressing issues long term are best summarized by this article which if you read nothing else is probably the best answer to your question: https://econreview.berkeley.edu/a-world-without-coffee-the-story-behind-a-possible-impending-coffee-crisis/ https://econreview.berkeley.edu/a-world-without-coffee-the-s... To boot, coffee is a monoculture and deeply vulnerable like bananas.
- Qem 3y agoMany plants produce caffeine besides coffea arabica and coffea robusta: yerba mate, guarana, tea plant, kola nut, et cetera. We can resort to other plants to fuel our caffeine addiction.
- seatac76 3y agoI think primary caffeine delivery mechanism of Asia will remain tea for a long long time and it already produces most of it.
- amelius 3y agoAsia is discovering coffee. There are 6500+ of Starbucks stores in China. They sell tea too, but it is a sign.
- FuriouslyAdrift 3y agoThe main coffee crop in Vietnam is Robusta, not Arabica. It has a very different taste and is much more resistant to conditions that hinder Arabica. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffea_canephora https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffea_canephora