Thursday, November 20, 2008

Coffee Is A Commodity

By Chuck R Stewart

Coffee is one of the most popular beverages in the world.It was first discovered in the highlands of Ethiopia sometime around the year 800. It then spread to other countries in the Middle East, Europe and the Americas.In terms of dollars traded, coffee ranks second in the world, with oil ranking first. The entire coffee growing region of the world is locating between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.

Today there are a few places in the world that have turned coffee cultivation into an art form. Brazil remains the largest producer of coffee in the world, with the most expensive coffee in the world coming from Southeast Asia.Kopi Lewak is first processed by being eaten and passed through the digestive tract of the Common Palm Civet.The Civet can only digest the outer shell, not the inner beans. The beans are then picked up off the ground and processed. It is the opinion of coffee aficionados that Kopi Lewak is the best coffee in the world, and worth the cost. It costs about 600 dollars a pound, or roughly 50 dollars a cup.

Lots of different blends and roasts of coffee are available.Some of the most popular are the dark rich roasts and of course decaffeinated.However there is a new trend emerging toward low acid coffees. Coffee beans contain tannic acid along with other acids. These acids benefit the body, but people who have certain health problems, like acid reflux disease, can't tolerate them.Since acid softens tooth enamel dentists often recommend that patients limit their intake of coffee and tea. Tyler's Coffee is one of the finest low acid coffees on the market.Roasted in Arizona using Arabica beans, Tyler's Coffee uses state of the art technology to roast it's coffees.Tyler's coffee was started by a very bright 13 year old boy in Tucson, Arizona.Today Tyler's coffee makes one of the smoothest low acid coffees on the market.

Coffee goes through an intensive process between being grown and being brewed. When coffee is grown the coffee pods are actually red in color, resembling cherries, and the plant is at least 3 years old.Farmers are not after the coffee cherries, but the two coffee beans that grow inside like peanuts in a shell.To prevent over fermenting the beans must be processed quickly after being picked.The most common process is called the "wet" process where the beans are washed and slightly fermented several times to get them out of there shell.

After processing, the beans are then sorted and shipped to the roaster.The most important part of manufacturing coffee is the roasting process.It determines the flavor of the end product and it takes a very experienced roaster to turn out a fine coffee. Raw coffee beans are a light green color and taste somewhat bitter, but by roasting the flavor is developed, from mild roasts to rich dark roasts, to some that are so dark they taste almost burnt. - 16004

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