Kahwa Magazine by E Sykes

Issue.1 Vol.1 May 2010

Kahwa a look inside coffee culture

Drink Responsibly Brewing Efficency Coffee House: A History Ten Years of I Need Coffee

NEW

The Coffee Cuff

the

Coffee Shop

Kahwa a look inside coffee culture

Contents

Features

Coffee House: A History

Features Coffee House: A History _ 8 Drink Responsibly _ 15 Brewing Efficency _ 21 Ten Years of I Need Coffee _ 27

Kahwa a look inside coffee culture

Crafted Late Art _ 7 Beyond Beans A Just Cup of Coffee _ 15 Pass the Java The Healthy Side to Coffee _ 21 Pick Me! Peetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Coffee & Tea _ 27 Decaf The Effect of Caffine on Stress and Teamwork _ 27

Kahwa a look inside coffee culture

Most people start off their day with a cup.

Over the past few years this demand for coffee has changed we think of a cup of joe. “A vente latte, soy, with no foam, and an extra shot.” For those not involved in the espresso revolution, you might as well be speaking a different language. With a Starbucks on almost every corner, and a McDonalds offering a medley of espresso drinks at the drive through, its hard to deny the impact it has had on American culture. “Kahwa,” a French slang for coffee, is a magazine created to not only celebrate our common addiction, but also to inform those who are just learning to speak the language. Erin Sykes

Kahwa a look inside coffee culture Designer & Editor Erin Sykes

Feature Writers Stephanie Spencer Raz Imam Heather Ann Snodgrass Alex Scofield Columnists Nate Albee Elizabeth Walling Sirena Van Schaik Maryann Marshall Photography Photobucket.com Morguefile.com Stockvault.com Imageafter.com

Additional Contributors Ryan Peek Chrissy Hubbard Zach Connor Resources greenamericatoday.org allcoffeeart.com naturalnews.com glassdoor.com Aknowledgements Special thanks to Ryan Peek Chrissy Hubbard Zach Connor Nancy Sykes

Crafted

Latte Art By Sirena Van Schaik

I have always loved coffee, and I can actually trace my love affair back to the age of 14 when I would sneak the occasional cup of coffee at my mom’s restaurant when I was working. This long love probably explains why I am so short, both of my parents reached heights of 5’11 (mom) and 6 feet (dad) and I capped out at 5’5. Of course, it may not explain it at all. With that interesting little tidbit aside, a great cup of coffee is truly a work of art. There is something so sublime about the aroma that drifts from the cup in lazy circles of steam and there is a beauty in the first sip that graces the tongue. Art in liquid form. Of course, once you have experienced the beauty of Latte Art, you will truly understand how coffee can transcend the typecast of a good cup of coffee and become something that is truly amazing. But how do they do it? How do they create a beautiful heart in the center of your espresso? How do they make faces and solar systems shine on the surface of your coffee?

become something that is truly amazing. But how do they do it? How do they create a beautiful heart in the center of your espresso? How do they make faces and solar systems shine on the surface of your coffee? I would love to tell you that it is easy but like all arts, it is something that needs to be learned and practiced. But don’t worry, this little how to will provide you with a start to creating your own Latte Art. Making Your Masterpiece: When you make a latte art, you should start with a freshly brewed espresso in a decorated mug. You will be using the steamed milk from your espresso machine but it is important to prepare the milk in the proper manner to create a velvet milk that is smooth. You do not want the milk to be foamy. To do this, you should use enough milk for one cup of coffee. Place the milk into the steam pitcher and place it on the steam wand. You should have the steam wand touching the bottom of the pitcher to start but you will begin raising the steam wand as you steam the milk. This should be a slow and gradual lift until you are about 1 cm away from the top. Make sure you do not create any bubbles while you are steaming. Bubbles will destroy the overall texture of the milk and create more of a foam. Once your milk reaches 80°F, you will need to place the steam wand back into the milk but position it so the wand is against the side and the pitcher is spun in a counter clockwise motion. Heat the milk to 150°F before you remove the pitcher from the steam wand. Now that you milk is hot enough, you will want to stir the milk vigorously, in a swirling motion, to remove any bubbles and to create the velvety texture. Now your milk is ready for pouring into your espresso. When you are pouring, you will want to pour the milk into the cup until it is about half full. At this point, you should begin shaking the pitcher, using only your wrist, to help build up the milk in the area you are creating. Once you have the milk on the surface, you can use a pin to create a pattern in the milk. You can also use syrups, and powders to add details to your latte design or you can use stencils to make pre-formed designs. The options are endless but once you know how to make and pour the milk, you can quickly pick up on the other tips of the trade.

Today when we think of a coffee shop, we think of Starbucks

The Coffee House

byStefanie Spencer

However, the coffee shops of the past were drastically different with their Middle Eastern culture

H i s t o r y

One thing they have in common is the social aspect, a place for discussion of new ideas 9

Coffee was cultivated in Africa as early as the 9th century, but it did not reach Europe until the 17th century. However, when it did, it was met with many varying opinions. It still caught on like a wildfire, even with the people that detested its existence. The 18th century London coffee house was the center of controversy, in many ways, even to the point of the king trying to ban coffee and close the establishments. Being the place for political discussion, some of the policies of our newly formed country might have originated in one of these places. Coffee did not come via a direct route from Africa, but found its way to Britain through Mediterranean trade routes with the Muslim world. Queen Elizabeth I irritated her European neighbors by opening up diplomatic relations with her new-found Moroccan and Ottoman friends, establishing good trading relations and sea-faring agreements. This trade allowed goods such as tea from Asia, coffee, and chocolate to filter into England. The Middle East had coffee houses over a hundred years before they ever appeared in England. In 1652 Pasqua Rosee, the servant of a merchant trader and an immigrant from Ottoman Smyrna, opened the first coffee house in London, which later became known as “The Turks Head.” “Rosee’s coffee-house, in St Michael’s Alley, Cornhill, was located in the centre of the financial district of the City of London, and his first clientele were merchants of the Levant Company, the trading house that organised and regulated trade with the Ottoman Empire. In 1662, the “Great Turk Coffee House” opened, “Apparently, inside could be found a bust of Sultan Almurath IV himself, ‘the most detestable tyrant that ever ruled the Ottoman Empire.’ The customer could not only find coffee, tea and tobacco here, but also chocolate and a range of sherbets, which, according to the Mercurius Publicus (12-19 March 1662), were ‘made in Turkie; made of lemons, roses, and violets perfumed.’” 5 Not only did the coffee catch on among the people, but so did some of the Turkish culture. Some people began to wear turbans in the coffee houses. Possibly because of the Islamic culture, and for other reasons, coffee houses were viewed as a place for renegades of Christianity. The new interest in other cultures continued past the fascination of the Middle East all of the way to the Orient. The Georgian period is marked by an Asian influence in art, literature, and academics.

Kahwa a look inside coffee culture

Coffee houses caught on very quickly, so by 1663 there were more than 83 coffee houses in London

Coffee houses caught on very quickly, so by 1663 there were more than 83 coffee houses in London. By the beginning of the eighteenth century there were as many as five or six hundred.2 The Prussian nobleman Baron Charles Louis von Pöllnitz, who visited London in 1728, described them as one of the great pleasures of the city. He describes how it is “a Sort of Rule with the English, to go once a Day at least” to coffee-houses “where they talk of Business and News, read the Papers, and often look at one another.” 2 Some very famous companies even started as coffee houses. Lloyds of London, an insurance brokerage company, began as Edward Lloyd’s coffee house on Tower Street around 1688. Today when we think of a coffee shop, we think of Starbucks. However, the coffee shops of the past were drastically different with their Middle Eastern culture. One thing they have in common is the social aspect, a place for discussion of new ideas.

The coffee house, which originated in the Middle East around 1511, began simply as a place to enjoy an exotic drink, coffee, but soon evolved into a place that helped change the course of history. Before coffee houses arrived in London, the normal social gathering place was a pub or tavern. The first attraction to coffee might have been its newness or the exhilaration from the caffeine, but quickly it became another reason to meet, and the coffee house was a place for socializing. A traveler to London in 1668 remarked, “Coffee-Houses, which are very numerous in London, are extremely convenient. You have all manner of news there; you have a good Fire, which you may sit by as long as you please; you have a Dish of Coffee; you meet your Friends for the transaction of Business, and all for a penny, if you don’t care to spend more. Some men spent so much time there that their mail was delivered directly to the coffee house! An interesting fact is that almost every coffee house allowed only male patrons, women being relegated to the home or elsewhere for coffee. Not allowing women into

Really a mock petition, but rumors and claims against coffee drinking could have been taken serious whether or not they were true. And as stated in the previous quote, they charged only a penny for a cup of black coffee! This gave rise to their nickname, “Penny Universities.” Soon there emerged a distinct difference between the pub and the coffee house, “Rumors of the health benefits of coffee were abundant, and coffee-houses encouraged sobriety, rational thought, and articulate political discussion, whereas taverns merely provided a haven for irreverence and intoxication

In the 1500’s the worldwide coffee revolution began, well after the decline of the London coffee house emerged a new generation

This wasn’t a place to escape the world and dull the senses, but rather a place to debate current events and create new ideas for how life should be. Until this time there did not exist a forum for the merchant or trading class to have such discussions. The London Stock Exchange began with this atmosphere of bringing buyers and sellers together, setting market prices. The famous insurance underwriter, Lloyd’s of London, began in 1688 in a coffee house with Lloyd providing a free information service on shipping, publishing “Lloyd’s List.” It prospered as a place for marine insurance.6 And as far as politics are concerned, men met in the coffee house to discuss hot political topics, even stirring up fear in the king. Some of our founding

Kahwa a look inside coffee culture

fathers may have sat in these coffee houses discussing the future of the colonies or how government should be, noting the pitfalls or failures of the monarchies of England and France. In 1675 King Charles II of England wrote a proclamation to have all of the coffee houses shut down; however, after a struggle with the owners of the coffee houses and other businessmen the proclamation was overturn. Almost as quickly as they sprang up, the London coffee houses began to decline. They

“had served their purpose and were no longer needed as meeting places for political or literary criticism and debate. They had seen the nation pass through one of its greatest periods of trial and tribulation; had fought and won the battle for individual freedom; had acted as a steadying influence in an age of profligacy; and had given us a standard of prose-writing and literary criticism unequalled before or since.” In the 1500’s the worldwide coffee revolution began, and well after the decline of the London coffee house emerged a new generation, the “Starbuck’s Revolution.”

the “Starbuck’s Revolution.”

Just as coffee houses spread all over Europe in the 17th century, they were also opened in America in the late 17th century. The Merchant’s Coffee House in Philadelphia, also known as the City Tavern, was the meeting place of some of the finest gentlemen of the time. The Tontine Coffee House in New York, in similar fashion to Lloyds of London, became the home of the New York Stock Exchange. Not only were the coffee houses places of intellectual trading, but hubs of business and opportunity. As coffee became more widely used and known, there arose many new inventions pertaining to the process of brewing coffee. This Espresso Revolution has change the way we view and drink coffee today.

Coffee is among the most popul most popular drink in the world. drinkers are unknowingly taking

Just think about how many coffee drinkers there are in the US. Imagine the coffee shops, office coffee makers, home coffee makers, coffee drunk in hotels and restaurants, and coffee served in airports, schools, and malls. Now take that number and imagine how many similar instances there are across the globe: Europe, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and South America. Then think about the millions and millions of paper and plastic products that go with the coffee.

Responsibly Seven Easy Tricks to

Make

Coffee

Your More

Eco-Friendly by Raza

Imam

lar drinks in the world, if not the Unfortunately all of those coffee g a pretty toll on the environment.

Things like cups, stirrers, lids, coffee carriers, napkins, etc. that are thrown in the trash everyday. That is in addition to the massive amounts of water that are taken to grow, harvest, and brew the coffee. Then think about the amount of fuel it takes to ship that coffee around the globe. In some cases, coffee travels 10,000 miles to reach your cup. No surprise that after oil, coffee is the most traded commodity in the world. What’s worse is the massive amount of deforestation that takes place to produce enough farm land to produce enough coffee to keep up with the world’s demand.

So yes, coffee does do a number on the environment, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up coffee cold-turkey. There are plenty of things you can do the lessen the effect of your coffee habit on the earth.

Kahwa a look inside coffee culture

1). Just Drink Less – This isn’t the easiest thing for most people, but cutting at least some coffee out of your diet is bound to help the environment (not to mention keep your teeth wither) If this isn’t possible, don’t fret, there are plenty of good tips below. 2). Buy Local Coffee – Because shipping coffee beans around the world spews tons of toxic smoke into the atmosphere, look for coffee beans grown in countries closer to you. Love Kopi Luwak (the bean is best when it passes through the digestive tract of a small tree mammal called the luwak)? There are tons of other specialty blends that you can get that are grown much closer to home.

3). Look for Organic Coffee and Fair Trade Coffee – Organic coffee is great because it’s (obviously) grown without chemicals, and is usually grown in such a way that protects sensitive ecosystems and the birds that live within them. Most of these toxic chemicals are produced in factories that spew toxins into the environment themselves, so you’re killing birds with one stone by going organic. If you’re going organic, and avoiding corporate coffee, you might as well buy fair trade coffee. Rainforest Alliance and Transfair coffees not only ensure fair living wages for coffee farmers, they take into account environmental standards in their certification process. It won’t immediately lift people out of poverty, but it’s a start.

4). Stay Away From Corporate Coffee – More

and

coffee

giants

are

cutting

down

forest and converting them into large agricultural

coffee

plantations. The

deforestation

not

only horrible for the environment, it produces

inferior quality coffee. Add that to the fact that the

coffee farmers themselves can barely make a living

working in these massive corporate coffee farms. 5). Use a Mug – This one is a no-brainer. But it’s easier if you invest in a really cool mug that you will wantto use over and over again; eliminating the need for plastic or Styrofoam cups. There are plenty of websites that sell cool, unique, and funny coffee mugs. Or you can create one by yourself at CafePress. 6). Use Better Filters – Not only are they better for the environment, re-usable gold coffee filters yield a better, less bitter cup of coffee. If that’s not your thing, just look for unbleached, biodegradable ones.

Kahwa a look inside coffee culture

7). Recycle the Coffee Grounds – If you already have a compost heap, you probably throw egg shells, banana peels, and old food into it. Why not add coffee grounds (if you don’t already)? The next time you make some coffee, rather than throwing out the used coffee grounds, toss them in your compost heap, or directly

into

your

garden. All

the

nitrogen in the coffee is a powerful fertilizer.

Alternatively, you could use the coffee grounds to keep neighborhood cats from using your garden as a litter box. Instead of using harsh chemicals in your garden to keep away unwanted pests like ants and neighborhood cats, sprinkle coffee grounds and orange peels in your garden. The nitrogen in the coffee burns ants’ legs and is better for the environment than using harmful chemicals.Cats don’t like the smell of coffee either. So here are seven easy ways to make your coffee habit less harmful to the environment

S h a r e them, and help make a change.

By Heather Ann Snodgrass

Joey Roth didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t set out to be an industrial designer. In college as a creative writing major, he quickly realized that he may never achieve the greatness of his beloved authors. So he decided to pursue design instead. His first foray into manufacturing -- Sorapot -- occurred somewhat unexpectedly, and allowed unique insight into the creative and production process for the many people who followed Rothâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s journey.

I designed it as a portfolio piece my Junior year They thought it was a real product, so I decided to make it one

Joey Roth Brewing Efficiency

When his concept for Sorapot was discovered and posted online, Roth found himself inundated with information requests. Instead of telling them it didn’t actually exist yet, he decided to make it a reality. “I designed Sorapot as a portfolio piece during my Junior year. I didn’t intend to manufacture it, until a writer for Cool Hunting somehow discovered it and posted on it. The same day, I received a ton of emails from individuals and stores asking about price, availability, and minimum order quantities. They thought it was a real product, so I decided to make it one.”

Sorapot’s journey from start to finish turned out to be an invaluable learning experience for Roth. “It took over two years to find the right manufacturer and refine Sorapot’s design to be more manufacturable and easier to use. I eventually finalized the design and found the right manufacturer through a great referral. I began to take pre-orders through my site, and was able to fund the first production run largely from these sales. I’m glad to see this approach becoming less and less unique as more designers form relationships with bloggers and depend on themselves for their designs’ success.”

Kahwa a look inside coffee culture

more designers form relationships with bloggers and depend on themselves for success

A willingness to submit to trial-by-fire with other designers seems to have worked out in his favor. “I ignored a lot of well-intentioned advice from people who told me to be an employee for a few years before jumping in. I think most independent designers, and entrepreneurs in general, ignore the same thing. For some reason though, people have hard time believing that I design physical objects. Startups are so strongly associated with tech that sometimes when I’m talking with someone at a party and tell them stories about “prototyping”, “sourcing”, and “tooling”, they assume that I’m using metaphors for web app development.”

“I ignored a lot of well-intentioned advice from people who told me to be an employee for a few years before jumping in.”

Kahwa a look inside coffee culture

Believing the dialogue between designer and consumer is critical for a product’s success; Roth is less focused on mass production and more on producing quality products. “I talk to a lot of designers who have a killer idea, but are waiting for the right person or company to make it happen for them. Even when I talk to some people about Sorapot, they assume that my ultimate goal is to license the design to Bodum or Alessi. While this may have been my only option five years ago, the internet allows designers to crawl further up the chain to manufacturing, and further down to customers. Impressing gatekeepers isn’t as important as connecting with customers.”

Roth’s ultimate goal is to create things that grow and change as consumers use them. “I love products that change and become more personal and valuable with their owner’s patterns of use, like jeans and cast iron cookware. My dream is to see a well-used and well-loved Sorapot in an antique shop in a few decades. The raw stainless steel will record the user’s daily tea making, becoming shinier where it’s held, revealing where it was scrubbed, and changing color gradually as tea tannins are deposited on its surface. It will look far better than when it comes out of the box new.”

tha

h da

IN on

and a signal

o A C eed

r o f e s u ca

Ten Years of I Need Coffee

by Alex Scofield

o i t a r b e c el

birt

la ffee was 9 9 9 1 pril 4,

T h e 10th

ed h c n u

hanges a

e r o ni st

pared with a human bei

eflects on a mith r de

ears ”

we b si te y

g“

ing

her e, e ex ist s no r in su stan a e dard for m o xy mo ron.

Suff

ice it to

prett at say th 10 years is

ffe Co

T r an onge ol is n

one

d Nee

ory

el A a h ic clear :Internet hist M en omes Wh bec th

fI eo c ad

S llen

in the ame w s ay tha

tad og’ s

age

a ngs ge.

om is c

amn o ld

a for website.

“That was really one of the main motivations

There was a scarc

about coffee. “T

to do a

INeed Coffee was launched by Smith on April 4, 1999, with the help of Lura Lee, Ryan Jacobs, and Alex Scofield. The 10th birthday is both cause for celebration and a signal that changes are in store. A decade’s worth of monthly INeedCoffee articles has begun to evolve into the more bloglike format of the newly launched Coffee Hero. Coffee was no different from any other website topic in the late ‘90s – although the Dot-Com Era was at its peak in many ways, there was a scarcity of informative, reliable, professional-caliber sites about coffee. “That was really one of the main motivations – to do a better coffee site.”

Kahwa a look inside coffee culture

Launching a coffee site seemed like a

natural idea to Smith and Lee. Both worked in the tech sector, and coffee was a hobby for them. Smith also had experience writing online coffee content. When he lived in Tampa, Fla., Smith wrote an espresso guide that reviewed about 20 different coffeehouses in the Tampa Bay area. Conditions were primitive. Whenever Smith updated the guide, he had to call the local host and FTP the new files. Just as frustrating to Smith, the domain was not his own. “At that point, I knew I had to man up and buy my own domain,” Smith said.

There was a scarcity of informative,reliable,professional-caliber sites about coffee.

city of informative,reliable,professional-caliber sites

– a better coffee site,”

That was really one of the main motivations

Smith bought the INeedCoffee.com domain on September 1, 1998. “I liked the name at first,” he said. Since then, however, he’s had a love/hate relationship with INeedCoffee’s name. One of the reasons? “It was too hard for people to remember three words,” Smith said. Many people, after hearing the site’s name, would later incorrectly recall a URL like IDrinkCoffee or ILoveCoffee (both taken, neither affiliated with this site). For any misgivings Smith has with INeedCoffee’s name, he has been proud of the site’s content from the get-go. On April 4, 1999, the site went live with a Coffee History Primer by Ryan Jacobs. New articles were released on the site each week, ranging from humor pieces to brewing tutorials

Within two years, INeedCoffee had switched to monthly releases. It now boasts a total of over 500 articles from about 100 different contributors. With the caffine highs, there were also caffine lows.

It’s tough for Smith to stomach some

of the photography in INeedCoffee’s earlier

ago would find that the link still works. Smith has also enjoyed the times when INeedCoffee received some high-profile attention. In 2007, Smith said, the site received e-mails from the Howard Stern Show concerning INeedCoffee’s coffee enema articles. However, INeedCoffee didn’t receive the e-mails until after the day’s show was over, and thus the site missed out on a possible chance to chat on-air with Stern. INeedCoffee has received contributions from several cult celebrities, like Winter and Bill Talen, the latter better known as Rev. Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping. Finally, Smith feels that INeedCoffee has benefited him professionally, and vastly improved his coffee experiences “What I drank 10 years ago, I wouldn’t clean my bathroom with today,” Smith said. Editing a coffee website has made Smith pickier with beans, with home-roasting, and with the equipment he uses, thus leading to better and better coffee to drink. Smith is a relentless adapter. Throughout INeedCoffee’s 10 years, Smith has made changes to the site’s front-end appearance and back-end architecture. The site has had three different logos and an equal number of content management systems.

Kahwa a look inside coffee culture

enmost I’ve t to hink ng ou es“I t d reachi nd prof r to joye e fans a volunte nt to coff ls that heir tale siona ribute t cont ite.” the s

pieces. “I really didn’t have good photos for the first few years,” Smith said. “I almost want to go back in time and take good photos of equipment that doesn’t exist any more.” He takes consolation, however, in recalling that INeedCoffee was born in the “Pixel Depression,” a time when broadband was not as widely available and there were stricter bandwidth limitations. That’s one of the regrets Smith has about his site, but it is far outweighed by the positives. From a technical standpoint, Smith takes pride in the fact that he has never broken an INeedCoffee link. Anybody who bookmarked an INeedCoffee page 10 years

INeedCoffee was entirely non-commercial for its first eight years – for the last two years, with Google AdSense ads, it might best be described as “marginally commercial.” Smith has long described web content as “living [and] breathing,” and INeedCoffee’s evolution has helped keep it current through a decade of rapid changes. However, a few months ago, Smith began to feel that INeedCoffee’s e-zine format with monthly content releases has run its course. “The whole paradigm kind of changed,” Smith said. Ten years ago, many coffee lovers needed an online forum to which they could contribute. “That’s not necessarily the case any more. Most people have access to their own publishing space,” Smith said. More coffee connoisseurs are able to publish their own content now, and soliciting contributors has become increasingly difficult. As a result, with a decade of monthly Caffeination Information on its server, INeedCoffee will no longer release new content every month. This does not mean INeedCoffee is going offline – far from it. Smith recently secured the domain for another 10 years. “The stuff will still remain,” Smith said. “The site’s not going anywhere.” Even as INeedCoffee celebrates its 10th anniversary, Smith is transitioning his online coffee efforts to Coffee Hero, a website that he launched on March 27, 2009. With a new site, Smith feels freer to innovate, rather than overhaul INeedCoffee again. “It’s best to keep them in two different boxes,” Smith said.

Smith describes Coffee Hero as “a work in progress.” In its earliest days, Coffee Hero has taken a coffee blog format, which Smith believes is better suited than an e-zine to thrive in an era of social networking and Twitter. “I want to highlight some of the best coffee related content out there,” Smith said. Just as INeedCoffee has helped Smith improve the coffee he drinks, it gives him satisfaction to think of 10 years’ worth of readers who benefited from the site by learning about home-roasting or French-pressing coffee. “I

enmost I’ve t to hink ng ou es“I t d reachi nd prof r to joye e fans a volunte nt to coff ls that heir tale siona ribute t cont ite.” the s

think [I’ve most enjoyed] reaching out to coffee fans and professionals that volunteer to contribute their talent to the site.”

Beyond Beans A Just Cup of Coffee By Nate Albee

The type of coffee you buy has a big impact on farmworkers and the environment. Here’s how to make that impact a good one.

Like many of us, Bill Harris of Americus, Georgia, once drank coffee-any kind of coffee-without checking the label to see where it was from or under what conditions it was made. But on a 1997 visit to Guatemala, Bill says he made a simple mistake that changed the way he thought about his morning cup. Harris was building an addition to a farmer’s house with a service group when he covered up a coffee plant. “When I saw how distressed the owner was, I realized how much the farmers there depend on coffee to survive,” he recalls.

Since coffee is a commodity, its market price depends on the availability of the product and its demand in stores. With coffee now being produced across the world, from Vietnam to Uganda, the market is being flooded with coffee, causing prices to drop below the cost of production. What does that mean for the typical coffee farmer? Either produce more coffee to earn a living, or sell the farm.

After talking further with the farmer, Harris realized that large coffee retailers, looking for the cheapest coffee available, care little about what happens on the plantations. As a result, many coffee farmers work under oppressive conditions while earning less than 30 cents a pound-not enough to meet their basic needs. (Consumers, on the other hand, pay giant retailers over $10 a pound.) However, there are roasters and retailers who use their products as a vehicle to improve conditions for farmers and the planet. Therefore, the coffee you choose has a huge impact. Here’s how to make it a good one: Coffee and the Environment When coffee farmers are in crisis, they’re often vulnerable to the influence of exploitative middlemen, who pressure them to adopt short-term solutions to increase production that harm their environment and health in the long-term, says Scott Codey of TransFair USA, a group working on solutions to the coffee dilemma. One such harmful yield-increasing practice is sun cultivation, which involves cutting down trees so that coffee plants produce lower quality beans more quickly. In 1997, scientists at the Smithsonian

Kahwa a look inside coffee culture

Another advantage to being an eco-minded imbiber is that you’ll enjoy an ever-widening array of sophisticated and tasty beers and wines to try.

Migratory Bird Institute linked falling populations of migratory birds to the disappearance of shade trees that once provided their food and shelter. Many sun-hardy coffee plants also require more pesticides than the shade-grown kind. “Sun cultivation alone can lead to pollution, deforestation, and the extinction of ongbirds,” says Codey. Fair Trade: A Just Solution In the early 1990s, several pioneering U.S. coffee companies-including Equal Exchange and Thanksgiving Coffee-helped develop a powerful economic model called fair trade, which allows small farmers to sell directly to buyers rather than to exploitative middlemen. The fair trade system guarantees farmers a minimum price of $1.26 per pound, nearly three times the current market price. Fair trade farmers work in cooperatives and are guaranteed fair and healthy working conditions, as well as assistance in implementing environmentally sustainable growing practices. “Eighty-five percent of all fair trade coffee sold in the U.S. is certified organic,” says Codey. “And most fair trade coffee is grown under the canopy of shade trees to preserve animal habitat.” The good news is that many consumers find that fair trade, organic, shade-grown coffee often tastes better than mass-produced beans grown in full sun. In other words, when we take steps to care for farmers, farmers can take extra care in growing the best coffee for consumers. Expanding Selections Another advantage to being an eco-minded imbiber is that you’ll enjoy an ever-widening array of sophisticated and tasty beers and wines to try.

A Just Cup of Coffee

www.fairtradefederation.org.

Twenty years ago, there were only a couple dozen microbreweries in the US. That number has multiplied to nearly 1,500 in 2001, according to the Institute for Brewing Studies. What this increase in “beer-o-diversity” means is that you, the consumer, have a vastly growing selection of beer styles to suit your own individual tastes. Microbreweries are constantly pioneering new varieties of beer, and they are even saving some endangered beer “species” from total extinction. For example, Anchor Brewing rescued the last remaining “steam beer” (a unique American style of beer) brewery in California several years ago. The same goes for wine-making as well-the more small vintners in existence, the more varieties of wine you have to choose from. Best of all, whether you buy local beer or wine, you’ll have even more opportunities to support local, eco-minded, community-oriented businesses

Labels to Look For When you’re buying coffee, look for these labels to make the best purchase for farmers and the planet: Fair Trade Certified: The TransFair “Fair Trade Certified” logo indicates that importers paid farmers a living wage of at least $1.26 per pound. TransFair coordinates independent monitors who travel to coffee plantations and ensure that they adhere to Fair Trade principles. TransFair USA also certifies Fair Trade tea and chocolate. In the future, they plan to certify other products as well. Certified Organic: Organic coffee farmers avoid the use of toxic pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers, making their beans healthier for you, the environment, and the farmers. Shade-Grown or Bird-Friendly: Buying coffee labeled “shade-grown” or “bird-friendly” means the trees on plantations are left intact to hold down topsoil, provide habitat for birds, and keep farmland sustainable for future generations. Fair Trade Federation: Products, including coffee, that bear the logo of the Fair Trade Federation have made the additional commitment of practicing Fair Trade in all their producer relationships, not just with a select few, which is the

Kahwa a look inside coffee culture

Challenge yourself to make all of your coffee purchases count for farmers and the environment

common practice of many companies. To find out which companies are FTF members, look for this label, or contact (202)872-5329, www.fairtradefederation.org. Finding Fair Trade Coffee Currently, Safeway and Trader Joes are the only national grocery chains to carry fair trade coffee, though you can find it in many health and specialty stores. To find fair trade coffee (and tea) retailers near you, contact Transfair USA: (510)663-5260, www.transfairusa.org. Fair trade coffee can also be purchased via mail order. The ubiquitous Starbucks is also a retailer of fair trade coffee, and in 2000 began offering take-home bags in its stores. Recently, Starbucks has offered to brew fair trade by the cup at no extra charge-but only if you specifically request that the barista open a take-home bag to brew you a cup. Codey has requested fair trade coffee at several different Starbucks locations and has found that the policy has not filtered down to all employees. He says, “Sometimes I’ve had to explain my request to the store manager, but it is their policy to brew any bagged coffee the customer requests in a French press.” Now the whole staff of the Starbucks near his office knows how to serve Fair Trade beans when he asks.

Sparking Demand The more demand we create for fair trade coffee, the more farmers can be brought into the fair trade system. Here are some ways you can help: Challenge yourself to make all of your coffee purchases count for farmers and the environment. If there is fair trade certified coffee in your local grocery store, please try it. If fair trade has not reached your community, ask store managers to carry it. Ask your workplace, place of worship, or civic group to serve fair trade coffee. Buy organic, Fair Trade coffee in bulk quantities to save money and ensure you always have a supply. Save money and enjoy a continuing supply of fair trade coffee every four to six weeks by joining a coffee buyers’ club. Members can choose to have two or three bags of fair trade, organic, shade-grown coffee delivered to their door every four to six weeks, and they can specify whether they want to sample various blends or stick with their favorites for each shipment. Grounds for Sharing offers this arrangement, and they pay a royalty to a charity you choose from a select list when you sign up. (866/766-6328) You can get premium fair trade coffee at about half the price by buying green coffee beans and roasting them yourself. You’ll have to invest in

a small coffee roaster, which costs about $100 and will eventually pay for itself. If your household drinks one pound of coffee per week, you’ll save up to $300 a year buying green beans. Companies like Seven Bridges Cooperative that sell unroasted coffee and home roasters claim just-roasted coffee tastes fresher. You also have the luxury of choosing a light or dark roast for every cup. The Changing Business Bill Harris, after learning from some of the socially responsible companies that came before him, started his own Fair Trade coffee company in 1998, Café Campesino. “Campesino,” Spanish for “farmer,” is an appropriate name for his business. It reminds us how the choices we make as coffee consumers keep trees standing, chemicals off of our food, and farmers’ wages firmly rooted.

A Just Cup of Coffee

By Elizabeth Walling,

Pass the Java

The healthy Side of coffee Have you been trying to kick the coffee habit? Well, before you say good-bye to your favorite morning drink forever, you may be interested in hearing coffee may not be so bad for you after all. In fact, it’s been linked to a variety of health benefits. Did you know that one study shows even one cup of coffee each day can cut your risk for Parkinson’s disease in half? Coffee’s full of healthful components like magnesium, potassium and vitamin B3. And coffee is the American’s number one source of antioxidants, says one 2005 study from the University of Scranton. Another study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that one cup of coffee can have more antioxidants than a serving of blueberries or oranges. Antioxidants play a key role in reducing the inflammation which is associated with many health problems ranging from heart disease to rheumatoid arthritis.

Dr. Joe Vinson, a chemistry professor who led the Scranton study, says, “Antioxidants are your army to protect you from the toxic free radicals, which come from breathing oxygen and eating sugar, that start chronic diseases. Antioxidants help stave off cancer, heart disease, diabetes and stroke.” It may be the high level of antioxidants that helps coffee protect the heart. Researchers from Norway looked at data involving more than 27,000 women in the Iowa Women’s Health Study and found women who drank 1-3 cups of coffee each day had a 24 percent reduction in risk of heart disease compared with women who didn’t drink coffee at all. Women who drank as much as five cups a day showed up to a 19 percent decrease in risk of death from all causes. However, the study also concluded that more is not always better. Drinking more than six cups of coffee per day did not seem to increase benefits significantly. Analysis of a collection of studies from the Journal of the American Medical Association showed evidence that consuming coffee can lower the risk of developing type II diabetes. Studies which looked at decaffeinated coffee showed similar results. The benefits increased with the amount of coffee drank: up 28 percent for those who drank at least four cups per day, and up 35 percent for people who drank more than six.

Kahwa a look inside coffee culture

However, just because coffee is good for you doesn’t mean you should overload your body with caffeine. Rob van Dam is a Harvard scientist and the lead author of a study which showed the amount of caffeine in just two cups of coffee can constrict blood flow to the heart. “I wouldn’t advise people to increase their consumption of coffee in order to lower their risk of disease,” says Dr. Van Dam, “but the evidence is that for most people without specific conditions, coffee is not detrimental to health. If people enjoy drinking it, it’s comforting to know that they don’t have to be afraid of negative health effects.” Fortunately, most of these benefits can still be enjoyed if you drink decaffeinated coffee, so you don’t have to take in surplus caffeine just for the antioxidants’ sake. It’s also a good idea to look for coffee made from organic sources to limit your exposure to chemical pesticides. At any rate, rest assured you can enjoy your morning cup of joe without regret - so long as you go easy on the sugar.

The healthy Side of coffee

Pick Me!

Peet’s Coffee & Tea

Company history Alfred Peet, known as the “grandfather of specialty coffee”, started Peet’s Coffee & Tea as a single store in 1966 in Berkeley, California. Peet’s original outlet is still located on the corner of Walnut and Vine in Berkeley, close to the University of California (although it has been renovated to match the look of the newer Peet’s outlets elsewhere). Peet grew up in the coffee business while living in Netherlands as a child. Moving to San Francisco, California, when he was 35, he began roasting coffee as he knew it. Peet’s now roasts at a small plant in nearby Alameda-the only “green” coffee plant in the world. Alfred Peet died of cancer on August 29, 2007, at the age of 87 in his home in Ashland, Oregon.

Kahwa a look inside coffee culture

Peet’s was the original inspiration for now-rival Starbucks. The three founders of Starbucks knew Alfred Peet personally, founded Starbucks in Seattle, Washington, as kindred spirits, and bought the coffee beans for Starbucks directly from Peet’s during their first year of business in 1971. Peet sold his business in 1979 but stayed on as a coffee buyer until 1983. In 1984 Jerry Baldwin, one of the original founders of Starbucks and Alfred Peet’s former partner, and co-owner Jim Reynolds, the roastmaster, with a group of investors bought Peet’s’ four Bay Area locations. In 1987, Baldwin and Peet’s owners sold the Starbucks chain to focus on Peet’s, and Baldwin and Howard Schultz, Starbucks’ new owner, entered into a no-compete agreement in the Bay Area. Peet’s has been much slower to expand than Starbucks, and has maintained more of its focus as a coffee and tea retailer, rather than a coffee bar, a distinction that has long separated Peet’s from Starbucks. Peet’s is still primarily a California operation, with a few stores in other metropolitan areas and a short-lived four-store partnership in Tokyo.

Reviews from those who know them best Below is employee feedback on their products, service, and overall environment. Pros -It is a fun environment and you meet some nice people -Peet’s has an excellent product! The coffee beans are all perfectly roasted to make a brew good enough to drink black, no sugar! For steamed milk based drinks, Peet’s also aspires to make the best foam. -The coffee buyers are smart and progressive and produce a great product. The CEO is smart. -I believe in the products Cons -They are not very flexable with schedules and expect you to always be available... -Many changes are being made recently, that will affect negatively to our loyal customers. Seems to me that Corporate cares less of customers nor the “Golden Standards” that are preached to us regularly. They are only thinking about how to make more money fast. -Employees have called Peet’s the oldest start up in the world. Although the company has been around for 40+ years, it is run like a start up; there is a lack of resources, limited guidance with high expectations, no policies, and no structure or accountability. However, Peet’s has recently hired the talent needed to address these issues in the upcoming years. (courtesy glassdoor.com)

Peet’s Coffee & Tea

Decaf

The Effect of Caffeine on Stress and Teamwork By Maryann Marshall

Text box

“Taking a coffee break at work may actually sabotage employees’ ability to do their jobs and undermine teamwork instead of boosting it, suggests new research.” So begins an article in New Scientist. We thought coffee breaks reduce stress. Have you noticed however, that after drinking coffee, stressful personal interactions do actually become more tense? Men tend to speak much louder, escalating into yelling or shouting. A pair of scientists from Bristol University were inspired by a report of an attendee at one of their stress workshops. The man traveled to the U.S. with his workmates. They found coffee more available in the U.S. than it is in the U.K. The men in his entourage took advantage of the readily available source of their favorite drug. He related that “within days their stress levels had escalated and they believe the extra caffeine had disrupted their working relationships, and impaired their working ability.”

Caffeine is an addictive drug. Those Textconsume box who at least 600 to 750 milligrams of caffeine per day will find it difficult to go without their daily fix.

Kahwa a look inside coffee culture

Back in the ‘lab,’ these two scientists set up a scenario to test the effects of java on people’s stress levels and working relationships. They gave subjects a beverage containing 200 milligrams of caffeine (about 2 cups of espresso) or a caffeine-free cup. The most pronounced effects seemed to be on the men in the study. Men had higher heart rates and used less adaptive coping strategies under the influence of caffeine. They had more difficulty during a public speaking task after drinking coffee. However, their performance in mathematics was not affected by the beverage. Surprisingly, levels of alertness were similar whether or not participants drank caffeinated beverages.

Given a group ‘desert survival task,’ taking a coffee break reduced indicators of stress, but reduced men’s ability to perform as a team. The effect was more pronounced in men than their female counterparts. Jim Lane of Duke University, theorizes that men may be more threatened by stressful situations. Stress is amplified by caffeine. A separate report from BBC News explains that it is indeed possible to get too much coffee: “ Indulging in a few mugs too many could result in symptoms such as restlessness, nervousness, excitement, insomnia, nausea, vomiting and a flushed face. The symptoms of a serious overdose include delirium and seizures.”

The Effect of Caffeine on Stress and Teamwork

Caffeine overdose can be fatal, in the short term, if not in the long run. “Death from an extreme overdose would tend to be due to ventricular fibrillation -- an uncoordinated contraction of heart muscles, which could stop blood pumping.” the BBC article reports. Toxicity reactions may occur with consumption of as few as seven cups of coffee per day, the article explains. Individual sensitivity may vary, however. Some people may exhibit symptoms from less java, while others may be able tolerate a bit more. Caffeine is an addictive drug. Those who consume at least 600 to 750 milligrams of caffeine per day will find it difficult to go without their daily fix. How much caffeine is in that cup? The BBC reports: “The highest natural caffeine content is found in filter coffee, a mug of which contains about 120 mg of caffeine. Instant coffee contains roughly 75 mg and espresso 107 mg.” They do not explore the effect of long term use of excessive amounts of caffeine consumption. Some studies suggest a link between habitually large consumption of coffee and fibromyalgia. Caffeine is by far the most commonly consumed psychoactive substance. Perhaps, when it is time to take a break, it would be better to take a walk, drink ordinary H2O, and take several deep breaths than to hit Starbucks.

Kahwa a look inside coffee culture