Tonight at Standing Stone Coffee Company we are hosting what is called a “coffee cupping” where partipants can learn more about the origin, history, facts, and brewing methods along with taste testing a few brews straight from our roaster. Below is are some facts and history that was part of the hand-out tonight.

Enjoy some caffeine knowledge – from the cup to the cranium!

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Intro to  Coffee Cupping

Interesting History

600-800 AD: First known discovery of coffee berries. Legend of goat herder Kaldi of Ethiopia who notices goats are friskier after eating red berries of a local shrub. Experiments with the berries himself and begins to feel happier.

1453: Coffee is introduced to Constantinople by Ottoman Turks. The world’s first coffee shop, Kiva Han, open there in 1475. Turkish law makes it legal for a woman to divorce her husband if he fails to provide her with her daily quota of coffee.

1645: First coffeehouse opens in Italy.

1652: First coffeehouse opens in England. Coffee houses multiply and become such popular forums for learned and not so learned – discussion that they are dubbed “penny universities” (a penny being the price of a cup of coffee).

1600: Coffee, introduced to the West by Italian traders, grabs attention in high places. In Italy, Pope Clement VIII is urged by his advisers to consider that favorite drink of the Ottoman Empire part of the infidel threat. However, he decides to “baptize” it instead, making it an acceptable Christian beverage.

1668: Coffee replaces beer as New York’s City’s favorite breakfast drink.

1668: Edward Lloyd’s coffeehouse opens in England and is frequented by merchants and maritime insurance agents. Eventually it becomes Lloyd’s of London, the best-known insurance company in the world. The word “TIPS” is coined in an English coffee house:  A sign reading “To Insure Prompt Service” (TIPS) was place by a cup.  Those desiring prompt service and better seating threw a coin into a tin.

1727: The Brazilian coffee industry gets its start when Lieutenant colonel Francisco de Melo Palheta is sent by government to arbitrate a border dispute between the French and the Dutch colonies in Guiana. Not only does he settle the dispute, but also strikes up a secret liaison with the wife of French Guiana’s governor. Although France guarded its New World coffee plantations to prevent cultivation from spreading, the lady said good-bye to Palheta with a bouquet in which she hid cuttings and fertile seeds of coffee.

1732: Johann Sevastian Bach composes his Kaffee-Kantate. Partly an ode to coffee and partly a stab at the movement in Germany to prevent women from drinking coffee (it was thought to make them sterile), the cantata includes the aria, “Ah! How sweet coffee taste! Lovelier than a thousand kisses, sweeter far than muscatel wine! I must have my coffee.”

By 1763: Venice has over 2,000 coffee shops.

1886: Former wholesale grocer Joel Cheek names his popular coffee blend “Maxwell House,” after the hotel in Nashville, TN where it’s served.

1942: During W.W.II, American soldiers are issued instant Maxwell House coffee in their ration kits. Back home, widespread hoarding leads to coffee rationing.

1946: In Italy, Achilles Gaggia perfects his espresso machine with a piston that creates a high pressure extraction to produce a thick layer of crema . Cappuccino is named for the resemblance of its color to the robes of the monks of the Capuchin order.

2006: Coffee is the world’s most popular beverage. More than 500 billion cups are consumed each year. It is a world commodity that is second only to oil.

Fast Facts

• More than half of all Americans over the age of 18 — 107 million people — drink coffee daily. On average, U.S. coffee drinkers consume three and a half cups a day apiece.
• Scandinavia boasts the highest per-capita coffee consumption in the world. In Finland, people drink more than four cups of coffee a day on average.
• Medical researchers associate positive health benefits to moderate coffee consumption, including improved mood and the prevention of gallstone and kidney stone formation.
• Coffee is grown in more than 50 countries in South America, Central America, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. Nearly 25 million farmers worldwide depend on growing coffee for their economic livelihood.
• The fair trade movement was launched in the Netherlands in 1988.
• Fair trade coffee meets several criteria. Growers must be organized into democratically run cooperatives. The cooperatives must agree to independent inspections. They also must use sustainable methods of agriculture. In return, the growers are guaranteed a living wage of at least $1.26 per pound for their coffee (15 cents more if it is grown without pesticides).
• Although fair trade coffee constitutes only 2 percent of the world’s coffee supply, consumer demand for fair trade coffee has grown in the United States — from 1.9 million pounds imported in 1999 to 6.7 million pounds imported in 2001.

Economics of Coffee

• Coffee is the world’s second-most-valuable commodity export by developing countries, after oil. The global coffee industry earns an estimated $60 billion annually. Less than 10 percent of those earnings end up in the hands of coffee farmers.
• Profits for coffee-producing countries have declined dramatically. In 1985, for example, 38 cents of every dollar spent on coffee in the United States returned to producing countries. By 1995, that share dropped to 23 cents — a 40 percent fall.
• During the same period, the price consumers paid for their coffee increased by more than 30 percent.
• In Central America alone, as many as 600,000 coffee farmers and workers have lost their jobs as a result of the coffee crisis, according to World Bank estimates.
• Four major conglomerates — Nestlé, Philip Morris, Procter & Gamble, and Sara Lee — dominate world coffee markets, accounting for 60 percent of U.S. sales and 40 percent of the global coffee trade.
• The world’s top 10 coffee-producing nations, in order of amount produced, are Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia, India, Mexico, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Ivory Coast and Uganda.
• The top 10 coffee-importing countries, in order of amount imported, are the United States, Germany, Japan, France, Italy, Spain, Canada, the United Kingdom, Poland and the Netherlands.

What Affects Your Cup?

Type

• Robusta – grows at lower elevations, has a higher yield per plant, and is more disease resistant.  It is noteworthy for its harsh, dirty flavor and twice as much caffeine as arabica beans.  Robusta is the favorite for most North American canned industries (Maxwell House, etc.).

• Arabica – 75% of the world’s coffee.  Most of it is of poor quality, usually sold at gas stations and fast food restaurants.  10% of arabica coffee is the high grade “specialty” quality.  The specialty coffees grow between 4,000-6,000 feet, between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, needing an estimated annual rainfall of 80 inches, with a year-round daily temperature of 60-70 degrees.  This is the type of coffees that the specialty coffee roasters and houses exclusively use.

Location

• The specific Region, Country and Estate in which the coffee was grown

Processing

• Processing of the fruit
  • Wet – cherries soaked in water for 1-2 days until husks fall off.  Uses a lot of water and may affect flavor.
  • Dry – cherries laid out on road or flat areas to dry in sun, then husks are peeled off. Takes 3-4 weeks.
• Age of the green bean – suggested use within one year of processing

Roasting & Blending

• Age of the roasted bean – suggested use within two weeks of roasting
• The specific roaster’s techniques
• Level of Roast –
  • Light roast – “Cinnamon,” “Vienna” or “Full City” characterized by a medium to dark brown color and glossy shine of natural coffee oils.
  • Very Dark roast – “Italian” or “French” characterized by being nearly jet black.  At this level much of the natural coffee flavors are burnt away to be mainly the flavor of the roasting process itself.
• Single Origin or Blend coffee of different types
• Flavored – Soaking the beans in flavor or spraying it on
• Decaffeination – Chemical or water process to extract caffeine, usually destroys flavor

Preparation

• Age of the ground bean – suggested use within 45 minutes of grinding, light and oxygen are the two leading causes of coffee losing its flavor
• Water Quality – 95% of the cup is quality water, purified water is recommended
• Temperature of the Water – Needs to be 195-205 degrees Fahrenheit
• Brewing technique –
  • Coarseness of the Grind
  • Amount of coffee used – experts use 2 tbsp per 6 ounce cup, can use 1 ½, but never 1.  (To dilute, add water, do not reduce grinds.)
  • Drip – paper or mesh filter (adds or removes coffee oils which impact acidity and flavor)
  • Press – lets water permeate the coffee and then clears the grinds for a hardy, full-bodied cup
  • Vacuum – crazy 2-blub system like an hourglass where the water and grinds are mixed at the bottom, but as boiled the coffee goes to the top, separated from the grinds
  • Machine/manual – paper or mesh filters, almost no machines get water temp hot enough, or allow proper space for recommended coffee usage.