How do I drink thee? Let me count the ways ... Bryn Tilly
savours the dark soul of that infamous bean ...
"Coffeepot give us peace
coffeepot let children grow
let our wealth swell
please protect us from evils
give us rain and grass"
- Ethiopian Prayer
It has many guises - espresso, cappuccino, mochaccino, café
latte,
macchiato, ristretto, doppio, flat white, etc - that bitter sweet pleasure
which
is a way of life for so many of us. Yet coffee remains the most popular drug
in the world, with 85% of Americans alone using significant amounts of
caffeine on
a daily basis.
It's the most sought after commodity after oil, which certainly
says
something about the power and influence of this dark-hued fluid. You
may
not drink coffee, but you can appreciate just how popular it is.
Craving that
morning espresso, you may not be so aware of its deep social
influence.
Sure, the active ingredient caffeine is found in other beverages,
such as tea and soft drinks, but there's only one true pure form: coffee. Coffee has been a formidable force in history, and is probably
one of the most addictive substances the world has ever known.
In recent years it has become a significant social lubricant.
It's almost
impossible not to be exposed to its aroma, the taste of it infiltrating
everything from ice cream to nouveau cuisine. And caffeine is
the only
addictive psychoactive substance that is freely available almost
everywhere, unregulated, sold without a licence, available in tablet and
capsule form, linked to smart drinks, and added to soft drinks aimed at children.
Art of Darkness
In our coffee-driven urban society we take a lot for granted.
And for the
most part we are served well. Most cafes know how to make
a
reasonable coffee.
But there is an art to making an espresso and all its variations.
Even that
simple long black demands respect for the espresso machine,
and attention to the packing of the ground coffee beans. Without that 'rats tail'
spiralling into the demitasse, your coffee is going to be sub-standard.
And in this hyper-demanding urban sophisticate social realm of tonic! tonic!
tonic!, the perfect coffee is of the utmost importance.
One mustn't underestimate the disdain that spills forth from
unhappy cafe
customers who have been served a too milky latte or an under-frothed
cappuccino. Call it coffee café contempt! Without
the right brew an
over-stressed executive or a disgruntled student may have his
or her day
fall apart around them. Simply because the coffee made has NOT
hit the spot!
The 'Sauce' of Dissent
On the table in front of you it may appear innocuous, but coffee
has been
responsible for a lot of social upheaval. It was banned for
years in Europe
for causing the aristocrats and political yes-men much grief.
Why exactly
was it banned? Because of its ability to make people think.
Challenge the
status quo. Spark ideas of political revolt. And none of this
was happening
in the bars. In the bars they were getting drunk on absinthe
and playing
silly buggers, while in the coffee houses they were getting
fired up, wired,
plotting, scheming, ready for action!
A Repugnant History
The world's first coffee lovers were Oromos, a society who lived
around 1500 to 3000 years ago in the African kingdom of Kefa. Kefa is perhaps
the root of the word coffee, or maybe qahwa, which roughly translates
as "to make something repugnant". Originally referring to wine, which
made food repugnant, it was then applied to coffee, which made sleep repugnant.
The first mention of a coffee beverage suggests it was brewed
from coffee leaves. Kati, or Kotea, is an Ethiopian concoction made of roasting
coffee leaves. Amertassa is an earlier version made from freshly picked
green leaves and then left to dry in the shade. These two are strong
candidates for
being the first cup of coffee.
The French, the Dutch and the Ethiopians each styled themselves
as the heavies in making coffee the world's most popular drug. But
it was the Turks who controlled the port of Mocha (coffee Mecca) during its heyday.
And how's this for one of their proverbs:
"Coffee should be black as hell,
strong as death and sweet as love"
As for the beans with which we are more familiar in the western
world, there are two basic kinds. The succulent Arabica from
East Africa prefers higher elevation, while the fierce Robusta
from Zaire grows pretty much everywhere. The social influence
of coffee soon spread from the Middle East into Europe and beyond.
Coffee houses were established first in Mecca and Constantinople
(1500 and earlier), then into England (Oxford and London 1555
and 1652), across the Channel (Amsterdam and Paris 'mid-1600s
and later), to America (Boston and New York late 1600s) and
eventually back into the heart of Europe (Berlin 1721).
But it wasn't long before the small cafes were stripped of their coffee-making facilities. Coffee was considered the devil's
cup, more insidious than alcohol, and certainly more potent in its socially destructive powers. Which of course only put it in higher demand
- just as "Prohibition" caused a surge in alcohol trade.
So is coffee really that dangerous?
Symptoms likely to occur after consumption in excess of 250
mg (2-3 cups): restlessness, nervousness, excitement, insomnia, flushed face,
diuresis, gastrointestinal disturbance, muscle twitching, rambling flow
of thought and speech, cardiac arrhythmia, periods of inexhaustibility and
psychomotor agitation.
For hardcore caffeine lovers, try a Turbo Coke - a shot of espresso
in a tall glass over ice topped up with Coca-Cola. Now that's gotta get you goin'!
Things You Probably Didn't Know About Coffee:
- In an espresso (1.5 to 2 oz) there is 100 mg of caffeine.
In an instant
coffee there can be 50 to 130 mg, and in a drip or percolated
coffee there
is anything from 75 to 180 mg.
- Acute toxicity leading to death from coffee can occur at levels
as low as
50 mg/kg, equivalent to 3.5 grams for a 60 kg person. That's
about 35
straight cups of coffee.
- The famous writer and philosopher Voltaire used to consume
50 cups of
coffee a day.
- A few years ago a twelve-step program was set up by a group
called
Caffeine Anonymous in Portland, Oregon, to help junkies kick
the habit.
- Workers be warned. That fourth cup of coffee late in the day
is not the
pick-me-up you think it is. A study has found that drinking
more than
three-and-a-half cups of coffee a day hurts productivity levels
and does not
make people more aware - it causes concentration lapses and
stress.
More Caffeine Crazed
Info ...
- Coffee is the second largest commodity in world trade.
- The human body will absorb 300mg of caffeine. Additional amounts
are excreted and provide no stimulation.
- Coffee is the most popular drink in the world at
over 400
billion cups each year.
- Coffee drinkers have more frequent sex than non-coffee
drinkers
and enjoy it more.
- Swedish people drink more coffee than any other nation.
Average
11 cups a day.
- On average, a coffee tree produces 1-2 lbs of coffee beans
per year.
- 2.4 billion pounds of coffee are sold per year in the United
States.
- One pound of coffee represents 4000 handpicked beans.
- The first Parisian cafe opened in 1689 to serve coffee.
- In the year 1763 there were over 200 coffee shops in Venice.
- Raw coffee beans, soaked in water and spices, are chewed
like
candy in parts of Africa.
- The Japanese have been known to bathe in coffee grounds
fermented
with pineapple pulp, for reducing wrinkles
and improving their skin.
- Coffee sacks are usually made of hemp and it takes over
600,000
beans to fill a coffee sack.
Bryn Tilly is a writer, DJ and culture vulture. For
more of his articles check out www.freshmag.com.au
or email him via bryntilly@yahoo.com ... and for more info on
coffee click here. For coffee suppliers
click here.
