According to the International Coffee Organization, Brazil still leads the world in coffee production with an average of more than 33 million bags of coffee produced each year, down from about 42.5 million in 2006. It’s interesting to note that the same 10 countries made the top 10 in 2007 as in my previous post. The only change in rank was that Peru moved from the 7th spot to the 10th. Of course my previous post included data that was an average of years ‘04, ‘05, and ‘06.

The following table shows the average number of bags of coffee produced in 2007 per country.

Enjoy!

ShareThis

 When Francesco Calderaro came to the United States from Palermo, Sicily eight years ago to pursue a master’s degree, he was amazed at some of the things that passed for “authentic” Italian food, he said in an interview last week. The JP resident said he was particularly shocked at most of the coffee that was being passed off as genuine Italian espresso.

“Since I moved here, I’ve been trying all the brands of espresso coffee from Italy. I couldn’t believe the coffee was so different in taste from what I was used to in Italy,” said Calderaro. “I go there every year and have my coffee, and it’s always such an experience. The aftertaste is always great.”

Calderaro said the espresso coffees popular here in the United States are not what Italians get in Italy. “The coffees [in the US] are always expensive and bitter. When you spend more money to get something that’s bitter, that makes you bitter,” Calderaro joked.

Now the Moss Hill resident is looking to bring the coffee he has been drinking since he was a child here to Boston. He is working to import Al Moretto Coffee, an Italian brand that has been made for three generations by the same family, to gourmet food stores around New England with his new distribution company, Tutto Buono Inc.

“Being small, they can still focus on the quality. After the first [world] war, that is when the first generation started. Now the third generation… is keeping the tradition, focusing on quality,” said Calderaro. “The company’s owner is really happy that finally someone like me is giving them an opportunity to do business in this country.”

Calderaro said Al Moretto coffees are made with high-quality Brazilian Arabica beans, which are more expensive and more difficult to grow. He stressed that not all Arabica beans are the same and that the bean makes all the difference when it comes to taste.

“Whenever you see something that says Arabica coffee and it’s really cheap, it could be from that [bean] family, but not from a quality region,” said Calderaro. It’s just like wine. Pinot noir [grapes] can be grown in your backyard, but then the pinot noir grown in Burgundy is some of the best in the world because of the soil, temperature and who’s doing the growing,” said Calderaro.

Al Moretto coffees are now available in Jamaica Plain at the Harvest Cooperative Market as well as other locations around Boston and Providence.

I agree that the espresso I got while in Sicily was very good, but it was due to a number of different things. For example, the water profile, coffee freshness, and brewing process have a big impact on the resulting shot of espresso. The fact that the coffee is now going to be shipped across the Atlantic will result in a coffee that is very stale. It’s very easy to get your hands on fresh roasted coffee here in the States. Using fresh roasted coffee, good water, and learning the right process for brewing/extraction will yield the best results.

ShareThis

The following table shows the average number of bags of coffee produced from 2004-2006 per country.

That’s a lot of coffee!

ShareThis

So, what’s the allure? Well, they make great espresso, they’re easy to use, and they’re very affordable. Several years ago I purchased my first moka pot. It was a 3 cup Bialetti. I took it out of the box, rinsed it, put in water and fresh ground espresso, and about 4 minutes later I had a great cup (well three) of espresso. I still have and still use the original pot, but over the years I’ve added a couple of other sizes to my collection, a 1 cup and a 6 cup version.

Pros:

• Inexpensive
• Easy to maintain
• Found in most kitchen stores and online stores such as Amazon
• Easy to product consistent results from one pot of coffee to the next

Cons:

• No crema

Conclusion: You just can’t beat it for the price. As mentioned above, it produces a great shot of espresso and it’s very easy to maintain. Simply rinse it out between uses… but don’t use soap, it’ll affect the taste of the coffee.

Buy it at Amazon

Have you used this espresso machine? Let me know. Add a comment below.

ShareThis

“…Dave and Gene share a huge hard-boiled ostrich egg. It looks big enough to feed a family. Dave samples a slice of the white and doesn’t think much of it.
expensive coffee – the coffee bean comes from the droppings of the civet cat. The civet eats the beans, and civet ‘juices’ are absorbed during the digestion, and when it is eliminated, the waste is gathered and made into coffee. OK. Dave tries some coffee but complains that it is too weak. He is unsatisfied. You know, if I were to drink coffee made from the droppings of a civet cat, it could never be too weak for me…”

Although CBS.com has video of the episode, it only shows him eating a braised pig’s eyeball. The streamed video ends before they get talk about the coffee. Maybe it’ll show up on YouTube some day.

ShareThis

During the show they cupped several types of coffee including:

• Daterra Farm Special Reserve, Cerrado, Brazil
• La Minita Estate, Tarrazu, Costa Rica
• Maria Santos’ Los Sauces Farm, Cauca, Colombia
• Mandheling, Lintong, Sumatra
• Addis Ketema Cooperative, Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia
• Mamuto Farm, Kirinyaga, Kenya
• Aged Sumatra Mandheling, Vintage 2002

For the past week or so I’ve been drinking La Minita. It’s not as robust as some of the other coffees I’ve been drinking. Instead it’s light on the tongue but with a very complex set of characteristics.

Next on my list of coffees to get is the Mamuto Farm, Kirinyaga, Kenya (as shown below). It sounds amazing.

You can stream the show from here.

ShareThis

5 reasons why I blog?

1. To share information and things I’ve recently learned on particular interests of mine.
2. Heck, everyone else is doing it… I don’t want to be left out.
3. To stay up-to-date with the latest in community software.
4. To be a part of the web. I work in the industry might as well participate as well.
5. To learn about blogging. This is the 1st blog I’ve authored myself.

I’m tagging:

• Sweet Maria’s
• Bricin.net
• Alterra Coffee Roasters
• The Thinking Blog
• Fixedgear

Now it’s your turn.

ShareThis

http://www.x-cafe.com

“X Cafe LLC, a Portland Maine based coffee roasting company founded in 1999 has never sold one coffee bean! X Cafe is recognized nationally as the originator of shelf-stable coffee extracts. Paul Kalenian, President, notes, “Our liquid coffee extracts have made Coffee on Demand possible and that is revolutionizing the coffee industry, providing a continuous supply of fresh and great tasting coffee on demand 24/7, cup after cup. For the foodservice operator, it means no waste, no grinds, no stale coffee, and no labor. And it’s all done with Bag-in-Box technology, long favored by Coca Cola and Pepsi for the soda industry, using post-mix dispensers. Coffee on Demand is making waves in the coffee world, a $23 billion/year industry. Now sold to nearly all of the nation’s major coffee roasters under private label, as well as juice distributors and broad- line distributors, the coffee is served at such locations as health care facilities, convention centers, hotels, casinos, sports arenas, cruise ships and the military.”

The company, founded by Cathy & Paul Kalenian, developed a patented extraction process wherein the taste, varietal characteristics, body and aroma of a fresh brewed cup of arabica coffee is reproduced in a shelf-stable liquid concentrate. No refrigeration or freezing is necessary. X Cafe is the originator and leading manufacturer of shelf-stable liquid coffee extracts. Today X Cafe is the holder of U.S. and International Patents covering its unique technology. “Our technology allows us to control coffee from seed to cup, ensuring its consistency and great taste.”

Since pioneering the ready-to-dispense coffee market, X Cafe has also seen a sharp increase in the use of its coffee extracts as an ingredient in such products as ice cream, gelatos, RTD beverages, iced / frozen drinks, and liquors. “Bulk packaging of our coffee extract in 1000 liter nitrogen flushed, FDA certified totes allows for repackaging at a co-packer anywhere in the country or internationally,” said Paul Kalenian.

“We love special food & beverage formulation projects - any brix, any solids, the customer’s beans or ours - we are happy to work on proprietary projects. Our concentrations can vary from 30:1 to 80:1. The use of our coffee extracts in other products is unlimited and a very exciting extension for the coffee industry,” said Kalenian.

Due to the popularity of the company’s coffee extracts, X Cafe recently completed an extensive expansion of its state-of-the-art coffee roasting/ extraction facility in Portland, Maine. The expansion increased the company’s one shift capacity to 10 million lbs. of green beans processed per year. This volume equates to 3 million eight-oz. cups per day. The second, completely independent production line was designed with a keen sense of energy efficiency and environmental conscience with 80% recycling of water and 80% recapture of energy use. 100% of the extracted coffee grind waste is de- watered and recycled through composting or biomass energy.

Much like the coffee decaffeination process, X Cafe’s extraction technology is a process essential to the coffee industry but available only in limited locations under X Cafe control. Future plans include the license of the company’s extraction technology in key markets around the world, including the European Union, Asia, and Australia.”

ShareThis

Prior to 1000 A.D.: Members of the Galla tribe in Ethiopia notice that they get an energy boost when they eat a certain berry, ground up and mixed with animal fat.

1000 A.D.: Arab traders bring coffee back to their homeland and cultivate the plant for the first time on plantations. They also began to boil the beans, creating a drink they call “qahwa” (literally, that which prevents sleep).

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.

1511: Khair Beg, the corrupt governor of Mecca, tries to ban coffee for feat that its influence might foster opposition to his rule. The sultan sends word that coffee is sacred and has the governor executed.

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.

1607: Captain John Smith helps to found the colony of Virginia at Jamestown. It’s believed that he introduced coffee to North America.

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).

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.

1672: First coffeehouse opens in Paris.

1675: The Turkish Army surrounds Vienna. Franz Georg Kolschitzky, a Viennese who had lived in Turkey, slips through the enemy lines to lead relief forces to the city. The fleeing Turks leave behind sacks of “dry black fodder” that Kolschitzky recognizes as coffee. He claims it as his reward and opens central Europe’s first coffee house. He also establishes the habit of refining the brew by filtering out the grounds, sweetening it, and adding a dash of milk.

1690: With a coffee plant smuggled out of the Arab port of Mocha, the Dutch become the first to transport and cultivate coffee commercially, in Ceylon and in their East Indian colony - Java, source of the brew’s nickname.

1713: The Dutch unwittingly provide Louis XIV of France with a coffee bush whose descendants will produce entire Western coffee industry when in 1723 French naval officer Gabriel Mathieu do Clieu steals a seedling and transports it to Martinique. Within 50 years and official survey records 19 million coffee trees on Martinique. Eventually, 90 percent of the world’s coffee spreads from this plant.

1721: First coffee house opens in Berlin.

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 Sebastian 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.”

1773: The Boston Tea Party makes drinking coffee a patriotic duty in America.

1775: Prussia’s Frederick the Great tries to block imports of green coffee, as Prussia’s wealth is drained. Public outcry changes his mind.

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

Early 1900’s: In Germany, afternoon coffee becomes a standard occasion. The derogatory term “Kaffee Klatsch” is coined to describe women’s gossip at these affairs. It’s since been broadened to mean a relaxed conversation in general.

1900: Hills Bros. begins packing roast coffee in vacuum tins, spelling the end of the ubiquitous local roasting shops and coffee mills.

1901: The first soluble “instant” coffee is invented by Japanese-American chemist Satori Kato of Chicago.

1903: German coffee importer Ludwig Roselius turns a batch of ruined coffee beans over to researchers, who perfect the process of removing caffeine from the beans without destroying the flavor. He markets it under the brand name “Sanka.” Sanka is introduced to the United States in 1923.

1906: George Constant Washington, an English chemist living in Guatemala, notices a powdery condensation forming on the spout of his silver coffee carafe. After experimentation, he creates the first mass-produced instant coffee (his brand is called Red E Coffee).

1907: In less than a century Brazil accounted for 97% of the world’s harvest.

1920: Prohibition goes into effect in United States. Coffee sales boom.

1938: Having been asked by Brazil to help find a solution to their coffee surpluses, the Nestle Company invents freeze-dried coffee. Nestle develops Nescafe and introduces it in Switzerland.

1940: The US imports 70 percent of the world coffee crop.

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. Cappuccino is named for the resemblance of its color to the robes of the monks of the Capuchin order.

1969: One week before Woodstock the Manson Family murders coffee heiress Abigail Folger as she visits with friend Sharon Tate in the home of filmmaker Roman Polanski.

1971: Starbucks opens its first store in Seattle’s Pike Place public market, creating frenzy over fresh-roasted whole bean coffee.

ShareThis