Millions of people wake up with a daily cup of coffee. That often means purchasing their morning drink at a convenience outlet or coffee chain in a foam cup. Before purchasing that next cup of coffee, consumers might want to consider using stainless steel coffee mugs.
Stainless steel coffee mugs are available in insulated and non-insulated styles and significantly reduce the amount of materials that go into landfills. They’re reusable and will save you money over time.
As much as people like their coffee, few are aware of where the coffee comes from or how it’s produced. Coffee is made from coffee beans, which are the seeds of the fruit of the coffee plant. Two beans are encapsulated in an outer covering known as a cherry. Coffee bean cultivation can be traced to about the year 850 in Ethiopia. From there, cultivation spread to Arabia where cultivation was a closely guarded secret. Dutchman managed to smuggle a few plants back to their homeland where it was grown in the Netherlands as a garden plant.
The coffee plant is actually a small tree growing 15-30 feet in height. It usually begins producing coffee beans between three and five years of age and can produce coffee for 10-20 years. The trees are quite particular about their growing conditions, requiring a specific range of temperatures and at least 70 inches of rainfall. Harvesting is usually accomplished through handpicking, as all the fruits don’t ripen at the same time. Many commercial growers do harvest beans by shaking the tree, thereby harvesting ripe and immature beans at the same time, resulting in an inferior grade of coffee.
Two methods of processing the beans are used. Wet processing involves soaking the beans in water for two days to remove any sticky residue from the beans before they’re placed in dryers. Dry processing is more cost effective for commercial growers, and is generally used for lower quality beans. When beans are dry, they’re roasted and prepared for sale to companies that grind the beans to produce the coffee that’s sold around the world. The roasting time determines the flavor of the coffee.
Coffee contains the stimulant caffeine. It’s one of the reasons modern man drinks it in such huge quantities, but it’s that same quality that caused the Ethiopian Church to ban its use by the common people. The church declared its use was only for holy men for use in their religious ceremonies. Through the years, coffee has been at the center of numerous political disputes. Coffee was a political issue in Turkey during the 17th century and was banned. In Europe, it was the cause of rebellion. In the U.S., it was used to make a political statement about taxes.
Arabica coffee is the most commonly grown, but another, lesser form with a more bitter taste is also cultivated. The second type tolerates a wider range of growing conditions. Most coffee is grown in South America, Africa and Southeast Asia and is a primary cash crop in 12 countries.
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Luis Avila
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