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Forty Beans of Perfection |
| Section: LIFE / COMMUNITY |
| Author: Donald R. Hay |
| Publication:
The World & I Online |
| Issue Date: 9/1/2003 |
| Size: 2,825 Words, 18,953 Characters |
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Are you deliberating longer over your morning cup of coffee? Do you describe the experience in terms of aroma, flavor, body, acidity, and aftertaste? If so, you are among a growing number of connoisseurs who savor a quality cup of coffee.
Coffee, like wine, reflects its origin. The combination of geographic microclimates and cultivation techniques imparts distinctive flavor characteristics that produce what is known as specialty coffee. Erna Knutsen, president of Knutsen Coffees in San Francisco, is credited with coining the term in 1978.
Specialty coffees usually cost more than the everyday variety found on grocery store shelves. One reason is that the producers of specialty coffees are concerned about the sustainability of the small farmers who grow the beans. An estimated 70 percent of coffee is grown on small farms. Programs to support the environment and the farmers' well-being always come with a price.
Karen Gordon, director of specialty green coffee sales for the Coffee Holding Company in Brooklyn, New York, is optimistic that an educated consumer is best for business. She says, "What is the difference on the gourmet end of the business if we pay a few cents more for a coffee? When people taste it, hear where it comes from, they don't hear the price anymore but the story of who grows it. It makes them feel good to buy it, and I feel good selling it."
It only takes about forty coffee beans to make a great cup of quality coffee, but finding the best bean or combination of them involves a delicate balance between the competing realities of price, ecology, and even bird migration.
As the second most traded commodity, after oil, coffee is the largest agricultural commodity traded on world markets. Due to an oversupply of beans, however, the price of coffee continues its four-year decline on the New York commodity exchange--from a high of more tha...
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...www.coffeeholding.com
Coffee Traders: www.coffeetraders.com
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters: www.greenmountaincoffee.com
Holland Coffee (California) Inc.: www.hollandcoffee.com
Java Journey Coffee Company: www.javajounrey/com
Knutsen Coffees, Ltd.: www.knutsencoffees.com
Sacred Grounds Organic Coffee Roasters: www.sacred-grounds.com
Timothy's World Coffee: www.timothys.com
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Publication Details
(The World & I Online) |
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The World & I Online is a
comprehensive academic resource that encompasses a broad range of
articles by scholars and experts in the areas of Global Studies,
Liberal Arts, Fine & Applied Arts, General Science, and Spanish.
Originally published monthly in print as The World & I, our site
includes the complete contents since 1986 and continues to publish
a new issue online each month. |
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