Gourmet Coffee

Millions of people around the globe rely on coffee to start their day. But the caffeine boost found in your morning cup of joe does more than wake you up. It can also help you work out longer and harder at the gym. Read full article.

“Everybody is asking about the situation at the warehouses,” said Rodrigo Costa, a broker at Fimat USA LLC in New York. “We still don't know the damage from the last hurricane.” Read full article.

This is an old article I just came across but it reveals the sneaky tactics that some coffee retaielrs and roasters employ. Next time you buy a gourmet coffee label as a single origin such as Kona Coffee or Costa Rica Coffee check to see how much of it is really what they claim it to be. Often times you only get 5% of pure and 95% junk coffee.

For nine years, millions of coffee lovers who believed they were enjoying the expensive Hawaiian brand might actually have been drinking cheaper Central American coffee.

But now Michael L. Norton, the man accused by federal officials of doing a bean switch and defrauding people out of drinking pure Kona coffee, is saying he didn't fool anybody. Read full article.

Is a cup of coffee the nation's No. 1 source of cancer prevention?

According to a study by University of Scranton Chemistry Prof. Joe Vinson, coffee is the No. 1 source of antioxidants - cancer-fighting enzymes - in American diets. Vinson and his research team, who have previously done studies on chocolate's benefits, analyzed the antioxidant content of various foods commonly consumed in the average American diet based on data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Dates, red grapes, pomegranates and other fruits are richer than coffee in antioxidants, in addition to providing fiber and other nutrients, but Americans do not eat much fruit in comparison, according to Vinson. Read full article.

Another report this time from ABC News.

Enjoying a cup of coffee while reading this story? Well, keep on sipping because a new study shows that coffee has health benefits.

A study released today from the University of Scranton revealed that coffee is America's No. 1 source of antioxidants, an important compound that protects your body from disease.

"Antioxidants are your army to protect you from the toxic free radicals, which come from breathing oxygen and eating sugar, that start chronic diseases," said Dr. Joe Vinson, the chemistry professor who led the coffee study. "Antioxidants help stave off cancer, heart disease, diabetes and stroke." Read full article.

For more information see our article on healthy coffee.

Procter & Gamble Co. said yesterday that its Folgers and Millstone coffee brands may temporarily disappear from store shelves because of a halt in production caused by Hurricane Katrina, but added that it hopes to have some coffee-making operations running soon. About half of P&G`s Folger`s and Millstone brand coffees are produced at two factories in New Orleans. The company suspended production at the facilities ahead of the storm. "Folgers and Millstone coffee may be temporarily unavailable or may appear on-shelf in different packaging until operations resume," P&G said in a statement, adding that it notified retailers of the possible shortages on Monday. P&G said it is in the process of restoring production at the Folgers plant.

More trouble from Hurricane Katrina. As reported earlier that impact to the coffee distribution facilities in New Orleans is starting to show its effect.

Hurricane Katrina's ill winds blew nobody any good and it's likely to rain on your grocery bill, particularly if you enjoy coffee, tropical fruit and seafood.

As of last week, Chicago's two biggest grocery chains weren't admitting that the storm would make a difference to customers. "We don't see shortages at this moment," snapped Juanita Kocanda, spokeswoman for Jewel-Osco. Higher prices? "We don't see that either," she said. "I can't speculate."

"At this point we've not changed anything," said Wynona Redmond of Dominick's. "It's too early to tell what the impact will be. We receive our supplies from many sources.

Sara Lee processes about 10 percent of its coffee in a plant in Hanrahan, La., just outside New Orleans. "It's under water," Economos said. "That's where all our specialty coffee comes from. Fortunately, that's not the bulk of what we do. Competitor Proctor & Gamble, however, produces more than half the output for Folgers brand coffee in Louisiana." Read full article.

The origin of the phrase "cup of joe" goes back to the early 1900s and Admiral Josephus Daniels. Admiral Daniels was secretary of the navy in the Wilson administration during World War I . After he outlawed alcohol on ships, coffee becaome the favorite beverage of naval crews. Hence the name "cup of joe."

Coffeehouses were first introduced in the Near East. They became so popular that the number of worshippers at mosques declined and religious leaders denounced the coffee establishments. Because Muslims were not allowed to drink wine, they drank so much coffee it was dubbed the "wine of Araby."

New Orleans is a major shipping port for coffee from the America's and Africa. Now reports are coming out of New Orleans that up to 8% of the U.S. coffee consumption was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Hurricane Katrina may have destroyed 1.5 million sacks of coffee stored at warehouses in New Orleans, raising the global price of coffee and benefiting coffee growers across the world, officials said yesterday. Green coffee is usually stored in warehoused for shipment to roasters. Read full article.

If you have not had the opportunity to bless some of the needed people from the devastation caused by Hurrican Katrina below are three great organization that needs your donations right now:

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Donations
Southern Baptist Disaster Relief -– the third largest volunteer relief organization in the United States -– prepares the majority of meals distributed through the American Red Cross in a disaster. Southern Baptist Disaster Relief has more than 600 mobile disaster response units and 30,000 trained volunteers. State Baptist conventions recruit and train volunteers from Southern Baptist churches. NAMB coordinates multi-state and international responses by Southern Baptist Disaster Relief.

North American Mission Board Disaster Relief Fund

Phone	1 888 571-5895
Mail	North American Mission Board P.O. Box 116543 Atlanta, GA 30368-6543 Make checks payable to the North American Board (NAMB) and put "disaster relief" in the memo line.
Online	www.namb.net/disasterrelief

American Red Cross
Victims of Hurricane Katrina are attempting to recover from the massive storm. American Red Cross volunteers have been deployed to the hardest hit areas of Katrina�s destruction, supplying hundreds of thousands victims left homeless with critical necessities. By making a financial gift to support Hurricane Katrina Relief efforts, the Red Cross can provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those affected by Hurricane Katrina.


Salvation Army
Salvation Army volunteers, employees and officers are serving residents and first responders in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in what is expected to be a multi-million dollar relief effort.


Visit the USA National web site for the latest news and information about how you can help


“Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28, NLT).

More evidence to support healthy coffee. Now researchers find that it may lower the risk of liver cancer.

A new epidemiological study conducted in Japan confirmed a previous finding that drinking coffee may lower the risk of death from liver cancer.

When all factors were taken into consideration, the researchers found that the hazard ratio of hepatocellurlar carcinoma mortality for those who drank one or more cups a day versus those who did not drink coffee was 0.50. The hazard ratio for those who drank less than one cup a day versus those who did not drink coffee was 0.83.

The results confirmed an inverse association between coffee consumption and hepatocellular carcinoma mortality. One earlier study reported in April 2005 by U. Gelatti and colleagues in Italy found the inverse association between coffee drinking and heptatocellular carcinoma. Read full article.

Here are 25 amazing facts about the world's favorite beverage that I found in an article from the U.K.

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1. ACCORDING to folklore the coffee bean was discovered by an Ethiopian goatherd. He noticed his animals were getting frisky after nibbling the berries from a certain tree, so he tried some himself.
2. THE world's most expensive coffee comes from beans that have passed through the digestive systems of Indonesian monkeys. The brew, called Kopi Luwak, costs around £5 a cup and has an "earthy" taste.
3. COFFEE is the world's most popular stimulant. Around 3,400 cups are consumed every second of the day around the world - and Americans alone get through over 400 million cups a day.
4. THE brew comes from the seed of a cherry which grows on the coffee tree and is popular with civet cats. The average coffee tree produces a kilogram of coffee per year. The seeds are red when picked. They only develop their brown color and smell when roasted.
5. ALL 53 coffee-growing countries lie along the equator. Brazil produces a third of the world's output - 2 million tons every year.
6. THE New York Stock Exchange and Lloyd's of London both started as coffee houses.
7. TURKISH bridegrooms must make a promise during their wedding ceremony to always provide their wives with coffee. Failure to do so is grounds for divorce.
8. INSTANT coffee was invented in 1906 by George Constant Washington, an English chemist living in Guatemala. His discovery came after noticing a fine powder of dried coffee from vapors on his coffee pot.
9. CAPPUCCINO gets its name from its foam topping which is believed to resemble the hooded robe of the Roman Catholic Capuchin Friars.
10. THE word "coffee" comes from the Arab word qahwa which translates as "that which prevents sleep".
11. ROASTED coffee beans start to lose their flavor after two weeks; ground begins to lose its flavor in one hour. Brewed coffee and espresso loses its flavor within minutes.
12. COFFEE is the second most traded product in the world after oil. Coffee production tips the scales at around 6 million metric tons and the industry employs more than 25 million people.
13. WITHDRAWL is also one of the most common causes of headaches.
14. IT is the most common ingredient in anti-cellulite creams. Coffee is believed to stimulate the skin into breaking down pockets of fat. Cindy Crawford goes one step further and rubs coffee beans on her thighs to banish dimples.
15. DRINKING coffee improves the effectiveness of aspirin and other painkillers. But with caffeine with there are more than 25 strains of coffee but most brews come from three beans - Robusta, Liberia and Arabica, the latter representing 70 per cent of total production.
16. IF you screamed continuously for eight years, seven months, and six days you would produce enough energy to heat a cup of coffee.
17. AROUND 57 per cent of brewed coffee is consumed at breakfast. Forty per cent of coffee drinkers prefer their brew black and the average coffee drinker gets through three cups a day.
18. MORE than 30 million viewers tuned in to watch the Gold Blend couple in their last advertisement in 1993. The campaign was voted one of the top 100 of all time and spawned a book, two CDs and a video.
19. WOMEN in the Kona region of Hawaii believe the rich texture and pleasant perfume of their coffee makes it perfect for exfoliating their skin. And Japanese women believe bathing in coffee granules fermented with pineapple pulp helps ward off wrinkles.
20. YOUR morning espresso could save you a trip to the dentist. Italian researchers discovered some chemicals in coffee can help stop tooth decay by preventing bacteria from attaching to your teeth.
21. A COFFEE craze swept Turkey until Ottoman Sultan outlawed it in 1543. But the underground trade boomed and he later relented. In 1554, the first coffee house was set up in Istanbul.
22. COFFEE was believed by some Christians to be the devil's drink. Pope Vincent III heard this and decided to taste it before he banished it. He enjoyed it so much he baptized it, saying coffee is so delicious it would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it."
23. CHARLES II tried to suppress coffee- houses, because men were neglecting their families to discuss business and politics over coffee. He changed his mind after a public outcry.
24. BACH wrote a coffee cantata in 1732.
25. THE first European coffee was sold in pharmacies in 1615 as a medical remedy.

Read full article.