In this article we will be exploring the origins of the coffees used in the largest coffee serving chains in the UK. We will be assessing the quality, sustainability, and value of these companies' coffee drinks. While we all know that the quality of coffee you get from a chain company will never be of the same standard than if you went to a Coffee Roastery or purchased speciality coffee beans, sometimes you just need to grab something quickly.
Even those of us who are coffee enthusiasts can get caught short and have to pick up a convenient cup that we wouldn’t otherwise drink. But which chains offer both ethical and quality coffee?
McDonalds is on the way to using 100% Fairtrade coffee and currently mainly sources their beans from Colombia. The company has been a long-time supporter of Fair Trade as, like Bloss, they believe that it is important for farmers to have access to better prices for their crops. They also support sustainable farming practices such as organic growing methods and their ultimate goal is to have fully sustainable coffee in the next 5 years.
This means sourcing all their coffee directly from farms where there are no child labour or forced labour issues or even poor working conditions. McDonald’s supports fair trade organisations like "Cafe-for-all" who work with small scale producers around the world.
They use only 100% Arabica coffee grown without pesticides or chemical fertilisers. This ensures that the farmer gets paid fairly for his crop and can continue producing food for himself and his family. It also helps protect the environment because less chemicals being sprayed onto the land reduces pollution.
Fairtrade certification guarantees that workers get at least $2 per day above what would normally be expected. In addition, the organisation works closely with local communities so that everyone benefits from the increased income generated through trading.
Advantages - Great value for money. Coffee is grown without pesticides. Highest caffeine content. Works with the Rainforest Alliance.
Disadvantages - Not 100% Fairtrade. Doesn’t taste great as McDonalds focus on their food.
Costa has been on a mission to be sustainable for a long time. Their aim was to source 100% certified organically grown coffee within 3 years. This meant finding suppliers who were not only ethical but had good business practice too. Costa now uses mostly Colombian coffee due to its high quality and low cost. However, they do still buy some Kenyan coffee because it's cheaper than Colombian.
Costa founded their very own charity in 2006 called the Costa foundation. The goal of this charity was to eradicate poverty in areas of the world where struggling coffee growing communities reside. They mainly do this by providing quality education to the young people of these areas.
They have recently started buying more Brazilian coffee so that they can help to improve the lives of those living in Brazil. In addition to being an ethical organisation Costa also works closely with local communities through projects such as building schools and hospitals.
Costa sources 100% of its hot chocolate and coffee from fully Rainforest Alliance certified farms and in 2020 Costa was one of the first in its sector to win the RSPO Certification for being highly efficient in not using unsustainable palm oil.
Advantages - A percentage of profits goes to charity. 100% sustainably grown. As a dedicated coffee shop, the quality if higher than other chains that serve coffee.
Disadvantages - 2nd most expensive option.
Starbucks first began selling Fairtrade coffee back in 1997 when they bought 50 tonnes of coffee from Guatemala. Since then they've gone on to become one of the biggest buyers of Fairtrade coffee in the world. Today they sell about 1 million pounds of coffee every week.
In order to ensure that Starbucks coffee is ethically sourced they go out of their way to find suppliers who meet certain criteria. These include:
No child labour.
No forced labour.
Minimum wage set at $1.25 USD/day.
Workers receive minimum health care.
Workers must have free choice over how much money they want to earn.
Farmers must be able to grow their crops sustainably.
Farmer families should benefit financially from higher incomes.
Starbucks started out selling only Fairtrade coffee but now uses mostly Arabica coffee sourced from Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Peru, Rwanda, Tanzania, Vietnam and Yemen. Their main focus is to source ethical and high-quality arabica coffee beans rather than to be sustainable.
Starbucks uses beans grown on small farms around the world including Colombia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, El Salvador, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Indonesia.
Starbucks is committed to sourcing only ethically produced coffee. In addition to ethical production standards, Starbucks source their coffee from cooperatives where all members receive an equal share of profits. This ensures that there is no exploitation or unfair labour practice within the cooperative.
Advantages - Lots of drink options. Ethical practices. Good reputation. Rewards system.
Disadvantages - Uses mainly non-sustainable coffee beans. Trades quality for convenience. Most expensive option.
Coffee Nero, quite like McDonalds, is in the process of changing to 100% Fairtrade and sustainable beans but doesn't yet obtain all its beans this way.
It does however work alongside other organisations to try and change the industry towards sustainability. For example, Caffe Nero's worked with the Rainforest Alliance to create the Sustainable Agriculture Standards which aims to make sure that farmers get paid fairly and that workers rights are respected.
Caffe Nero's buys fair trade coffee from farmers in Latin America and Africa. They buy a lot of coffee from Ethiopia because it has been shown to produce better quality coffee than any other country. The majority of their coffee comes from countries such as Bolivia, Ghana, India, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
In an attempt to reduce the waste caused by its stores, Caffe Nero has been collecting its used coffee grounds since 2016 from around 122 stores in London. They process these coffee grounds into fuels by using biomass boilers.
Advantages - Pays premium prices for premium coffee. Works with the Rainforest Alliance.
Disadvantages - Not 100% Fairtrade.
Looking for a coffee that is both ethically farmed and high quality? You can visit us in Kent or buy coffee beans online.
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There are many different factors affecting coffee production in Uganda.The reason this issue has become so serious and problematic is because the country and it’s economy has become reliant on it’s regular exportation of coffee.
Uganda has the ideal climate for coffee production, which is their top export. As a result it has been able to maintain its position as the 9th biggest coffee exporter in the world. If something impacts Uganda’s production of coffee, it can have devastating effects that ripple out across the entire country.
A country's climate is a combination of a location's weather, temperature and humidity. Each region of the earth has its own specific climatic conditions.
Since the industrial era, as early as 1760, we have been pumping fossil fuels into the atmosphere causing heat rays from the sun to become trapped and this is called 'the greenhouse effect'.
This is causing our atmosphere to heat up at an accelerating rate which is in turn melting the ice caps and causing the sea water to expand which consequently is causing our sea levels to rise by at an increasing 3mm per year.
Due to this substantial change in our atmosphere our weather patterns are changing and natural disasters are happening far more frequently.
The main factor that affects coffee production in Uganda is rainfall and droughts which varies from year to year. In general, there is an increase in rainfall during the months of April through June which results in increased yields for most varieties of coffee beans. However, if rains fail or are too light then farmers will have less yield than expected.
And now as global warming and climate change continue to accelerate each and every year, the previously roughly predictable weather patterns that farmers rely heavily on are now becoming more and more unpredictable and the chance of both flooding rains and draughts are far more likely, making it increasingly difficult to keep the coffee bean yield up to scratch.
The earth's population has quite literally tripled in just the last 70 years. Therefore our infrastructures of housing, agriculture, roads etc. Has likely more than tripled alongside it.
Because of this many areas that used to be home to coffee bean trees and coffee farms are now home to factories, warehouses and housing estates.
This pure lack of physical space has caused an evidential decrease in the coffee production of Uganda.
In the 20 years before 2010, Uganda's population grew from 5,158,000 to 33,797,000. This means the population growth rate is 3.2%, that's about 1 million per year! Uganda’s population is expected to quadruple by 2045 if the birth rate stays at 6.7 children per woman.
For Uganda this means far less agricultural space and is expected to largely affect the coffee industry.
Since the beginning of the 20th century many people with agricultural skills migrated to Uganda in search of work, both from outside and within the country. Those with cultivation skills found their way to the 10 coffee districts and many with livestock herding skills migrated to the parts of Uganda dominated by cattle farming.
This influx of manual labor supported Uganda's farming businesses and kept the cost of labor low due to the lack of labor demand.
The further back in time you go the more children you will find in the workplace. This is due to family's either not being able to afford their education or not being able to afford the loss of income that would come with their child not working but as the years go on more and more families can afford to send their children to school.
Many children still both work and go to school although their working hours are limited to holidays which are mainly off season for the coffee bean production industry.
Due to more and more children receiving education as the years go on there are simply many more people going into professions like banking, law, medicine, engineering etc. These fields pay much better than manual labor.
Available labor has reduced greatly over the last 15 years because in Burundi and Rwanda, where the majority of migrants from outside Uganda were coming from, there is now peace.
Nowadays the areas both inside and outside of Uganda, where migrants originally came from, are now seeing an increasing amount of better opportunities locally to them. This and the lack of a need to run from conflict has raised the costs and reduced the amount of available labor considerably.
Lots of land once used for coffee bean production has been lost to farming enterprises that dupe coffee bean farmers into switching to an alternative crop usually due to promoters perpetuating that this alternative crop will be far more profitable.
When incorrect or misleading market information is heeded by farmers and they decide to migrate to a new crop, business failure is far more likely as supposed fast money crops like beans and maize rarely fare well and many crops suggested by promoters are due to a recent lack of supply in the market.
These will do well for usually a short amount of time, that is until the original suppliers bounce back to providing an efficient amount of the specific crop, this in turn causes the crop price to completely crash.
The likely risk of farmers migrating to alternative crops has greatly exacerbated the other factors mentioned in the article and the declining frequency of coffee farms has therefore caused a lack of people looking for or considering this line of work as an option.
Furthermore, there are certain permanent crops that support local ecosystems and help to protect the soil from toxicity. Uganda also has a particularly low use of synthetic chemicals which in turn coffee farms here cause very little environmental contamination.
By switching to these supposedly more profitable crops irreversible damage can be caused to the soil. Stagnation of the soil and land is inevitable and this very scenario has sadly caused environmental contamination and has affected environmental, social and economic benefits of the coffee bean production.
At the turn of the century there was a major fall in coffee prices, causing many farmers to ditch their coffee fields and find alternative careers.
On top of this, around the same time that the prices dropped, Uganda was hit with a nasty bout of Coffee Wilt Disease (CWD), wiping out large amounts of coffee trees.
Due to the value of the coffee bean going down so substantially the farmers didn't deem it worthy to treat the Coffee Wilt Disease and therefore there was a significant decline of coffee produced in Uganda.
Unfortunately there is no fail safe way to prevent the damage caused from sudden product price drops. Because of this farmers had no choice but to either sell their farms and find work elsewhere or to plant a new type of crop that they hope will bring in a far better yield.
Because of the 5 year low price period at the beginning of this century a large amount of resources and land migrated from the coffee industry to other businesses and when the end of the low coffee prices came about in 2005 unfortunately only a small percentage was reclaimed into the coffee bean industry.
Unlike 50 years ago, today's youth have got many more options than their older relatives had back in their day when it comes to employment. The sustainability of Uganda's coffee production is under great threat due to this fact.
Due to the youth moving away from manual labor based work and into less physically challenging jobs, the general public opinion of Ugandan youths is that working in coffee fields is a very low tier job and they have effectively shunned it.
Instead they are particularly interested in blue and white collar jobs. Women have taken to jobs like shop keeping and hairdressing as they're deemed acceptable job roles for their gender and males engage in jobs like 'boda boda' taxi transport businesses and many many others are simply unemployed.
Also all these better opportunities that modern day times hold for Africa's youth has caused the amount of youths migrating in search of work to fall hugely and therefore greatly reduced the labor available to the coffee farms.
In a baseline survey performed by the UCDA, researchers found that only a very small percentage of coffee production workers are under the age of 30 while the majority is between 30 and 60 years of age.
Considering the fact that 75% of Uganda's population is under 30 years old these numbers are truly shocking and definitely mean bad news for Uganda's coffee businesses. Due to the lack of fit and healthy young people, production and yields have greatly slowed down.
The custom for farmers in Uganda for centuries has been to split their land between their children this in turn has created smaller and smaller farms and this is not good at all as the economic viability of the farmers is under threat.
Nowadays the average farm size in Uganda is 0.5 to 2.5 hectares which is nothing compared to 100 years ago.
A whopping 50%+ of Uganda's population are under just 15 years old with around 6-10 dependants in every household. So taking this into consideration, these increasingly small farms are very bad news for Ugandan families.
In Uganda's culture, like many other countries, men and women are sadly not seen as equals and this even applies to what crops they farm. Women have the social role of being the providers of food and so tend to farm crops like maize, vegetables and rice.
On the other hand the social role of a man is to provide money. Therefore crops like coffee, tea, tobacco, cotton, sugar, cocoa and rubber, which are known as cash crops, were grown predominantly by men.
Although nowadays women working in these sectors are much more accepted, and are in fact deeply involved in the industry, as men take on other roles deemed only for men like livestock farming and small businesses.
The issue is that although women work in these coffee farms they almost never get a say in the selling process or what the profits are spent on, even if let's say a husband and wife have a family owned coffee farm and they work this land together or even if the wife does the majority of the labor she will still not see the profits as this is not seen as a woman's role.
Subsequently this has reduced the amount of women going into the industry significantly, especially those who are married. Which is unsurprising because coffee is still seen as a man's crop regardless of the fact that women are heavily involved in the process as it is the men who profit from it.
Due to many exportation industries becoming steady money providers for Uganda over the last decade, Uganda's age-old reliance on coffee exportation profits has decreased greatly. Although Uganda is still reliant on its coffee exportation earnings it is nowhere near as heavily as in previous years
The coffee trade has now got some major competitors for government support or perhaps it has simply gone off the local political area. This is mostly due to the significant growth of the following trades: Tobacco, tea and cut flowers.
Uganda's Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) have been trying for the last 5 years now, to apply for funds from the government to buy more coffee saplings and to also further fund needed coffee research. Unfortunately the government is not fond of these suggestions and no action has yet been taken.
Coffee tree nurseries have an excess of 12 million seedlings but there is simply nowhere for them to go as there are no funds for the UCDA to buy them and supply them to the struggling coffee farms.
The situation is greatly exasperated by politicians spreading false information in the form of reassurance that the UCDA will supply them with free trees and therefore they should not buy trees from the nursery's.
This interference and lack of support has derailed the production of coffee beans in Uganda and prevented upscaling.
]]>Coffee is currently the world's second favourite beverage, with good old water taking spot number one. However, many people simply use it to summon up previously non-existent energy to get me through those early mornings and seemingly endless night shifts. To them, the thought of having their morning coffee decaffeinated is a crazy concept.
I was like this for a long time. Then something changed. I can now, and regularly do, enjoy a cup of decaf coffee. If you’re reading this, I imagine you too are also going through this process of change, and it’s left you curious. You want to know more about the coffee making process.
Not everybody knows it, but drinking Coffee has several health benefits and these are the same for both decaf and regular coffee drinkers.
If you're a coffee drinker, evidence shows that you have a higher level of protection against poor health. This is because several of the properties in coffee help to guard against potential medical issues. Strokes, kidney disease, coronary heart disease, and diabetes are all far-less common in regular coffee drinkers.
Coffee helps your body to process sugar/glucose more efficiently. This was discovered from a recent study that showed that people who drink decaf coffee are less likely to develop type two diabetes.
It can even lessen your chance of developing heart failure, colon cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
People who drink either decaf or regular coffee have healthier liver enzyme levels then those who don't.
When consumed dark roasted coffee lessens the breakage that happens in DNA strands. These breakages happen naturally although they can cause tumours or cancer if not repaired by cells.
Decaffeinated coffee has been around since the early 1900s when scientists began experimenting with removing the caffeine content from coffee. The reason why we started using decaffeinated coffee is because there were studies showing that too much caffeinated coffee wasn’t the best idea.
You’ll understand why if you’ve ever made the mistake of having a coffee before going to bed.
Coffee is great, but sadly you can still have too much of a good thing. It's proven that caffeine in moderate amounts, quite like most things in life, is indeed good for you in the form of the health benefits listed above. Two or three cups of joe a day at the maximum is what doctors recommend.
As much as we don’t like to think about it, drinking too much coffee can actually cause you to be irritable, anxious, depressed, jittery etc. If you're feeling any of these symptoms after consuming 3+ cups of coffee daily, try cutting back on how often you consume it.
A recent study by Bristol University Students also revealed that a desire for coffee is not lessened if you have already had too much caffeine because we enjoy the taste and the sensation that coffee give us. Meaning you will keep wanting to drink coffee throughout the day until you start feeling side effects from the caffeine.
So, what if you're a 'coffee-holic' like many of us at Bloss and two to three cups per day sounds far too depriving to you?
If this is the case, then decaffeinated coffee is the ultimate solution. When you drink decaf you're not only escaping the effects of caffeine but also still receiving the full rich coffee taste and all the health benefits associated with drinking coffee.
There are actually a few different ways that coffee is decaffeinated. But the process used at Bloss is called the - Decaffeination Process Sugarcane: NEA. It is a natural way of decaffeinating the coffee beans in a way that helps to maintain flavour.
Bloss use this method as it is the only decaffeinating process that allows us to decaffeinate the coffee in the same origin as the coffee is grown. It’s why our speciality coffee tastes so good.
Decaffeinating is primarily only done in around four places around the world. Columbia (where they use the sugar cane process), Mexico, Canada and Germany.
If you want an Indonesian decaf coffee it would have to go from Indonesia to Canada or Germany, which are the two largest decaffeinating plants. Then it has to be transported to the place that it is going to be roasted. This takes time and results in the beans not being as fresh as they could be.
By having the coffee grown and decaffeinated in the same place it helps to ensure the beans maintain their flavour, which overall makes your coffee taste better. This is especially important with decaf coffee as you are drinking it for the taste and not the caffeine!
Ethyl acetate (EA) as is a solvent derived from sugar cane which, used in properly with correct portion control, is the best natural selective remover of caffeine from coffee beans.
The plant that Bloss decaffeinates its coffee at in Manizales, Columbia is called Descafecol and is the only decaf plant in the country. Created in 1988 the plant conducts decaffeination with EA in the following way:
“Natural Ethyl Acetate is derived from sugarcane which when combined with fresh spring water strips caffeine from the coffee.
The method used to decaffeinate with Ethyl Acetate is a chemical-free process in which no additional substances come in contact with the coffee.
The delicate process of decaffeinating begins at the pre-treatment step by steaming the green coffee beans with low pressure steam to remove the silver skins.
The coffee is moistened with hot water to swell and soften the beans and start the hydrolysis of caffeine which is bonded to salts inside the beans.
At the decaffeination extraction phase the Ethyl Acetate s is recirculated through the pre-treated coffee beans multiple times until at least 97% of the caffeine is removed.
Low pressure saturated steam is then applied following the extraction process to remove any traces of the Ethyl Acetate.
The coffee is then vacuum dried to remove water previously applied in the pre-treatment process to adjust the final humidity value between 10% and 12%.
Coffee is then cooled to ambient temperature using fans.”
There are a handful of different processes to get a decaffeinated result. These include cold water extraction, steam distillation, supercritical carbon dioxide CO2 extraction and peroxide bleaching.
Plants: Mexico, Canada
This process uses hot water to extract the caffeine out of the beans. It takes place over an extended period of time which allows the caffeine molecules to diffuse into the water. Once this happens they can no longer bond back together once cooled down. So after being extracted the caffeine will remain in the liquid form until it cools down.
Pros - No added chemicals or preservatives. Can remove up to 99% of caffeine content. Does not alter flavor profile. Less likely to cause bitterness.
Cons - May leave behind some undesirable compounds such as chlorogenic acid. Not suitable for espresso drinks.
Plants: Germany
In this process the beans are heated up with boiling water before being placed inside a chamber where they are exposed to high heat. The heat causes volatile compounds within the bean to evaporate leaving behind only the non-volatile components such as caffeine. After cooling down these vapours condense into a solid state called “distillates”.
Pros - No calories or carbs. Removes almost 100% of caffeine. Leaves behind very little residue.
Cons - Stronger and more bitter than regular coffee or other decafs.
Plants: Germany
The third way involves using carbon dioxide gas under extreme pressures and temperatures. This forces all the chemicals present in the beans to come out through the pores on its surface. As soon as the gases exit the beans they become saturated with other substances including caffeine. When the temperature drops the carbon dioxide becomes trapped inside the beans while the remaining ingredients fall away.
Pros - Removes most of the caffeine without altering the flavor.
Cons - May be too strong for your liking.
Finally there is another chemical based technique used to remove caffeine from the beans. In this case hydrogen peroxide is added to the mixture along with some sodium hydroxide. Hydrogen peroxide reacts with the alkali creating free radicals that attack the caffeine molecule causing it to break apart. Then when the reaction stops the caffeine remains attached to the cellulose fibres making it easier to separate.
Pros - Leaves less residue than any of the others.
Cons - Not recommended if you have heart disease, diabetes, kidney problems, liver issues etc.
If you’re interested in reading similar articles you can check out our blog – or you can see a complete collection of our coffee’s here.
]]>If you love both coffee and gardening, then you will have probably wondered at some point, 'Can I grow my own coffee?’ The short answer is yes, but there are some things you need to know first.
Would it be worth growing your own coffee? Can you buy UK cultivated coffee? While the concept of growing your own coffee sounds cool, these are just some of the other questions you need to think about. We have put together a list of things that you should consider before starting out on the journey of growing your very own coffee plants.
Where is The World's Coffee Grown?
The vast majority of coffee is grown in what is known today as 'The Coffee - Belt'. The coffee belt runs between The Tropic of Cancer and The Tropic of Capricorn that run parallel either side of the Equator. This stretches over Central America, South America, Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Africa, Arabia and some Islands, the following countries are coffee producers in each region:
Central America - Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Panamá, México & El Salvador.
South American - Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru & Colombia.
Indian subcontinent - India, Nepal and Sri Lanka .
Southeast Asia - Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia, & Papua Guinea .
Islands - Jamaica, Hawaii, Puerto Rico & Reunion Islands.
Africa - Congo (DRC), Burundi, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania & Uganda.
Arabia - Yemen and southern Saudi Arabia.
The reason that these countries are collectively known as the coffee belt is due to the fact that they all share similar weather conditions which include warm temperatures during the daytime but cool at night, lots of rain throughout the year, high humidity levels and fertile soil. This combination is what makes these countries the ideal places to cultivate coffee beans.
What Conditions Are Required?
For coffee to grow successfully there are several factors required including temperature, rainfall, sunlight hours, humidity level and soil type.
All of these elements must work hand-in-hand with each other if you wish to produce quality coffee. If any of these components do not meet their requirements, then the end result can be poor tasting coffee or coffee trees that produce a very low fruit yield (a low coffee cherry count).
For example, if the climate is too hot then the plant cannot absorb enough water from its roots, meaning less coffee cherry production. On the flip side, if the climate is cold, then the plant may struggle to survive. In addition, if the sun does not shine long enough, then the leaves will wilt and die off. Finally, if the air has low humidity levels, then the seeds won't germinate properly.
Soil Type
There are three main types of soils used when cultivating coffee – acidic, neutral and alkaline. Each of these different types of soil require specific amounts of nutrients to flourish. The most idyllic soil type being volcanic soil with deep red earth and a sandy loam for good drainage. This is not any easy soil type to find naturally in the UK.
Temperature
Coffee requires warmth to thrive. It needs around 18 degrees Celsius to 27 degrees Celsius to perform well. However, once the temperature drops below 10 degrees Celsius, then the growth rate slows down dramatically. Incidently, higher altitudes are optimal in the equatorial region for this main reason, as a wide range of temperatures between the day and night allows maximum growth and rest for the coffee plant's daily growing cycles.
Rainfall
As mentioned earlier, coffee thrives best under humid conditions, with specific seasons of rain and dry, it is ultimately a tropical forest plant. So, if you live somewhere where there isn't much rain, or too much rain, then you might find yourself with a sick coffee plant. Coffee needs seasonal rains to trigger the flowering, which then develop into the coffee cherries. Without these rains coming at specific times, the coffee seeds (beans) won’t develop well. The coffee beans are important as it what gives speciality coffee it's great taste.
Sunlight Hours
Coffee plants need a lot of sunshine to help it photosynthesise. Therefore, if you don't get enough light all year round then you'll never see those new green shoots appear on your trees, keeping the tree healthy and strong all year round.
Humidity level
This one is pretty self-explanatory, really. The more moisture present in the atmosphere, the better for your coffee bean crops. If there is not enough moisture in the air, then the seedlings will struggle to develop into healthy looking plants. A constant 50% ambient humidity level is ideal for cultivating coffee saplings.
Can coffee Grow in the UK's slightly chilly climate?
Yes, although it takes longer than most people would like to wait before harvesting your first batch of coffee beans. Coffee trees start to produce cherries between three and five years from germination. But, if you want to start now, then you can buy a young coffee tree and grow it as an indoor plant. Alternatively, you can also use a greenhouse to keep your plants safe from harsh winter weather.
How to Grow Your Very Own Coffee Tree
How long it takes to harvest a crop of coffee beans depends on how big your garden/greenhouse is and whether you've got plenty of space available. Generally speaking, though, it shouldn't take you more than two years to grow your very first batch of coffee beans if you purchase a mature tree.
However, if you decide to grow your own coffee tree, then you must ensure that you follow all the right steps. For starters, you'll need to choose which type of coffee tree you'd prefer to grow. Then, you'll need to select a location that gets at least six hours of sunlight every day. Next up, you'll need to prepare the ground by digging out any existing vegetation. Once you've done this, you'll need to add composted manure as fertilizer.
Don’t expect fast results like growing tomatoes. It may take as long as 5 years before you start seeing results from your efforts. During this period, you'll spend most of your time nurturing your seedlings into healthy young plants. Once they reach maturity, you'll begin harvesting your first batch of coffee beans.
When it comes to equipment for your coffee bean quest, depending on your setup, you may need to even invest in a humidifier or grow lamp to compensate for the natural environment. Next up, you'll need a sturdy trowel, which allows you to dig deep holes without damaging the root system of your coffee tree/trees.
You'll also need a watering can with a fine spray nozzle attached to it for that regular forest mist!. This way, you won't end up wasting water by over-filling your pots. Finally, a whole heap of patience and persistence.
Grow Your Own Coffee - (advantages/disadvantages)
Although growing your own coffee may seem like a daunting task, it doesn't have to be difficult. In fact, it could actually prove quite enjoyable once you get started. However, there are certain disadvantages associated with growing your own coffee beans.
Advantages
It saves money (depending on circumstances)
It helps reduce waste
It gives you complete control over the quality of your coffee
It provides a learning journey into the world of coffee production
It makes you feel better knowing where your food has come from
It reduces carbon footprint
It can improve health
Disadvantages
Requires substantial money up front.
Plants can be overrun by aphids and mites. Depending on the variety, coffee can be quite disease prone.
Requires close attention to be paid to your plants for a long period of time.
Large possibility of losing your whole crop due to bad weather conditions.
Coffee trees require lots of maintenance.
Growing your own coffee requires patience.
The process of picking coffee cherries is not only tedious but also messy
Producing the cherries is only the first step in production of coffee, there is a fermentation and drying process of the seeds (beans) followed by a roasting process before the coffee is ready to be prepared into your morning cup.
In the best conditions, one tree's average production of coffee will bring you approximately 0.5 kg of roasted coffee beans a year!
UK Grown Coffee Companies
There are actually several places in the UK that cultivates its own coffee, but mostly on very small scales. The main reason why these companies don’t produce enough quantity to meet their customers' demand is because of lack of capital.
At Bloss we decided to import our coffee from farmers around the world rather than grow it in the UK. This was for two reasons. Firstly, you’ll have noticed from the information above just how challenging it would be to grow coffee at scale anywhere, let-alone in the UK climate. Secondly and most importantly, we wanted to really get behind the coffee producers to do what we can to make it more ethical and sustainable for the farmers. By building relationships at the farms, we’re able to buy coffee year after year at a higher than market price straight from the source. We can help make a direct difference and impact many lives and communities around the world.
Buying coffee beans online from Bloss helps to support this simple vision and make the coffee industry a thriving profession for farmers.
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Coffee is just about everywhere nowadays and with good reason, it’s one of the best drinks on the planet! But where did coffee come from and how did humans discover what is currently the third most consumed drink in the world?
What is Coffee? What is Coffee made of?
Coffee itself are seeds within the coffee comes in the form of little green cherry berries on coffee trees that turn to red berries when ripe. This is the point when the coffee cherries beans are harvested and the coffee seeds, that we call coffee beans are processed in many different ways that leads to the many flavours and characteristics we enjoy. then de-pulped within 24 hours to prevent them producing a rotten overly fruity flavour. De-pulping is when the outer flesh of the beans are removed from the seeds.
All coffee beans go through some sort of fermentation during this processing stage. The most ancient of these processes is the ‘dry process’ also called ‘natural process’. In more modern times farmers have innovated hundreds of different flavour enhancing processing methods. Now it’s common to hear of processes such as ‘fully washed, or ‘black honey’. All of these processes impact the flavour but it’s important to remember that there are no standard protocols across the coffee industry so the processing style from every region adds to the broad variety and complex history of this flavourful seed. The seeds are then fermented to intensify the flavour, remaining fermenting until the sugars have dissolved at which point the beans are washed to ensure that the fermentation process has finished.
The last stage of the processing is the dry of the coffee beans to get them ready to ship to roasteries around the globe. This drying process can take a mater of days or weeks depending of the farmers processing style and flavour objectives. seeds are then dried either by the sun or mechanical equipment, this process can take between 3 - 5 days and sometimes even up to 2 weeks.
Roasting the coffee is the art of presenting the flavours of the bean. Some of these flavours come from the bean itself, others from the farmers processing style, and others still come from the type of roasting profile the roaster has used. The coffee seeds are then roasted but the extent of this greatly varies:
At the earliest known beginnings of coffee drinking, roasting was done on a skillet over a wood fire. You’ll still find coffee roasted this way in Ethiopia and other ancient coffee drinking cultures. Over time however, coffee roasting technology developed with industrialisation and the demand for more and more coffee grew. All through the history of coffee drinking the style of roasting and the consumers preferences have been in a constant battle of the old verses the new. This tension continues today as innovations of how to manipulate the roasting flavour profile have become very refined and roasting coffee is no longer just a means of turning a hard green seed into a grindable bean to produce an enjoyed bitter beverage. Styles of roasting now can have a dramatic impact on the method of brewing and the end result of the flavour.
Light Roast - This style of roasting tends to emphasise the bright fruity and floral aspects of a coffee. These roasts are suited for pour-over brewing methods and best enjoyed black.
Medium Roast - This style of roasting brings out the balance in a broad range of flavours. If the coffee is good then this roasting style will bring out all the complexity the bean has to offer. It’s possible to brew a medium roast through an espresso machine but it’s best enjoyed much like a light roast; without milk or sugar just the pour taste of a great bean. is the first stage of roasting and produces a very light cup of coffee. (Cinnamon brown)
Full City Roast - This is a darker roast that is ideal for espresso extraction. For those who like a bold and fuller cup that mixes well with milk or cream, this is the style of roast most suited to you. A much more complex and flavourful level of coffee roasting. (Chestnut brown)
Vienna Roast - In roasting terms, this style of roast emphasises the roast flavours versus the unique flavours of the specific coffee bean. This roast style is designed to punch through other strong flavours such as creams, syrups and liqueurs. At this level of roasting the coffee beans are covered in their own oils making a very smoky smell and very rich and smooth to drink. (Dark Chocolate Brown)
French Roast - This is the darkest style of roast. When roasted well the coffee will have At the deepest roasting stage there is a thick amount of coffee oils coating the beans, creating an intense aroma and bitter-sweet it's the international favourite due to its velvety flavour. (Mahogany brown)
The Birth of Coffee
So now we know what coffee is and we’ve covered a little of roasting styles how it's made, the question is how did we discover it in the first place?
Coffee leaves and berries have been consumed for far longer than the times when these stories are based by the Oromo who used the coffee plant for energy for thousands of years.
Well the birth of drinkable coffee takes us back to ancient times, to two possible stories of coffees origin:
Ethiopia - Africa
Legend has it that around 850 AD in the region of Kaffa a goat herder called Kaldi noticed one of his goats eating some small red berries from a tree and at first was likely worried worries these were poisonous but then the goat started moving around with a very noticeable rise in energy.
Intrigued by this, Kaldi tried some of the strange berries for himself and found that although not particularly flavourful, disgustingly bitter he also had a sudden burst of energy and became highly active.
After confirming his suspicion, he wished to share these strange effects and so he collected some of the berries in excitement and took them to his village to show others what the local monastery and showed the head monk what he had discovered. Legend has it that one of his fellow experimenters However, the monk was untrusting of the strange power of these little red berries and threw them into a nearby fire.
It was not long after he threw the berries that the aroma that we love and cherish today filled the room and captivated the enchanted onlookers monks' interest. Once the fire died down, they retrieved the now roasted coffee seeds and ground them up to a fine dust and mixed this dust with water, creating what just might have been the very first cup of coffee.
Yemen -
The second possible origin story starts in ancient Yemen with a man called Sheikh Omar who was said to have mystical healing powers. For reasons unknown the Sheikh was banished from his community never to return.
He resided in a cave he found in the desert and did what he could to survive. On one of his daily searches for food he found a tree with little red berries and gathered as much as he could find but on tasting he found that these berries had an overpoweringly bitter taste to them and he pondered how he could get the benefits of these berries without having to endure this unpleasant taste.
He decided to roast the berries over his campfire and then grind up the roasted seeds that remained. He then boiled water and mixed in his ground berry seeds. He was shocked to find that when he tried his new invention it was particularly delicious and gave him a boost of energy that sustained him for days.
When his community discovered his concoction he was invited back with open arms.
There is no true way to know if either of these stories are legitimate true but what we do know for sure is that coffee's origins do in fact lay in either Yemen or Ethiopia. This is because the coffee tree itself is native to Ethiopia but the first recorded evidence of coffee tree cultivation bean roasting is in Yemen.
The Start & Expansion of the Coffee Empire
Coffee trees are originally from Ethiopia (or more presicly, Coffea Arabica which is the most common and favoured coffee tree species used to grow our coffee today) but are believed to have travelled to Yemen through the traffic of the slave trade and most likely the hungry enslaved people taking them as food and then throwing away or depositing the seeds in Yemen.
Yemen is actually the first-place humans cultivated coffee trees and according to legend the the Yemeni people Arabs refused to allow the export of fertile seeds to maintain trading dominance and secrets behind this precious drink. ofso that they could hold onto their culture and prevent others from cultivating or discovering coffee's secret kick.
The joy of drinking coffee spread all across the Arab world and iIn around 1550 the world's first known coffee houses opened in Constantinople, today's Istanbul in Turkey. In the 1600s coffee and coffee houses quickly spread to Europe and England. During this time the fame of this magical tree was too alluring to be ignored and several stolen saplings were successfully cultivated. The Dutch began growing coffee in Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon) from the end of the 1660s and on into the 1700s. The French also cultivated coffee on the island of Bourbon now known as the Reunion Islands. leading to the first coffee plantations to be opened in the Netherlands in Sri Lanka.
At this time Europe was consumed by alcohol, especially cities and towns as drinking the local river water would very likely cause diseases like cholera due to almost all our human waste ending up in these very rivers.
Because of this the norm would be to wake up in the morning and have a beer for breakfast, then a beer on your break, then a beer for your lunch and so on and so on. As you can imagine this was disastrous and there was a large amount of disorder, but the introduction of coffee replaced the need for alcohol as the only safe alternative to water.
In the 1700s coffee became popular amongst the upper class and wealthy Europeans and soon after the middle classes followed suit. The reason why coffee became more common than tea at this time was because it was easier to make and cheaper to produce. It also helped that coffee was seen as being healthier than tea which was often made using herbs such as wormwood and other harmful ingredients.
Also during this period, the cultivation of coffee further spread was taken to the Caribbean by the French, to Brazil by the Portuguese and to Indonesia by the Dutch. “The New World” (America) by the British.
By 1820 coffee consumption grew exponentially throughout Europe and America. At this point the world's largest producer of coffee beans was were Brazil who produced about 80% of the world's supply.
During World War I many European countries banned imports of Brazilian coffee beans into their country causing prices to rise dramatically. As a result of this ban the United States took control of the market and began producing its own coffee beans. By 1920 the US alone produced enough coffee to meet the demand of the entire globe.
Today the majority of the world's production comes from South America and Latin American. Countries like Brazil, countries including Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Thailand, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. Africa is also a massive producer with Ethiopia being the largest in the continent. Many Asian countries like Vietnam, Thailand, India and Laos are also big producers and consumers of coffee. These countries and others close to the equator are known collectively as the coffee bean belt.
How Coffee Got Its Name
As previously mentioned, the first place of coffee's origin lies in a region of Ethiopia in Africa which was at the time known as 'Kaffa'. Presumably this is where the Arabic derived their term for it, 'Qahwah'.
Although 'Qahwah' originally referred to a type of Arabian wine it was adopted as the name for coffee due to the word 'Qahwah' deriving from the verb 'Qaha' which means to lack hunger, which fits rather suitably as both wine and coffee is are known to suppress hunger.
The Turkish then adapted this word, turning it into 'kahve' which in turn was adopted by the Dutch who made it into 'koffie'. And finally the English took 'koffie' and made it into the coffee that we all know today.
The Evolution of Coffee
How did coffee evolve from just plain old coffee to the many ways of brewing we have today?
Espresso
This type of coffee originated in Italy where they used steam pressure to create espresso. This process involved boiling hot water to create steam, using this steam to created the needed pressure to push hot water through finely ground coffee beans creating an exciting new sensory experience. The possibility to now extract many more sugars and fatty acids from the ground coffee produced a short, bold, punchy shot of coffee, that was an immediate hit in a culture already so keenly able to refine great flavours. extremely strong brew with a high caffeine content. The name Espresso came from the Italian word 'espressa' meaning express or hurry.
Cappuccino
Cappuccinos also originate from the country of Italy where they use milk instead of water when brewing coffee. In order to get the right consistency of foam they add steamed milk to the top before serving. The name is thought to be named after the Capuchin friars due to the similar color of the espresso mixed with frothed milk and the Capuchin robe. Or it maybe also because of the similar appearance of a white milk surrounded by the brown circle of espresso looking similar to the Capuchin monk hair style.
Americano
In world war II Americans in Italy would ask the baristas for some extra hot water to dilute their espresso shot, so this drink became know by Italians as an Americano and the name has stuck. had no choice but to drink instant coffee due to rationing. To combat this problem they invented the americano which uses less grounds per cup compared to regular drip coffee.
Latte
The very first lattes were made in Milan, Italy in the late 1800s. The full name for this drink is "caffe latte," which literally means "milk coffee" in Italian, so latte means milk. Lattes are usually served with steamed served warm and contain steamed velvety milk. Lattes and cappuccinos differ in two ways; firstly the milk to espresso ratio, and secondly the texture and amount of milk foam. However, there are some variations on latte drinks like cappuccinos and macchiatos.
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Without fail, this beautiful drink comes to me, perfectly crafted first thing in the morning, and then later toward midday, simply because it makes me happy. And while you may wish a similar story for yourself, let me tell you the cost of arriving in my happy place. My current situation has taken me nineteen years of learning how to work through conflict, have crucial conversations, disagreements, arguments, downs, and ups. We’ve been through hell but also heaven. We’ve lived without and we’ve lived with. At times he’s slept on the couch and at times I’ve stomped off in a rage. I’m not proud of these ‘throw my toys out of the pram,’ moments, but the reason we are still together is that we have done the hard work. The aggravating work of digging deep within ourselves to ask, where am I wrong? Where am I the problem?
To spare you the aggravation of all the trouble I’ve been through to finally get my gold, I suggest you simply subscribe. All you need to do is sign up for a subscription package and that beautiful coffee will be there waiting for you every morning. You will never run out, and you will never need to do anything for it. No need for any hurt feelings, no need for conflict management skills, this is just between you and a bag of beans! Of course, going through all the tough stuff builds muscles, which in time makes you look great, but we can work on those in other ways.
For now, pick the easy option, click subscribe!
]]>Most of us have generally only indulged in this pleasure at a cafe opting to seek the more unique taste of speciality coffee. This is usually because our lives are busy. It is just a matter of picking one up on the go, or having one while sitting down with a friend, now a recognised and missed luxury. The good news is that you can master the art and craft of cold brew at home. And while you may not be able to drink it with physical friends, our souls still reach out to touch each other.
You may be wondering, if it is so easy and simple, then why are they so expensive? The answer lies in how long it takes to make these elixirs. Retailers cannot simply make it on demand. Rather, they must forecast how many orders they will receive. These guesstimates fall toward waste or want. It is this uncertainty that causes the prices to be high.
Cold-brew does not necessarily equate to higher levels of caffeine than a hot coffee. Generally, the ratio of the added milk or water to the coffee concentrate brings caffeine levels slightly lower. This smooth and aromatic cold brew is a dark yet pure pleasure waiting to be yours.
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