Coffee -Second Cup

DANCING GOATS:

The earliest credible evidence of either coffee drinking or knowledge of the coffee tree appears in the middle of the fifteenth century at Ethiopia. But the time line indicates that origin of coffee dates back to 1000BC when its existence came to be known and coffee was discovered at around 5AD. Ethiopian shepherds were the first to notice the effects of caffeine when they saw their goats become frisky and dance after eating the coffee berries. So the dancing goats were believed to be the reason behind the discovery of coffee.

NAMEOLOGY – ‘CHAUBE TO COFFEE’:

The first ever name given to coffee was CHAUBE in 1573. The word coffee in English is derived from the Dutch word koffie, one possible origin is from the kingdom of kaffa, where the coffee plant actually originated. Our tempting topic has got other fascinating names to its credit including ‘cup of joe’, ‘jave’, ‘kona’, ‘dessert’, ‘columbia’, ‘java’, etc some of which are indigenous. This black drink replaced wine in many religious ceremonies because it kept the mohammedans awake and alert during their nightly prayers, so they had honored it with the name coffee, they had originally given for wine.

BOTANICAL SPECIES:

The two main species of coffee beans are 1.Arabica and 2.Robusta. 70% of the world consumes Arabica coffee which is mild and aromatic, the remaining 30% drinks Robusta which is more bitter tasting but has 50% more caffeine than Arabica.

ALPHABETICAL ALLURING:

Besides, there are infinite varieties of coffee, starting with almost all alphabet found decorating the menu cards at cafes. Let us have a look at those tongue catchers names in order Affogato, Americano, Black coffee, Caffee Americano, Cafe aun lait, Cafe breva, Caffe latte, Caffe macchiato, Cafe mocha, Cappucino, Double shot, Dry cappuccino, Espresso, Flovored coffee, Frappee, Flat white, Frappuccino, Greek coffee, Hammerhead, Iced coffee, Indian (Madras) filter coffee, Instant coffee, Irish coffee, Kopi tubruk, Lungo, Liqueur coffee, Macchiato, Melya, Mocha, Naked coffee, Oliang/oleng, Ristretto, Turkish coffee, Vietnamese style coffee, White coffee and the list extends.

BEWARE OF THIS:

Among all these the notable variety is the LIQUEUR COFFEE hiding shots of various forms of liquor within it which has its own including Australian coffee, Brandy coffee(Brandy), Bailey Irish coffee,Calypso coffee(Rum), Caffe correto, Corfu coffee, English coffee(Gin), Jamaican coffee(Rum), Kaffee fertig, Monk’s coffee, Russian coffee(Vodka), Seville coffee(Cointreau), Witch’s coffee(Strega),etc. So never be carried away by the fashionable names, but be aware before placing your order.

OUTCOME AND INTAKE:

Worlds largest coffee producing country is

1.Brazil (28% of total annual international yield) 2. Colombia (16%) 3. Indonesia (7%)

The country which tops in coffee consumption is Finland (12 kg of per capita consumption).USA occupies 27th position with 4.2 kg [A simple comparison because we will be satisfied only after knowing USA’s position in everything]. Our Motherland India is the least coffee consuming country(0.1 kg) sharing the position with 15 other countries.

Being the leading producer of coffee – Brazil occupies 17th position and the land of origin of coffee – Ethiopia occupies only 69th position in coffee intake.

BEAN BELT:

All coffee in the world grows in the BEAN BELT, the area between Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn extending about 1000 miles. Coffee grows in trees! Yes, they can be grown up to 30 feet tall but are cultivated to be around 10 feet tall (3 meters) for easy picking.

COFFEE SHOTS:

Coffee berries with fat formed edible energy balls and it was originally eaten by African tribes. The light roasted coffee bean has rich caffeine content than the dark roasted bean, because more the bean are roasted more caffeine is cooked out of it.

Light and dark roasted beans

BRAIN WAR:

In our brain there is something called adenosine and it only wants to hang out with certain receptors. When these two get together people get drowsy. When caffeine shoes up it attaches to the receptors so that adenosine cannot. Pituitary gland on seeing this thinks there is an emergency, so it tells the adrenal gland to produce adrenaline the result of which we are deprived of our drowsiness and feel like being energetic.

ARTISTIC EXCELLENCE:

After the preparation of hot cuppa, now it is time to serve the delicious, pertaining as a feast not only to tongue but for the eyes too.

“As with art ’tis prepared, so better to taste with art”

After getting on with the art and taste one could not lock lips from extending from left to right like this.

What we have seen is art with a cup. How about having a look at a fantastic masterpiece of art where 3604 cups of coffee is made into a giant Mona Lisa at Sydney, Australia. Those 3604 cups were each filled with different amount of milk to create different shades.

FINAL TOUCH:

The making of coffee has come a long way from origin to art, now it is time for sharing. Hope you would enjoy every sip of it.

“A cup of coffee shared with a friend is happiness tasted and time well spent”.

After knowing the whereabouts of coffee, love towards coffee increases, such that could not stop enjoying even the last drop. Though the consequences of having it all alone remains shilly-shally, sure you won’t mind it.

:)How abt the taste of my coffee:)

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BLACK & WHITE

BLACK & WHITE

Mere color, unspoiled by meaning, and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways – OSCAR WILDE

Black and White… This has got no serious sense here, as is the case with untouchability or apartheid yet it indeed has a notable consideration to be dealt with as a color on the basis of justification!

Colors are the one that makes world worth admiring, rather than just seeing. They are the life providers of all things around, with respect to vision perspective. All colors have certain range of wavelength and possess a similar property that makes them fall under the category of ‘colors’ exception being BLACK and WHITE. But can black and white be rightly called as the color is the greatest question mark.

A well-known fact is, the most fascinating and common combination among colors tend to be Black and White. Yet it seems there is no single point that supports it but immense controversies seem to apply for each of these as a color.

Here are a few tit-bits relating to these couple-colors.

BLACK

Is BLACK a color?

Black is not strictly a color as it is the absence of all color. Black is the total absorption of all colors and the absence of light. It absorbs all aspects of light.

EXPLANATION:

Black can be defined as the visual impression experienced when no visible light reaches the eye. Pigments or dyes that absorb light rather than reflect it back to the eye “look black”. A material is said to be black if most incoming light is absorbed equally in the material and reflects none of them to the eyes.

FACT: Absence of all color represents black.

SIGNIFICANCE:

Significance of the color black are :

Authority, Bold, Confidence and Classy , Dramatic, Elegance, Formal, Sophistication, Strength, Power, Protection, Mysterious, Committed, Serious, Depth, Wealth, Style, Classic, Polished, Secrecy, Seriousness, Aggressive, Sexy, Self-control.

PHRASES:

Here is a list of phrases using the word black:

Blackball – voting against someone in a secret manner to prevent them from becoming a member of club

Black belt – the highest awarded belt in the martial arts
Black coffee – coffee without milk
Black comedy – Comedy which is created out of a tragic event or situation
Black day – a bad day, which is often used before the name of a specific day to symbolize a tragic event. Like Black Tuesday or Black Friday for example
Black eye – damage such as damage to one’s reputation, slander, unpopular
Blackguard – a crook
Black-hearted – evil and wicked
Blacklist – a list of persons or organizations to be boycotted or punished
Black lung – a coal miner’s disease caused by the frequent inhaling of coal dust
Black magic (dark magic) – is the belief of practices of magic that draws on assumed malevolent(ill will, evil or harmful influence) powers
Black market – illegal trade of goods or money
Blackmailing – obtaining or demanding something by threat
Black money – part of a nation’s income that relates to its black economy/any money that a person or organization acquires illegally, as by a means that involves tax evasion
Black out – Loss of consciousness or Loss of electricity or light
Black sheep – an outcast from a family or from society
Blackwash (as opposed to “whitewash”) – to uncover or bring out in the light

BLACK ‘N’ NIGHT:

The black of night fosters a pure imaginative mood, because it provides freedom from distractions. Black represents calm, rest and renewal. It offers us sleep and a time to recover, rest and regenerate for the day ahead.

HEALING EFFECTS:

· Black has tremendous effect in color healing. The color black also opens up the deeper levels of the unconscious and is used to induce a deep meditational state.

· It is used for absorbing negativity, dealing with depression and grief, divination and bringing things to an end.

GENERATION OF BLACK PIGMENT:

Red, Yellow, and Blue
(The primary colors of pigments in the art world)

Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow
(The primary colors of inks in the printing industry)

Although the meaning of black has some negative connotations, it does in fact enhance any positive elements given by other colors. So wearing black with another color will promote and strengthen the benefits of that color.

WHITE

Is WHITE a color?

White is not a single color rather it is the blending of all colors. White reflects all the colors of the visible light spectrum to the eyes.

EXPLANATION:

Light appears colorless or white. Sunlight is white light that is composed of all the colors of the spectrum. A rainbow is proof. You can’t see the colors of sunlight except when atmospheric conditions bend the light rays and create a rainbow. You can also use a prism to demonstrate this.

FACT: The sum of all the colors of light adds up to white.

SIGNIFICANCE:

Significance of the color white are:

Positive, well-balanced, optimistic, highly individualistic personality. It is a color of peace and success.

PHRASES:

Here is a list of phrases using the word white:

White Christmas: the appearance of snow on Christmas day

White elephant: a possession that no longer holds value for its owner

White flag: the signal of a peaceful surrender.

White goods: a description of household items, such as linens, towels, and appliances

White hot: extreme manner of intensity

White lie: a harmless untruth usually told out of politeness.

White sauce: a sauce made from stock, butter, flour and seasonings

White feather: a symbol of cowardice

GENERATION OF WHITE PIGMENT:

Technically, pure white is the absence of color. In other words, you can’t mix colors to create white. Therefore, white is the absence of color in the strictest sense of the definition.

EYE PERCEPTION:

About black:

The most easily made mistake is to relate the concept of dark being the absence of light. This is correct, yet understand that in complete dark (the absence of light) our eyes could not perceive white or black simply because no light is present to be reflected off a “white” or “black” object and be received by our eyes.

In respect to this it would be possible to create 100% black only with a surface containing all colors; this being the only way to prevent any color from being reflected back to the beholder.

About white:

For the eye to perceive an object as white, the object must reflect all colors (or close to). A surface capable of reflecting all colors must be void in color itself, any color would hinder all color light to be reflected and thus would not create white perceived by our eyes.

PERFECT PAIR

Whatsoever be the controversies and discrimination between these two colors, it is loved by people all over globe as their heart throbbing color combination. Let us also enjoy this combo beyond reasons!

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How about a Coffee!!

“Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death and sweet as love”

“COFFEE?” is an aubade that gives a perfect break to every dawn’s prolonged doze. The word that awakens people’s senses every morning the very moment one hears of it and they start reliving the day only after tasting it. This particular fanciful word, serves good for multitude of other purposes like calling our dear one for an outing, a relaxation after a hard day, a refreshment for making oneself involved with the doing, be it a matter of welcoming our kith and kin at home or a reason for gang of friends to hang around, etc, though it need not be for a coffee always.

COFFEE AND HEALTH:

• Coffee can be beneficial at about 1-2 cups per day. Health experts say if you were to drink 80 to 100 cups, real fast and all at once, it might do the trick of killing one. So technically coffee or caffeine in it is not into killing you.

• Coffee contains important anti-oxidants and it is amazing to find that it is actually the anti-oxidants that make coffee taste bitter and not the caffeine.

• Coffee is a health drink with pretty amazing properties if it is not over dosed. Drinking coffee may reduce the risk of

– developing the most common form of diabetes. – appears to lower the risk of developing skin cancer. – death from liver disease.

• Special studies conducted about the human body revealed it will usually absorb up to about 300 milligrams of caffeine at a given time. About 4 normal cups. Additional amounts are just cast off, providing no further stimulation. Also, the human body dissipates 20% of the caffeine in the system each hour.

• Recent research suggests that drinking some amount of coffee each day can result in addiction. Caffeine is a drug and your body will adjust to it. Coffee addiction can cause loss of sleep, depression, chronic headaches, increased blood pressure and blood sugar, and more.

As per the natural fact of double faces of whatsoever or whomsoever concerned, coffee too has got its better and worse part and its all left to the coffee-worshipers to cling on to what they feel as the best.

INTERESTING FACTS:

• Do u know that coffee has no calories? It is naturally a no calorie drink.

• Coffee is actually a fruit. Its a cherry containing the seed (berries) called as pips.

Coffee fruit

• Worldwide, about 1400 million cups of coffee are drunk everyday of which 91% of coffee consumed is taken at breakfast, and sometimes is breakfast.

• Many are hooked on coffee to stay awake at night. So its better not to drink coffee up to 6 hours before you plan to retire.

• 1 kilogram of roasted coffee requires 4,000 – 5,000 coffee beans.

• A Belgian man lived in Guatemala by the name George Washington, invented instant coffee in 1906.

• The first coffee advertisement was a handbill distributed in 1651. It is now housed in the British Museum.

• It was in 1530 that the first coffeehouse was opened in Damascus, Syria.

• The word “coffee” was at one time a term for wine, but was later used to describe a black drink made from berries of the coffee tree.

• Caffeine is on the list of prohibited substances by International Olympic Committee. Athletes who test positive for more than 12 micrograms of caffeine per milliliter of urine may be banned from the Olympic Games. This level may be reached after drinking about 5 cups of coffee.

• In December 2001 Brazil produced a scented postage stamp to promote its coffee – the smell should last between 3 and 5 years.

Scented postage stamp

• Coffee can actually be used to fuel a car, though maybe not very efficient at this moment, it is nice to know that there is an alternative.

• Beethoven, who was a coffee lover, was so particular about his coffee that he always counted 60 beans for each cup when he prepared his coffee.

• “Coffee Day” is actually celebrated as a holiday in Costa Rica on September 12th and in Ireland on September 19th, and Japan actually has “Coffee Day” on October 1st.

• Turkish bridegrooms were once required to make a promise during their wedding ceremonies to always provide their new wives with coffee. If they failed to do so, it was grounds for divorce!

WORLD RECORD:

First Guinness world record has been set for the largest coffee cup at Vietnam on December 15 2007, containing 3,604 litres (30,000 cups) of coffee made with 801 kilos of instant coffee powder and 4,000 litres of boiled water, which is broken,the current record is: the largest cup contained 4,143 litres (32,160 cups) of coffee at Columbia, on 11 October 2007.

Coffee treat will be back at your dining table with few more enriched flavors to enjoy with… Keep looking for the same…:)

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