Brazil Drought Drives Price of Coffee Up
Brazil is having its worst drought in seven decades. The result for the coffee market is less and higher priced coffee. In late November of 2024 the NYMEX coffee price topped $3.30 a pound, up from $2.50 in October and $1.40 in October of 2023! Although the price of coffee has more than doubled that does not mean that there is less than half as much coffee available. Rather it means that the market is bidding up the price to make sure that individual buyers get as much coffee as they want. This situation is bad news for coffee farmers in Brazil but good news for coffee growers in Central America, Mexico, Hawaii, and parts of South America not affected by the drought.
Pacific Weather Patterns and the Climate in the Americas
The weather has turned dry in large parts of Brazil due to La Niña. La Niña is the opposite Pacific Ocean weather pattern from El Niño. Cold water rises to the surface along the west coast of South America. This happens because strong equatorial winds drive warm air and water west across the Pacific Ocean towards Indonesia. El Niño and La Niña do not limit their climatic effects to the Pacific Ocean, however. North Americans are familiar with the torrential rains across the western US states and storms across the Midwest with El Niño. That part of the oscillating pattern that concerns us in this instance is that La Niña causes much less rain in the coffee producing regions of Brazil and much more rain across the Amazon regions of Colombia and Venezuela. However, while rainfall can be plentiful in the Colombian Cafetero, it generally helps produce good harvests as it is typically not so excessive.
Where Is Coffee Coming From?
Brazil and Vietnam are still the leading coffee producers despite drought conditions in both nations. However, coffee production in both nations could well be off by twenty-five to thirty percent in each case.. In an average year Brazil produces about 39% of the world’s coffee and Vietnam produces about 17%. The next leading producer is Colombia with 7%. If there is a 30% reduction in production from Brazil and Vietnam that means 57% x 30% = 16.8% less coffee produced in a given year. That is what is driving the price of coffee to levels not seen in fifty years. The previous highest coffee price was in 1976 at $3.13 a pound, which gives us an idea of how unusual this situation is.
How Long Will the Price of Coffee Stay This High?
The current high price of coffee has to do with the current relative scarcity compared to market demand. Until climate conditions improve in Brazil and Vietnam and another harvest ensues, we can expect to see the market price of a pound of coffee to stay historically high. How much this will affect the price of your cup of coffee is a different matter. What the coffee farmer receives for a pound of green coffee beans is a small fraction of what we pay for a espresso, latte, or cappuccino at our local coffee shop or what we pay for a bag of whole bean roasted coffee at the grocery store. As such, we may see a few percent increase at the consumer level but nothing like the doubling of price for bags of coffee fresh from the harvest.
Coffee Price Chart Courtesy of Business Insider
Will Tariffs Raise the Price of Your Coffee?
In the runup to the 2024 US presidential election one of the topics repeated over and over was that of tariffs on things imported into the USA. Trump talked about putting tariffs on virtually everything and Harris supported selective tariffs to protect American industry and national security. Where does coffee fall in this argument? Is it possible that the US will someday put high tariffs on all foreign coffee? If so, how much will tariffs raise the price of your coffee?
How Much Does the Cost of Green Coffee Beans Contribute to a Cup of Coffee?
As a rule, about one percent of a $4.00 cup of regular black coffee or $.0.01 goes back to the coffee grower. Coffee coops and large exporters earn more than coffee farmers do. Shippers earn more than coffee farmers do and distributors within destination countries make more than coffee farmers do. Since the vast majority of coffee that people buy is roasted from the store, coffee roasters make far and away more than other folks before them in the supply chain. When you get your coffee from a fancy coffee shop, their markup is also substantial as they receive green coffee beans and roast them before brewing your coffee.
How Much Are Current Tariffs on Coffee?
Current tariffs, at least before the next administration takes over, are such that imported green coffee pays no tariffs. Nor do roasted coffee beans, decaffeinated coffee, ground roasted coffee, or extracts and concentrates of coffee. However, roasted coffee with sauces or syrups added is subject to tariffs as is instant coffee. All coffee imports pay harbor maintenance fees and merchandise processing fees at the point of entry. If you buy coffee while on vacation and bring it back to the USA there is no tax but you do need to declare it.
Why Would Anyone Put Tariffs on Coffee?
For many years small countries all across the globe have put substantial tariffs on American cigarettes. The tariffs are paid upon entry and simply add to the cost of the cigarettes for the consumer. This is a very effective way to tax people without seeming to be levying a tax. The argument made against Trump’s desire to tax all imports from everywhere was that this was simply a poll tax that fell more heavily on the poor than the rich. Like the taxes on cigarettes in many countries such taxes would not be seen as taxes by consumers but rather as price gouging by merchants everywhere in the USA thus sparing the ruling party the pain of a consumer backlash.
A common reason prior to the Trump era for putting tariffs on things has always been to protect American producers. Many Asian countries have been guilty of currency manipulation as well as subsidies to their industries. This has made them able to undercut American prices. When an American industry has sufficient clout they can often get Congress and the President to enact tariffs on competitors even when the result is excess profits for the industry and not really protection against unfair competition.
How Politically Connected Are Hawaiian Coffee Producers?
The only coffee grown in the USA comes from Hawaii. Hawaii produces less than one percent of the world’s coffee. Hawaiian coffee is popular and expensive. Because of its high quality and fame, Kona coffee has substantial pricing power. And nobody else gets to (legally) sell “Kona” coffee but the folks in Hawaii. Because Kona producers can charge pretty much what they want and are selling all of their production it is unlikely that they are going to ask the government to put tariffs on all foreign producers.
What Would a Twenty Percent Tariff on Imported Coffee Raise for the Government?
The US is the biggest coffee importer in the world at $8.3 billion in 2023. Coffee from Colombia and Brazil was the biggest part of all imports. A twenty percent tariff would raise $1.66 billion revenue. The total price paid at coffee shops for coffee in the USA in 2023 was $48 billion. the total price for packaged coffee including instant coffee was more than $90 billion in 2023. If you tally up total retail sales it comes to about $140 billion a year. If tariffs on coffee imports were simply passed on to the consumer they would only raise the final coffee shop or grocery store price by about four-tenths of a percent. If, however, grocers and coffee shops chose to use tariffs as an excuse to raise prices it could be more!
African Coffee Varieties and Leading Brands
Although we tend to write about coffee from Latin America and especially Colombia, there are other great coffees in the world. Coffee originated in Africa where there are many variety and several popular brands to choose from. While you may still prefer your gourmet Colombian coffee at grocery store prices, from time to time trying another variety or brand of coffee from somewhere else in the world can be an enjoyable experience.
Coffee From Africa
Coffee was first picked and brewed as a drink in Ethiopia (Africa) before it was exported to Yemen across the Red Sea. Today arabica coffee is grown in commercial quantities in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. Africa also produces robusta coffee which also originated on the continent. Robusta is grown from Rwanda through Western and Sub-Saharan Africa to as far away as Angola. There are many arabica varieties in East Africa including Yirgacheffe and Sidamo from Ethiopia and Tanzanian peaberry from Tanzania.
A Few African Coffee Brands
There are many famous African coffees. Here are just a handful. Kula coffee is grown in Rwanda on the slopes of Mt. Karisimbi. As a medium-dark roast this coffee has chocolate, sweet, and fruity flavors.
From Kenya the Spring Valley roaster provides Peaberry, Elgon, Zamanee, and Mashariki coffees. Their coffees are generally only found in stores and cafes in Kenya.
An African coffee that can be found in the USA is CxffeBlack, an arabica coffee roasted and sold by a Memphis, Tennessee company which sells it online.
Another African coffee available in the USA is Itadi Coffee from a family farm in Togo in West Africa. This is rich coffee with caramel, spice, and chocolate flavors.
donating a portion of its proceeds to support farmers and communities in Togo. Reviews of Itadi Coffee praise its rich, complex flavor, dark roast coffee, and smooth flavor.
An arabica coffee from the Kenyan highlands is Kahawa with a fruity, bright, and acidic taste. This coffee is available primarily in Kenya.
Boon Boona Coffee in Renton, Washington roasts Arican coffees from small Tanzanian, Kenyan, Ethiopian, and Burundi coffee farms. This company was founded by an Eritrean expat. The coffee is complex with acidic and fruity flavors. Varieties include Sidamo, Yirgacheffe, Burundi, and D.R. Congo.
A coffee from Ghana is sold by Bra Fie in London. This coffee comes from small Ghana coffee farms. It is a smooth coffee with hints of citrus and chocolate. It is available in Ghana and London, England. The name means “come home” in the Twi language of Ghana.
For Londoners who want an Ethiopian hand-roasted coffee, Addis in Brixton, offers organic Ethiopian coffees with excellent flavors along with Ethiopian cuisine.
Another London coffee enterprise, Coffee and Fripes offers coffee from Guinea along with world cuisines.
Folks in the USA who want a one stop source for a variety of African coffees can come to Starbucks for their blond espresso roast, spring day blend, or fall blend coffee. These are African coffees although Starbucks does not specify where on the continent the beans were harvested.
How African Coffee and South American Coffee Differ
As a general rule, African coffees are fruitier and more floral and South American coffees are nuttier and more chocolatey. Most South American coffee comes from the Bourbon variety and its offshoots and much more coffee in South America is grown at much higher altitudes than in many parts of Africa.
Does Coffee Cause or Prevent Cancer?
We would like to revisit an issue we addressed a few years ago, the relationship between coffee and cancer. There is a lot of evidence that drinking coffee reduces cancer risk. And there was a concern that the chemical acrylamide in coffee could cause cancer. There was even a questionable lawsuit in California years ago seeking damages for every person who drank coffee! Where is the issue today and should coffee drinkers be concerned about the safety of coffee or plan to drink more to reduce their cancer risk.
The Acrylamide Lawsuit Against Coffee Roasters and Distributors
The lawsuit regarding coffee, acrylamide, and cancer had to do with California’s product warning requirement 65. Proposition 65 stipulates that, among other things, businesses must warn Californians if a product has chemicals that pose a significant risk of birth defects, cancer, or reproductive harm. The goal of the lawsuit was to collect lots of money from coffee roasters and distributors for everyone who drank coffee and was not properly warned. The problem that the law firm pursuing the lawsuit had was that they could not demonstrate cause and effect in regard to coffee and cancer risk. In fact, as we noted in our previous article, there was a lot of chicanery involved such as setting up websites that appeared to be authoritative sites but where just all show and no substance.
The proposition 65 acrylamide lawsuit was resolved in 2020 and an appeal dealt with in 2022. No risk of cancer from drinking coffee was found and, in fact, an appeals court said that the suit was and any potential label warnings would be a disservice to the underlying purpose of proposition 65 which was to protect Californians and not mislead them!
Coffee Is Good for You and Helps Prevent Cancer!
For several years we have known, based on scientific research, that drinking coffee helps reduce the risks of colorectal, liver, breast, and head and neck cancer. Our current best understanding of why this is has to do with the hundreds of antioxidants in coffee as well as the caffeine in your Java. Caffeine, lignans, flavonoids, and other polyphenols are found in roasted coffee. These substances increase energy output, regulate genes responsible for DNA repair, block cellular damage, block or slow cancer metastasis, and have a wide range of other anti-inflammatory functions. In addition, coffee reduces the risk of type II diabetes by reducing insulin resistance. This in turn helps reduce risks of breast, liver, colorectal and endometrial cancers and mortality from these cancers.
How Much Coffee Should You Drink to Get Its Health Benefits?
When scientists develop drugs for treating diseases one of the issues is called a dose to response curve. How much do you need to consume in order to receive the benefits of the medicine? The other issue is called a therapeutic window. At what point does the medicine benefit you and at what point is it toxic or does it cause harm? For coffee and its health benefits, simply drinking an 8 ounce cup of coffee each day helps reduce the risk of type II diabetes, the risk of various types of cancer, and even Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. There is typically an increased benefit with more coffee per day up to about 6 cups at which the degree of benefit seems to level off. This is also the amount of coffee that commonly causes the jitters, anxiety, a faster heart rate or even an elevation of blood pressure.
Adding Flavor to Your Coffee
Here at Buy Organic Coffee we routinely promote coffee from Colombia. We do this because Colombian coffee has excellent aroma and flavor. Colombian coffee purchased at a local grocery store in cities like Manizales are essentially gourmet coffees as regular coffee prices. It is of note that when people in Colombia order tinto (the common name for coffee here) they ask for it black, with milk, or sugar. You never hear anyone asking for anything fancier than a cappuccino and certainly don’t hear a lot of people asking for flavored coffee. By way of contrast in the USA fully a third of coffee drinkers drink flavored coffee. When you are adding flavor to your coffee are you covering up the original taste or providing taste to stale coffee that is well past its shelf life. If you are adding flavor to your coffee what are the best choices?
Complementing Coffee’s Natural Taste
If you want to mask the bitterness of your coffee there are several flavor choices including peach, banana, orange, strawberry, and raspberry. Flavors that are commonly used to complement coffee’s natural taste include chocolate, coconut, hazelnut, vanilla, almond, and caramel. In each of these cases your best option will depend on if you are drinking a dark, medium, or light roast. The goal should be to enhance the natural flavor of great coffee and not cover it up.
A Favored Coffee Courtesy of Starbucks
Providing Taste to Tasteless Coffee
A strange thing happened to the world of coffee shops over the years. Peet’s and then Starbucks and the rest brought us very high quality coffee every time. Then they started adding flavors and it has gotten to the point where Starbucks offers as many as 170,000 different flavor, coffee, sweetener, combinations. While it may make sense to add lots of sweetener and or flavor to old, tasteless coffee, why would a person want to ruin a perfectly good cup of coffee by overpowering the natural taste.
Sweet Caffeine Drinks
If a person simply wants to consume caffeine in order to wake up in the morning and keep going later in the day, coffee is generally the easiest and most available choice. An 8 ounce cup of Starbucks coffee contains as much as 180 milligrams of caffeine. Tea contains at most 48 milligrams of caffeine. A diet coke contains 46 milligrams of caffeine. While 8 ounces of Red Bull contains 84 milligrams of caffeine you get 200 milligrams in sixteen ounces of Celsius Original. The popularity of bottled soft drinks with caffeine attests to the desire for folks to get a caffeine kick in a sugary drink. A substantial portion of coffee drinkers fit into this category. For these folks it does not really matter if they are getting high quality coffee or coffee that was warehoused for years before being shipped to the roaster and then sat on the shelf again for months or years before being purchased and consumed.
Flavors That Enhance the Taste of Great Coffee
If your goal is getting the taste and aroma of great coffee your approach to coffee flavoring should be different than if you want sweetness, caffeine and are not interested in the original coffee taste and flavor. If you are covering up poor taste to make up for absent taste and flavor. If you are covering up poor taste to making up for absent taste in your coffee it does not matter what flavors you use or how much you use. If you want to preserve and enhance great coffee flavor then you need to use a light touch when added flavoring and should try to use flavors like hazelnut, chocolate, or vanilla and adjust to taste. In all cases you will want to start with the best coffee for Colombia.
Uses for Old Coffee Beans
Coffee is best when it is fresh. As we have often noted, green coffee beans properly stored remain fresh for up to three years. Roasted coffee beans that remain in the package can be good for up to a year and coffee that you roast and store properly remains fresh for at least six months. When you open a container of ground coffee or grind coffee at home the coffee retains its flavor, aroma, and antioxidant potency for only a few days as air contact with what had been the interior of the coffee bean hastens oxidation. And, of course, there may be time when you forget about stored coffee, leave on a trip and come back months later, etc. You will probably want to buy new coffee and start over and then you need to think of uses for old coffee beans.
Use Old Coffee to Fight Insects and other Pests
Although we may love our coffee, such is not the case with all living things. In fact, coffee can be toxic for many of the pests that tend to infest gardens and damage plants around your home. Even snails and slugs tend to avoid crossing areas covered with coffee grounds. Simply sprinkle old coffee grounds around plants that you wish to protect. Unlike with the use of insecticides, you are not damaging the environment and won’t have to throw out your old coffee. The same approach works for protecting your pets from fleas. Apply coffee grounds after shampooing the pet’s hair and then rise off. Do not leave coffee grounds on the hair as your pet may ingest coffee grounds which may be toxic to your dog or cat.
Old Coffee as Fertilizer or Compost
Although your old coffee may lack taste and aroma it does not lack potassium, nitrogen, or calcium. Thus, make use of your old coffee by fertilizing your garden. As with all fertilizers, use in moderation to avoid causing excess soil acidity. In addition, a layer of coffee grounds can also act as compost but with the additional benefits of fertilizer. Simply add old coffee grounds to you bin or pile of compost and mix in well.
Absorb Noxious Odors With Old Coffee Grounds
Like when you put a box of baking soda in your frig to absorb odors, you can do the same with a bowl of old coffee grounds. The same approach works in bathrooms and pantries. Rather than throwing out old coffee grounds, recycle them and save on the next box of baking soda or other deodorizer that you were going to purchase.
Use Old Coffee Grounds As an Abrasive to Scrub Pots and Pans
Coffee grounds are mildly abrasive. As such they work well in helping scrub away food residue stuck to pots, pans, and dishes. Just sprinkle on the pots or dishes and scrub away. Simply make sure to rinse well afterwords to avoid coffee stains. The same approach works for an abrasive material to wash your hands and to remove odors from work or from cooking with onions or garlic. In fact, if you are looking for an effective exfoliant, look no farther than your container of old coffee grounds. Mix with coconut oil, olive oil, or your usual exfoliant and scrub for your face and body.
Use Old Coffee As a Natural Dye
Take advantage of how coffee can stain fabrics or paper and use it to enhance your arts and crafts or even clothing.. Just fill a pot of boiled coffee grounds and soak your fabric or paper. The result is a light to medium brown depending on how long you soak and how much coffee you use.
Temporarily Reduce Cellulite With Old Coffee Grounds
Because the caffeine in coffee stimulates release of adrenaline, it also can temporarily improve blood flow. In the case of cellulite, its appearance is briefly improved by applying coffee grounds to the skin.
How Do You Know That Your Old Coffee Has Gone Stale?
If you really think that coffee that has sat opened on the shelf for years is ok, brew it and taste it. Sniff to discover if any aroma remains. The odds are strongly against old coffee being anything but a tasteless vehicle for providing caffeine. In that case, try one of our suggestions for using old coffee beans.
What Is Beanless Coffee?
As we have noted numerous times on these pages, there are several serious issues facing the world of coffee. Deforestation, climate change, various coffee plant diseases will all threaten and possibly curtain coffee production in the coming years. Coffee producers are looking at solutions like cross breeding arabica and robusta coffees to produce hardier arabica strains as well as better tasting robusta. One of the responses to all of this is the development of “beanless coffee.” What is beanless coffee and will it have any material effect on coffee prices that people buy in order to enjoy their cup of java? For that matter how will it affect the taste and flavor or your morning brew?
Coffee That Is Not Really Coffee
The BBC recently published an article about startups promoting beanless coffee. They focused primarily on a new imitation of coffee, Atomo. This “alt-coffee” is an attempt to replicate the taste and aroma of coffee without actually using coffee beans. Their recipe includes date seeds marinated with the following list of ingredients. Ramón seeds, fructose, pea protein, millet, lemon, sunflower seed extract, guava, fenugreek seeds, baking soda and caffeine. The caffeine comes from decaffeination of green tea.
How Many Alt-Coffees Are There?
In addition to Atomo, companies seeking to make beanless coffee include Dutch-based Northern Wonder which uses malted barley, chicory, and chickpea along with “undisclosed” natural flavoring. Two other competitors in this market include Minus from San Francisco and Prefer from Singapore. Also in this niche but pursuing a different approach are folks making “bio-coffee” created from coffee plant cells and grown in a vat before being fermented and roasted. The Finnish government has sponsored research in this regard. Folks working toward this goal include Cultured from California, Another from Singapore, and Foodbrewer from Switzerland. While this approach may lead to beanless coffee that is a better match to your natural brew, this approach will require regulatory approval not needed by folks who are just mixing natural plant ingredients.
Date Seeds for Making Beanless Coffee
Courtesy of Research Gate
What Is the Point of Beanless Coffee?
Currently a beanless coffee like Atomo costs more than a regular cup of coffee. So, why beanless when your Colombian arabica coffee is better and cheaper? The first selling point you see in this regard is that the six greatest causes of deforestation is coffee cultivation. This problem is expected to get worse as climate change drives coffee production to higher altitudes and lower altitudes can no longer support coffee farms. As Asian countries which generally have preferred tea pivot to coffee this will also increase global demand at the same time as production is threatened. Thus, beanless coffee producers argue that their products are less environmentally damaging and eventually may be cheaper.
Downsides to Beanless Coffee
A lot of people work on coffee farms throughout the tropics. If these folks get displaced because of a big surge in beanless coffee that will mean a lot of unemployment and hardship. Alternatively, it could lead to these folks using their land for growing other, more profitable, crops like cocaine! Cocaine cartels will not be worried about deforestation.
What Is the Status of Beanless Coffee?
Aromo, the focus of the BBC article, is sold at seventy coffee shops in the USA. They also sell beanless coffee as well as conventional coffees on their website. Thus these folks do not have a huge share of the market and the vat-brewed variety is a long way from becoming an economic threat to coffee producers in Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Honduras, Ethiopia or back in Java itself. And, of course, these products have a huge way to go to compete on taste and aroma with your favorite gourmet coffee from Colombia.
Java Coffee Variety
When someone offers you a cup of Java you typically assume that they are simply offering you coffee. After all Java was one of the early locations where Dutch traders started planting coffee away from West Africa and the Middle East. Thus, years ago Java became synonymous with coffee. However, it turns out there is a Java coffee variety as well. So if you are looking for a different taste and aroma experience with your coffee or are looking for a new variety to plant on your coffee farm, you might just want to check out the Java coffee variety.
Where Does the Java Coffee Variety Come From?
The Java coffee variety was indeed planted on the East Indies island of Java in 1616. The coffee came directly from Yemen. That coffee arrived in Yemen from Ethiopia in the late 1400’s. It has always been assumed that Java is a typica coffee variety. Typica is one of the most popular and prevalent arabica varieties. It produces coffee with excellent taste and aroma but is susceptible to a variety of coffee plant diseases like nematodes and leaf rust.
Although the assumption has always been that typica the corner of the coffee world is where Java belongs, that is not true. Recent genetic examination indicates that Java did indeed come from Ethiopia but is descended from the Abyssinia variety, endemic Ethiopian coffee variety.
Why Is the Origin of the Java Coffee Variety Important?
The typica coffee variety includes lots of great tasting coffees with great aroma. However, as a group, this coffee variety and its sub varieties are rather susceptible to coffee diseases like leaf rust. On the other hand, the Ethiopian Abyssinian coffee group is both great tasting with a great aroma but also more resistant to leaf rust and coffee berry disease. Although Java is not so resistant to nematodes, this is less of an issue in the coffee growing areas of the Americas than it is in Africa where the variety has been grown for years in Cameroon and elsewhere.
What Are the Arguments for the Java Coffee Variety?
Java was introduced to Costa Rica in 1991 and Panama a few years later. Today you can find the Java variety throughout Colombia and especially in the department of Huila. The selling point for this variety is that it produces a medium yield with less requirement for fertilizers and is more resistant to coffee leaf rust and coffee berry disease than other arabica varieties. These features make this coffee variety a good choice on small coffee farms working on small budgets. It does well at higher altitudes like standard older arabica varieties making it ideal for many mountainous locations across the American section of the coffee belt. It has a lower planting density at 3000 to 4000 plants per hectare with single stem pruning that the 5000 plants per hectare commonly believed to produce the highest total yield.
For small coffee farms looking to produce highest quality coffee at the lowest cost and labor, the Java coffee variety may be an excellent choice. For the coffee drinker looking for an excellent coffee at a reasonable price, the Java coffee variety has been compared to Gesha in quality but at nowhere near the prices commanded by this unique and hard to find variety.
So the next time you order a cup of Java you may want to specify whether you are simply using the generic term for cup of coffee or asking for a unique coffee variety with a rich history.
What Is the Right Amount of Coffee?
There are lots of reasons why drinking coffee is good for you. But as the experts at Johns Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic remind us, coffee should be consumed in the right amount! The good part is that coffee consumption reduces the risks of type II diabetes, various kinds of cancer, Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, liver disease, heart disease, and strokes. You can even live longer by drinking coffee! But you need to drink enough coffee to make a difference without going overboard and avoid drinking too much and experiencing problems related to too much coffee.
How Much Coffee Do You Need to Drink to Get It’s Benefits?
Long term studies that have asked people about their coffee consumption along with other health issues indicate that if one consumes a cup of coffee a day on average that benefits occur. These benefits generally increase with consumption up to a limit of about six cups of coffee a day and then plateau. Thus there are lower and upper limits to coffee consumption in order to get its benefits.
How Much Coffee Is Too Much for the Average Person?
Both Johns Hopkins and Mayo advise coffee drinkers to beware of drinking too much coffee. Here are there are two categories, men and women who are not pregnant or nursing are one group and the other is women who are pregnant or nursing. For the first group side effects include a faster heart rate, elevation of blood pressure, jitteriness and anxiety, and difficulty getting to sleep. Most folks in the first group can drink coffee containing up to 400 mg of caffeine per day. That works out to about three cups of coffee, depending on the type. Robusta has a higher caffeine content than great tasting arabica from places like Colombia. The average eight ounce cup of arabica contains 95 mg.
How Much Coffee Is Too Much If You Are Pregnant?
Because coffee health issue for mom and baby typically have to do with caffeine, drinking decaf may be a good choice. In general, decaf coffee has the same health benefits as regular coffee. The Mayo Clinic reminds us that how much coffee is too much needs to include “energy drinks with caffeine.” These drinks to not come with the health benefits of coffee but can produce the same or worse side effects.
As general rule pregnant women should limit their coffee intake such that they get less than 200 mg of caffeine a day or half the usual recommended amount. This is according to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Observed effects of excessive caffeine intake during pregnancy include stillbirth, preterm birth, low birth weight, and restrict fetal growth. One of the issue here is that caffeine clearance from a woman’s body seems to be slowed or reduced during pregnancy.
How Much Coffee is Too Much if You Are Nursing?
The rule of thumb for coffee consumption for nursing moms is similar to that during pregnancy. Keep coffee consumption low enough that daily caffeine intake is 200mg a day or less. The issue is not so much for mom in this case but for baby who gets caffeine through breast milk. Although the amount of caffeine that a nursing baby gets is pretty small, baby does not have mature kidneys and cannot clear caffeine out its system as effectively and rapidly as an adult can.
The measure of how fast the body rids itself of a substance is called the half-life. In other words, how long does it take for the body to reduce the level of caffeine in the blood by a half? Men and women both have caffeine half-lives of about five hours. The half-life of caffeine in a newborn baby is about one hundred hours and much longer for premature babies. Thus, when mom is nursing a newborn and especially a premature newborn the baby’s caffeine level will steadily rise even with tiny amounts of coffee. Thus baby is jittery, cries a lot, does not sleep well. When levels get really high baby will experience tremors, agitation, hypertonia or muscle weakness, and the sort of “tonic-clonic” movements typical of seizures.
The bottom line is please talk to your doctor about caffeine intake when nursing, especially with premature newborns!
Green Coffee Facts
Green coffee refers to harvested coffee beans that have not yet been roasted. Most people buy roasted coffee, either whole bean or ground. Some folks only buy green coffee beans and roast enough for what they will brew each day. There are benefits that come with buying green coffee and potential drawbacks. There are even direct uses for unroasted green coffee which has different properties than when it has been roasted. Here are a few green coffee facts to help you understand the differences.
How Is Green Coffee Different From Roasted Coffee?
The flavor of unroasted green coffee is lighter and milder than when it has been roasted. It also has a slight flavor similar to grass if one were to put that into a drink. Chlorogenic acid is present in higher levels in unroasted coffee beans. Health experts sometimes say that this antioxidant in sufficient amounts can help control blood sugar levels and assist in losing weight. Green coffee retains its freshness longer than roasted coffee when stored properly. This ensures, for most consumers, that their roasted coffee will be fresher as well.
How Long Can You Store Green Coffee?
A good rule of thumb is that green coffee will retain its freshness and antioxidant levels for up to three years when stored in a cool and dry location away from direct sunlight. By comparison, roasted whole coffee beans can retain their freshness for up to six months with similar correct storage. The issue with green coffee for the consumer is how long that green coffee beans spent in storage either in the country where they were grown or in the destination country before they were purchased by the end user or by a coffee roaster. The issue for roasted coffee is typically how long it sat on the grocery store shelf before you purchased it. The issue with ground roasted coffee is that it loses its freshness within days of being exposed to the air.
Are There Health Benefits from Drinking Green Coffee?
This issue has not been extensively studied. What small studies have been done indicate that people may lose three to five pounds more than otherwise in a diet if they add green coffee consumption. The assumption, unproven, is that green coffee blocks fat buildup and lowering blood sugar levels. In regard to blood pressure, there has been one small study in which people who consumed green coffee lowered their blood pressure more than a control group did. In neither case did the studies determine a standard dose or course of treatment.
Drawbacks to Consuming Green Coffee
Like roasted coffee, green coffee contains coffee. So, if you consume too much you will get an upset stomach, feel jittery, or even drive your blood pressure higher. If you have consumed large daily amounts of green coffee and then suddenly quit you will very likely get caffeine withdrawal headaches just like with regular coffee consumption and cessation. Otherwise, there are no know specific problems with consuming green coffee.
Green Coffee Versus Roasted Coffee Health Benefits
Regular coffee has a whole host of known health benefits from reduction of type II diabetes, reduction of risk of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, to reduction of risks of various types of cancer. Green coffee has nowhere near the amount of research conducted regarding its effects and benefits. This is primarily because drinking coffee is common worldwide and drinking or otherwise consuming green coffee is rather rare. It may well be that green coffee confers the same benefits as drinking roasted coffee. But, until someone includes green coffee consumption in long term follow-up questionnaires and twenty years pass, we will not know.