Naturally Organic Coffee from Colombia
In our continuing search for healthy organic coffee I was visiting Colombia. In the heart of the Colombia coffee district, the Cafetero, is the mountain town of Manizales. A million people live in and around this city at elevations of 7000 feet more or less. Elevations in the city vary by 500 feet above and below the average! An active volcano, Nevada Ruiz, looms over the city at a height of 15,000 feet. The high altitude, plentiful rainfall, nearly continual cloud cover during the rainy season, volcanic soil and moderate temperatures make the area idea for growing coffee. There are lots of Colombian coffee brands and most are not labeled organic despite the fact that the vast majority of growers abide by organic standards. When I first asked around for where I could buy organic coffee people seemed confused. Then they became upset. Here I was in the premier coffee growing region of the entire world and I was asking for something different than basic, good, Colombia Arabica coffee! The story about naturally organic coffee from Colombia continues.
Organic Coffee, Certified or Not
Some time back we wrote about the Arabica coffee brand. This coffee comes from Finca Eliza west of Medellin. It is UTZ certified and the grower abides by organic standards. He simply has not bothered to deal with any of the agencies that certify coffee on behalf of the United States Department of Agriculture, such as Bio Latina. It is often the case that small coffee growers cannot afford the $500 a year fee to retain their certification. After all they produce naturally organic coffee from Colombia and have buyers locally and internationally without being certified. If one drives from Manizales, down the mountain, to the city of Pereira one sees coffee being grown on gentle slopes and virtual mountainsides. One sees coffee growing in back yards, tucked in under shade trees. This is naturally organic coffee from Colombia but the small growers simply do not have the wherewithal to cough up $500 to get USDA certification.
Finding Organic Coffee
Juan Valdez is a trademark of the Colombian Coffee Growers Association. It is also a brand name for organic coffee. In my first attempts to find organic labeling on coffee I found that I was irritating the good people of Manizales by suggesting that somehow their coffee was not as good as it is. Then I went to the movies at the new Fundadores mall. And there it was, a Juan Valdez coffee kiosk adjacent to the theater boasting several varieties of naturally organic coffee from Colombia and in this case coffee labeled with the USDA seal. Nevertheless, I also found virtually unlimited brands of naturally organic Colombian coffee at the Exito supermarket in the same mall. That is where I first ran across the Arabica brand, Aguila roja from Cali, sello rojo which is my brother-in-law’s favorite, Café Quindia from the Corazon of Colombia and many others.
Bringing Coffee Home from Colombia
And, of course, there is the issue of bringing bags of coffee out of Colombia. Fly out of Pereira or Bogotá and they will pin prick your coffee so that both the dog and the mechanical sniffer can check it out. Leave from Manizales with your wife’s family all around and the checkers are less likely to insult the local folks by being overly intrusive with your luggage or that of your wife. For now, my supply of naturally organic Colombian coffee is almost out so I will have to do with Panama Mountain Grown Organic coffee available here in Panama City, Panama at the El Rey supermarket, naturally organic coffee from Panama. I am looking forward to next year and our trip to see family in the Cafetero of Colombia.
DoiTung Coffee from Thailand
A friend returned from a visit to the Far East and brought me a bag of DoiTung coffee from Thailand. This is single source, shade grown Arabica coffee. It is an offshoot of the the DoiTung development project started and nurtured by the Princess Mother of Thailand. The DoiTung brand comprises four business units which are food, handicrafts, horticulture, and tourism. The Doi Tung Development Project (DTDP) is one of the four flagship projects of the Mae Fah Luang Foundation, established in 1988 by the Princess Mother on Doi Tung, a high mountain in Chiang Rai, the northernmost province of Thailand. This is the infamous Golden Triangle famous for its opium, war lords, and abject poverty. The area has become economically self-sufficient due to the efforts of the foundation and inspiration of the Princess Mother who, in fact, moved her home to the area.
Growing Regular and Healthy Organic Coffee in Asia
Asian regions such as Sri Lanka used to be big coffee producers. But in the 19th century a plant disease wiped out crops. It was coffee leaf rust. The disease was and is especially damaging to Arabica coffee strains. Sri Lanka planters switched to tea. The leaf rust was found in Africa by 1920, Brazil by 1970, and Colombia by the 1980’s. Colombian left rust resistant coffee emerged from years of research, cross breeding and field testing. In the meantime Vietnam became the second largest producer of coffee in the world after Brazil but with Robusta coffee. Vietnam is the largest supplier of caffeine for beverages sold by Nestle. The emergence of a find Arabica coffee, DoiTung coffee from Thailand is a welcome addition to coffees of the world. Much of the organic coffee from this region comes from the uplands of Indochina, namely Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. For more information about the Mae Fah Luang Foundation and its work, visit http://www.maefahluang.org/index.php.
Organic Coffee and Shade Grown Coffee and the Environment
DoiTung coffee from Thailand grows in an area that was virtually deforested. By planting coffee, growers can establish ground cover and retard erosion. By planting shade trees the growers can provide a higher quality of shade grown coffee and further reduce erosion. In addition the addition of shade trees brings back birds and other animals and helps rebalance the habitat. The goal of this project was to bring up the standard of living of the residents of the area, provide education, and create a self-sustaining community where there was only abject poverty and ignorance. If you want to do a little to help the world, consider buying a bag or two or a shipping container of DoiTung coffee from Thailand.
There are a couple of approaches to obtaining a reliable supply of high quality organic wholesale coffee. One is to contact the various certifying agencies around the world and request a list of the growers and processors whom they certify. Then one needs to contact these folks, typically in their native language, and negotiate price. The other approach is to contact someone “on the ground” in the area in which one is interested. For example, to find a source of Panama mountain grown organic coffee one can contact an agency such as Buy Organic Coffee.org in order to find promising sources of organic wholesale coffee and to help with the logistics of collecting and sending a shipment of green organic coffee beans, roasted organic coffee beans, or bagged and labeled organic coffee from countries such as Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia, and more.
Organic Irish Coffee
If you are a lover of healthy organic coffee and would also like a little something special on New Year’s Eve or any time, consider making organic Irish coffee. Irish coffee consists of coffee, whiskey, brown sugar, and whipped cream. A bit of attention to each of the ingredients will make your organic Irish coffee a treat for all. But, before we give you the recipe, how did this drink get its name. The story goes like this. There was an Irish chef at the airbase where Shannon International Airport now sits. There was a flight from Ireland to New York that had to turn back because of bad weather. The chef greeted the returning travelers with a hot drink of coffee, whiskey, brown sugar, and whipped cream. It became a regular feature at the airport and when people asked what kind of coffee it was they were told that it was Irish coffee (as opposed to one of the Brazilian or Colombian organic coffee brands). An American traveler brought the recipe back to America and it caught on. Now, if you want to make the best of all worlds, make organic Irish coffee and pay attention to how you do each step.
Organic Irish Coffee
Organic All the Way
Start your organic Irish coffee with Panama Mountain Grown organic coffee or coffee from Colombia. You can order organic whiskey from http://www.graigfarm.co.uk/ if they do not have any at your local liquor store. Use organic brown sugar and organic whipping cream. Because of all the cooler ingredients you will be adding make sure that you start with hot coffee poured into a pre-heated glass. For each cup of organic Irish coffee use the following:
- Coffee mug (A glass mug is traditional.)
- Tablespoon
- 4 ounces of hot coffee freshly ground and brewed organic coffee
- 1 ounce of organic, preferably Irish, whiskey
- 2 teaspoonful of brown sugar
- 1 ounce of organic double cream whipped just lightly
The Steps
- Have everything ready.
- Warm your coffee mug.
- Put the brown sugar into the glass and then add the hot organic coffee.
- Stir until the sugar dissolves.
- Add the whiskey and stir again.
- Add the cream by pouring gently over the back side of the tablespoon so that the whipped cream sits on top of the coffee.
- A little cinnamon and or nutmeg sprinkled on top of the whipped cream are an American addition to this treat and are optional.
Serve your organic Irish coffee on any cold winter evening, especially after outdoor activities. This can be a great tradition over the year end holidays. Pick a good organic coffee and a good organic whiskey. Remember not to beat the whipping cream excessively as you want it to cover the top of the coffee and not float as a lump like an iceberg in a sea of coffee. And make sure to leave enough room for the whipped cream when you add the coffee. A good way to preheat your coffee mugs is to have boiling water on hand. Pour hot water into the mugs to sit while you grind and brew your coffee. Then pour the water out of the hot cups before adding sugar and coffee. Have a tray handy to carry your treasure of organic Irish coffee to your guests and be ready to accept compliments.
Send Organic Coffee for Christmas
Trying to think of a holiday gift for your hard-to-shop-for father-in-law? Send organic coffee for Christmas. Healthy organic coffee is unique gift. Send one of the Colombian organic coffee brands and gain the respect of your coffee drinking friend or family member. If you are going to send organic coffee from Christmas you can head over to your local coffee roaster and pick out something exotic from their stock of organic green coffee beans. Have them roast up a pound or two and send the bag in a brightly gift wrapped box to you hard-to-shop-for friend or family member. If you like the idea of one-stop shopping, send organic coffee for Christmas to every adult on your list. So, we have decided that this is a good idea. If you would like consider buying online or, if you have a connection to coffee country, order directly and have organic coffee delivered with a postmark from the country of origin.
Coffee from Panama
Panama mountain grown organic coffee is a great choice if you want to impress when you send organic coffee for Christmas. Panama is the small Central American country that serves as a land bridge between North and South America. Many recognize the name because of the Panama Canal that connects Atlantic to Pacific. Panama has a mountainous spine, the Cordillera Central, in Spanish. This region is ideal for growing healthy organic coffee. It is in the rich volcanic soil of the Cordillera Central in the highlands of the province of Chiriquí that Panama grows some of the best coffee in the world. This is a relatively small region so Panama does not compete for tons of coffee produced against the large scale coffee producers like Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, or Indonesia. What Panama lacks in volume of production it more than makes up for in the quality of coffee that it produces.
Coffee from Colombia
The Colombian Cafetero is a legendary coffee growing region west of Bogotá, Colombia. Colombia is the second leading producer by weight of the best brand of coffee, Arabica. However, Colombian coffee is generally considered to be pound for pound the best in the world. In fact, as leaf rust attacks coffee crops in other nations Colombia may well end up being the most reliable source of high quality coffee as well. When the plant disease arrived in Latin America Colombia worked on a cure and has produced strains of leaf rust resistant coffee. As Colombia recovers from leaf rust it is time to send organic coffee for Christmas, the Colombian variety. There are a lot of excellent organic coffee brands in Colombia but it is not possible to mail coffee directly from that nation to most places in the world. Rather one must export or carry coffee out of the country in ones luggage. You could fly to Bogotá and visit the Juan Valdez coffee shop in the international terminal and fly back home with a suitcase full of coffee. On the other hand you could contact us at Buy Organic Coffee and ask for a little help when you want to send organic coffee for Christmas.
How Many Cups of Coffee a Day
Scientific research tells us that drinking coffee lowers our risk of Type II Diabetes, various forms of cancer, the risk of depression and even suicide, as well as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. But, how many cups of coffee a day should you drink to get the maximum health benefit? And are there side effects to be concerned about? Let us start with coffee and reducing the risk of diabetes.
Coffee and Diabetes
We know that more regular or more organic coffee can lead to less diabetes. Drinking organic coffee reduces the incidence of Type II diabetes, the type that affects 95% of people with the disease. Researchers at UCLA have found what may be the reason. There is a protein called sex hormone-binding globulin. Its normal job is to regulate sex hormone activity in the human body. Researchers had suspected that the same hormone has an effect on the development of Type II diabetes. It turns out that drinking coffee increases the levels of sex hormone-binding globulin in the body. Women who drink at least four cups of coffee a day have less than half the incidence of Type II diabetes as women who do not drink coffee. The coffee drinkers all had elevated sex hormone-binding globulin levels while the non-coffee drinkers did not. The relationship was total between the elevated enzyme level and a reduced incidence of Type II diabetes. The bottom line of the UCLA study was that drinking 4 or more cups of coffee a day, with caffeine, reduces Type II diabetes incidence by 56%, more than half. The American Diabetes Association says that nearly 24 million Americans have diabetes of which more than 9 in 10 have the Type II variety. That comes to roughly 22 million people with Type 2 diabetes. The issue of how many cups of coffee can lead to less diabetes could be a significant issue in US public health.
Coffee and Cancer
Drinking coffee reduces prostate cancer risk. The Journal of the National Cancer Institute published an article showing the results of coffee consumption in various degrees of 47,911 men from 1986 to 2006. During that time 5,035 developed prostate cancer including 642 cases of lethal prostate cancer, fatal or metastatic. Researchers compared men who drank six or more cups of coffee a day to those who did not drink coffee. The incidence of total prostate cancers per 100,000 person-years was 425 for the six a day coffee drinkers and 519 for those who did not drink coffee. The comparison for lethal cancers per 100,000 person years was 34 to 79. This study noted that the data applies to all coffee, including decaf. Thus drinking organic coffee reduces prostate cancer. Those drinking six or more cups a day had a nearly twenty percent reduction in risk of getting any form of prostate cancer. The same coffee drinkers had a 57% reduction in their risk of developing a lethal prostate cancer!
How many cups of coffee a day should you drink to obtain the many health benefits of coffee? Four cups a day leads to a definite difference in the incidence of Type II Diabetes and six cups a day makes a big difference in the incidence of prostate cancer. In many case there is a linear correlation between the amount of coffee that a person drinks and the beneficial effects. That is to say no matter how many cups of coffee a day that you drink there is an increasing benefit to drinking more coffee.
Organic Wholesale Coffee Suppliers
Of the many organic wholesale coffee suppliers our preference is for suppliers of Panama wholesale organic coffee and Colombian organic coffee brands. These Arabica coffees are some of the best in the world. In this region of the world individual growers can act as organic wholesale coffee suppliers of either wholesale organic green coffee beans or roasted organic coffee beans. If you are interested in having great organic coffee for yourself you may choose to simply buy roasted whole bean coffee from organic wholesale coffee suppliers. If you need to store the coffee for a long time or are purchasing for resale you most likely will purchase green beans with a two year shelf life.
Coffee from Panama
If you are looking for healthy organic coffee in bulk consider Panama wholesale organic coffee. Panama is the transportation hub of the Americas. Panama is the site of the Panama Canal and its Tocumen International Airport handles well over a million passengers a year. Panama is also the southernmost stretch of the Pan American Highway before it restarts in South America. So, if you buy from organic wholesale coffee suppliers in Panama you have the ability to easily ship by land, sea, or air to any point in North America, or the world.
In in the tropics, the highlands are referred to as the land of eternal spring. The elevation provides a relief from the coastal heat but, because Panama is in the tropics, it does not get cold. The highlands of Panama are ideal for growing coffee. They have rich volcanic soil and a coffee growing culture going back a century. Small, family, farms grow coffee on the slopes of the mountains and hills. Many of these coffee farms produce shade grown coffee as growers have left much of the natural habitat in place. In addition, many growers have uses sustainable growing techniques for coffee for years. Thus it is a small step for many to receive Bio Latina organic coffee certification. The highlands of Panama have several organic wholesale coffee suppliers. Check with us for details.
Coffee from Colombia
Colombian coffee is generally considered the best Arabica coffee in the world. Here are a few of the outstanding Colombian organic coffee brands and retail prices for individual bags of coffee purchased in Colombia. Working through organic wholesale coffee suppliers such as Buy Organic Coffee you can purchase large amounts at wholesale prices.
| Colombian Organic Coffee Brands and Retail Prices in Colombia | |||
| Brand | Retail/Pesos | Retail Quantity | Retail in Dollars |
| Volcan | 20000 | 500 grams | $11.11 |
| Linea Roja | 19000 | 500 grams | $10.56 |
| Sostenible | 24500 | 500 grams | $13.61 |
| Origen | 25000 | 500 grams | $13.89 |
| Frailes | 18600 | 500 grams | $10.33 |
This table lists Colombian organic coffee brands available in the Colombian Cafetero. Prices are retail in Colombian Pesos and the US dollar equivalents are based on the late 2012 exchange rate of around 1,800 Colombian Pesos to the US dollar. Purchasing Juan Valdez organic coffee, that is to say Colombian organic coffee brands, is easy in Colombia and is easy if it has been exported from Colombia. However, getting Colombian organic coffee brands sent from Colombia can be difficult. If you have questions in this regard please contact us at your convenience.
Colombia Recovers from Coffee Leaf Rust
The development of Colombian leaf rust resistant coffee varieties is a main reason for the increase in production of regular coffee and Colombian organic coffee brands. Exports are up by a forth this year and as Colombia recovers from coffee leaf rust it has equaled 2007 production levels. Colombia is not only one of the highest volume producers of coffee in the world but perhaps the producer of the best regular and healthy organic coffee. There numerous Colombian organic coffee brands, all of which benefit as Colombia recovers from coffee leaf rust.
Organic Coffee from Colombia
Colombian coffee is generally considered some of the best in the world. Any coffee grown in Colombia qualifies for Juan Valdez designation, meaning that the Colombian Coffee Growers Association certifies it as 100% Colombian. The Juan Valdez trade name came from the Colombian Coffee Growers Association nearly half a century ago. It is meant to give the buyer assurance that the coffee they purchase is 100% Colombian. Although there is a popular Juan Valdez coffee house chain in Colombia the name Juan Valdez is simply meant to guarantee 100% Colombian content. Here is a list of organic coffees from Colombia with prices adjusted for the peso to dollar exchange rate as of November, 2013.
Colombian Organic Coffee Brands and Retail Prices in Colombia |
|||
| Brand | Retail/Pesos | Retail Quantity | Retail in Dollars |
| Volcan | 20000 | 500 grams | $10 |
| Linea Roja | 19000 | 500 grams | $9.50 |
| Sostenible | 24500 | 500 grams | $12.25 |
| Origen | 25000 | 500 grams | $12.50 |
| Frailes | 18600 | 500 grams | $9.30 |
These are Colombian organic coffee brands available in the Colombian Cafetero. Prices are retail in Colombian Pesos and the US dollar equivalents are based on the late 2013 exchange rate of around 2,000 Colombian Pesos to the US dollar. It is easy to buy Juan Valdez organic coffee, Colombian organic coffee brands, in Colombia. It also is easy if the coffee was exported to your country. But, getting Colombian organic coffee brands sent from Colombia can be difficult. Even as Colombia recovers from coffee leaf rust the country still carries the stigma of being a place where cocaine is produced as well. As such any coffee leaving Colombia is carefully checked and that includes the bag of Juan Valdez organic coffee you purchased at the Bogota airport coffee shop. For advice on finding Colombian organic coffee brands contact us at Buy Organic Coffee.
The Future as Colombia Recovers from Coffee Leaf Rust
When coffee leaf rust swept into Latin America the Colombian coffee research organization, Cenicafé started work on producing a Colombian leaf rust resistant coffee. This was in the 1980s. Today Colombian leaf rust resistant coffee comes in two varieties, Colombian and Castillo. The first is a cross between an old Colombian variety, Caturra, and a rust-resistant strain from Southeast Asia, the Timor hybrid. Castillo is an offshoot of further cross breeding of the first Colombian leaf rust resistant coffee strain. Replanting with Colombian leaf rust resistant coffee in Colombia has reduced the incidence of leaf rust from 40% to 5% from 2011 to 2013.
Ground Coffee Beans
You need ground coffee beans to make coffee but as soon as you grind coffee it starts to lose its flavor. Regular and organic coffee antioxidants start to degrade on exposure to the air. To retain the value and flavor of the coffee that you drink how can you store ground coffee beans? To retain the health benefits of organic coffee do the right things and protect the antioxidants in your coffee.
Ways to Properly Store Coffee and Preserve Freshness
Heat makes coffee go stale faster so store your ground coffee beans away from the kitchen stove and other kitchen hot spots. Use a lower cupboard that does not get hit by the morning or afternoon sun. Ground coffee beans that are vacuum packed are OK until opened. Then you need to use what you need to and transfer the ground coffee beans to an airtight container. The best advice for buying ground coffee beans instead of organic whole bean coffee is to purchase in small quantities and buy again when you run out.
Roast and Grind Your Own Coffee
Because ground coffee beans do not last as long as whole roasted beans and whole roasted beans do not last as long as green coffee beans, consider roasting and grinding what you need day by day. Coffee from Panama, Colombian organic coffee brands, and others are typically shipped to the USA as green coffee beans. Coffee is roasted close to where it is sold and then consumed. You can improve on this practice by purchasing a coffee roaster and a coffee grinder and purchasing green coffee beans from your favorite healthy organic coffee supplier. With a home roasting unit you can roast enough coffee for the day or enough for the week. If you roast more coffee than what you will use in a day, store the roasted beans in an air tight jar. Make only enough ground coffee beans for brewing what you, family, and friends will drink on the spot. Green coffee beans last a couple of years and roasted whole coffee beans last up to six months. Ground coffee beans start losing potency the moment the air hits the coffee. So, buy green, roast as needed, grind only what you use, and brew right away.
The Health Aspects of Properly Storing and Preparing Coffee
It is the antioxidants that are the primary reason for the many beneficial health aspects of coffee. It is the antioxidants that are degraded by improper storage and by roasting and grinding to long before brewing coffee. If you want to preserve the ability of your coffee to reduce the incidence of Type II Diabetes, various forms of cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, depression, and suicide risk, buy green, roast as needed, and grind just before use. Coffee it turns out is good for you. Organic coffee is better because it is free of the many contaminates too often found in regular coffee. If you would like to learn more about organic coffee and how to get wholesale coffee visit www.BuyOrganicCoffee.org.
Coffee Borer Beetle
A major threat to coffee crops in various locations throughout the world is the coffee borer beetle. Hypothenemus hampei, its scientific name, is a small beetle native to Angola in Southern Africa. Over the 20th century it spread to the Americas and to Hawaii. The coffee borer beetle is a threat to coffee crops wherever it is found. In the Latin American regions where the pest if found it goes by the names barrenador del café, gorgojo del café and broca del café. Infestation is spread via the inadvertent transport of infected beans. The primary way to continue to produce healthy organic coffee when there is an infestation is to hand sort the bean and dry promptly after picking. Various organic approaches can be used to deter and destroy the pest while maintaining an organic crop and organic coffee certification.
Fighting the Coffee Borer Beetle without Pesticides
If you have an organic operation and want to maintain certification you need to use organic means to fight this pest. Here are a few:
Asking the Birds to Help
When young beetles come out of a coffee bean, various birds such as the Yellow and Rufous-capped Warbler feast on these insects. In Costa Rica the presence of these birds by itself reduces infestation by half.
Lethal Parasites
There are wasps native to Africa that are useful in controlling the coffee borer beetle. The wasp lays her eggs and the offspring eat the beetles. The downside is that the coffee plantation then has lots of stinging wasps flying around. Nevertheless this is a totally organic means of controlling a beetle than can destroy an entire crop. Another wasp found in Togo attacks adult beetles and tends to remain with the crop for a long time. It is widely used on the Arabica coffee plantations of Colombia. If you like Colombian organic coffee brands, be thankful for this approach.
Other Organic Approaches to Fighting the Coffee Borer Beetle
Ants, nematodes, and fungi can be used to help control the coffee borer beetle. All of these approaches allow the grower to control the pest without using chemicals. Besides, even in a non-organic crop, insecticides only work before the pest enters the coffee bean to lay its eggs.
Other Threats to the Coffee Crop
The other well-known threat to coffee crops is coffee leaf rust, la roya. This is a fungus that requires special attention or it will destroy an entire crop. Colombia has made substantial strides in developing strains resistant to roya. In the early 1970’s coffee leaf rust was found in the Americas. In the early 1980’s Cenicafé started work on producing a Colombian leaf rust resistant coffee. The Colombian leaf rust resistant coffee comes in two varieties, Colombian and Castillo. The first is a cross between an old Colombian variety, Caturra, and a rust-resistant strain from Southeast Asia, the Timor hybrid. Castillo is an offshoot of further cross breeding of the first Colombian leaf rust resistant coffee strain. Replanting with Colombian leaf rust resistant coffee in Colombia has reduced the incidence of leaf rust from 40% to 5% from 2011 to 2013. As with the coffee borer beetle the best treatment is prevention.
Organic Green Coffee Extract
A recently popular mean of benefiting from organic coffee antioxidants and caffeine is organic green coffee extract. In a fast paced world the argument is that you can get the stimulus of a cup of coffee as well as the benefits of the antioxidants with organic green coffee extract, typically in pill form. This is sort of the old idea that eventually all we would need was one big vitamin pill a day instead of all that food and beverage that we consume. Providing that you do not especially enjoy the aroma of a good cup of healthy organic coffee you can get some of the benefits of coffee from organic green coffee extract. But let us look at what happens when you roast coffee and then you can decide.
What Happens to Coffee when You Roast It?
The original quality of the organic coffee beans survives through most of the range of roasting but at the higher temperatures it the roasting process that dominates and produces the majority of flavor and aroma. Here is a list of the temperatures to which coffee is roasted and the associated description:
Cinnamon Roast 195 °C (383 °F)
New England Roast 205 °C (401 °F)
American Roast 210 °C (410 °F)
City Roast 220 °C (428 °F)
Full City Roast 225 °C (437 °F)
Vienna Roast 230 °C (446 °F)
French Roast 240 °C (464 °F)
Italian Roast 245 °C (473 °F)
Spanish Roast 250 °C (482 °F)
Roasting organic coffee produces the unique aroma and taste that coffee lovers long for. Green coffee beans expand and they change color. The heat creates chemical processes within the coffee bean. Although there are antioxidants in the green coffee bean and in organic green coffee extract, the roasting process creates other healthy antioxidants as well. If you limit yourself to organic green coffee extract you are getting the full amount of caffeine from the coffee bean but you are not getting the full range of antioxidants which are known to be responsible for the many health benefits such as a reduced incidence of diabetes or reduced incidence of various cancers.
What Joy Is There in Taking a Pill?
Health benefits aside most folks drink coffee because they like the aroma and taste as well the wake up effect. There is a degree of sadness to distilling the benefits of coffee into a pill to be taken once, twice, or three times a day. After all one can buy caffeine pills to stay awake. Truckers and college students have been doing this for years. Our vote is obviously for the hot cup of freshly roasted organic coffee or even the lukewarm coffee in a thermos over popping a pill. There are a lot of folks selling organic green coffee extract. If you do go this route, look to see if they are certified. It is easy to claim to be organic but they need to have the USDA seal to show that their product is organic from start to finish!