Is Coffee Good for You?
We drink a lot of coffee. It is the official wake up drink. The USA consumes 4.2 Kilograms of coffee per person per year. Eighty-three percent of adults in the USA drink coffee and sixty-three percent drink coffee every day. But, is coffee good for you? The health effects of drinking coffee are pretty good. Read on to find out more about how coffee is good for you. And read to learn especially how organic coffee is even better!
Coffee and Health
Scientific research tells us that drinking coffee reduces the risk of Type II diabetes, prostate cancer, endometrial cancer, colon cancer, glaucoma, depression, suicide, skin cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and gall stones. Is coffee good for you? Looks like it is. For one to experience the health benefits of drinking coffee one need to drink coffee every day and usually one needs to drink two, three, or more cups a day. The keys to the health benefits of coffee are the antioxidants.
Antioxidants are molecules that inhibit cell damage and cell death in human cells which normally come from oxidative breakdown of other molecules in the cell. Oxidation is a factor in sickness and aging. Antioxidants help prevent damage caused by excessive oxidation and to a degree inhibit the process of aging. When an oxidative reaction brought on by disease gets going it produces free radicals that start chain reactions which in turn cause cell and tissue damage. The human body has or uses antioxidants to control this situation. Coffee antioxidants fall into the class of molecules that help reduce oxidation. A specific antioxidant is methylpyridium. It is formed from the chemical trigonelline when coffee beans are roasted. Methylpyridium increases the activity of phase II enzymes with help protect against colon cancer.
Is coffee good for you? Yes, it is. And is organic coffee even better? Healthy organic coffee is free of the up to 133 impurities often found in regular coffee. Research by the Australian Food Standards Authority showed that as many as one hundred thirty-three contaminants can be in a cup of commercially available coffee. These include metals like aluminum and zinc, pesticide residues, ochratoxin A, acrylamide, furan, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are found to cause cancer. Furans have been associated with skin disorders, liver problems, certain kinds of cancers, impairment to the reproductive, endocrine, and immune system, as well as effects on embryonic development. Drink organic coffee grown by sustainable agricultural practices and avoid the intake of pesticide and herbicide residues with your morning brew.
Is Coffee Good for You?
Coffee wakes you up in the morning and peps you up during the day. Along the way the antioxidants in coffee do things to help prolong your life, avoid degenerative disease, alleviate depression, and generally make things better. Organic coffees do all of this and they do not include the impurities that can be found in regular commercially available coffee. If you want the best of all possible worlds, drink organic coffee.
Organic Coffee Cake Recipe
Sometimes you just need to have a tasty treat along with your healthy organic coffee on a weekend morning. With this fact of nature in mind we have researched an organic coffee cake recipe that you can make in your own kitchen. But, before you turn on the oven, grease the pan with organic shortening and start mixing, you will want to find healthy organic ingredients for your organic coffee cake recipe. Go to our where to find organic ingredients page for a set of quick references for what brands to pick and where to find them. Information about all of the ingredients we mention is available with a click of your mouse. The fact of the matter is that coffee cake is for eating with coffee and does not contain coffee!
Ingredients for Organic Coffee Cake Recipes
Organic coffee cake recipes include organic flour, organic sugar, organic baking powder, salt, organic shortening, organic milk and organic eggs. Please note that we did not include organic salt in our list. Organic salts are typically sea salts which may give a different and unwelcome taste to an organic coffee cake recipe. Salt extraction and processing does not include insecticides, herbicides, etc. like the other items on our list so organic processing by in large does not apply.
Tools and Preparation
You will need a 13 by 9 inch baking pan. You can use the non-stick variety or you can simply grease the inside of the pan with your organic shortening or butter. You can use your hands to mix in the butter or shortening but many folks use a pastry blender. (See photo). Use the pastry blender to cut the butter or shortening into the dry ingredients. Set your oven to 350 to 375 degrees and let it heat up that temperature range before putting the coffee cake on the middle rack. Use a separate bowl and mixing spoon to mix your ingredients and then add to the baking pan.
Organic Coffee Cake Recipe – Pastry Blender
Specific Ingredients
Here is an example of what and how much to use of each of the ingredients in an organic coffee cake recipe.
| All-Purpose Organic Flour | 3 cups |
| Organic Sugar | 1 1/2 cups |
| Organic Baking Powder | 5 tsp. |
| Salt | 1 1/2 tsp. |
| Organic shortening or butter | 1/2 cup |
| Organic Milk | 1 1/2 cups |
| Organic Eggs | 2 |
Sequence
Follow this sequence for all organic coffee cake recipes. Mix dry ingredients first. Then add organic shortening or butter cutting it into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or by breaking it up with your hands and mixing in. Then add milk and eggs and mix with a mixer or preferably a wooden spoon until just mixed. Add all ingredients to the greased baking pan and put on the center rack of your oven. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. The coffee cake will be ready when you can insert a toothpick or tines of fork into the coffee cake and is dry when removed.
Enjoying Your Coffee Cake
Coffee cake is best when eaten hot and moist just out of the oven. Enjoy your coffee cake with any of the brands of Colombian organic coffee.
Where to Find Organic Ingredients
We promote healthy organic coffee on our website. But what is the point of drinking organic coffee if you do not adopt an organic approach to the rest of what you eat and drink? Like organic coffee, other organic foods are certified by the United States Department of Agriculture, the USDA. If you are in doubt about where to find organic ingredients follow the links on this page. If you are in doubt about what constitutes an organic food or drink read the excerpt from the USDA web site.
Where to Find Organic Ingredients
Here are a few sources of organic ingredients to check out if you cannot find what you want at your local market. We will be adding to this list as we find out more about where to find organic ingredients for foods to go with the organic coffee antioxidants that make organic coffee so healthy.
Organic Flour
JoybyNature
KingArthurFlour
DaisyOrganicFlours
BobsRedMill
Organic Sugar
WholesomeSweeteners
DominoSugar
FloridaCrystals
Organic Baking Powder
DovesFarm
FrontierNaturalProducts
BobsRedMill
Organic Milk, Butter and Eggs
OrganicValley
OrganicPastures
For each of these sources of organic ingredients simply search on Google for their current page.
The USDA and Organic Food
The United States Department of Agriculture is the main certifier of organic foods and beverages. The USDA directly certifies producers within the United States. Outside of the USA the USDA delegates this job to organizations like Bio Latina in Lima, Peru. In either case, USDA certification allows the producer to put the USDA seal on its package. When you use the USDA seal you know that it is organic. Here is what the USDA says:
USDA is committed to helping organic agriculture grow and thrive. To help meet Secretary Vilsack’s goal of increasing the number of certified organic operations, USDA is delivering results through its many programs which serve the growing organic sector. October 2012 marked the 10th anniversary of the USDA Organic Seal, and we are proud that it has become a leading global standard.
What is Organic Agriculture?
Organic agriculture produces products using methods that preserve the environment and avoid most synthetic materials, such as pesticides and antibiotics. USDA organic standards describe how farmers grow crops and raise livestock and which materials they may use.
Organic farmers, ranchers, and food processors follow a defined set of standards to produce organic food and fiber. Congress described general organic principles in the Organic Foods Production Act, and the USDA defines specific organic standards. These standards cover the product from farm to table, including soil and water quality, pest control, livestock practices, and rules for food additives.
Organic farms and processors:
- Preserve natural resources and biodiversity
- Support animal health and welfare
- Provide access to the outdoors so that animals can exercise their natural behaviors
- Only use approved materials
- Do not use genetically modified ingredients
- Receive annual onsite inspections
- Separate organic food from non-organic food
If you have more questions about where to find organic coffee feel free to contact us at Buy Organic Coffee. We will be glad to help you find the right organic coffee from Colombia, Panama, or elsewhere in the coffee producing world.
Coffee-Shops
Coffee-shops are good places for first dates. Coffee-shops with Wi-Fi are great for staying in touch with friends or getting your work done while sipping a cappuccino. Coffee-shops are also good places to try out various brands of healthy organic coffee as well as the various types of coffee house coffee. First of all let us look at the types of coffee available in coffee-shops and then how to use their stock to try out new brands of coffee.
Coffee House Coffee
First of all, all coffee in a coffee house starts with espresso. Hopefully they use healthy organic coffee in making their espresso but you probably have to ask for it. Espresso is very concentrated coffee that retains a lot of dissolved as well as suspended solids from the roasted coffee bean. It is made by forcing steam (boiling water) through fine ground coffee. It has a thicker feel because of the suspended solids and foam because of the pressurized steam. Espresso concentrates the flavors of coffee and is served in a small cup, usually an ounce (30 cc). Espresso is about four times more concentrated than the cup of coffee that you probably had a home for breakfast.
Variations on a Theme
In coffee-shops espresso is the basis for the following:
- Americano
- Breve
- Cappucino
- Latte
- Mocha
Americano is easy. When GI’s visited coffee shops in Europe after World War II they wanted their espresso watered down so that it tasted like the coffee that mom made back home in Iowa, North Dakota or Washington state. Americano is half espresso and half water. Breve and latte are both made with espresso and foam. Latte is made with steamed milk and breve is made with half and half. Cappuccino is made with espresso plus hot milk plus lots of steamed foam. Mocha is made with espresso plus chocolate syrup plus milk.
Trying Out New Brands of Coffee
There are all sort of great coffees in the world. Our favorites are the Colombian organic coffee brands. Rather than going out and buying a pound of a coffee that you might not prefer, consider visiting various coffee-shops and sampling their coffees from around the world. There is Kona coffee from Hawaii, coffee from Ethiopia where coffee was first discovered by humans, Panama mountain grown organic coffee and, of course, coffee from Brazil where they grow more coffee by far than anywhere else. Besides trying different brands of coffee in coffee-shops you will want to try different roasts.
Coffee Roasting
The more recently you coffee was roasted and ground the fresher it will be. And the amount of roasting has a very definite effect on coffee flavor and aroma. The amount of roasting of green coffee beans produces various degrees of caramelization, color change, and aroma. Here are a few coffee types their roasting temperatures.
- 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)
In general the taste and aroma of the bean is more dominant at lower roasting temperatures and at higher temperatures the roasting process produces flavors and aroma that dominate. An advantage of taste testing in coffee-shops is to compare not only various brands of coffee but various roasts as well.
Organic Coffee from Latin America
If you are interested in great organic coffee you want organic coffee from Latin America. Latin America is far and away the largest producer of Arabica coffee in the world. According to the International Coffee Organization here are coffee production numbers for a few years ago for Latin America.
| Coffee Production in 1000 Pound Increments for Years Listed by Latin American Nation | ||||||
| Country | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
| Bolivia | 135 | 142 | 130 | 143 | 115 | 100 |
| Brazil | 45992 | 39470 | 48095 | 43484 | 50826 | 49152 |
| Colombia | 8664 | 8098 | 8523 | 7653 | 10371 | 10900 |
| Costa Rica | 1287 | 1304 | 1392 | 1462 | 1618 | 1396 |
| Ecuador | 771 | 813 | 854 | 825 | 828 | 676 |
| El Salvador | 1410 | 1065 | 1814 | 1152 | 1360 | 844 |
| Guatemala | 3785 | 3835 | 3950 | 3840 | 3703 | 3130 |
| Honduras | 3450 | 3603 | 4331 | 5903 | 4537 | 4200 |
| Mexico | 4651 | 4109 | 4001 | 4563 | 4327 | 3900 |
| Nicaragua | 1445 | 1871 | 1634 | 2210 | 1872 | 1500 |
| Panama | 149 | 138 | 114 | 106 | 112 | 100 |
| Paraguay | 21 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 30 |
| Philippines | 587 | 730 | 189 | 180 | 200 | 500 |
| Peru | 3872 | 3286 | 4069 | 5373 | 4450 | 4200 |
| Venezuela | 932 | 1214 | 1202 | 902 | 953 | 900 |
And not only are Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala, Peru and Honduras producers of large amounts of coffee they are also first line producers of organic coffee. The numbers have changed slightly over the years but the ranking has not. USDA organic coffee in Latin American is typically certified by agencies such as Bio Latina on contract for the USDA.
Organic certification verifies that your farm or handling facility located anywhere in the world complies with the USDA organic regulations and allows you to sell, label, and represent your products as organic. These regulations describe the specific standards required for you to use the word “organic” or the USDA organic seal on food, feed, or fiber products.
Organic Coffee from Latin America
Coffee grows best in the regions that Latin Americans refer to as the land of eternal spring. This term refers to the mountainous spine of the Americas that, within Latin America, extends from Northern Mexico down to Tierra del Fuego. In the tropical regions of Latin America between three and six thousand feet elevation coffee grows well on soil enriched over the eons by volcanic eruptions. Some of these eruptions were even very recent. For example, 17,000 foot high Nevada del Ruiz on the outskirts of Manizales in the Colombian cafetero erupted in 1985. It was the worst volcanic disaster in recorded Latin American history resulting in 25,000 deaths.
Volcanos and Organic Coffee from Latin America
Continuing eruption of ash from still-active Nevada del Ruiz and other active volcanoes serves to enrich the soil of the Colombian cafetero and provide nutrients for some of the best organic coffee from Latin America.
Not all production of organic coffee from Latin America comes from the big producers. Countries like Panama and Costa Rica provide their fair share and what they lack in quantity they make up for in quality. Coffee production in Costa Rica goes back to 1779!
Coffee production in the country began in 1779 in the Meseta Central which had ideal soil and climate conditions for coffee plantations. Coffea arabica first imported to Europe through Arabia, whence it takes its name, was introduced to the country directly from Ethiopia. In the nineteenth century, the Costa Rican government strongly encouraged coffee production, and the industry fundamentally transformed a colonial regime and village economy built on direct extraction by city-based elite towards organized production for export on a larger scale.
If you are looking for good organic coffee from Latin America contact us at Buy Organic Coffee today.
Ground Coffee
Many coffee drinkers purchase regular ground coffee because it is cheaper and quicker to prepare than organic whole bean coffee. Our belief is that buying ground coffee is a mistake! There are ways to store coffee and preserve freshness if you use ground coffee but you still lose flavor, health benefits and aroma compared to storing whole beans, especially if you roast your own.
Ground Coffee
Ways to Store Ground Coffee
- Keep stored ground coffee away from heat. This typically means not using the cupboards directly above your stove or refrigerator. Store ground coffee away from heat and sunlight.
- Ground coffee is typically packed without air in a sealed bag. After you open the bag store the ground coffee in an airtight container.
- Buy ground coffee in small quantities. Then prepare and drink ground coffee as soon as possible because exposure to air uses up the antioxidants that provide much of the aroma and flavor of coffee as well as the many good health effects of drinking coffee.
- The problem with ground coffee is that it starts to lose its freshness as soon as it is exposed to the air. Roasted beans typically hold one to freshness for six months if properly stored and green coffee beans are good for two years.
Roasted Coffee Beans
Whole Bean Instead of Ground Coffee
You can get the same amount of flavor and more health benefits from freshly ground coffee beans. It takes must a minute to grind your roasted coffee. And you can easily use less coffee and get the same or better flavor than you would if you use old stale ground coffee. The health benefits of coffee derive from the antioxidants and these antioxidants stay fresh and active longer when the coffee bean is intact.
Green Coffee Beans
Green Coffee Beans
The best way to ship and store coffee is as green coffee beans. When correctly dried, stored and shipped, green coffee beans remain fresh and retain their antioxidant levels for up to two years. This beats the heck out of watching your ground coffee lose its freshness as soon as you open the bag! Wholesale coffee is sold as green coffee beans. When coffee is picked, the fruit, or cherry, is red. The oldest means of processing coffee, called dry processing, involves cleaning the cherry and then sun drying. Sun drying reduces moisture content and increases the shelf life of green coffee beans. Uniform drying occurs as workers rake the drying cherries. During wet weather cherries are dried in large chambers with dry forced air. The air drying takes about four weeks. The bulk of the beneficial health aspects of coffee are from antioxidants in green coffee beans and created by the heat of roasting. Once coffee is roasted the shelf life for flavor, aroma, and antioxidants is reduced from two years to six months, if roasted coffee is properly stored. Once roasted coffee beans are ground, the flavor, aroma, and antioxidant shelf life is reduced to days and even hours. Our strong suggestion is to buy your healthy organic coffee in whole beans and grind your own. If you like to roast your own coffee, buy organic green coffee beans!
Healthiest Organic Coffees
A reader, Rachel, recently asked this question,
There are so many coffees – how do I know which is healthiest and who to buy from?
Rachel, thanks for your question. First of all the healthiest coffees are organically grown, processed, stored and transported. Let’s look at what constitutes organic coffee and why it is healthy for you.
Organic Coffee
Healthy organic coffee is free of the up to 133 impurities often found in regular coffee. A study by the Australian Food Standards Authority revealed that as many as 133 contaminants may be in a cup of commercially available coffee. These contaminants include metals such as aluminum and zinc, pesticide residues, ochratoxin A, acrylamide, furan, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are found to cause cancer. Furans have been associated with skin disorders, liver problems, certain kinds of cancers, impairment to the reproductive, endocrine, and immune system, as well as effects on embryonic development. Drink organic coffee grown by sustainable agricultural practices and avoid the intake of pesticide and herbicide residues with your morning brew.
And coffee itself is known to reduce the risk of Type II Diabetes as well as several types of cancer. Drink organic coffee for your health! But how do you find the healthiest organic coffees?
There are three sources of the healthiest organic coffees. Look for the seal of one of the following when you are looking for the healthiest organic coffees:
- USDA Certified Organic Coffee
- UTZ Certified Coffee
- Rainforest Alliance Certified Coffee
USDA Certified Organic Coffee
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the following applies to USDA organic coffee as well as to all organic food production.
“… Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations.”
“…Before a product can be labeled ‘organic,’ a Government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards. Companies that handle or process organic food before it gets to your local supermarket or restaurant must be certified, too.”
USDA Certified organic coffee has a USDA seal on the bag.
UTZ Certified Coffee
The long term goals of UTZ are good agricultural practices, safe and healthy working conditions, abolishment of child labor, and environmental protection. However, a grower does not need to accomplish all that is required in the first year. This allows a grower to sign up to get his coffee UTZ certified, learn what is necessary, and grow into the long term requirements of the program. Because of the close tracking feature of all UTZ Certified products, consumers of healthy organic coffee produced by these growers can be assured of product quality as well as the farming practices that brought it to market.
UTZ Certified organic coffee has the UTZ seal on the bag.
Rainforest Alliance Certified Coffee
Rainforest Alliance certified coffee is part of a broader sustainable agriculture program of tropical crops, including coffee, bananas, cocoa, oranges, cut flowers, ferns, and tea. Certified coffee farms meet a strict set of environmental standards that include preservation of the ecosystem and reduction in use of synthetic chemicals of all sorts. In addition, strict health and safety requirements are part of getting Rainforest Alliance certified. The Rainforest Alliance works with the Sustainable Agriculture Network which is a group that includes conservation organizations in nine countries in Latin America. These organizations work to increase and maintain sustainable agricultural practices. On the other end of the coffee spectrum Rainforest Alliance works to convince consumers and to buy Rainforest certified products and works to have businesses buy from certified farmers and sell to the public.
Rainforest Alliance organic coffee has the Rainforest Alliance seal on the bag.
We are partial to coffees that we can source directly from Colombia and Panama but many of the other healthiest organic coffees are available online and in various stores. If you are having problems locating a coffee that you would like to try, feel free to contact us by clicking the contact link at the top of the page.
Organic Shade Grown Coffee Brands
Shade-grown coffee comes from coffee plants grown under a tree canopy. Coffee growers plant both coffee and a variety of shade trees. This is a sustainable agricultural practice resulting in high quality organic coffee. Shade trees attract birds and are the cornerstone of a healthy habitat. Some coffee farmers plant plantain and other trees which produce fruits to harvest so they grow more than one crop on their land. There are numerous organic shade grown organic coffee brands. However, many of these types of healthy organic coffee may be hard to find. In general, when looking for organic coffee one looks for evidence of USDA certification. However, USDA certification does not guarantee that your coffee is one of the any organic shade grown coffee brands. Rather you may wish to look for UTZ certified coffee or coffee certified by the Rain Forest Alliance. Both of these organizations encourage a broader approach to growing organic coffee and commonly help promote organic shade grown coffee brands that their clients produce.
UTZ Certified Organic Coffee
The long term goals of UTZ are good agricultural practices, safe and healthy working conditions, abolishment of child labor, and environmental protection. A UTZ grower learns to do the following and then continues to do what is needed.
- Reduce and prevent soil erosion
- Keep records of fertilizer and chemical use and use these products responsibly
- Follow good farming practices including integrated pest management
- Avoid deforestation
- Protect water sources, native and endangered species
- Use native fauna for shade grown coffee
- Train workers properly in their own language
- Implement and follow through on health and safety requirements
- Teach and require good hygiene
UTZ follows coffee from planting to the roaster, carries out yearly inspections and promotes the organic shade grown coffee brands of its clients.
Rain Forest Alliance
An alternative to organic coffee certification is for a grower to be Rainforest Alliance certified. The Rainforest Alliance is a non-governmental organization that works to conserve biodiversity. It does so for agricultural products by influencing consumers to buy what is good for the environment and good for small farmers. Rainforest Alliance certified means that the coffee that you buy was produced using good land use practices. Rainforest Alliance certified coffee is part of a broader sustainable agriculture program of tropical crops, including coffee, bananas, cocoa, oranges, cut flowers, ferns, and tea. Certified coffee farms meet a strict set of environmental standards that include preservation of the ecosystem and reduction in use of synthetic chemicals of all sorts. Like UTZ, Rain Forest Alliance helps its clients promote their organic shade grown coffee brands.
Finding Organic Shade Grown Coffee Brands
Two good places to start when searching for organic shade grown coffee brands are the web sites of UTZ and the Rain Forest Alliance.
Rain Forest Alliance: http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/
UTZ: https://www.utzcertified.org/
Specific sellers of organic shade grown coffee brands include the following:
Coffee Tree: http://www.coffeetree.ca/buybeans/
Tree Frog Coffees: http://www.treefrogcoffees.com/brazil.htm
Rain Forest Certified Coffees: available on Amazon.com
Audubon Coffee Club: various coffees
And, if you are looking for small growers, out of the way organic shade grown coffee brands from Panama or Colombia feel free to contact us at Buy Organic Coffee for help with a couple more organic shade grown coffee brands.
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.