COFFEE

I always thought Coca-Cola was the most popular drink on the planet!

However, according to the most prevalent estimations, there are 2.25 BILLION cups of coffee consumed every day around the world.

To be fair, it is estimated that there are 1.7 billion drinks consumed daily that are Coca-Cola trademarked or licensed concoctions.

A quick calculation therefore, indicates that there is over 30% more coffee drunk than what is often assumed to be the most popular beverage on earth, and of course not all of the 1.7 billion drinks are actually Coke itself!

So, by my reckoning COFFEE IS KING!

So where did it all start?

How was this commodity, the second most traded in the world (after crude oil) actually discovered?

Although nobody can say with any certainty, there is an often-told story (with slight variations) that seems to be the most widely accepted version of the origin of this most venerable of beverages.

In the ancient coffee forests on the Ethiopian plateau, (circa 700AD) a goat herder named Kaldi was the person who stumbled across the magical powers of these cherished beans.

Kaldi, so the tale unfolds, began to notice that his goats became hyper-energetic (even dancing, it is claimed) and wouldn’t sleep at night after feasting on berries from a certain tree.

Intrigued, Kaldi shared his discovery with an abbot at the local monastery, who, legend has it, proceeded to experiment by making a drink with the berries that, on consumption, helped to keep him awake and alert through the long hours of his evening devotions.

Fascinated, the abbot disseminated this knowledge throughout the monastery, and from such humble beginnings, as the tidings of this new wonder berry spread, so the existence of a drink now consumed in such vast quantities worldwide came into being.

Word spread east, and as these marvel beans reached the Arabian Peninsula, it commenced on its journey that would eventually encircle the globe!

That in itself is a truly remarkable story, which is well worth the coffee aficionado researching, involving smuggling, stealing from royalty, even Papal blessing of the bean, but regrettably, we do not have the time to tell the fascinating tale in this blog.

For example, the tale of how the Brazilian billion-dollar industry was covertly commenced is down to a rather deviously designed plan to outwit the recalcitrant Governor of French Guyana. A shady saga involving a very charming gentleman (an emissary of the emperor of Brazil) and some coffee seedlings hidden in a large bunch of flowers!

Brazil is now by far the largest coffee grower in the world-from little (coffee) acorns indeed!

The history of coffee is sometimes indeed as dark as the liquid itself, with intrigue and trickery, mystique and machination, chicanery and skulduggery, and all threaded throughout an enthralling narrative that would become a comprehensive study if pursued diligently.

You might want to muse on that the next time you are settling down to sip on a Ristretto

COFFEE BEANS

Believe it or not, the beans that form the basis of this revered liquid refreshment really IS number two on the list of traded commodities throughout the world.

The TOP 10 Commodities

1: Crude Oil

2: Coffee

3: Natural Gas

4: Gold

5: Wheat

6: Cotton

7: Corn

8: Sugar

9: Silver

10: Copper

https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/glossary/most-traded-commodities/

So, whilst we relax, enjoying our Cappuccinos, or Frappuccinos or Americanos, fortunes are being made and lost by intrepid entrepreneurs buying and selling coffee beans by the billions.

However, that is not our primary concern.

What we are currently engaged with is the raising of the profile of our NoMorePly® promotional vehicle, a fully branded up automobile which you may have either come across already on social media or indeed have actually spotted in the raw metal!

And the thing about this brightly coloured limousine is that it could well be dropping by, in the near future, to the very site YOU are working at, and having been stationed in a conspicuous location, within full view of the industrious team energetically advancing the project on hand the guys from STS will open the boot and behold………………..

Steaming hot, delectable, supercharging Coffee is available for all!

So, just to “whet your whistle” (as it were) we’ve delved a little into the whimsical world of the Arabica and the Robusta to get a deeper understanding of all things relating to caffeine.

There are four main types of coffee varieties.

The above-mentioned Arabica is the most popular, most commonly produced variety, accounting for circa 75% of world production. Full of flavour and aroma, these beans are considered to be of a higher quality. Strength 1.5% Caffeine.

Image: Guide 2 Coffee

Robusta as the name suggests is a hardy bean that can grow in more diverse regions and are more immune to diseases than Arabica. The bean has twice the amount of caffeine compared to the Arabica and has a harsher flavour. This variety accounts for between 20 to 25% of the global market. Strength 2.7% Caffeine.

Image: black out coffee co.

Liberica a highly resilient and sturdy bean, is often described as tasting like jackfruit and has a consistently sweeter taste than Arabica. It is also said to have very sharp and sometimes smoky flavours. It accounts for less than 1% of global production. Strength 1.8% Caffeine.

Image: greatmountainfood.com

Excelsa was originally thought to be an entirely new variant of coffee bean when discovered in 1903, but subsequent expert analysis has since found that this is actually a variety of Liberica. It accounts for around 7% of the world’s production. When cultivated, processed, and roasted with care and precision this resilient if somewhat misunderstood bean can provide a unique and very desirably flavoured beverage with notes of chocolate and cream. Strength 1.1% Caffeine.

Image: https://perfectdailygrind.com/2021/05/what-is-excelsa-coffee/

And then, of course, having “brained the beans” the next subject, which again is a science in itself is the type of roast which very much affects the flavour and taste and ranges from light to dark, or more specifically from green to fire risk!!!

Not having the space here to go on to the details of this craft, the picture below (credit: HiLine Coffee) says it better than pages and pages of description could.

Next, there is the often bewildering (to the uninitiated) lexicon or jargon surrounding the types of actual coffee drinks.

Again, I’ve gone for the easy option of the “picture saying a thousand words”.

The image below makes it simple for those of us who are still learning!

Oh, and by the way, the name Mocha came to being because, after Kaldi made his miraculous discovery all those centuries ago, and the Beans embarked on their journey east from Ethiopia to Yemen, the port it first arrived at was called Mocha!* This port duly became a hub for this increasingly popular drink and thus the name became synonymous with coffee.

*Mocha, on the Red Sea Coast is also known as al-Mukha

Finally, for the purposes of this blog (although clearly, Coffee is a subject that could fill volumes with it’s enthralling history, fascinating flavours, piquant roasts, and the almost overwhelming number of different ways to enjoy it) there is the business end of the bean.

Leaving the commodity price out of the equation, recent figures from February 2021 (probably now skewed due to Covid 19) revealed there were 25,892 coffee shops in the UK.

By this, we mean establishments that sell coffee ready to drink (brands and independents) and includes non-specialist operators such as pubs and restaurants where coffee is sold.

Leading the pack (as far as branded chains are concerned) was Costa Coffee with 2,681 branches. Greggs came second with 2078. Next, it was Starbucks with 1025 shops. Caffe Nero came fourth with 648.

https://www.statista.com/

Pre covid there were 7,022 independent Coffee purveyors, accounting for £2.4 billion in sales.

https://www.aquacure.co.uk/

Image: Yorkshire Evening Post

STS and NoMorePly® are renowned and respected throughout the land for our market-leading and innovative building product range, but we are not yet jostling for position in the coffee providing market.

That might all be about to change!

Keep an eye out for the vehicle below, coming soon to a site you are working on, with a boot full of delicious coffee.

And the best part about it all is that it’s FREE!