Seattle Coffee Gear: Blog

How Green is Your Coffee?

As the national obsession with greening our lives grows, examining how the things we love impact the environment has become a common topic of discussion. Up now: How green are different coffee beans?

The folks over at Greenopia devised a Leaf Awards rating system that is used to evaluate a coffee company's overall greenness by gauging its percentage of organic, ethically sourced, naturally decaffeinated, eco-friendly packaged and efficiently produced and transported  beans. They also looked for sustainability and environmental impact reporting. They then assessed 25 different brands from all over the US to determine how they measure up.

We can't help but feel the findings a bit disheartening: Of the brands they evaluated, nearly half of them didn't rank at all! Coffee that we love by the likes of Illy or Lavazza didn't get a single leaf, while large American brands like Starbucks or Stumptown got just a couple of leaves.

One ranking that shined was Bellevue-based Kalani Organica, coming in at 3 leaves! We have a personal connection to this truly lovely coffee: In the mid-to-late '90's, we cut our barista teeth slinging java at the Speakeasy Cafe in Seattle's Belltown district. The cafe was a devout supporter and server of Kalani Organica until the cafe was closed by a fire in 2002 -- despite the fact that we regularly had small competitive roasters try to convince us to switch. We stuck with Kalani because of the founder Karen's commitment to organic, ethically-sourced coffee -- something that is talked about a lot these days but wasn't seen as particularly important 15 years ago. We're thrilled that her work is getting recognized and hope that a rating like this will help expand Kalani's availability around the country.

Caffeination Time -- Come On! (It's Time for Caffeination)

OK, so it might not necessarily be as age-old as the chicken vs. the egg debate (wait, didn't they solve that?), but the argument over which has more caffeine -- drip coffee or a shot of espresso -- is often kicked around the ol' coffee shop. Obviously, like any good debate, the answer varies almost as widely as the number of preparations for caffeine-carrying plants around the world.

The first thing to keep in mind in this discussion is the plant: Are we talking Robusta or Arabica? Arabica has less caffeine than Robusta, so the bean blend is important to know before you guesstimate your caffeine intake. Secondly, what's the roast look like? A super dark roast eliminates a large portion of the caffeine content, sending those molecules up in smoke. Lastly, take a look at how much you're consuming, because quantity matters: If you're drinking 4 oz. of espresso vs. 7 oz. cup of drip, your intake will be a lot different  than these standards:

• Percolated (7 oz): 140mg
• Drip (7 oz): 115 - 175mg
• Espresso (1.5 - 2 oz): 100mg
• Brewed (7 oz): 80 - 135mg
• Instant (7 oz): 65 - 100mg
• Decaf, brewed (6 oz): 5mg
• Decaf, instant (6 oz): 3mg

In general, the longer the coffee grounds are in contact with water, the more caffeine will be extracted into your brew. Caffeine is largely responsible for coffee's bitter taste, which was one of the motivations behind the development of espresso: The relatively short brew time results in a significantly less concentration of caffeine, allowing you to taste other flavors in the coffee.

(Caffeine concentration amounts and molecular image courtesy of Erowid)

Rain in India Could Storm Your Wallet

"...all for the price of a cup of coffee." The Christian Children's Fund might have to change their pitch-line in the coming months, as India reports their Robusta coffee crops are down due to the excessive rain they've been experiencing -- a drop which may result in an increase in coffee prices around the world.

India's highest producing region, Karnataka, experienced intense rains during coffee's blossom season, which will likely impact the amount of beans they are able to harvest. While this news story focuses on the fact that Robusta is primarily used in instant coffees, it is also very often used in high-end gourmet brands (such as Lavazza or Illy) in their espresso blends to create a thicker crema and a bolder body. Robusta is bitter due to it's higher caffeine content, so it's not used in high quantities, but the increase in prices could have an impact on the cost of your favorite coffee beans -- whether or not you'll see this passed on to you remains to be seen.

However, coffee's global commodities pricing has dropped significantly over the past several months, due to the economic issues seen in Europe and the US, so perhaps these environmental and economic issues will balance each other out.