When shopping for perfume, take some coffee with you in your bag and have a good sniff in between smelling each perfume to refresh your nose! Sprinkle spent coffee grounds around the base of your garden plants and it will stop snails and slugs from munching them! A mixture of coffee grounds and sugar, fed…
Monthly Archives: January 2008
The leaves of the coffee tree
The coffee tree is an evergreen with spear-shaped leaves, which are green and shiny on the upper side. As with all Rubiaceous plants, the leaves grow in pairs on either side of the stem and they are stipulated – that is to say, the two foliaceous organs are to be found at the base of…
The flowers of the coffee tree
The flowers are white with 5 or 6 petals. The pistil that emerges from the cupule is tipped with delicate stigmas. The shape and scent resemble those of jasmine, and it is for this reason that the coffee tree was called “Arabian Jasmine” in the 17th century. The flowers form glomerules, or little tufts made…
Cappuccino Coffee:
Cappuccino is a strong coffee with frothy cream, topped with a pinch of powdered chocolate. The pale brown color of the coffee is reminiscent of the robes worn by Capuchin monks. A traditional cappuccino is served in a special white cup, similar to a teacup. The correct proportions are: 1/3 of just made espresso coffee,…
Coffee Beans
A coffee bean is the seed of the coffee plant, known as the pit. The pit is inside the purple or red fruit, coffee berries or coffee cherries. The fruit most commonly contain two stones with there flat sides together. Endosperm is found inside the coffee bean ,the endosperm contains caffeine. Caffeine is the main…
Finding the Most Sustainably Grown Coffee
Remember that as a consumer, you have choices, and your choices really can make a difference-even on a global scale. Remember also that your consumer choices as a parent set an example for your children; the environmental and health-wise consumer choices of your generation will affect generations to come. So, when you next take a…
Certified Organic
Conventionally grown coffee beans that have been obtained from coffee plants sprayed with chemical pesticides and fertilizers may retain these chemicals. Additionally, the chemicals may find their way through the watershed to the communities surrounding the coffee plantations. Organic coffee beans are produced without the use of most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients…
Fair Trade certification
Fair Trade certification requires an importer of coffee beans to meet certain international criteria, including paying a minimum price per pound of $1.26; providing credit to farmers; and providing technical assistance such as help transitioning to organic farming. Simply put, Fair Trade certification ensures that the coffee was purchased under “fair conditions,” allowing small cooperatives…
Shade-grown coffee
This type of coffee growns in a forest-like setting with a canopy of trees. The benefits to shade-growing coffee, as opposed to growing coffee in full sun are many. Shade-grown coffee reduces the clear-cutting of forests to grow coffee, and thereby prevents soil erosion and protects migratory bird habitat. Growing coffee in the shade also…
About Coffee
When looking for coffee, consider purchasing one that is sustainably grown. Sustainably grown coffee takes into consideration both environmental and social issues. According to the First Sustainable Coffee Congress (the discussions of which were compiled by Russell Greenberg of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center), “sustainable coffee” is coffee that is produced on a farm with…