New Research Update: The Impact of Coffee Processing on River Water in Ethiopia
By Emma Bladyka, Coffee Science Manager, SCAA
A new study, published in theJournal ofEnvironmental Monitoring and Assessment, has investigated the specific environmental impact of coffee waste on river water in the Jimma Zone of Ethiopia. This research was undertaken by collaborators from Ethiopian, US and Belgium Universities, as well as the local Jimma Agricultural Research Center. The article was first published online on December 9, 2011, and can be found at the journal website.
Most of us are probably aware that coffee processing can use a lot of water and impact the chemistry of that water, but this has not been quantified extensively in many growing regions. It is especially important to understand this coffee-related pollution as we progress further down the rabbit hole of climate change and dwindling natural resources.
Interesting study! Considering that so many of us in the specialty coffee industry are also concerned about environmental responsibility, I assume this to be worth paying attention to for any buyers of Ethiopian coffee, especially from the Jimma zone. Solid wastes from processing (I assume this is primarily from the wet process mills) are seasonal (obviously), and scientists actually evaluated river water before, during, and after wastes were dumped to see how the normal river ecosystem is effected by coffee. The results are both better and worse that what one might expect.
In this study, the authors found significant reductions in water quality downstream from coffee processing plants during the wet season. During the wet season, they saw a large increase in organic loads, nutrients, and solids, which resulted in dissolved oxygen levels to as little as 0.1 mg/L water. They also found that during the processing peak that the average pH of river waters was lowered from 7 to 6.2. This combination of changes led to a decrease in diversity of macroinvertebrates.
During the dry season, the scientists found that the organic load, dissolved oxygen, solids, and pH had recovered to mostly normal levels. They found that the overall macroinvertebrate diversity was restored during this time period, but that the most sensitive taxa remained at low percentages, indicating a longer-term impact on the ecosystem. Interestingly, since the dissolved oxygen was reduced so drastically, scientists found that the water pollution by nitrogen was unable to recover during the dry season. This is because some oxygen is necessary during the nitrogen cycle in order to transform it to its volatile form and expel it from the river water. With this information, they determined that oxygen levels, organic load, and nitrate were all causal for the shift in invertebrate diversity. The authors considered this a very serious finding and worried that without fast action many of these rivers would pose a risk to not only ecosystem but human health.
I HIGHLY recommend reading the entire article, as it goes into more detail than I feel comfortable re-pasting here. It does take into consideration the idea of filtering the waste water before returning it to the river, as well as composting and fertilizing practices and possibilities with coffee waste. It also mentions that there are farms that do this, however, it does not mention any research into their overall effectiveness in preventing river water contamination. I suspect, however, that it is quite good, considering that the bulk of the problem appears to be solids. It appears that anything preventing solids from ending up in the river is a good thing.
Read the full article:
New Research Update: The Impact of Coffee Processing on River Water in Ethiopia – SCAA Chronicle
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Why do we like fatty foods so much? We can blame our taste buds.
Our tongues apparently recognize and have an affinity for fat, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. They have found that variations in a gene can make people more or less sensitive to the taste of fat.
The study is the first to identify a human receptor that can taste fat and suggests that some people may be more sensitive to the presence of fat in foods. The study is available online in the Journal of Lipid Research.
Investigators found that people with a particular variant of the CD36 gene are far more sensitive to the presence of fat than others. …more
Scientists have agreed that the tongue can sense five distinct tastes but differed over whether our taste buds can detect fact. New research now finds that the tongue can recognize and has an affinity for fat and that variations in a gene can make people more or less sensitive to the taste of fat in foods.
Oh boy, if adding “umami” not long ago wasn’t enough, now we have “fat” as a non-aromatic taste. Will this effect sensory tests like the Q Grader test? Will this spawn new research by the GCQRI, SCAA, SCAE, CQI, etc?
There has already been some discussion about lipids in coffee, and how they are not true lipids since they are water soluble, but will this new discovery and its influenced research affect “legit” roast levels?
On the other hand, it could just be a trivial “huh.. interesting” facet of taste with the result of nothing changing within our industry. Interesting, nevertheless. What say you?
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(via BostInnovation)
Today’s Random Picture Friday is all about a lidless takeaway cup from Compleat. Check out the image!
The concept is more eco-friendly and has the potential to save retailer’s money in one fell swoop by eliminating the lid as a factor. Thus, no lid is thrown away, and no lids need to be purchased. According to the Compleat website, they are suitable for use with both cold and hot beverages, which makes me wonder if this is really such a hot (no pun intended) idea for hot beverages.
The funnel-like shape of the sipper opening would lend pretty well to getting more than one bargained for perhaps a little too easily. Is it brilliant? Perhaps. Is it a lawsuit waiting to happen? Time will tell.
Either way, it’s a pretty innovative approach. Read about how the idea was formed at BostInnovation.
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In the December 2011 issue of Texas Monthly, Jason Cohen talksabout coffee quality in the consumer’s
kitchen in a feature linked to the cover article on Breakfast entitled,
“Not Your Average Joe”(link).
Dr. Timothy Schilling, Interim Executive Director of the GCQRI(Global Coffee Quality Research Initiative) makes an appearance to let average coffee consumers know of the importance of freshly roasted coffee. A few roasters are named as good sources for their respective local areas, including Oak Cliff Coffee, Katz Coffee, Cuvee Coffee, and
AJ Coffee Company.
Maybe next time they can take it a step further and talk about proper brewing. If nothing else, at least readers of Texas Monthly will now know to look for roast dates and freshness as an indicator of quality. Cheers!
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Today is National Coffee Day, and a few TX coffee businesses are helping you celebrate!
The Pearl Cup (Dallas, TX) is offering 50% off any pastry with the purchase of a large coffee drink.
Good Brews Coffee & Tea Lounge (Lubbock, TX) is giving away a FREE small coffee with ANY purchase.
AJ Coffee Company (Lubbock, TX) has a sale of 25% off of ANY coffee through their web shop. (coupon code NTLCOFFEEDAY )
The 806 (Amarillo, TX) is selling all coffee and espresso drinks at HALF OFF
Palace Coffee Company (Canyon, TX) 25% off all French Press’d coffees with guest David Ramirez playing tonight!
Healthy Essentials (Lubbock, TX) In celebration of National Coffee Day, you an get 1 FREE 80z cup of coffee
Are you or your favorite coffee company celebrating? Let us know!
Leave your own deals in the comments below!
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Have a great weekend!
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(via - Seattle Pi)
click to enlarge
Those cities are (in decending order):
- Dallas
- Austin
- El Paso
- Plano
Maybe Plano should be included in the Dallas number to bump a TX city up a few places from 12.
Keep on caffeinating, Texas.
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Urban Dog Coffee Becomes Oak Lawn Coffee, Makes Over Its Space and Its Mission
Urban Dog Coffee got a new name and a facelift over the labor day weekend. While they’re not quite finished with the work, the newly branded Oak Lawn Coffee has a new paint job and logo that give the space an entirely new feel.
Cool grays and blues have replaced a tired orange and brown color scheme, and towards the end of the month an art fixture will be installed over the bar. Local artist Phillip McVean is tasked with the permanent installation and plans to work in reclaimed lumber for the assignment.
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I am pleased to introduce Graham Sample, a new contributor to Texas Coffee People. Graham is a barista at Palace Coffee Company in Canyon, TX, and is working to bring quality coffee to northern West Texas in an approachable manner. In addition to coffee, he apparently loves to write.
Graham has submitted the following article :
by Brad Singley via Seattle Times
“Hi, my name is Graham and it has been 3 years since I started working in the coffee world.”
(Does that remind you of a certain meeting (hopefully not from personal experience)?)
What’s sad is that this analogy is not too far off of the mark at times. Working in the industry I have met some of the nicest, most humble, knowledgeable barista and roasters that you could imagine. You know what else? They are approachable and seem human. However, I have also met some of the most arrogant, unapproachable humans that the world has seen since the hipster movement. My question is this, why?
Why is it that when a person thinks that he, or she, knows how to pull the “perfect” shot that they suddenly become the god of the universe whose glory is too bright to be approached? Why have baristas become so addicted to the pursuit of all things sophisticated?
There are many philosophical reasons that could attempt to explain this, but I will leave that to those who are schooled in this train of thought. Where I wish to go with this is merely, we are killing the accessibility to our industry that we love.
image by 'jgrimm' via Flickr
When the mere peasant walks into a coffee shop and feels less than simply because they don’t know what the difference between a full city or an American roast is, we aren’t doing our jobs. We were all there once. That starry eyed teenager or twenty something, with a portafilter awkwardly held in one hand and a tamper in the other. There was a point in all of our lives when it didn’t matter whether or not you tapped and then tamped, or overdosed, or surfed then whirlpooled as opposed to whirlpooling then surfing the milk. There was a point when you just wanted to learn; and if you can remember back even farther than that, there was a pointed when all you wanted to do was drink. Try to think back to then.
The next time someone comes into your shop and orders a macchiato, don’t sneer because they meant a caramel macchiato. Explain with a smile. We are slowly (maybe even quickly) becoming an industry that is less and less approachable as time goes on. We don’t want that. We should always be trying to grow our experience, our knowledge and our culture. However, this shouldn’t be done at the expense of closing people out.
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Caffenol turns Folgers into DIY film developer — decaf won’t do (video)
We knew instant coffee was good for something. The folks atMake just demoed a rather novel method for developing negatives from a roll of black and white film — you remember film, don’t you? Known as Caffenol, the process involves a smattering of household substances, including Vitamin C powder, instant coffee (caffeinated only), good ole H2O, and Cascade. Of course, it’s not as simple as throwing this stuff in a slosh bucket with a roll of film and mixing it up, but it’s not that complicated, either. If you’re looking for something to do with those instant crystals, and still have a non-digital camera laying around, hop on past the break for a homebrew tutorial.
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