February 16, 2010

Kopi Lampung Sinar Dunia - Konsisten Menjaga Cita Rasa Selama Empat Generasi

Konsisten Menjaga Cita Rasa Selama Empat Generasi


Oleh
Syafnijal Datuk Sinaro

BANDAR LAMPUNG-Kopi Bubuk Sinar Baru, Cap “Bola Dunia” menjadi salah satu usaha kopi bubuk tertua di Lampung yang masih bertahan. Awalnya usaha kopi bubuk ini dirintis tahun 1917 dengan merek Njit Sin Hoo (Rajawali). Usaha ini sudah berkembang hingga generasi ketiga.
Usaha yang didirikan orang tua dari Lie Yung Hin ini dikelola oleh cucunya Willy Sukianto dan Lucas Sukianto. Dalam menjalankan usaha kopi bubuk ini mereka dibantu saudara dekatnya Vimala Dharma.
Menurut Vimala Dharma, pada awalnya kopi bubuk ini dibuat secara tradisional dengan digongseng di atas kuali yang ditaruh di atas tungku batu menggunakan kayu bakar. Lalu biji kopi yang sudah matang dan menghitam ini ditumbuk hingga halus. Selanjutnya Lie Yung Hin menjajakannya ke rumah-rumah warga di sekitar Teluk Betung dengan naik sepeda.
Saat itu, kopi dibonceng Lie menggunakan kaleng besar dan warga membeli dengan ukuran seperempat liter dan setengah liter. “Jadi belum ditimbang seperti sekarang ini,” kata Wiwik, panggilan Vimala Dharma dalam percakapan dengan SH, baru-baru ini.
Baru di era cucu Sukianto–generasi kedua--mulai dibangun kios di Jl Ikan Kakap No 57, Teluk Betung, Bandar Lampung.
Semula, penggongsengan dan penggilingan dilakukan di tempat ini, sedangkan proses pengolahan dipindahkan agak ke luar kota, yakni di Jl Yos Sudarso arah ke Panjang. Sementara untuk pembungkusan dan penjualan masih tetap di Jl Ikan Kakap. Saat ini PD Sinar Baru mempekerjakan 12 karyawan untuk mengolah kopi hingga menjualnya.
Kini penggorengan kopi sudah dilakukan di wadah berbentuk drum berkapasitas 5 kg yang diputar dengan dinamo dan bahan bakarnya diganti dari kayu ke solar. Tapi untuk menjaga cita rasa agar tidak berubah maka alat penggorengan kopi ini mereka buat sendiri. Penggilingan juga sudah lebih maju dengan menggunakan mesin penggilingan yang digerakkan mesin genset.
“Sebetulnya kami bisa saja membeli alat penggongseng modern yang sudah digital, tapi kami khawatir cita rasa kopi bubuk yang dihasilkan berbeda sehingga bisa merusak pasar yang telah dibangun selama ini,” jelasnya.

Robusta Talang Padang
Masih dalam upaya mempertahankan cita rasa, mereka memasok bahan baku dari daerah yang sama sejak berdirinya usaha kopi bubuk Cap Bola Dunia, yakni di Kecamatan Talang Padang, Kabupaten Tanggamus, Lampung. “Kami sudah memiliki pemasok yang tetap, di mana yang ditampung hanya biji kopi jenis robusta yang ditanam di Kecamatan Talang Padang,” urai Wiwik.
Kopi yang ditampung oleh pedagang pengumpul dari petani harus sudah kering betul dan bersih. Jika kadar airnya masih tinggi, kopi tersebut ditolak karena akan merusak citarasa jika diolah menjadi kopi bubuk. Selama musim panen kopi yang berlangsung dari Bulan Mei hingga September lalu, rata-rata dipasok 12 hingga 16 ton kopi per bulan ke gudang mereka di Jl Yos Sudarso, Panjang.
Dengan omzet rata-rata 300 kg per hari maka untuk menjaga kesinambungan produksi mereka harus menyetok bahan baku untuk empat hingga enam bulan ke depan. Kopi yang dipasok pedagang pengumpul ini disimpan dulu minimal dua hingga tiga bulan sebelum digongseng agar citarasanya tetap sama dengan produk sebelumnya.
Kalau sebelumnya dijual dalam bentuk kalengan seberat 1 kg, seiring dengan permintaan konsumen kini dibuat lebih beragam. Untuk kantongnya ada tiga macam yakni kaleng, aluminium foil, dan kertas kopi. Ukuran beratnya pun lebih bervariasi, mulai dari 50 gram, 100 gram, 250 gram, 500 gram, 1 kg, dan 2 kg.

Sebagai kopi bubuk yang sudah terkenal, belakangan banyak pengusaha lainnya yang membuat merek hampir mirip Kopi Sinar Baru, seperti Kopi Bola Dunia, Kopi Dunia Baru, Kopi Cap Sinar Dunia, dan lain-lain. “Ini memang risiko dagang. Tapi kita sulit menuntut karena tulisan dan logo tidak sama persis, meskipun Kopi Cap Bola Dunia sudah kami patenkan,” ungkap Willy menimpali.
Hanya biasanya jika konsumen sudah pernah mencicipi kopi Sinar Baru yang asli maka mereka tetap akan mencari yang asli karena cita rasanya berbeda. “Mungkin bungkus, logo, dan kemasan bisa ditiru, tapi cita rasa tetap beda,” jelasnya.
Atas konsistensinya menjaga cita rasa kopi bubuknya, tahun lalu Pemprov Lampung memberi penghargaan “Sidha Karya” kepada PD Sinar Dunia yang dinilai berhasil meningkatkan mutu produk usaha kecil dan menengah dan meningkatkan produksi. Oleh karena cita rasa yang khas itu pula, banyak pengusaha yang berminat menjadi distributor di Jakarta dan kota-kota lainnya, tapi Willy belum bisa melayani mereka karena kapasitas mesin pengolahan yang terbatas. n








Copyright © Sinar Harapan 2003






January 29, 2010

What Effect does Coffee have on Alcohol Consumption?

If you listen to police department representatives and other people who think they know everything there is to know about drinking and being drunk, the only cure for over-indulgence in alcoholic beverages is time. This is something that is preached over and over again and it's usually a measure to prevent drinking and driving.

Is time the only factor?

The theory (not a fact) is that it takes far longer for alcohol to leave the human body than it takes to consume it, if a person drinks more than one ounce per hour. I don't know who came up with that theory, but there's no real scientific evidence backing it up.

In the past, you've probably seen or heard of people drinking cups and cups of coffee in attempts to "sober up". The belief was that the caffeine in the coffee would reverse the effects of the alcohol; caffeine is a stimulant while alcohol is a depressant. It doesn't quite work that way.

The simplest way to reverse the effects of alcohol is to get the alcohol out of your system as quickly as possible. Drinking a lot of non-alcoholic beverages while inebriated (without drinking any more alcoholic beverages) as quickly as possible will flush the alcohol from the system. The "coffee trick" is nothing more than a misguided attempt at this procedure. Of course coffee will work – and so will plain water.

The hangover the next day is usually caused by being in a dehydrated condition, as a result of alcohol consumption, and going to sleep in that condition. Flooding the body with non-alcoholic beverages will remove the condition, if practiced before sleeping, and will do more to get rid of the hangover (if you have one) the next day if you didn't do it before sleeping.

If you think I'm just making this up, think again. I spent 20 years on active duty in the military and drank more than my fair share of alcoholic beverages in the first five of them. It was during this period that I learned what worked and what didn't. During the remaining years of active service, I taught quite a few others how to do what I learned and I have no doubt it prevented some health problems as well as some DUI tickets.

Coffee, Alcohol and Cirrhosis of the Liver

There were some studies conducted during the last decade that you should find interesting if you're both a coffee drinker and a consumer of alcoholic beverages.

Cirrhosis is the irreversible scarring of the liver that hurts the organ's ability to filter toxins from the blood. Cirrhosis is caused by more than just alcohol abuse, but alcohol abuse gets the most attention. Other causes include Hepatitis C and inherited diseases.

What the studies found is that the likelihood of cirrhosis was reduced by 22 percent for each cup of coffee consumed per day, capped at about 88 percent for four cups of coffee per day. These statistics were measured for the heaviest alcohol drinkers as well as the lightest.

If this isn't enough to convince you to get your daily dose of coffee, if you're an alcoholic beverage consumer, then I suppose nothing will.

January 25, 2010

Whch single coffee brew is the best


We’re here to help you decide which one-cup coffee maker you might like best. Then, once you make your decision, we’ll try to provide more information if you have questions about your one cup brewing choice.

We do know of a few different sources that have compared different one-cup coffee makers. A couple of years ago, CoffeeReview.com (“the world’s leading coffee buying guide”) tested a number of one cup coffee brewers. Their preferences seemed to be for the Keurig system and the Senseo pod brewer. Here’s a link to their article.

You may also like the “Keurig-vs-Senseo-vs-Tassimo” entry posted by Tony Martinez at his blog: “Attention Deficit”. He tried the three different systems and decided that Keurig was the one he liked best. Tony’s post has received over twenty comments, so other opinions are represented there as well. Click here to read it.

Finally, from time to time, we look at how often Internet users search for the different brewing systems on Google. If you use this as a measure of the popularity of each of the systems, then Keurig seems to be winner, followed by Tassimo. Coffee pods were a common search term a few years ago, but since then, pods seem to have lost much of their popularity. Here’s the trend lines we look at.

November 26, 2009

Something for Everyone: India Coffees 2009

by Kenneth Davids; reviews by Kenneth Davids and Ted Stachura

India is a considerably better-known coffee origin in Europe than in the United States. And even in Europe it tends to be a source whose profound coffee originality is hidden inside blends rather than foregrounded in single-origin or trophy coffees. For example, India provides some of the world's most valuable coffee types for espresso blends, yet these same exotic coffee types are seldom offered as single origins. They are simply too intensely odd for American palates accustomed to the high-grown, cleanly bright profiles of classic Latin America. On the other hand, the majestic, deeply forested old India coffee estates do produce quietly distinctive Arabicas capable of pleasing even the most purist of coffee drinkers. And the quest for small lots of coffee that play distinctive variations on the more familiar Arabica profile is beginning to turn up some pleasant surprises in India, as it has elsewhere in the world.

All of these types and trends are represented in this month's reviews, representing a set of ten often wildly different coffees, the best and most interesting from the thirty or so we cupped. Here they are in summary:

1) For coffee adventurers with a taste for low-acid, heavy-bodied, sweetly nutty profiles: The Paradise Roasters Indian CxR Mandarin (89), a coffee from trees of an interspecies cross between an heirloom Indian variety of Robusta and the coffee species Congensis.

2) For coffee adventurers with a taste for low-acid, richly malty profiles with a little twist of fermented fruit: Three different Monsooned Malabars, the unique Indian coffee type created by allowing dry-processed coffees to absorb the salt- and moisture-laden air of monsoon winds in an effort to mimic the flavor of coffees once carried in the holds of wooden ships from India to Europe. The Julian Coffee Roasters Monsooned Malabar (89), the Josuma Coffee Monsoon Medley (88) and the Storehouse India Malabar (87) all represent variations on the musty/malty, sweetly pungent monsooned theme.

3) For I'll-try-anything coffee adventurers, a coffee from trees of the Liberica species. Liberica was first experimented with as a disease-resistant alternative to Arabica, but was pretty much abandoned after the development of Robusta. It is still grown on some farms in India, however, as well as in Malaysia, where it is often a valued component in the pungent, heavily intense blends that Malaysians enjoy buffered by quantities of milk. The Badbeard's India Anokhi Liberica is reviewed here at 87, a basically arbitrary score. There are no criteria I know of by which this coffee could be rated 90, for example, or even 88. On the other hand, we have no business completely trashing a unique coffee type on the basis of standards of judgment developed mainly for fine Arabicas. As Libericas go, this seems like a rather attractive one. Therefore, well, with a mix of confusion and generosity, plus respect for originality, we settled on 87. But pick your own number: 0, 50, 80, 90? If you try it, do it the Malaysian way, brewed strong and taken with a lot of hot milk or warm half-and-half.

4) For the purist, three estate-grown, traditionally wet-processed Arabicas, the top-rated Tony's Coffee & Tea Balmaadi Estate (91), the Zingerman's Elk Hill estate (88) and the rather unusual salty-sweet, floral-toned Badbeard's Kattehollay Estate Peaberry (88).

5) Finally, for those interested in small-lot trophy coffees that reflect experiments with botanical variety and processing method, we have the Kaapi Royale Selection 9 Pulped Natural (91), a coffee from trees of a variety (Selection 9) with Ethiopian heritage, processed by the unorthodox pulped natural method, in which the skins are removed but the sweet fruit pulp is allowed to remain on the beans as they dry. The result here is a subtle, delicate balance of aromatic wood, flowers and dark chocolate notes. The "natural" or dried-in-the-fruit Arabica from Sethuraman Estate (90) is a restrained and elegant version of the fruity style of natural dry-processed coffee.

Nothing this month soared in the ratings, yet the range of coffee expression in the cupping was impressive, even startling in its variety. As relationships between American roasters and Indian producers mature, I expect we will not only continue to experience a continued variety of coffee expression from India, but more refined and precise versions of that expression as well.





November 22, 2009

Coffee May reduce cancer risk

A recent study conducted by the researchers of Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri (IRFMN) in Milan, Italy showed that drinking coffee may help reduce the risk of liver cancer. Led by Francesca Bravi, the team combined all published data to find the link between coffee drinking and hepatocellar carcinoma (HCC). HCC is a primary cancer of the liver. Liver cancer is the third largest cause of cancer deaths around the world, just behind lung and stomach cancer. At least 11 studies that were conducted in southern Europe and Japan were the foundation of the IRFMN study.
The IRFMN study was a meta-analysis of published studies on HCC that included how much coffee patients had consumed. Researchers combined all published data to obtain an overall quantitative estimate of the association between coffee consumption and HCC development.
The figures showed that coffee drinkers have at least 41 percent reduction of HCC risk compared to those who never consumed coffee. The beneficial effects of coffee consumption were highly progressive in studies that were done in southern Europe, widely drank, and from Japan, where coffee drinking is less frequent, and in subjects with chronic liver diseases
Animal and laboratory studies have shown that some compounds in coffee may act as blocking agents that work by reacting with enzymes involved in carcinogenic detoxification. Caffeine is a component of coffee that has been shown to give beneficial effects on the liver enzymes and other enzymes of the body. Coffee consumption has also been linked to reduced risks of liver diseases and cirrhosis, both of which can lead to liver cancer.
Separate studies also show that caffeine may aggravate the symptoms of menopause or intensify the effects of certain antibiotics. On the other hand, heavy caffeine consumption may cause miscarriage. Other animal studies show that skin cream added with caffeine may lower the risk of skin cancer in mice.
While the study found a statistically significant relationship between drinking coffee and having less liver cancer, the authors note that it needs to be repeated in other groups. The authors note that despite the consistency of the results of the study, it is difficult to derive causal collaboration based on the observational studies alone. It may be that patients with digestive tract diseases, including liver disorders, naturally reduce their coffee consumption, even though avoidance of coffee is not routinely recommended.
While the study found a statistically significant relationship between drinking coffee and having less liver cancer, the authors note that it needs to be repeated in other groups to be more concrete.
The IRFMN researchers note that the perception of coffee consumption was solely based on patients’ reporting, although the recollection of coffee drinking has been shown to be accurate. Factors like hepatitis B and C, cirrhosis, social class indictors, alcohol use, and smoking suggests that these factors did not influence the results of the studies.
The results from this research may provide some evidence of a link between coffee consumption and liver cancer. However, the interpretation of this research remains unclear because of lack of long-term evaluation of the results of the said study.

Reference : http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070801112146.htm




February 16, 2010

Kopi Lampung Sinar Dunia - Konsisten Menjaga Cita Rasa Selama Empat Generasi

Konsisten Menjaga Cita Rasa Selama Empat Generasi


Oleh
Syafnijal Datuk Sinaro

BANDAR LAMPUNG-Kopi Bubuk Sinar Baru, Cap “Bola Dunia” menjadi salah satu usaha kopi bubuk tertua di Lampung yang masih bertahan. Awalnya usaha kopi bubuk ini dirintis tahun 1917 dengan merek Njit Sin Hoo (Rajawali). Usaha ini sudah berkembang hingga generasi ketiga.
Usaha yang didirikan orang tua dari Lie Yung Hin ini dikelola oleh cucunya Willy Sukianto dan Lucas Sukianto. Dalam menjalankan usaha kopi bubuk ini mereka dibantu saudara dekatnya Vimala Dharma.
Menurut Vimala Dharma, pada awalnya kopi bubuk ini dibuat secara tradisional dengan digongseng di atas kuali yang ditaruh di atas tungku batu menggunakan kayu bakar. Lalu biji kopi yang sudah matang dan menghitam ini ditumbuk hingga halus. Selanjutnya Lie Yung Hin menjajakannya ke rumah-rumah warga di sekitar Teluk Betung dengan naik sepeda.
Saat itu, kopi dibonceng Lie menggunakan kaleng besar dan warga membeli dengan ukuran seperempat liter dan setengah liter. “Jadi belum ditimbang seperti sekarang ini,” kata Wiwik, panggilan Vimala Dharma dalam percakapan dengan SH, baru-baru ini.
Baru di era cucu Sukianto–generasi kedua--mulai dibangun kios di Jl Ikan Kakap No 57, Teluk Betung, Bandar Lampung.
Semula, penggongsengan dan penggilingan dilakukan di tempat ini, sedangkan proses pengolahan dipindahkan agak ke luar kota, yakni di Jl Yos Sudarso arah ke Panjang. Sementara untuk pembungkusan dan penjualan masih tetap di Jl Ikan Kakap. Saat ini PD Sinar Baru mempekerjakan 12 karyawan untuk mengolah kopi hingga menjualnya.
Kini penggorengan kopi sudah dilakukan di wadah berbentuk drum berkapasitas 5 kg yang diputar dengan dinamo dan bahan bakarnya diganti dari kayu ke solar. Tapi untuk menjaga cita rasa agar tidak berubah maka alat penggorengan kopi ini mereka buat sendiri. Penggilingan juga sudah lebih maju dengan menggunakan mesin penggilingan yang digerakkan mesin genset.
“Sebetulnya kami bisa saja membeli alat penggongseng modern yang sudah digital, tapi kami khawatir cita rasa kopi bubuk yang dihasilkan berbeda sehingga bisa merusak pasar yang telah dibangun selama ini,” jelasnya.

Robusta Talang Padang
Masih dalam upaya mempertahankan cita rasa, mereka memasok bahan baku dari daerah yang sama sejak berdirinya usaha kopi bubuk Cap Bola Dunia, yakni di Kecamatan Talang Padang, Kabupaten Tanggamus, Lampung. “Kami sudah memiliki pemasok yang tetap, di mana yang ditampung hanya biji kopi jenis robusta yang ditanam di Kecamatan Talang Padang,” urai Wiwik.
Kopi yang ditampung oleh pedagang pengumpul dari petani harus sudah kering betul dan bersih. Jika kadar airnya masih tinggi, kopi tersebut ditolak karena akan merusak citarasa jika diolah menjadi kopi bubuk. Selama musim panen kopi yang berlangsung dari Bulan Mei hingga September lalu, rata-rata dipasok 12 hingga 16 ton kopi per bulan ke gudang mereka di Jl Yos Sudarso, Panjang.
Dengan omzet rata-rata 300 kg per hari maka untuk menjaga kesinambungan produksi mereka harus menyetok bahan baku untuk empat hingga enam bulan ke depan. Kopi yang dipasok pedagang pengumpul ini disimpan dulu minimal dua hingga tiga bulan sebelum digongseng agar citarasanya tetap sama dengan produk sebelumnya.
Kalau sebelumnya dijual dalam bentuk kalengan seberat 1 kg, seiring dengan permintaan konsumen kini dibuat lebih beragam. Untuk kantongnya ada tiga macam yakni kaleng, aluminium foil, dan kertas kopi. Ukuran beratnya pun lebih bervariasi, mulai dari 50 gram, 100 gram, 250 gram, 500 gram, 1 kg, dan 2 kg.

Sebagai kopi bubuk yang sudah terkenal, belakangan banyak pengusaha lainnya yang membuat merek hampir mirip Kopi Sinar Baru, seperti Kopi Bola Dunia, Kopi Dunia Baru, Kopi Cap Sinar Dunia, dan lain-lain. “Ini memang risiko dagang. Tapi kita sulit menuntut karena tulisan dan logo tidak sama persis, meskipun Kopi Cap Bola Dunia sudah kami patenkan,” ungkap Willy menimpali.
Hanya biasanya jika konsumen sudah pernah mencicipi kopi Sinar Baru yang asli maka mereka tetap akan mencari yang asli karena cita rasanya berbeda. “Mungkin bungkus, logo, dan kemasan bisa ditiru, tapi cita rasa tetap beda,” jelasnya.
Atas konsistensinya menjaga cita rasa kopi bubuknya, tahun lalu Pemprov Lampung memberi penghargaan “Sidha Karya” kepada PD Sinar Dunia yang dinilai berhasil meningkatkan mutu produk usaha kecil dan menengah dan meningkatkan produksi. Oleh karena cita rasa yang khas itu pula, banyak pengusaha yang berminat menjadi distributor di Jakarta dan kota-kota lainnya, tapi Willy belum bisa melayani mereka karena kapasitas mesin pengolahan yang terbatas. n








Copyright © Sinar Harapan 2003






January 29, 2010

What Effect does Coffee have on Alcohol Consumption?

If you listen to police department representatives and other people who think they know everything there is to know about drinking and being drunk, the only cure for over-indulgence in alcoholic beverages is time. This is something that is preached over and over again and it's usually a measure to prevent drinking and driving.

Is time the only factor?

The theory (not a fact) is that it takes far longer for alcohol to leave the human body than it takes to consume it, if a person drinks more than one ounce per hour. I don't know who came up with that theory, but there's no real scientific evidence backing it up.

In the past, you've probably seen or heard of people drinking cups and cups of coffee in attempts to "sober up". The belief was that the caffeine in the coffee would reverse the effects of the alcohol; caffeine is a stimulant while alcohol is a depressant. It doesn't quite work that way.

The simplest way to reverse the effects of alcohol is to get the alcohol out of your system as quickly as possible. Drinking a lot of non-alcoholic beverages while inebriated (without drinking any more alcoholic beverages) as quickly as possible will flush the alcohol from the system. The "coffee trick" is nothing more than a misguided attempt at this procedure. Of course coffee will work – and so will plain water.

The hangover the next day is usually caused by being in a dehydrated condition, as a result of alcohol consumption, and going to sleep in that condition. Flooding the body with non-alcoholic beverages will remove the condition, if practiced before sleeping, and will do more to get rid of the hangover (if you have one) the next day if you didn't do it before sleeping.

If you think I'm just making this up, think again. I spent 20 years on active duty in the military and drank more than my fair share of alcoholic beverages in the first five of them. It was during this period that I learned what worked and what didn't. During the remaining years of active service, I taught quite a few others how to do what I learned and I have no doubt it prevented some health problems as well as some DUI tickets.

Coffee, Alcohol and Cirrhosis of the Liver

There were some studies conducted during the last decade that you should find interesting if you're both a coffee drinker and a consumer of alcoholic beverages.

Cirrhosis is the irreversible scarring of the liver that hurts the organ's ability to filter toxins from the blood. Cirrhosis is caused by more than just alcohol abuse, but alcohol abuse gets the most attention. Other causes include Hepatitis C and inherited diseases.

What the studies found is that the likelihood of cirrhosis was reduced by 22 percent for each cup of coffee consumed per day, capped at about 88 percent for four cups of coffee per day. These statistics were measured for the heaviest alcohol drinkers as well as the lightest.

If this isn't enough to convince you to get your daily dose of coffee, if you're an alcoholic beverage consumer, then I suppose nothing will.

January 25, 2010

Whch single coffee brew is the best


We’re here to help you decide which one-cup coffee maker you might like best. Then, once you make your decision, we’ll try to provide more information if you have questions about your one cup brewing choice.

We do know of a few different sources that have compared different one-cup coffee makers. A couple of years ago, CoffeeReview.com (“the world’s leading coffee buying guide”) tested a number of one cup coffee brewers. Their preferences seemed to be for the Keurig system and the Senseo pod brewer. Here’s a link to their article.

You may also like the “Keurig-vs-Senseo-vs-Tassimo” entry posted by Tony Martinez at his blog: “Attention Deficit”. He tried the three different systems and decided that Keurig was the one he liked best. Tony’s post has received over twenty comments, so other opinions are represented there as well. Click here to read it.

Finally, from time to time, we look at how often Internet users search for the different brewing systems on Google. If you use this as a measure of the popularity of each of the systems, then Keurig seems to be winner, followed by Tassimo. Coffee pods were a common search term a few years ago, but since then, pods seem to have lost much of their popularity. Here’s the trend lines we look at.

November 26, 2009

Something for Everyone: India Coffees 2009

by Kenneth Davids; reviews by Kenneth Davids and Ted Stachura

India is a considerably better-known coffee origin in Europe than in the United States. And even in Europe it tends to be a source whose profound coffee originality is hidden inside blends rather than foregrounded in single-origin or trophy coffees. For example, India provides some of the world's most valuable coffee types for espresso blends, yet these same exotic coffee types are seldom offered as single origins. They are simply too intensely odd for American palates accustomed to the high-grown, cleanly bright profiles of classic Latin America. On the other hand, the majestic, deeply forested old India coffee estates do produce quietly distinctive Arabicas capable of pleasing even the most purist of coffee drinkers. And the quest for small lots of coffee that play distinctive variations on the more familiar Arabica profile is beginning to turn up some pleasant surprises in India, as it has elsewhere in the world.

All of these types and trends are represented in this month's reviews, representing a set of ten often wildly different coffees, the best and most interesting from the thirty or so we cupped. Here they are in summary:

1) For coffee adventurers with a taste for low-acid, heavy-bodied, sweetly nutty profiles: The Paradise Roasters Indian CxR Mandarin (89), a coffee from trees of an interspecies cross between an heirloom Indian variety of Robusta and the coffee species Congensis.

2) For coffee adventurers with a taste for low-acid, richly malty profiles with a little twist of fermented fruit: Three different Monsooned Malabars, the unique Indian coffee type created by allowing dry-processed coffees to absorb the salt- and moisture-laden air of monsoon winds in an effort to mimic the flavor of coffees once carried in the holds of wooden ships from India to Europe. The Julian Coffee Roasters Monsooned Malabar (89), the Josuma Coffee Monsoon Medley (88) and the Storehouse India Malabar (87) all represent variations on the musty/malty, sweetly pungent monsooned theme.

3) For I'll-try-anything coffee adventurers, a coffee from trees of the Liberica species. Liberica was first experimented with as a disease-resistant alternative to Arabica, but was pretty much abandoned after the development of Robusta. It is still grown on some farms in India, however, as well as in Malaysia, where it is often a valued component in the pungent, heavily intense blends that Malaysians enjoy buffered by quantities of milk. The Badbeard's India Anokhi Liberica is reviewed here at 87, a basically arbitrary score. There are no criteria I know of by which this coffee could be rated 90, for example, or even 88. On the other hand, we have no business completely trashing a unique coffee type on the basis of standards of judgment developed mainly for fine Arabicas. As Libericas go, this seems like a rather attractive one. Therefore, well, with a mix of confusion and generosity, plus respect for originality, we settled on 87. But pick your own number: 0, 50, 80, 90? If you try it, do it the Malaysian way, brewed strong and taken with a lot of hot milk or warm half-and-half.

4) For the purist, three estate-grown, traditionally wet-processed Arabicas, the top-rated Tony's Coffee & Tea Balmaadi Estate (91), the Zingerman's Elk Hill estate (88) and the rather unusual salty-sweet, floral-toned Badbeard's Kattehollay Estate Peaberry (88).

5) Finally, for those interested in small-lot trophy coffees that reflect experiments with botanical variety and processing method, we have the Kaapi Royale Selection 9 Pulped Natural (91), a coffee from trees of a variety (Selection 9) with Ethiopian heritage, processed by the unorthodox pulped natural method, in which the skins are removed but the sweet fruit pulp is allowed to remain on the beans as they dry. The result here is a subtle, delicate balance of aromatic wood, flowers and dark chocolate notes. The "natural" or dried-in-the-fruit Arabica from Sethuraman Estate (90) is a restrained and elegant version of the fruity style of natural dry-processed coffee.

Nothing this month soared in the ratings, yet the range of coffee expression in the cupping was impressive, even startling in its variety. As relationships between American roasters and Indian producers mature, I expect we will not only continue to experience a continued variety of coffee expression from India, but more refined and precise versions of that expression as well.





November 22, 2009

Coffee May reduce cancer risk

A recent study conducted by the researchers of Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri (IRFMN) in Milan, Italy showed that drinking coffee may help reduce the risk of liver cancer. Led by Francesca Bravi, the team combined all published data to find the link between coffee drinking and hepatocellar carcinoma (HCC). HCC is a primary cancer of the liver. Liver cancer is the third largest cause of cancer deaths around the world, just behind lung and stomach cancer. At least 11 studies that were conducted in southern Europe and Japan were the foundation of the IRFMN study.
The IRFMN study was a meta-analysis of published studies on HCC that included how much coffee patients had consumed. Researchers combined all published data to obtain an overall quantitative estimate of the association between coffee consumption and HCC development.
The figures showed that coffee drinkers have at least 41 percent reduction of HCC risk compared to those who never consumed coffee. The beneficial effects of coffee consumption were highly progressive in studies that were done in southern Europe, widely drank, and from Japan, where coffee drinking is less frequent, and in subjects with chronic liver diseases
Animal and laboratory studies have shown that some compounds in coffee may act as blocking agents that work by reacting with enzymes involved in carcinogenic detoxification. Caffeine is a component of coffee that has been shown to give beneficial effects on the liver enzymes and other enzymes of the body. Coffee consumption has also been linked to reduced risks of liver diseases and cirrhosis, both of which can lead to liver cancer.
Separate studies also show that caffeine may aggravate the symptoms of menopause or intensify the effects of certain antibiotics. On the other hand, heavy caffeine consumption may cause miscarriage. Other animal studies show that skin cream added with caffeine may lower the risk of skin cancer in mice.
While the study found a statistically significant relationship between drinking coffee and having less liver cancer, the authors note that it needs to be repeated in other groups. The authors note that despite the consistency of the results of the study, it is difficult to derive causal collaboration based on the observational studies alone. It may be that patients with digestive tract diseases, including liver disorders, naturally reduce their coffee consumption, even though avoidance of coffee is not routinely recommended.
While the study found a statistically significant relationship between drinking coffee and having less liver cancer, the authors note that it needs to be repeated in other groups to be more concrete.
The IRFMN researchers note that the perception of coffee consumption was solely based on patients’ reporting, although the recollection of coffee drinking has been shown to be accurate. Factors like hepatitis B and C, cirrhosis, social class indictors, alcohol use, and smoking suggests that these factors did not influence the results of the studies.
The results from this research may provide some evidence of a link between coffee consumption and liver cancer. However, the interpretation of this research remains unclear because of lack of long-term evaluation of the results of the said study.

Reference : http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070801112146.htm