(no alcohol)
Serves 2
3 tablespoons coarsely ground Viennese roast or any dark-roast coffee
2 tablespoons dark-brown sugar, or try sucanat
2 cinnamon sticks
2 whole cloves
2 cups water
1. Combine the coffee, sugar and cinnamon sticks (break in half), cloves and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stir, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer 10 minutes.
2. Strain into warmed coffee cups and serve hot.
Enjoy!
The brown bean has created fortunes for some and subsistence for many. The bean is coffee, a hugely popular beverage. The annual consumption in the U.S. was over nine pounds per person in 2003. As you enjoy your cup of joe, it is helpful to know some facts of its origin. This seemingly small choice can make the difference if the grower can maintain a reasonable standard of living or has to grow the crop and receive virtually none of the bounty.
Black Gold is a highly regarded documentary about coffee and trade. It highlights the farmers and their daily struggles in seeking a fair price for their crop. (trailer) Not everyone agrees with the points that the film makes. However, it is eye-opening and allows you to glimpse just what it takes for you to have that cup of coffee. I saw this when it aired on PBS, it was enlightening.
Coffee Choices
Organic
Coffee, is heavily sprayed with pesticides. DDT is one of the pesticides used. Banned in the U.S., its use is common on coffee plants. Buying organic helps to reduce that toxic burden in your body.
Shade-Grown
The term does not have a standard definition. It refers to coffee grown under the protection of trees which form a natural canopy. It is the traditional way in which coffee was grown.
Fair Trade
Represents an attempt to pay the farmers fairly for their crop. You may have to search for this in your town or on the internet. Paying a fair price for the coffee crop enables not just the middle men and the retailers to profit, but also the growers.
The next time you decide to sip coffee, consider the journey the coffee took. Your choice can help many people.
photo credit: picture by belle 1988
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – In a recent study, sons born to women who drank the equivalent of three cups of coffee a day during pregnancy were more likely to have undescended testes at age 2 years.
The testes in male babies usually move from the pelvis into the scrotum shortly before birth, but sometimes this doesn’t happen. The condition is termed cryptorchidism.
The current findings, reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology, come from a study of 7,574 male infants. Persistent cryptorchidism, defined as one or two undescended testicles at birth persisting to at least age 2 years, was present in 101 infants.
The investigators, at the Center for Research on Women’s and Children’s Health in Berkeley, California looked for any association between persistent cryptorchidism and maternal smoking, alcohol consumption, or caffeine consumption.
The only significant association was with caffeine consumption equivalent to three cups of coffee per day.
Dr. Barbara A. Cohn, one of the researchers, told Reuters Health that there has been increasing interest in cryptorchidism recently “because of the increase in the incidence of testicular cancer, known to be more common among those who were cryptorchid.”
Cohn explained that caffeine “appears to interfere with reproduction, increasing the rate of miscarriage, which is more common when there are errors in fetal development.” This would fit with the current findings, because “cryptorchidism is a defect of fetal development.”
SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, February 1, 2008.
Reuters Health
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