The Coffee Poet

The sun is shining, the sky is blue and the birds are singing, there is only thing missing that would make it a perfect day - a Starbucks Frappuccino. You grab your keys and drive to your local Starbucks, thinking about the creamy delicious treat that you will soon be yours. What one will you choose today? There are so many wonderful varieties and flavors offered and they all taste so good!

Starbucks began selling Frappuccinos in 1995, on April Fool's Day. But to this coffee house chain the iced coffee drink certainly was not a joke. The Frappuccino quickly grew in popularity to become one of Starbucks leading sellers.

The name Frappuccino is a combination of two words that were put together to make a new word. It comes from the word “cappuccino” which is an Italian coffee drink and “frappe” which in French means “well chilled.” It is interesting to note that in the New England area of the United States a “frappe” is the name given to an ice cream milkshake.

(more...)

From its origins in Ethiopia, where the main coffee production is still from wild coffee tree forests, coffee consumption has spread throughout the world. But because of its requirement for ample sunshine and rain, the plants from which beans are produced grow only in tropical or sub-tropical regions.

From a narrow band centered on the equator of around 23 degrees North to 25 degrees South comes all of the world's source of the liquid that a Turkish proverb calls 'black as hell, strong as death, sweet as love'. As a commodity, coffee - from beans grown in over 70 countries - is second only to oil in dollar volume.

Brazil remains by far the largest coffee bean producer with an average output of 28% of the total. Even world-renowned Colombia is a distant second at only 16%, with Indonesia less than half that at 7%. Mexico, the fourth largest producer is half again at 4%.
(more...)

The last 25 years has seen the growth of a cottage industry in the study of the health effects of drinking coffee. And no wonder - over 400 million cups a day are consumed throughout the world. But for decades health workers warned that the habit might be unsafe. Recent studies show the opposite is more likely to be the case.

Caffeine, one of the main ingredients in coffee, has long been known to be a mild stimulant. That can raise blood pressure, increase heart rate and produce the occasional irregular beat. But most researchers now believe the effect is mild and short-lived.

By contrast, the emerging data about the health benefits of coffee consumption are numerous and diverse.
(more...)