Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008 at
11:45 pm
by: Dakota Caudilla
Even a Coffee Bean or San Francisco Coffee outlet frequenter won’t be able to master the art of appreciating true gourmet coffee unless they know the history and info about gourmet coffee. Oh, of course, you don’t have to an EXPERT to enjoy and understand gourmet coffee, but knowing a little bit more than the grocery store owner who sells instant coffee would help you appreciate the taste, smell and absolute heaven that gourmet coffee fans know gourmet coffee is absolutely capable of.
Gourmet coffee is nothing like wine. With wine, the longer you leave (some wine, anyway), the better the taste, the higher the quality and the pricier it is. But with gourmet coffee, freshness says a lot. If possible, get coffee beans that have been roasted no more than 1 week before. And if you’re going to learn how to appreciate gourmet coffee, only buy 100% Arabica coffee. Read the rest of this entry
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at
3:06 pm
I read on a sign in front of a local tea store that Canadians consume 9 billion cups of tea a year. This comes down to 270 cups of tea per person per year.
Wow.
That is a lot of tea bags (or loose teas).
The rest of the sign read that Green and White Tea have cancer-fighting anti oxidants, and that Black Tea helps the heart function.
Interested? Go visit Holland’s Fine Tea store in Fergus, Ontario. and say that Nardo sent you :o)
Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 at
6:32 pm
I was just looking up the world’s top producers for tea leaves. So it only makes sense to do the same for the other brew that I talk about on this site: coffee.
What are the top producing countries in the world for green coffee beans? I looked at the reporting from the Food And Agriculture Organization Of The United Nations, and this is what I found:
Ranking 2006 |
Production
(2006 in tons) |
Ranking 2003 |
Production
(2003 in tons) |
1. Brazil |
2,592,592 |
1 |
1,987,074 |
2. Viet Nam |
853,500 |
2 |
793,700 |
3. Colombia |
696,000 |
3 |
694,080 |
4. Indonesia |
652,668 |
4 |
663,571 |
5. Mexico |
287,555 |
6 |
310,861 |
6. India |
274,000 |
5 |
275,000 |
7. Ethiopia |
259,980 |
8 |
244,200 |
8. Guatemala |
256,610 |
7 |
221,580 |
9. Honduras |
190,640 |
10 |
203,148 |
10. Peru |
174,955 |
9 |
175,284 |
Source: FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Coffee From Brazil
One third (32%) of the world’s green coffee beans was produced in Brazil in 2006. Viet Nam, Colombia and Indonesia together have another 28% of the coffee market.
Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 at
5:51 pm
What are the top tea-producing countries in the world? I looked at the reporting from the Food And Agriculture Organization Of The United Nations, and this is what I found:
Ranking 2006 |
Production
(2006 in tons) |
Ranking 2003 |
Production
(2003 in tons) |
1. China |
1,049,500 |
2 |
788,815 |
2. India |
892,730 |
1 |
838,000 |
3. Sri Lanka (Ceylon) |
310,800 |
3 |
303,230 |
4. Kenya |
310,580 |
4 |
293,670 |
5. Turkey |
204,600 |
6 |
153,800 |
6. Indonesia |
171,410 |
5 |
169,818 |
7. Viet Nam |
142,300 |
7 |
104,300 |
8. Japan |
91,800 |
8 |
91,900 |
9. Argentina |
67,871 |
9 |
69,866 |
10. Iran |
59,180 |
10 |
63,650 |
Source: FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Vietnam Tea
I am not sure what source they used, but several other sources that I looked at did not include Vietnamese tea producers. According to the UN Vietnam is the 8thlargest tea producer according to this list.
India Loosing Ground
India used to be the largest tea producer in the world, but China has caught up with them – substantially. The gap between the numbers 1 and 2 is substantial as well: China and India are the world’s top producers: combined they produce more than half of the world’s tea leaves.