http://www.washingtonpost.

com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/02/21/dont-panic-but-theres-a-global-coffee-shortage/

Stimulating beverages
Don’t panic. But there’s a global coffee shortage.
(February 21, 2014 Washington Post headline by Jia Lynn Yang)
Introduction
• Water is essential to life!
• Coffee, tea, chocolate  Most traded, caffeine-containing,
stimulating beverages
• Desired as drinks, because, more flavorful than water
• Beverages: fill a basic human need & form part of the
culture of human society.

The price of coffee futures has skyrocketed because of

a major drought in Brazil. (Photo: Reuters/Juan Carlos Ulate)

The price of Arabica coffee for March 2014 delivery

rose dramatically on the ICE Futures U.S. exchange.

Survey results: Experiencing Physical Warmth

Promotes Interpersonal Warmth Beverages: Big business worldwide
Science. 2008 Oct 24; 322(5901): 606–607. doi: 10.1126/science.1162548
Joint study by Univ of Colorado and Yale University

• Volunteers perceived fictional strangers as Beverages: coffee, tea and

‘warmer’ characters after holding hot coffee chocolate/cocoa
Hypothesis: Experiences of physical warmth (or coldness) would
increase feelings of interpersonal warmth (or coldness), without the Plants: coffee, tea, cacao
person's awareness of this influence.
Results:
• In study 1, participants who briefly held a cup of hot (versus iced)
coffee  judged a target person as having a “warmer” personality Note: There are more beverages, e.g.,
(generous, caring) Alcohol, juices etc  not discussed here

• In study 2, participants holding a hot (versus cold) therapeutic pad were

more likely to choose a gift for a friend instead of for themselves.
• Cold pad: gift for themselves (75%) than the gift for a friend (25%)
• Warm pad (primed with physical warmth): more chose gift for a friend (54%); than
gift for themselves (46%)
 Coffeehouses: Centers of social gathering
• Social gathering – stimulating discussions
• e.g., Coffeeshop political discussions!
• Originated in Yemen (AD 1500 – coffee cultivated widely there)
• Venetian traders introduced coffee to Europe in 1615
• Establishment of coffeehouses – became popular there

• Sometimes stimulated establishment of Big businesses

• e.g., Lloyds of London Insurance Syndicate began in a coffeehouse ca
1686
• Edward Lloyd was operating a coffeehouse where seafarers/slave traders
gathered  where underwriters began insuring shipping trade
• Edward Lloyd did not start insurance business – he just provided the
location for a new business to start in his coffeehouse!!

Net income is the company's net profit or loss after all revenues,
From Wikipedia income items, and expenses have been accounted for.

Caffeine: what is it? Caffeine: Levels in drinks

Alkaloid
Nitrogen containing natural compound
Bitter taste
Pharmacologically active

• Found in many plant species

• High caffeine levels in the surrounding soil of coffee seedlings

• Natural pesticide (paralyzes & kills certain insects feeding on the plant)
From Plants and Society, Levetin & McMahon

• Protects seedlings  by discouraging grazing animals

• Inhibitor of seed germination  other seedlings cannot compete! 5 ounce cup = 150 ml
Pharmacological properties of caffeine
Negative effects of caffeine:
• Stimulation of cardiac muscles • Insomnia
• Constricts blood vessels  Increases • Irritability
heartbeat, blood pressure • Birth defects in mice
• Stimulant to the human central nervous • Infertility (inconclusive)
system Increases alertness & endurance
• Decrease in the absorption efficiency of calcium
• Appetite suppression  decreases fat reserves in the gastrointestinal tract
• Diuretic
• Parkinson’s disease (reduces symptoms) Beverages containing caffeine:
• Coffee
• Tea
• Cacao (Chocolate)

Origin of coffee plant – Africa (Ethiopia) Brief history: How coffee spread around the world

fr Simpson & Ogorzaly (book: Plants in our world)

 Brief history: How coffee spread around the world
Mocha is a port city in Yemen
Played an important part in coffee trade

1670

• Coffee seeds were brought to India ~1670 - before the British East India company
• An Indian Sufi saint named ‘Baba Budan’ brought the seeds after a visit to Mecca
• Coffee growing in India started after that in the southern Indian hills of
Chikmagalur, Karnataka State
• Several coffee plantations were established in the country after that

Details of the coffee plant

The coffee tree
Genus: Coffea
Family: Rubiaceae
Small, evergreen tree
Tropical, subtropical

>60 species present

3 are important species:

1. Coffea arabica
2. Coffea canephora
3. Coffea liberica
1. Coffea arabica 2. Coffea canephora (robusta)
• Better flavor • About 20% of world production (e.g., major crop in Vietnam)
• ~2% caffeine by weight
• About 80% of coffee grown
• Stronger and harsher taste
• Has ~1% caffeine by weight • Used to blend with C. arabica
• Self-pollinating and self-compatibility • Resistant to coffee rust (caused by fungus pathogen)
• Tetraploid (2n=44) • Easier to harvest
• More than 100 varieties (within this species) • Higher yield than C. arabica
• Diploid (2n=22)

Arabica: more than 100 varieties 3. Coffea liberica

• Bitter
• Limited use
• Only ~1% of world production
• Diploid (2n=22)

Coffee fruit – development from flower Coffee fruit – each fruit contains 2 seeds

Skin

2 seeds pressed together

Ovary Ovule Inner side flattened

From: Simpson and Ogorzaly 2014

fr Levetin & McMahon
 Coffee fruit – each fruit contains 2 seeds Seed and fruit morphology of Coffea arabica.

The skin (epicarp or exocarp), can

be red, yellow, or pink when ripe
according to the coffee variety

The pulp (mesocarp), fleshy

The parchment (endocarp), a thin

polysaccharide covering

The silver skin (seed coat)

Daniela Kramer et al. Plant Cell Physiol 2010;51:546-553

From bean to brew: When does coffee aroma develop? Roasting the coffee beans – what is involved?
Freshly harvested coffee fruit/seeds do not have the characteristic aroma
Roasting: to bring out flavor
and aroma
De-pulping of coffee fruit after harvest • Above 2000C (for 10 – 15 min)
• Starches convert to sugars

Wet method: Dry method: • Sugars turn brown and become

• Float in water
• Mechanically de-pulped
• Residual pulp ferments for 24
hours
• Wash and dry seeds
• Mechanically remove seed coat
(More common in Latin America)
caramelized
• Dry in open air for several days;
• Pulp ferments • Release of essential oil caffeol
(coffee aroma)
• Mechanically Remove seed coat
(More common in Africa) • Above 2400C, oils are driven to
the surface
• Cell wall breakdown
From: Simpson and Ogorzaly 2014

Roasting
 Making instant coffee
What is instant coffee?
Spray drying
1. Put ground coffee into large
Strong brewed coffee percolator and brew under pressure
(ultra strong coffee!)
spray dried into powder
2. Spray the coffee through fine
nozzles into rooms that are several
Created by Japanese chemist in
stories high (~20 meters tall)
1901
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-3/Instant-Coffee.html
3. As spray drops fall, water evaporates
1909: George Constant and becomes dry, fine coffee powder
Louis Washington (American)

Straits Times 31 Dec 2019

Another way to manufacture instant coffee
Watch a video at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G5LcVUcWAg&list=PLF0BL8L1sWpdpce7QzBBVrgONUj6YiTml
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oQ0ds8GswE

Freeze drying
1. Brewed coffee is poured
into trays
2. Cool rapidly to very low
temperature under vacuum
3. Results in drying
4. Dehydrates to crystals
Decaffeinated coffee 1) Extraction by chemical solvent (Invented by German
chemist Ludwig Roselius in 1900)
• Coffee: some 2,000 chemical compounds
• Methylene chloride: solvent to extract caffeine from
• Removing caffeine while leaving the others intact unroasted (green) beans
poses a challenge • Extraction is specific
• Decaf market: worth US$2 billion/year • Carcinogenic solvent!
• FDA: residual solvent conc in the beans after processing
should be below 10 parts/million
Three methods to remove caffeine
from unroasted coffee beans • Ethyl acetate – preferred solvent being used now
1. By chemical solvents
2. By dissolving in water
3. By CO2 extraction

2) Diffusion into water method

• Swiss-Water decaffeination method • Beans move down to the
bottom of the vessel
• Soak beans in water with all the chemical components in bean
except caffeine 200oF = 93 o C • CO2 penetrates the beans and
• Caffeine diffuses into the water and can be removed (used for dissolves the caffeine
manufacturing medicines etc) • Removes about 97%-99% of
• Resulting beans have low caffeine caffeine in the liquid CO2

• No carcinogenic solvent used

3) Supercritical carbon dioxide process.
• By adjusting the pressure, temperature • Recover caffeine  can be used
for drugs etc
• Supercritical state, CO2 exists in both liquid & gas phases
• Soak beans in water
• Place wet beans at the top of a large extraction vessel filled
with supercritical carbon (illustration in the next slide)

from Scientific American

 General structure of the global
Coffee production
coffee-marketing chain.
Raw coffee bean trade value 
Note: With market liberalization, dotted links ~US$25 to $30 billion/year
are disappearing.

Estimated world Coffee production (measured in 60 kg bags)

In coffee year 2019/20: projected ~167 million bags
(Arabica 95.68 million bags, Robusta 71.72 million bags)
(Price fluctuates from US$2 to 3.50 per kg)
US$25 to 30 billion per year for
raw coffee beans http://www.ico.org/ (International Coffee Organization)

Prepared coffee products will be

From: International Coffee Organisation
several fold higher (value adding)

World Development Vol. 30, pp. 1099–1122, 2002

Coffee in advertisement of
retirement fund performance!!
Tea “T’sa” means godlike,
“cha” is the name for tea in China & India

Chinese origin: discovery attributed to mythical Emperor

Shen Nung (~2700 BC)

Scholar ‘Lu Yu’ (AD733～804) wrote: Tea Classic (a book

on tea)
– attributed the beginning of tea drinking to Shen Nung
– tea symbolized the harmony and mysterious unity of the
universe (according to Lu Yu)

~3 billion cups of tea consumed daily in the world!

Tea estate in Assam, India

 Tea: Various stories of origin of tea!
CHINA: On the origins of TEA
https://www.earthstoriez.com/tea-china/

1. Tea was discovered accidentally by emperor Shennung, 神農氏, ~ 3000 BC.

2. Another tea account claims a Buddhist monk named Gan Lu (Sweet Dew) brought
tea back with him when he returned from a pilgrimage to India during the first century.
On Mt. Mengding in Sichuan, the mythological seven tea trees, are still worshiped.
3. Another tea story says tea sprang from the eyelids of Bodhidharma, the first patriarch
of Zen, called Daruma by the Japanese.

Where? Geographic location:

The Tri-junction of India (Assam), Burma and China is said to be the place of origin
of tea from where it reached China.

Or was Yunnan, the homeland of the wild tea plant, and Sichuan, where it seems first
to have been cultivated? Or is it the Tianluo Mountains in east China where.
Archeological evidence suggests tea cultivation 6000 years ago?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AFUPv7DRxs
The answer will be found somewhere on the silk route, around the point of confluence of the
lands of northeast India, Burma, southwest China and Tibet. The most significant commodity
carried along this route was not silk or tea, but exchange of culture, habits and stories.

British East India Company Boston Tea Party: Brief history

• Collected plants from China • North America (British colony).
• Plants were taken out of China • The British East India (BEI) Company: official importer
• Smugglers: lower and duty-free prices
• As a result the British were able to produce tea
• BEI Co complained to British Parliament
throughout the world (colonies e.g., India, Sri Lanka etc) • British Parliament passed Tea Act (1773)

Link to the ‘Opium Wars’ Tea sold by the Company: cheaper

than the local traders

Tea plantations were established in hill

stations by the British in India – e.g., Livelihood threatened, turned into
Assam, Darjeeling – famous teas resentment toward British

Darjeeling green tea Resentment towards British taxation

The Boston Tea Party was a political and mercantile protest by the Sons of Liberty Escalated into anti-colonial sentiment
in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 16, 1773.
This was against the Tea Act of May 10, 1773, which allowed the British East India
Eventually in 1776, declaration of
company to sell tea from China in American colonies without paying extra taxes. - American independence from Britain
Wikipedia
 • Unpruned: can grow to ~10 m tall trees!
The tea plant is a small tree! • Normally kept pruned ~1 m above ground
• Flat top to facilitate easy plucking
• Small tree/shrub • Terminal buds and young leaves are used
• Native to China • Plucking encourages formation of new leaves from the axillary buds

• Sci name: Camellia sinensis

• Family: Theaceae (or Camelliaceae)
• Tea: dried tip leaves

Flowers of the tea plant

Tip leaves of the tea plant

Four different types of tea Black Tea (“red tea”) or fermented tea
• More oxidized
Harvested tea leaves treated in one of four ways • More caffeine

Black tea Green tea Oolong tea White tea

Steps in manufacturing:

Fermented Not fermented Partly fermented Whitish hair a) Withering (wilting) :

on leaves -  Leaves are dried over hot, dry air for 12-24 hours
special varieties  Dehydrated
b) Rolling:
– Damp leaves: rolled by hands or machines.
– To crush leaf cells
– Enzymes released, fermentation process
c) Fermentation (next slide)
d) Drying
Black Tea (“red tea”) or fermented tea - continued Green tea
• No or very little fermentation
c) Fermentation: • Leaves are not withered
• Formation of brown-coloured polyphenolic compounds • Steamed or dry cooking on hot pan
• The rolled leaves sit for 45 min to 3 h • Oxidation process halted
• Leaves turn copper color
• Right temperature and humidity Oolong tea
• Oxidation is stopped somewhere between that for green tea and black
• The chlorophyll enzymatically broken down tea
• Tannins released, polyphenol substances formed • Leaves lightly withered, partially fermented (short oxidation period of a few
hours only)

d) Drying: White tea

• Passed through hot air to stop fermentation process • Selected varieties, leaf buds & young leaves are naturally covered with
• Moisture content to about 3% white hairs (trichomes)
• Leaves are withered and dried, but not steamed
• After brewing, the tea is pale yellow in color

World tea production statistics

~5.8 million metric tons in 2018
@US$2.80 per kg = US$16 billion

Tea leaves – bulk price

Value adding will multiply the trade value several fold!
Annual turnover
Channel News Asia – 17 Aug 2022 report
Top 10 tea Tons per year
Indonesia: US$1.6 billion
producers Thailand: US$749 million
China 2,414,802 Vietnam: US$362 million
India 1,252,174 Singapore: US$342 million
Kenya 473,000
Sri Lanka 349,308
Turkey 243,000 China: US$20 billion
Vietnam 240,000
Indonesia 144,015
Argentina 89,609
Japan 80,200
Iran 75,000

End of discussion on Tea

Chocolate • Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), Italian explorer
• Beans were used as currency and to prepare a
Brief History beverage

• Cacao (cocoa) tree (Scientific name: Theobroma cacao) • 1519 Spanish Hernan Cortés invaded Mexico
• Cultivated in Central America for >2000yrs • Met the Aztec emperor, Montezuma II (1466 –
1520)
• Theobroma means “Food of the Gods”
• The Aztec people believed that their god Quetzalcoatl
gave them cacao beans

Chocolatl: Drink made from roasted cacao beans, chili 1828, Conrad van Houten (Dutch)
peppers, vanilla and seeds of Bixa
 Consumed by King Montezuma and the nobles
Removed the fat (cocoa butter)
• Introduced to Spain in 1528
• The Spanish court modified the recipe (added sugar) 1847 English company Fry and Sons: first chocolate bar
• By 1650, chocolate drink was served throughout Europe
(sugar, cocoa butter, ground bean, later added milk solids
too)
 Chocolate business Flowers and fruits of Cacao Tree
• Conrad van Houten – removing cocoa butter to make cocoa
powder
• JS Fry & Sons – adding cocoa butter (mid1700s, Bristol) to make
the first ‘eating chocolate’ (Quaker principles)
• John Cadbury - ~1847 chocolate factory (Birmingham area –
Cadbury World) (Quaker principles)
• Nestle – added milk fats ~1875 (Swiss company)
• Lindt – ‘conching’ (continuously stirring chocolate mass) leads to
smooth consistency (Swiss company)

Van Houten

From Simpson and Ogorzaly 2014

The processing of cocoa seeds – 1st stage

Microbial action and chemical

fermentation

Alcohol and acetic acid formed

Acid eats through the seed

Fruits (pods), seeds (beans) Pulp, edible coat, kills the embryo

Activates enzyme to break

down some stored products

Seed, contains Chocolate taste and aroma

alkaloid, bitter develop, beans now turn brown

From: Simpson and Ogorzaly 2014

The processing of cocoa seeds – 2nd stage The processing of cocoa seeds – 3rd stage

• Dried mechanically or under the sun • Crushed to paste (chocolate

liquor)
• Roasting ~1200C for 40-70 min Process invented
• Removes acids and chocolate flavor fully develops or Remove by: C.J. van Houten
cocoa butter 1828, in Holland

• Seeds cracked open, seed coat removed

• Add alkali to neutralize the acidity
• Collect cotyledons (= nibs) of the cocoa paste (dutching)

Chocolate addiction?? How big is the chocolate trade?

Cannabinoids – thought to be the cause of chocolate addiction Top 10 companies: US$78 billion in 2018
• But are present in minute quantities
1. Phenylethylamine (PEA) – like amphetamine
2. Anandamine – a cannabinoid
3. Tryptophan – an amino acid

• So chocolate cravings more likely due to sensory experience!

Main contents of prepared chocolate

• Caffeine
• Theobromine (toxic to dogs) – structure is similar to caffeine
• Flavonoids + Vitamin E – act as antioxidants
• Cocoa butter (stearic acid – saturated fat, but does not increase
cholesterol) – extra added to cocoa powder!
• Milk fats – in milk chocolate
• Sugar

https://www.icco.org/about-cocoa/chocolate-industry.html
 Concluding remarks
• Caffeine and caffeine-like alkaloids have a stimulating effect on
nervous system

• Many plants contain caffeine and have a long history of use by

humans
 Coffee
 Tea
 Cacao (cocoa)
• They continue to play an important role in society!

Cocoa futures (and Coffee and other agricultural products)

being traded in the world markets – Bloomberg TV

We now have a better appreciation of

how plants are important to us !