STACK #191 Sep 2020

LIFE TECH FEATURE

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“Want a coffee?”This has to be one of the most used sentences in the Australian vernacular. Whether it’s a work meeting, catching up with an old acquaintance, perched in the kitchen at home, or to accompany a late night movie session, a cup of coffee is an essential part of our everyday life. Amongst many of the challenges that 2020 has thrown our way is restricted access to the cafés and coffee shops that we love. But there is nothing that can separate Australia from its obsession with coffee and subsequently, more and more of us are investing in coffee machines for the home. GRINDHOUSE

A VERY BRIEF HISTORY OF COFFEE

CUPS O’ JOE IN FILM Thor (2011) Newly-arrived-on-Earth Thor is forking

W ith every origin story there’s usually a legend attached to it, and this is certainly the case with coffee’s humble beginnings. One of these mythic tales centres around an ancient Ethiopian goat herder who discovers that his animals are buzzing after consuming coffee shrubs. The full potential of the energising tonic is unlocked when he tries the red berries for himself. While accounts differ, it’s widely accepted that coffee beans were being roasted by the 13th century, with cultivation in Arabia’s Yemen province some 200 years later. The seemingly mystical powers of the coffee bean were ardently guarded until this highly-prized elixir was leaked by pilgrims travelling to Mecca, who took the beans back to India and Africa and, before too

long, Europe. By the end of the 17th century, coffee houses could be found from Italy to England and from France to Germany. The canny Dutch spied an opportunity (the word coffee comes from the Dutch word koffie ) and established plantations in Ceylon (modern day Sri Lanka) and then Java to fuel the beverage’s growing popularity. Before long, the French, British and Spanish staked a claim. In the NewWorld, the 1773 Boston Tea Party ended the dominance of British tea, increasing demand for coffee, and by the middle of the 19th century, practically every part of the world was obsessed with the drink. Today, the coffee industry is worth over $100 billion a year and is the world’s second most sought after commodity.

whole flapjacks into his face. He drains his coffee cup and announces: “This drink – I like it. ANOTHER!”… and smashes the mug onto the diner floor. Theatrical for some. Not for the son of Odin. Role Models (2008) Danny just wants a large black coffee. “Do you mean a Venti? Venti is large,” smiles the attendant. “No, Venti is twenty. Large is large. In fact, tall is large, and grande is Spanish for large. Venti is the only one that doesn’t mean large. It’s also the only one that’s Italian. Congratulations: you’re stupid in three languages.” The Usual Suspects (1995) Poor ol’ Verbal Kent has just shuffled, trembling, out of Agent Kujan’s office. Kujan takes a satisfied sip from his coffee, and then… sees something which makes his mouth gape, as the cup slips from his fingers and shatters silently on the floor. Best in Show (2000) Hamilton and Meg Swan first saw one another across the street, at different Starbucks. “I remember what I was drinking when I met you – it was a grande espresso,” Hamilton says. “That’s right,” his wife smiles dreamily, “and I thought that was really sexy.” Pulp Fiction (1994) As if Jimmy wants to hear how good his coffee is, when you’ve just deposited a surprise corpse into his garage? “I’m the one who buys it. I know how good it is. But y’know what’s on my mind right now? It ain’t the coffee in my kitchen.”

There are many different types of coffee tree but only two varieties are used for commercial coffee productions: Arabica and Robusta. The flowers on a coffee tree take around 30 to 35 weeks to turn into small green fruits known as coffee cherries. Trees will yield quality product around four years of age and will continue to produce suitable cherries for up to 20 years. When the green cherry turns bright red, it’s ready to harvest. Once harvested, the seed or bean as we know it is separated from the cherry and then roasted to a specific blend. The resulting roasted beans are what we grind to make coffee.

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