How coffee took over the world

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Aid-Other-Dirty-Business-Intentions/d...

But if Germany is the 4th largest exporter in the world as the parent comment said, apparently plenty of people have no problem buying stale coffee from them.

> coffee growing countries only receive about 8% of the total coffee revenue

If we look at the price of, for example, white flour from the supermarket, it should be immediately obvious that grain farmers are receiving some tiny fraction of the total net value of all baked-goods / pasta / pizza / etc sold annually.

It’s not immediately obvious that this is bad or unfair.

Couldn't they process and export instant coffee without any problem?

This is the play: hide the profound injustice in an offhand quip. If exporting from Germany is not a problem, why not Ethiopia?

Though, I suspect what would happen is that coffee roasted in Ethiopia would be somehow worth less than German-roasted. Ethiopians would recoup some of the profit that they're missing, but other ways would be found to shortchange them. The root of the issue is he undervaluation of Ethiopian labor and resources so as to secure profit and affordability further down the line.

What do you mean? Coffee gets vacuum packed and shipped all over the world already. I must have some coffee at home that was roasted and ground months ago - how is that a problem? It's just coffee.

Most coffee consumers are not relying on locally/home roasted beans. They buy instant, or pre-ground for use in a drip. Ethiopia is missing out on that part of the market.

Salary vs. hourly doesn't determine exempt vs. non exempt status, technically, but in practice it becomes that

If climate change makes these (already harsh) mountainous regions indispensable to the coffee shrubs, then we may be forced to grow coffee in lowland regions where the quality will not be as good.

This is because most American's don't have a kettle (at home or work). I think quite a few Europeans do.

It's also why so many (baking) recipes in the US measure (e.g.) flour in cups/volume: most people don't have scales.

I do like certain types of those gourmet teas where you need a kettle for them. They're great, but I like something warm and I can have it everyday, especially in winter. I simply could not afford that with the teas.

I honestly don't know how they make it so bad, here in Europe even if I bought the cheapest box of supermarket tea (around 50c for 20 bags) and dunked it in a cup of warm water for 10 seconds it would taste better.

You have so many variations of brewing like pourover, drip, french press, espresso etc. and each of these methods has a ton of individual variables that affect the final product ranging such as water temp, bean freshness, grind coarseness and much more.

I am certainly not a coffee expert (I'm too lazy to actually dive into the world of craft coffee I just drink the free coffee at work) but I do enjoy espresso when I am out and love reading about coffee/brewing

I'm a fan of tea, ignorant about coffee.

Tea brewing generally has three variables: amount/proportion of leaves/water, water temperature, brewing time. With coffee, those three are still applicable. And there's a fourth variable: how finely one grinds it, and perhaps a fifth one: whether/what pressure to apply while brewing.

I usually don't even rinse oolongs/greens and it's fine. If you don't rinse your puerh, the first brew is just going to taste like a rinse. No big deal - enjoy the subsequent brews :)

Those migraines you mentioned are one of many terrible withdraw symptoms.

It is the only drug I truly have been unable to quit. Despite weeks of being off of it, I always relapse after the cravings get too much.

It was easier to quit cigs for me than it is to stop drinking coffee. If it's a stimulant it's going to be very hard to quit.

The only reason it's not considered an addiction by experts is because you don't destroy your life when you run out, BECAUSE IT'S EVERYWHERE and super accepted (you can do it at work), also because I assume $$$.

So it's sort of like mobile/social media addiction but worse because it's more acceptable and it has physical withdrawal/cravings.

Now I'm going to go have a coffee because I have a headache and I'm irritated.

Caffeine is a stimulant drug that you cannot give pregnant women more than a cup a day and it gives you physical withdrawals if you try to quit.

edit: edited due to nitpicking.

Caffeine and cocaine are also natural plant products but they are habit-forming stimulant drugs found in much smaller concentrations of the "medicinal" crop compared to the plant sugars found in the commercial sweetener food crops like beets, sugar cane, and maple.

Pure chemicals have concentrated properties that can be much more extreme than their low-concentration behavior.

Drugs or not.

Crystals are among the big three physical forms for pure chemicals; solid, liquid, and gas.

It has been well recognized that habitual consumption of these example substances beyond a certain concentration will lead to negative outcomes according to the individual, the substance, and the habit.