Coffee and teas

Question 1

What do coffee and tea have in common?

Answer 1

Both are nervous system stimulants (some are adrenergic) because of caffeine, are alkaloid, have mild diuretic effects, and are produced by plants

Question 2

What is the most common type of coffee consumed? Where is this plant native to?

Answer 2

Coffea arabica, native to the highlands of Ethiopia

Question 3

In what climate must the most common type of coffee be grown? What does the plant look like? What part is consumed as coffee?

Answer 3

Grown in the tropics but at a high elevation to ensure stable and cool temperatures. Coffee plants are small evergreen shrubs which produce green seeds that are used to make coffee

Question 4

When was coffee first made into a drink? By who?

Answer 4

The Arabs in the 13th century

Question 5

How must coffee be processed prior to consumption?

Answer 5

Seeds (green) removed from pulp (red) > dry/wet fermentation > roasting > coffee

Question 6

How does the colour of the caffeine roast affect the caffeine content of the consumed product

Answer 6

No effect on caffeine content, darker roast is faster to produce and so yields higher profit

Question 7

Describe the spread of coffee from its native area to north america.

Answer 7

Ethipian highlands > Arabia > Europe > Americas (French/Dutch colonies)

Question 8

Which country is the largest producer of coffee in the world today? How long has it been cultivated there? Which countries are close?

Answer 8

Brazil is largest producer (since 1730), Vietnam and Columbia are tied for second-largest producer

Question 9

If coffee is the world’s second most-traded commodity, what is the first?

Answer 9

Oil

Question 10

How was the Arabian monopoly on coffee eventually broken?

Answer 10

Dutch took coffee seeds and began cultivation in East Indies (Java)

Question 11

What resulted from the introduction of coffee to Europe in 1615?

Answer 11

The origination of the “coffee house” or “penny university”. A place where people went not only to drink coffee but engage in intellectual discussion

Question 12

What are the 3 varieties of coffee that are consumed today?

Answer 12

1. Arabica
2. Robusta
3. Liberica

Question 13

How is instant coffee produced from the coffee plant?

Answer 13

Seeds (green) separated from pulp (red) > dry/wet fermentation > roasting > grind and vaporize > collect precipitate > instant coffee

Question 14

What differentiates dry fermentation from wet fermentation during coffee production? What temperature is coffee usually roasted at?

Answer 14

Wet fermentation yields more flavour than dry. Coffee is usually roasted at ~200 degrees celcius

Question 15

What 3 methods can be used to decaffeinate coffee?

Answer 15

1. Extraction with organic solvent
2. Swiss water diffusion
3. Carbon dioxide diffusion

Question 16

Once caffeine is extracted to produce decaffeinated coffee, how is it used?

Answer 16

Primarily used in sodas and energy drinks, but can also be used in pharmaceuticals

Question 17

What is the most expensive kind of coffee? What accounts for this high price?

Answer 17

Civet coffee, collected from the feces of civets who feed on the coffee seeds. Different flavour because of exposure to digestive enzymes

Question 18

Why did consumption of civet coffee begin?

Answer 18

Dutch producers of coffee wouldn’t allow the local workers to consume their product, so the workers consumed this instead as it wasn’t fit for sale

Question 19

Is caffeine content the same for all drinks?

Answer 19

Probably very close. People assume that espresso has less caffeine but it also gets served in much smaller quantities

Question 20

What are the historical (quasi-mythical) origins of tea consumption

Answer 20

Attributed to Chinese emperor when a tea leaf fell into water that was being boiled to drink. Also may have originated from a monk who wanted to stay awake for many years

Question 21

In what climate is tea commonly grown?

Answer 21

Like coffee, also in tropics at elevation, giving consistently cool temperatures

Question 22

What plant is used to make tea? What terms describe beverages made from other plants?

Answer 22

Camellia sinensis. Other teas are tisanes or herbal teas (also infusions but not the same)

Question 23

How is black tea processed for consumption?

Answer 23

Top leaves are pruned, then withered and crushed (causing fermentation)

Question 24

How is green tea processed for consumption?

Answer 24

Top leaves pruned, then steamed and rolled/twisted (mild fermentation)

Question 25

What might have caused the spread of tea consumption to Europe in 1610?

Answer 25

Several blights caused the coffee crop to fail, people wanted a warm-beverage substitute

Question 26

What 3 main chemical components are contained in tea?

Answer 26

1. Caffeine/theophylline/theobromine
2. Tannins
3. Phenolics/essential oils

Question 27

What aspect of tea is controlled by the presence of tannins?

Answer 27

Colouration

Question 28

What aspect of tea is controlled by essential oils and phenolics?

Answer 28

Varying tastes

Question 29

How much tea did britain import in 1664? What about by 1813?

Answer 29

1664: 100 lb/year
1813: 14 500 000 lb/year

Question 30

Give an example of a tea that is produced by adding an external flavour.

Answer 30

Earl grey is black tea with bergamot oil added

Question 31

What role does tea play in the history between Britain and China?

Answer 31

British induced opium addiction in China to recoup costs from imported tea. War raged until botanist Robert Fortune infiltrated tea plantations and smuggled some plants off to India, breaking Chinese monopoly