Is The World’s Most Expensive Coffee Really Worth 75 US Dollars A Cup?

It’s rare, it’s from Panama and is said to be the world’s best-tasting coffee, but is it really worth 75 US dollars a cup?

By: Ringo Bones

Move over coffee lowak, there’s a new Panamanian coffee that’s rather “conventional” – i.e. it has not gone through any animal’s digestive tract – and yet it has been recently touted as the world’s best-tasting coffee, better in fact than the world famous civet cat digested coffee beans known as coffee lowak by a significant margin. But is it really worth its 75 US dollars asking price – as in twice that the average price of the “infamous” coffee lowak that’s being served in trendy Seattle coffee bars and other hipster coffee bars across the United States? Unfortunately, this upstart coffee has a rather storied reason justifying its 75 US dollar a cup asking price.

This upstart coffee variant is known as Elida Geisha 803 coffee and the 75 US dollar a cup asking price is via the Klatch Coffee Roasters located in the Bay Area. The price comes as no surprise given that the raw beans costs 803 US dollars a pound and up to 1,200 US dollars a pound when properly roasted. By contrast, the current going price for coffee lowak is around 100 to 600 US dollars a pound. But many people are probably asking what makes Elida Geisha 803 much more expensive than its closest competitor?

Back in 2018, Panamanian coffee producer Elida Estate broke the record for the highest auction price at the Best of Panama competition when its Geisha Green Tip Natural was auctioned off at 803 US dollars a pound – hence the number 803 of the coffee’s moniker. Of the 100 total pounds of Elida Geisha 803 auctioned at the event, San Francisco based Klatch Coffee Roasters owns 10 pounds worth of the famed coffee in the United States. The company plans to split their supply between their coffee shops in San Francisco and Los Angeles – the region better known as the “Bay Area”. This means that there are only 80 cups of the blend available for coffee drinkers in the whole of the United States. The lucky few who tasted the brew so far swear that it is by far the best cup of coffee that they’ve ever tasted – although a majority of them are rather quite skeptical of its “steep” 75 US dollar a cup price tag.

Does Looking At Pictures Of Coffee Make Us Feel More Awake?

Does the mere suggestion of looking at pictures of coffee - especially in the morning - is all that is needed to make us feel more awake?

By: Ringo Bones

I thought that the news story is just another April Fool’s Joke when I first saw it back in the beginning of April, but an actual scientific study had shown results that the mere act of looking at pictures of cups and mugs of coffee is all that is needed to make us feel more awake, especially early in the morning. The findings were first published in Consciousness and Cognition and the findings came from four studies involving hundreds of people across Western and Eastern cultures.

The effect, which can even be sparked by just thinking of anything that reminds us of a latte or espresso, is more pronounced than with tea. Based on the result, the observed effect is thought to spring from our ingrained belief, especially in the West, that coffee gets us up and running. Researcher Sam Maglio said: “We have this image of a prototypical executive rushing off to an important meeting with a triple espresso in their hand”. “There’s this connection between drinking caffeine and arousal that may not exist in other cultures.”

Participants of the study were given tasks after being shown coffee-or tea-related cues. Those exposed to thoughts of coffee perceived time as shorter and thought in more concrete, precise terms, researchers from the University of Toronto said. But for those who grew up in Eastern cultures, where coffee was less important than tea, the effect was less marked. Researcher Sam Maglio believes that the study reveals how subtle cues affect our decision making and how that might be used in marketing food and drink.

KoRn Launches Its Own Coffee Brand?

Nu metal heavies KoRn launched their own brand of coffee to gain new fans from coffee fanciers?

By: Ringo Bones 

I’ve probably heard the news in The Late Show With Stephen Colbert near the end of September 2018, but it finally happened. The Jon Davis fronted heavy metal quintet that peaked in popularity back in the late 1990s plans to gain fans from the coffee fancier community by launching their own signature brand of coffee called KoRn Koffee. KoRn Koffee was created in partnership with J. Gursey Coffee Roasters. Made entirely with Certified Fair Trade whole beans, KoRn Koffee is a distinct blend of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Guatemalan Huehuetenago and Organic Peru beans mixed with J. Gursey Coffee’s popular Vintage Black Diamond blend. The band themselves personally curated the creation the creation of KoRn Koffee, a process that saw the band members tasting multiple variations before ultimately selecting the perfect roast and blend. 

Given that diversity in the revenue streams has become the name of the game when it comes to music groups maintaining their much-needed bottom line since the 1990s (remember hip-hop impresario P. Diddy?), KoRn Koffee arose for a genuine need for the band’s craving for a fine-tasting way to keep up with their almost 25-year touring and recording schedule. Well, at least this time, KoRn is marketing a much-healthier pick me up than is more often stereotypically associated with your 

typical heavy metal band. 

Can Drinking Coffee Make You Live Longer?

The jury might still be out, but did a recent EU study yielded enough data that hinted that by drinking three cups of coffee a day could make you live longer?

By: Ringo Bones 

When the results of the study got the interest of the so-called mainstream media during the second week of July 2017, coffee drinkers / coffee aficionados around the world finally got the vindication that they need that coffee drinking is a very healthy lifestyle choice. The “convoluted statistics” of the study even manage to suggest that a cup of coffee could extend one’s life expectancy by as much as nine minutes – an apparent declaration harking back to the anti smoking campaign of then US Surgeon General C. Everett Koop perhaps where a single stick of cigarette could shorten your life by as much as three minutes. But is the coffee drinking extending your life expectancy study scientifically valid – or is it just a bunch of baloney? 

The latest of the two studies were done with the participation of almost half a million people from 10 European countries. The research, published in the journal the Annals of Internal Medicine, suggests an extra cup of coffee could lengthen a person’s lifespan – even if it’s decaffeinated. According to the study, researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer and Imperial College London say they have found that drinking more coffee is linked to a lower risk of death – particularly for heart diseases and diseases of the gut. They came to their conclusions after analyzing data of half a million people over the age of 35 from 10 EU countries. During the 16-year duration of the study, the researchers asked the research participants at the beginning of the study on how much coffee they tended to drink and then looked at their deaths over an average of 16 years. 

Based on the published research data, Prof. Sir David Spiegelhalter, from the University of Cambridge, who analyses the public understanding of risk and says that if the estimated reductions in death really were down to coffee, then an extra cup of coffee every day would extend the life of a man by around three months and a woman by around a month on average. But despite the sheer scale of the study in terms of duration and participants, it is by no means perfect and cannot prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that coffee beans were the magic ingredient to a longer lifespan. 

One of the factors that the research study overlooked is on the difference of how much money is earned between the coffee drinking and non coffee drinking participants of the study. The coffee drinking participants of the study on average might have earned much more than their non coffee drinking participants and can afford better doctors and thus might play a factor in the extended lifespan during the 16-year duration of the study. It might also be that people who drank three cups of coffee a day spent more time socializing with people of like interests and thus boosting their well-being. The researchers also found higher coffee-drinking was linked to a higher rate of ovarian cancer in women. 

The most rigorous scientific way to be certain that coffee could make you live longer would be to force thousands of people all over the world to drink it regularly while preventing many thousands of otherwise similar people from ever drinking coffee. Scientists would then have to monitor every other aspect of their life – what else they ate and drank, how much they earned, how much they exercise they did for example. A study this rigorous is never likely to take place anytime soon.

Coffee No Longer A Carcinogen?

Even though this W.H.O. based agency has classified coffee as a possible carcinogen since 1991, does its recent “change of mind” spell good news for coffee drinkers around the world? 

By: Ringo Bones

Since 1991, the International Agency for Research on Cancer or IARC has classified coffee as a Group 2B carcinogen citing that it could significantly increase one’s risk of getting bladder cancer. But during a recent press release back in Wednesday, June 15, 2016, the IARC announced after a result of their ongoing research that there is no conclusive evidence that drinking coffee causes cancer and thus eliminating coffee from their list of "good tasting" carcinogens list. Sadly, the IARC also announced the recent results of their ongoing research that very hot drinks – anything above 85 degrees Celsius – are probably carcinogenic and these include coffee, tea, hot cocoa, etc.   

The International Agency for Research on Cancer or IARC is an intergovernmental agency forming part of the World Health Organization of the United Nations. It was formed back in May 1965 and is headquartered in Lyon, France. The IARC categorizes agents, mixtures and exposures into five categories. Note that the classification is based only on the strength of evidence for carcinogenicity, not on the relative increase of cancer risk due to exposure, or on the amount of exposure necessary to cause cancer. For example, a substance that only very slightly increases the likelihood of cancer and only after long-term exposure to large doses, but the evidence for that slight increase is strong, would be placed in Group 1 even though it does not pose a significant risk in normal use. 

→ Group 1: carcinogenic to humans: There is enough evidence to conclude that it can cause cancer in humans.

→ Group 2A: probably carcinogenic to humans: There is strong evidence that it can cause cancer in humans but at present it is not conclusive.

→ Group 2B: possibly carcinogenic to humans: There is some evidence that it can cause cancer in humans, but at present it is far from conclusive.

→ Group 3: not classifiable as to carcinogenicity in humans: There is no evidence at present that it causes cancer in humans.

→ Group 4: probably not carcinogenic to humans: There is strong evidence that it does not cause cancer in humans. Only one substance – caprolactam – has been both assessed for carcinogenicity by the IARC and placed in this category. 

Can Regularly Drinking Coffee Unclog Your Arteries?

If there’s any truth in the latest South Korea coffee study, can we really unclog our arteries by just drinking 3 to 5 cups of coffee a day? 

By: Ringo Bones 

A recent South Korean study on the health benefits of drinking coffee suggests that drinking 3 to 5 cups of coffee a day can make one avoid having clogged arteries thus reducing risks of getting a heart attack. The findings published in Heart came from a study of 25,138 participants who have had their calcium levels of their coronary arteries measured to find out if there’s any correlation with increased coffee drinking habits.

In recent months, Medical News Today has reported on a number of studies finding potential health benefits in regular coffee consumption. In past study results, moderate coffee consumption has been shown to statistically reduce the risk of multiple sclerosis, endometrial cancer and melanoma skin cancer. 

Despite of this, the study’s authors state that the effect of coffee consumption on cardiovascular health has, so far, remained controversial. A recent meta-analysis of 36 studies demonstrated that moderate coffee consumption was linked to a decreased risk of heart disease and other research has made associations with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. 

In contrast, moderate coffee consumption has also been associated with increased cholesterol levels and hypertension. Due to these inconsistent results, the researchers decided to examine levels of coronary artery calcium – a predictor of coronary heart disease – in connection with coffee consumption.

Specifically, the presence of coronary artery calcium can indicate the early stages of coronary arteriosclerosis, a condition whereby the arteries become clogged up, hardened and narrow. When this occurs, arteries are more susceptible to blood clots that can lead heart attacks and strokes. 

Researchers led by the Kangbuk Samsung Hospital in Seoul, South Korea analyzed participants attending regular health screening, including food frequency questionnaires and CT scanning to determine coronary artery calcium. The participants had an average age of 41 with no signs of heart disease. 

Victoria Taylor, a senior dietician with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) agrees that the findings of the study will require further investigation. “We need to take care when generalizing these results because it is based on the South Korean population, who have a different diet and lifestyle and habits when compared to people in the UK.” she suggests. Last year, the Medical News Today reported on a study suggesting that different people’s coffee drinking habits could be driven by genetics. 

Should Illycafé Compete With Starbucks?

Even though this move makes them a late entrant in the single-serve coffee market, should Ilycafé be competing with Starbucks? 

By: Ringo Bones

To the coffee connoisseur, Illycafé is more known for producing high-end cappuccino and espresso drink capsules that with the currently Starbucks dominated single-serve coffee market. Illcafé now produces filter capsules specifically designed to deliver the famed – but somewhat esoteric to the rest of the world – Illycafé coffee to a wider market place. President and company CEO Andrea Illy was praised for the use of recyclable materials for its espresso filter capsules that sets them apart from their competitors. In the highly competitive single-serve coffee market, Illycafé offers something different and environmentally friendly indeed. 

In Trieste, Italy, the Adriatic port town famed for introducing Europe to coffee, Illycafé got its first start back in 1933 when company founder Francesco Illy developed the modern espresso machine. The company’s story is still being written today by President and CEO Andrea Illy representing a third generation of Illy family leadership. Hopefully, the rest of the world at large will now be enjoying the famed Illycafé coffee with the same convenience as going into a Starbucks shop.