A couple of news stories today from the world of coffee. First up, Bloomberg reports that worldwide coffee production will be down fairly significantly this year (estimated decline approximately 4 million bags). Most of the decline in harvest comes from the big three in production, Brazil, Colombia and Vietnam. The Brazilian harvest is down around 15% from last year, and Colombia has been soaked by huge rains that have wiped out quite a bit of the crop. The harvest there is the lowest it’s been in 35 years. As a result of the lower harvest, prices on the commodity exchange are expected to rise.
On the consumption end of the spectrum, a new study out from Finland (or Suomi if you prefer), suggests that Alzheimer’s disease may be battled by brewing coffee (or at least drinking it.) The study reports:
Those who regularly drank more coffee (three to five cups), once they were around middle-age, had the most positive results. The researchers believe the promising data may have something to do with the way that caffeine acts on the central nervous system, having an overall stimulatory effect. Although tea contains caffeine as well, not enough subjects drank tea to be able to draw the same conclusions.
Science says: Your brain digs coffee. Give it what it needs. So I think I’ll go get myself another cup.
Awesome, Jay! Sounds like a great crew of judges. Hope it’s a terrific competition and experience for everyone!
Hey, don’t forget about the Nicaraguan Barista Championships today and tomorrow. Myself, Rouki Delrue, Scott Conary and Jose Arreola are in town to judge the championship!
http://acen.org.ni
I am told there will be video.