Making days brighter
September 29th is
celebrated as International Coffee Day.
International Coffee Day is an annual event celebrated to promote the
poplar beverage and to raise awareness of the plight of coffee growers.
Different countries used to have different dates to celebrate in their own
unique ways their National coffee day , but today it is agreed upon as
September 29th as the International Coffee day. Coffee is one of the
most consumed beverage in different forms and finds its flavour in different preparations.
Coffee has a distinct aroma,
astringency and acidity. It has a a unique flavour and is a brewed beverage,
and is prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffea plant . the beans are found in coffee ‘cherries’ which grow
on trees that are cultivated in over 80 countries, primarily in Africa,
Equatorial Latin America. South East
Asia, and Asia, and green unroasted coffee is one of the most traded
commodities in the world.
With a pH of 5- 5.1 coffee is
slightly acidic and can cause abdominal ‘burning’. However its stimulant effect
is because of its caffeine content. Habitual users of coffee experience
headache if the user is deprived of its use
at its regular timings.
I had the occasion to taste the
best coffee the world produces which is believed to be in Ethiopia . Guests are
honoured by maids grounding roasted coffee beans , seated on the floor and
serving coffee across billowing smoke of Frankincense. The energizing effects
of coffee was first described in
Ethiopia , whereas coffee cultivation started in southern Arabia and the
earliest evidence of regular coffee drinking appears in the middle of the
fifteenth century in the Sufi Shrines of Yemen
Historically coffee became used
in native religious ceremonies in East
Africa and Yemen that competed with the Ethiopian Church , where its secular
consumption was banned till the reign of Emperor Menelik II. It was also banned
in Ottoman Turkey in the 17th century and in certain parts of Europe for political reasons
Angelo Mirondo of Turin Italy patented the
machine to make ‘Espresso coffee’ in 1884 .
Water heated to high temperatures is passed under high pressures through
finely ground coffee beans and the flavours and caffeine is more concentrated
with a fizz and foam.
Decaffeination is the process
wherein caffeine is removed and this is
being used in the pharmaceutical industry.
Today Coffee is common currency
and ‘many things happen over coffee’
from discussions to debate and dating. Coffee breaks barriers of caste,
creed, colour, costumes, and helps us arrive at a consensus !
Dr Cherian Koshy
Additional Professor and HOD
Palliative Medicine, Regional
Cancer Centre, Trivandrum
