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Hi guys - for Sydney members, a big article in today's Sydney Morning Herald about coffee and health - leave it up to you to form your own opinions!

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kahvia

i found it biased and quite speculative about the negative effects with little reference to high quality research. Most of the work was simply suggestive and based on small samples. I think it could have also made it clearer about factors affecting caffiene content; the author tried to make it sound like you were playing russian roulette with every cup.

askthecoffeeguy

recent comprehensive studies undertaken by myself have suggested that those who do NOT drink coffee are just as likely to be anxious or cranky as those who do drink coffee the difference is however that for coffee drinkers they can usually write their crankiness off to caffeine withdrawal - and this is easily remedied whilst those who do not drink coffee are often at a loss to explain their low self-esteem and general under-achieving mentality, often writing it off to free-floating anxiety, or the malaise of the modern word in which we reside this can result in costly and prolonged professional analysis over many years with little or no discernible results whereas regular coffee drinkers are often spinning to fast to stop and ponder lengthy self-analysis, saving themselves and their loved ones from unnecessary rumination and hardship Pat  

admin

actually, it's pretty funny the number of articles there are saying coffee is either good for you or terrible for you; recent articles i've seen are that coffee's good for preventing liver cancer, and a recent one that it may even help prevent skin cancer!! -A:>

admin

recent article in SMH on Procal's new 'extra frothy milk' - not sure if anyone's tried it? - see: http://www.smh.com.au/news/good-living/a-head-of-the-crowd/2008/01/28/1201369020081.html Pathetic headline 'a head of the crowd' - sub-editor, please! -A:>

askthecoffeeguy

i've tried the 'extra frothy' its certainly a lot better than 'froth top' - a competitor's brand, which, I believe, has added gelatin to make it frothy the 'extra frothy' has added skim milk protein as does the regular procal milk - which has been specifically designed for making coffee the regular (which we use at my work) procal product does the job well and still leaves some room for the barista's own application - whereas the 'extra frothy' is almost (depending upon the experience of the person working the machine) full-proof - which could be a good thing in certain environments where they may be a few folks who work the machine many of my customers would object to the 'extra frothy' by nature though (i know b/c i've asked them) - as they say a skilled barista shouldn't need it! i have thought about using it though at certain times of the year when the milk is hardest to work pat

admin

...and those of you who say the ABC news last night, will have seen that the latest study confirms that coffee is not viewed as a cause of cancer [in spite of the SMH article a week earlier]! -A:>

admin

Recent article from SMH website: A businesswoman was detained and strip-searched by Saudi Arabia's religious police for sitting in a Starbucks coffee shop with an unrelated man, taboo in the country. She said she was holding a business meeting with the man in a branch of Starbucks in Riyadh, in a section reserved for families. Saudi law requires that unrelated men and women be segregated in public. Yara said she was taken to a Riyadh prison, strip-searched and forced to sign a confession to having been caught alone with a unrelated man - an illegal act in the kingdom that enforces a strict Islamic moral code."I had no other choice [but to sign]," the married mother of three said. "I was scared for my life ... I was afraid that they would abuse me or do something to me." She said the religious police, known as the Muttawa, released her several hours later after her husband, Hatim, intervened. Actually - I guess you could argue that anyone drinking coffee at S.Chucks deserves to be locked up!! -A ;D

Lovey

Recent article from SMH website: A businesswoman was detained and strip-searched by Saudi Arabia's religious police for sitting in a Starbucks coffee shop with an unrelated man, taboo in the country. She said she was holding a business meeting with the man in a branch of Starbucks in Riyadh, in a section reserved for families. Saudi law requires that unrelated men and women be segregated in public. Yara said she was taken to a Riyadh prison, strip-searched and forced to sign a confession to having been caught alone with a unrelated man - an illegal act in the kingdom that enforces a strict Islamic moral code."I had no other choice [but to sign]," the married mother of three said. "I was scared for my life ... I was afraid that they would abuse me or do something to me." She said the religious police, known as the Muttawa, released her several hours later after her husband, Hatim, intervened. Actually - I guess you could argue that anyone drinking coffee at S.Chucks deserves to be locked up!! -A ;D

Don't worry, she could always plead insanity at her trial  .

admin

seems Starbucks is struggling in the US - see recent article from the SMH http://business.smh.com.au/testing-times-ahead-as-starbucks-grinds-to-halt/20080215-1siy.html

askthecoffeeguy

I saw an article in the Herald Sun today about how world coffee prices have hit a 10 yr high, and how this price increase is set to hit consumers... it will be interesting to see how this relates to the cost of a cup of coffee here in Melbourne - as traditionally we lag behind the rest of the country in terms of what we charge for a coffee Wonder if the coffee farmers see any profit from the coffee increases? Prob not...

admin

Not sure it's the sort of reading that will give cafes a good name - Cafe rendezvous that would rock a state; but in case you missed it, this is the link to the story in the Australian about the shady dealings of developers and a Wollongong Town planner of ill repute! http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23261638-2702,00.html

nzroaster

I saw an article in the Herald Sun today about how world coffee prices have hit a 10 yr high, and how this price increase is set to hit consumers... it will be interesting to see how this relates to the cost of a cup of coffee here in Melbourne - as traditionally we lag behind the rest of the country in terms of what we charge for a coffee Wonder if the coffee farmers see any profit from the coffee increases? Prob not...

Coffee price rises are cyclic. They have been going up for 10 years and probably have another 5-10 year rise. Then they will start to fall. This is nothing new. Typically the rise and fall of coffee prices affect cheaper beans more than top end beans. Most of my beans have only risen 10c / kilo over the last 5 years, because I am using excellent coffees and ethically produced stuff. Unfortunaly the farmers are not affected too much from the price fluctuation. What happens at the moment is as prices rise, so to does quality. This is because the farmers have have more money to spend on production. The rise in quality drives the price up more as well as allowing smaller farms to become world traders. In the next 5-10 years the market will saturate and there will be less demand for beans. Farmers will drop there prices, and as the price goes down so too will quality. As the quality drops, so to will production from a number of smaller farms. As price drops, so too will demand increase until the cycle bottoms out and starts all over again. What is interesting about this cycle is the following: 1) specialty beans are far less susceptable to the cycle than cheap commercial rubbish. 2) Price fixing schemes like Fair Trade(not starting a seperate debate here) will see less money go to the farmer than should be in a price rising time. That said, coffee prices are all about demand Vs quality. A high quality bean which is sought after will remain high priced at all times. A perfect example of this is the Brazil Daterra. This plantation co-op has proven it is only quality that can position your plantation in the right price bracket. 10 years ago when the last cycle was at its trough they decided to be a major player in the specialty market. The average farmer on these plantations earns 300% the average farming wage in Brazil. They care more, the bean improves, more people want it, it fetches more money. Simple economics of quality.

admin

Hi guys - for Sydney-ites - SMH Good Living did a review of 'top cafes' in Sydney - included places like Bar Coluzzi [great atmosphere but terrible coffee] and Gloria Jeans & Starbucks!! -A :-/

askthecoffeeguy

here's the link here: http://www.smh.com.au/news/good-living/ive-bean-to-paradise/2008/04/07/1207420282238.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

admin

Thanks for that, Pat! -A