The Coffee Song Trivia Quiz

Answer: Brazil

Brazil produced nearly 4 million tonnes of coffee in 2020, over a third of the world's total. Second in the production stakes was Vietnam, with around 1.5 million tonnes, followed by Colombia and Indonesia. The Asian contribution to production increased dramatically over these three decades - in 1995, Vietnam was in sixth place, behind Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Mexico and Guatemala.

The highest per capita consumption of coffee in 2008 was in Finland, where they consumed 12.0 kg per head.

Answer: Ethiopia

The first clear record of coffee drinking comes from the Sufi monasteries of Yemen in the middle of the 15th century, but the original plants were in the highlands of Ethiopia. Because coffee drinking formed an important part of religious rituals in the region, its use as a secular drink was banned in Ethiopia until early in the 20th century.

In the 17th century, Sultan Murad IV banned coffee and coffeehouses in the Ottoman Empire (using the Islamic ban on intoxicating drinks as a pretext) because coffeehouses were a site of political discussion, much of it critical of the current government. One result of this ban was the emigration of coffee makers to other parts of Europe, where they found a welcoming market for the new product.

Answer: caffeine

While these are all stimulants, the one found in coffee is caffeine, a white crystalline xanthine alkaloid which was first discovered by the German chemist Friedrich Ferdinand Runge in 1819. Caffeine is found in the leaves, fruits and beans of a number of plants, where it acts as a natural pesticide that paralyzes and kills insects feeding on the plants. Coffee beans, tea leaves, guarana, yerba mate, chocolate and soft drinks made from kola beans (such as colas) are common dietary sources of caffeine.

Answer: evergreen shrubs

Coffee beans are actually the seed of the coffee berry, which is produced by several species of evergreen shrubs of the genus Coffea. The original species was C. arabica, and this is still the most highly regarded source of coffee. The other common commercial species is C. canephora (mostly the form called 'robusta'), which is much hardier and resistant to the disease coffee leaf rust which can devastate coffee crops. Other less popular species include C. liberica, excelsa, stenophylla, mauritana and recemosa.

All coffee plants are shrubs which may grow to 5 m (15 ft) if unpruned, but are generally smaller. They have glossy dark green leaves, and clusters of white flowers. They produce berries about 1.5 cm (0.6 in) in diameter. Unripe berries are green, changing to yellow then red, and blacken when dried. Each berry usually contains two seeds.

Answer: selectively picked by hand

In most places, coffee is hand picked, although some places with large flat coffee fields, such as Brazil, do use machines to collect the berries more efficiently. Strip picking means harvesting all the berries at once, and produces a mixture of green and red berries which must be separated to produce optimal results, as red berries produce the best tasting coffee. Usually, strip picked mixtures are used to produce less expensive coffees. Selective picking requires much more time, and is usually used for arabica beans which are intended for more expensive coffees. Only the red berries are chosen from each branch, and the pickers return at 1-2 week intervals to re-harvest the plants. Selective picking can only be done by hand, as it requires judgment as to which berries are to be picked off each branch.

Answer: wet processing involves removing the fruit before drying the beans

In the traditional dry processing method, the berries are dried in the sun after being sorted and cleaned. Modern plants sometimes use machines to speed the drying process. After drying, the berries go to a mill where they are hulled (to remove all the unwanted outer layers), sorted, graded and bagged.

Wet processing starts with sorting the fruit in water: good fruit sinks, unripe or spoiled fruit floats. The skin and some pulp are removed by pressing the fruit through a screen. Then the fruit may be allowed to ferment for 1-2 days so that the remaining pulp can be easily removed or it may be put through a mechanical scrubbing machine. The beans are then dried, and the remaining dried skin layer (called parchment or pergamino) can be removed.

Answer: roasting

Roasting produces dramatic changes in the flavor of the coffee, but also reduces its subsequent shelf life. Some people choose to purchase green beans and do the roasting themselves. Increasingly, green coffee beans are being used in blends because of their supposed health benefits.

Beans are heated for varying lengths of time in the roasting process, depending on their type and on the desired flavor outcome. The longer they roast, the darker they become, and the more the roasting flavor takes over from the subtle differences between beans from different regions and species. Coffee which wants to emphasize the regional variant is lightly roasted, stopping at the first crack stage. Longer heating leads to medium roasting, full roasting and double roasting, at which stage the beans are starting to smoke and virtually none of the original regional flavor remains in the resulting intensely-flavored but light-bodied coffee.

Answer: lowered cholesterol levels

A 2007 study at Baylor College of Medicine showed that the molecules cafestol and kahweol, both found only in coffee beans, may increase cholesterol levels. Drip brewing coffee with paper filters removes most of these molecules from the coffee.

Health risks associated with coffee include: insomnia, anxiety, possible increased cancer risk (because some chemicals in coffee are carcinogenic in test animals), gastrointestinal problems, tooth discoloration, increased blood pressure, iron deficiency anemia and (at the level of 4-7 cups a day during pregnancy) increased risk of stillbirth.

Positive health effects associated with coffee that have been claimed or suggested by research include reduced risk of: gout in men over 40, Alzheimer's disease, dementia, cirrhosis of the liver, gallstone disease, Parkinson's disease, diabetes mellitus type 2, some types of cancer, heart disease and tooth plaque.

The research is hindered by the number of variables involved - different plants, different processing methods, different roasting techniques, different ways of preparing the final brew, different amounts being consumed - which are hard to control in research based on collection of data from interviews and medical records. The jury is still out on the balance between benefits and harmful effects of coffee.

Answer: toxicity of berries for native birds in some areas where the plants have been introduced

Water demand is often cited in discussions about the environmental impact of coffee production. It takes about 140 litres of water to produce a cup of coffee (more if wet processing is used), and in dry countries such as Ethiopia this can be a significant issue. Wet processing also produces waste water, especially with the ferment-and-wash method, although conscientious operators can reduce this by using low-water equipment and settling tanks to clear the water before discharging it.

Traditionally coffee was shade-grown, with the bushes sheltered by the native trees (which coincidentally provided shelter to the workers picking the coffee). Since the middle of the 1970s, however, clearing fields and planting cultivars suited to growing in full sunlight rather than shade has increased, due to the lower production costs involved. This has led to the same environmental problems associated with clearing land for any monoculture.

Answer: Fair Trade

Fair Trade is a movement that aims to help developing countries with significant exports to developed countries in their aim of improved conditions for the local workers and better environmental outcomes through increased use of sustainable practices. In respect of coffee, this means that a Fairtrade certified product should have been shade-grown, selectively hand picked by workers who receive more than the minimum payment (one example in Guatemala involved the payment of $1.26 per pound instead of the previous $3 per day for around 100 pounds), and dry processing where that is possible.

You may pay a bit more, but you get a quality product, and help improve the world.