The Story of Coffee at Southern Food & Beverage Museum in New Orleans. Do you love coffee and its culture? Then, don’t miss this place.

New Orleans has a lot of interesting places and museums, result of a long and legendary history. But Yareah loves particularly Southern Food & Beverage Museum, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the discovery, and understanding of the food, drink and culture of the South of USA. They opened their doors on June 7, 2008 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Anyway and although the museum is in New Orleans, it celebrates all of the cultures that have come together through the centuries to create the South unique culinary heritage. Really different and of course, tasteful!

They have permanent exhibits and every year, they have different events and shows.

Among its permanent exhibits, we would highlight The Story of Coffee. The exhibition explores Coffee in Louisiana, from those days of steamships that braved the Mississippi river to bring exquisite coffee to the city of New Orleans from the tropics to our present. Because New Orleans remains the first coffee port in the USA and USA is the first coffee consuming nation in the world.

Definitely, if you love coffee, don’t miss this museum, Yareah friends. It’s worth!

Southern Food & Beverage Museum. Riverwalk, 500 Port of Orleans Place Suite 169, New Orleans, LA 70130

“Our culture runs on coffee and gasoline, the first often tasting like the second.” Edward Abbey.

See more in the Museum website http://southernfood.org/

source: http://www.yareah.com / Yareah Magazine / Home> Lifestyle> Food and Beverage / by Isabel del Rio

It all started with the dancing goats of Kaldi, the 9th century Ethiopian goatherd. After eating berries from a certain tree they became so spirited that sleep eluded them all night. So goes the legend about the birth of your cup of coffee bursting with the aroma of arabica beans that reminds you first thing in the morning of all the fine things life has to offer. Folklore also says the Oromo people, an ethnic group of Ethiopia, would customarily plant a coffee tree on the graves of powerful sorcerers. They believed the coffee bush sprang up from tears that the God of Heaven shed on the corpse of a dead sorcerer.

All coffee in the world is grown in the bean belt, between the tropics from the species of an evergreen shrub of the genus Coffea. The Arab traders initially took coffee from Ethiopia to the Middle East and at present countries in South America, Southeast Asia and Africa are responsible for its cultivation. Brazil is the world leader and India stands 5th in global production.

Coffee was used in Sufi monasteries and was banned as a satanic invention in Europe. The first coffee house was opened in Italy in 1645. In 1675, the King of England banned coffee houses claiming people congregated there to conspire against him. With time coffee has been recognised as a human connection, not a luxury or indulgence, an axis around which social conversation revolves.

The kick of caffeine in the coffee lands squarely in the face. With the first few sips the magic begins, then the high and then the crash! The Oatmeal Shop advertising their Caffeine High Mugs say “drinking from one of these is like making out with a Pegasus”.

Now, coffee has many names and you should know what your coffeescope says. If you are an espresso enthusiast you are friendly and adaptive. If mocha, you are fun-loving and creative, iced coffee you’re assertive and outspoken, so on and so forth. While there are several chains of coffee cafes across the world the best known is the Seattle-based Starbucks where the barista with outstretched hand offers a cup of coffee and a lifestyle to match. Its mission is “to inspire and nurture the human spirit, one person, one cup, and one neighbourhood at a time”.

The Coffee Board of India with its tagline of “mystical blends, divine flavours” serves as the guide to our coffee industry. The board’s mascot for is the Coffee Swami. Born in 2006, a true connoisseur of coffee, a store house of coffee wisdom, someone who’s “bean” there, done that, seen it all. Guru of coffee gyan! The international coffee festival 2012 held in Delhi, the centre for the growing coffee culture, had a representation of 17 countries. An international festival where coffee is the only conversation.

As a college student I remember the coffee house in College Street, Kolkata, with its high ceiling and grimy walls and deafening student conversation, a rendezvous for artists, writers, and scholars. The adda sessions inspired many a literary talent and spawned cultural and political movements. So, here’s to the Cup!

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Opinion / by Sudha Devi Nayak / October 03rd, 2013

Barista opened its first coffee lounge in 2000 with headquarter in Okhla, New Delhi. Since then, it has been called as one of the best espresso bars in India. In 2007, Barista was acquired by Lavazza and started knowing as ‘Barista Lavazza’. ‘Barista Coffee Company’ is the leading force behind Barista Lavazza.

After one year of establishment, more than thirty-four percent of Barista’s equity stakes were sold to ‘Tata Coffee’ and the rest of the shares were bought by C Sivasankaran from the ‘Amit Judge-controlled Turner Morrison’ in 2004. Later in 2007, Sivasankaran’s ‘Sterling Group’ bought the stakes from Tata Coffee and in the same year, Barista was sold to the ‘Lavazza’ group. Since then, Barista changed its name to ‘Barista Lavazza’.

Lavazza’s roasting firm, ‘Fresh and Honest’ supplies the coffee beans in Barista Lavazza. At present, Barista Lavazza has more than 225 outlets in India and has also became the fastest Indian brand to reach the top of the phenomenal companies that changed India. It also received the ‘Brand of the Year’ from ‘Times Group of Business’ in 2002. Barista Lavazza is estimated to have annual revenue of 200 crore.

source: http://www.siliconindia.com / Silicon India News / Home> News> Business / by Silicon India / Monday – May 20th, 2013

Bangalore :

Indian coffee estates are moving slowly to gain US’ roasters interest.

As a first step, the Sethuraman Estates located at Magundi in Chikmagalur after showcasing its produce at various speciality coffee events in the US has now become the first Indian coffee estate to get ‘R Grade’ certificate.

‘R Grade’ certificate are given for washed robusta coffees by the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) which is an arm of Speciality Coffee Association of America (SCAA).

GETTING PREMIUM

The SCAA recently tested Sethuraman Estate’s robusta coffee submission at the CQI and found to have all the required quality parameters. This certificate facilitates the estate to sell and charge a high premium in the US .

The certificate and recognition allows Sethuraman Estates to sell its entire submission of 15 tonnes speciality robusta in the US market spread over a year by using the CQI and SCAA logo.

“The ‘single-origin estate-branded’ coffee of Sethuram Estates has so far fetched a premium of over 30 per cent over the domestic market prices. Currently the domestic washed robusta coffees is trading at Rs 145 a kg,” said Nishant R. Gurjer, Managing Partner, Sethuraman Estates.

ENTERING US

“This certificate and recognition will allow us to enter the lucrative US café market as well,” he added.

The Sethuraman estate located at Chikmagalur began in operations in the 1950s. In the US market, the company is marketing estate-branded coffees – the Sitara Parchment Robusta and the Ne Plus Ultra of Robusta coffee brands.

The US, a traditionally arabica-consuming country, is slowly replacing it with robusta coffees and few companies have initiated moves to source from various countries for create blends.

SHIFT TO ROBUSTA

This has led to the Coffee Quality Institute, which used to certify only Arabica coffees, now has introduced separate certification for robusta coffees.

RATINGS

According to the institute’s finding of Sethuraman Estates, the following are the rating with baseline score of 7.14. Aroma 7.58 , flavour 7.42, aftertaste 7.42, acidity 7.83, mouth feel 7.42, balance 7.50, Uniformity 10, clean cup 10 Sweetness 7.42 cupper points 7.58.

Gurjer said, “We entered the US market in 2006 by exporting just two containers (36 tonnes) and so far have reached the level of 8 containers (144 tonnes) of speciality robusta coffees.”

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> Industry> Agri-Biz / by Anil Urs anil.u@thehindu.co.in / Bangalore – June 21st, 2013

When thinking of museums in Cambodia, it’s usually ancient carvings and Khmer sculptures that come to mind. But there’s a new museum in town, and it doesn’t have even the slightest connection to Angkor Wat.

Instead, the Golden Mountain Coffee Museum is dedicated exclusively to celebrating everyone’s favourite pick-me-up: a good old cup of joe.

Perhaps an unexpected addition to Siem Reap’s caffeine scene, the one-month-old museum is owned by Kim Jong Yoon, a Korean coffee lover keen to share his passion with others.
“Most people drink coffee” he states, “But they don’t understand where it comes from, and the process of making it. I want to introduce people to the story behind coffee.”
And that’s exactly what the museum does.

Alongside artistic black and white photographs of all things coffee, the walls of the bright airy museum are covered in colourful displays detailing every step of the journey from bean to brew.

Visitors start by learning about how coffee is grown, selected, and harvested, before moving on to different types of coffee making machines.
Ever wondered how a French press or a vacuum pot actually works? Or perhaps how to brew traditional Turkish coffee? The answers are here.

Other displays give tips on grading, rating and roasting beans, infographics of coffee ingredients, and information on the allegedly many health benefits of drinking coffee.
And yes, ‘hangover cure’ makes the list.

Also on display is Yoon’s personal collection of coffee grinders. “They’re from all over the world” he says proudly. “I’ve always loved coffee, and have been collecting these grinders for years.” After all that learning this visitor was in need of a cup of coffee herself, and as luck would have it Yoon has opened a coffee shop beneath the museum.
“The idea is that visitors will take some time to learn about their favourite drink, and then come downstairs to taste it with a better knowledge of what they’re enjoying” says Yoon. “So far, it is working well.”

Aside from being an obvious addition to a coffee museum, Yoon wanted to re-create the stylish coffee shops he’d loved while living in Bangkok.
“I didn’t find anything like that here in Siem Reap” he says, “so I decided to build it myself.”Excitingly for the coffee addicts – and soon-to-be-experts –Yoon’s café stocks a vast variety of coffee beans from all corners of the globe.

“We offer coffee from eight different countries, including many in Southeast Asia. We import some coffee, but we also have five of our own blends from Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, and of course Cambodia. We roast and package them here so they’re fresh.”
That is right; Golden Mountain has its own purpose built “roasting room”, so that the coffee served up tastes as fresh as possible. Nosy guests will also be pleased to hear that a glass wall allows people to watch the entire process.

When asked about his best coffee, Yoon does not hesitate to recommend the “elephant dung” coffee that he imports from Chiang Rai in northern Thailand.
For the uninitiated, this coffee is made from coffee beans that elephants eat, digest, and then return to nature. They are then retrieved, cleaned, and readied for roasting.
“The elephant coffee doesn’t smell so good” he admits, “But the taste is naturally very sweet.” That may well be true, but at $10 a cup this is a caffeinated treat for the brave of palate and large of wallet.

But there are many other coffees available, including a strong black Dutch coffee served with ice and a little sugar syrup – a perfect choice for a typically humid day.
Yoon also has some interesting plans for his coffee shop.
“At the moment it is low season, but next year when there are more people in Siem Reap I would like to start offering tasting classes. Then my customers can learn even more about coffee.”

The Golden Mountain Coffee Museum is at the front corner of the Charming Tourist City complex, and opens daily from 8am-10pm.

Sourced: The Phnom Penh Post
source: http://www.tourismcambodia.com / Tourism of Cambodia / Home> News> Local Travel News / Saturday – June 27th, 2013