The Coffee Apocalypse Is Nigh: Brutal Brazilian Drought Forces Starbucks To Pause Purchases

[bananas]

Coffocalypse! Caffeine fiends will be walking around like zombies...

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/04/26/3431215/coffee-apocalypse-drought/

The Coffee Apocalypse Is Nigh: Brutal Brazilian Drought Forces Starbucks To Pause Purchases

By Aviva Shen on April 26, 2014

The worst drought Brazil has seen in fifty years is pushing coffee bean prices to new heights. As a result, Starbucks, the largest coffee company in the world, has halted coffee purchases over the past few weeks, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Brazil is the world’s largest producer of coffee. Arabica coffee futures, the most common bean variety sold in the US, have soared nearly 90 percent over the past year, and reached the highest price in two years on Tuesday. The surge was prompted by estimates that Brazil’s arabica crop, which was decimated by this year’s drought, will miss expectations by 18 percent. Overall, the world’s harvest is expected to fall short of demand by 11 million bags, — meaning coffee lovers may be forced to pay more for their morning cup.

Besides destroying coffee crops, the prolonged drought has wreaked havoc on Brazil’s water and electricity supplies. Now, the nation is bracing for El Niño, which promises an epic downpour that will be even worse for bone-dry coffee plantations. Some regions may lose over a third of their crops.

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What’s more, warming temperatures are exposing arabica beans, which grow at an elevation range of 3,500 to 6,000 feet above sea level, to new pests and diseases that previously would not have been able to survive at those heights. Some agricultural researchers predict that the arabica bean will face extinction in a few decades.

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[Corruption Inc]

1. Too bad humans don't actually require caffeine to survive

The WSJ is a RW propaganda front that's trying to spread fear. They do that everyday as standard business practice in order to manipulate markets, in this case coffee. The overall MSMedia does the same thing, always telling people to prepare to pay more for something.

Guess what, people will just stop buying the stuff when it's gets too expensive.

[eShirl]

3. or buy less

and maybe buy it loose instead of those expensive single serving plastic k-cups

[Delmette]

2. What!!??

This human requires coffee.

[eShirl]

4. would tea do in a pinch?

If I recall correctly, Irish Breakfast Tea has the highest amount of caffeine...

[Delmette]

5. Good to know.

Thank you, I guess it is all about the caffine.

[bananas]

6. The effects of tea are very different from coffee

http://www.lautrethe.com/caffeine-or-theine-what-s-the-difference.htm

Caffeine or theine, what’s the difference?

Caffeine and theine are known for their exciting effects. However the exciting effects of tea are different from those of the coffee.

The coffee excites, the tea stimulates…

The oxidized polyphenols which are contained in the tea give the theine its effect. That means that theine is spread in the blood during 6or 8 hours with in a continuous way.

The caffeine, is spread very quickly producing a peak of intensity which will fall down within 2 or 3 hours. That’s why it is said that tea stimulates and doesn’t excite.

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[Delmette]

7. I'll try it.

Thanks.

[bananas]

9. Absorption graph - you may be tempted to drink more tea to get the same buzz

http://blog.myteabreak.com/2011/05/18/theine/

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According to the UK Tea council, the average daily caffeine consumption should be 300mg.

Compared with other caffeinated drinks such as coffee or coca-cola, Tea contains proportionally less caffeine/theine and its absorption rate is slower, resulting in a more revitalised feeling instead of an agitating effect.



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[bananas]

8. It's not just caffeine, there are related chemicals with different effects

https://coffeefaq.com/site/node/20

Is it true that tea has no caffeine/What is theine, theobromine, etc?
Sun, 2006-01-15 20:38 — Daniel Owen

From "Principles of biochemistry", Horton and al, 1993.

Caffeine is sometimes called "theine" when it's in tea. This is probably due to an ancient misconception that the active constituent is different. Theophylline is present only in trace amounts. It is more diuretic, more toxic and less speedy.

Caffeine
1,3,7-trimethylxanthine

Theophylline
1,3-dimethylxanthine

Theobromine
3,7-dimethylxanthine

Coffee and tea contain caffeine and theophylline, respectively, which are methylated purine derivatives that inhibit cAMP phosphodiesterase. In the presence of these inhibitors, the effects of cAMP, and thus the stimulatory effects of the hormones that lead to its production, are prolonged and intensified.

Theobromine and theophylline are two dimethylxanthines that have two rather than three methyl groups. Theobromine is considerably weaker than caffeine and theophylline, having about one tenth the stimulating effect of either.

Theobromine is found in cocoa products, tea (only in very small amounts) and kola nuts, but is not found in coffee. In cocoa, its concentration is generally about 7 times as great as caffeine. Although, caffeine is relatively scarce in cocoa, its mainly because of theobromine that cocoa is "stimulating".

Theophylline is found in very small amounts in tea, but has a stronger effect on the heart and breathing than caffeine. For this reason it is often the drug of choice in home remedies for treating asthma bronchitis and emphysema. The theophylline found in medicine is made from extracts from coffee or tea.

[eShirl]

10. tea helps me with caffeine withdrawal headaches

which is why I mentioned it

ymmv