Does Coffee Have To Be "organic And Specialty Grade" Freshly Ground Beans?

[livesimply]

Speciality grade refers to various ways of judging coffee quality -varying by country- but really only means it's not commodity grade. Grading coffee has little to do with pesticide use and is generally based on type of processing, uniformity of size, size, elevation, and cupping score (a way of quantifying flavour quality).

You can have organic non-specialty but you can also have coffee that is not "certified organic " but that uses little or no chemical pesticides. Organic certification is expensive and many small farms can simply not afford it as they're barely making money as is. If you've got a local toaster that is very transparent and actually knows the people who grow their coffee you can talk to them about pesticide use on those farms.

Thanks—very helpful. Think I'll look for a local roaster.

 

[Elast1c]

According to Peat's work I think theoretically any brand at an altitude should work to be a better vitamin. I can't be 100% that it was that specific brand as much as just the brand change. The allergic response was pretty pronounced, weeping inflammation on my hand and halted when I tried an "organic high altitude" brand that wasn't the bullet proof as it seemed too expensive. Nothing else in my diet changed. Milk gave indegestion but no hives or headache after that. Another normal selection could be enough but I do notice the taste was milder and general selections have a stronger aftertaste and for me predictably cause irritation. My hand has healed now and Im not self concious about it at this point

 

[inthedark]

All coffees must be pulped (fruit and parchment removed) and dried prior to packaging shipping. Methods vary greatly around the the world but many methods available to small farms with little money involve simple sun drying ("full natural" process) which can often lead to varying levels of fermentation. These processes can be controlled but often are not. I'd imagine there could be a pretty variable level of moisture left as well. The varying ferments do add different flavours, varying from a unpleasant yogurty sour flavour to -in more controlled variations and with a lighter roast- interesting and subtle berry flavours. What I don't know is whether these drying and fermentation variations could effect fungal or bacterial levels in roasted coffee, and therefore have side effects for health.

What I do know is that "high grown" coffee is a classification used by a few central and maybe South American countries that are less likely to use extended drying methods that lead to longer fermentation, and countries such as Guatemala and Colombia typically have better infrastructure in place to enable farmers to produce coffee that is better washed.

 

[inthedark]

This is only an educated guess, but I think for the most part more expensive coffees use more sophisticated processing methods that likely yield less ferment, organic or non. If you think you may be reacting to fungus in coffee then try avoiding "natural process"and "dry process" coffees. Though it's unlikely supermarket brands will indicate the type of processing.

 

[Herbie]

In the east west healing interviews with Ray he said that he buys what tastes good and mentioned something about the coffee grounds binding elements to them so the coffee that comes out is clean I think the context was about if it was a problem drinking coffee which used tap water and it wasn’t.

 

[livesimply]

Thanks—very helpful. Think I'll look for a local roaster.

Found a local roaster about 30 mins. away which I'll check out next week. Thanks everyone for your suggestions.