Cup of Coffee

Coffee, while less popular than tea worldwide, is the morning beverage of choice for most Americans. The price we pay per cup can vary dramatically. At the low end is instant. Regular Nescafe instant sells for about $0.72 per oz, which will yield about 15 cups for a cost of about 4.8 cents per cup, plus the cost of water and added condiments. Brewed coffee varies with the price paid per pound of beans/ grounds. One pound of beans or drip grind yields about 60 cups of coffee. If you could buy wholesale, like Starbucks or other mega retailers, you’d pay about $2.75/lb or 4 cents per cup. Maxwell house from a big box retailer goes for around $7.15 (avg), or 11 cents per cup. More expensive brands lift the cup-o-Joe to 25 or even 40 cents each. K-Cups will set you back 80 cents per cup. Dunkin or Starbucks set the high end at $2 to $4 per cup for the convenience/ ambiance.

Coffee beans are the single seed of the fruit of the Coffea plant, an evergreen shrub, that can grow to thirty feet in the wild, but is pruned short to aid harvesting. The plant originated in Africa, but is now largely produced in S America and Asia. In the Bocas area of Panama, the plants grow wild in the jungle, though in the production centers of Brazil, Columbia and Venezuela, monoculture plantations are the norm. It is a spectacular plant to see, laden with fragrant white blossoms or bright cherry-red fruit.

Differences in bean quality stem from two factors – variety and harvest method. The Robusta plant produces almost twice the fruit per tree as the Arabica, making its bean much cheaper, though more bitter and less fragrant. This makes Arabica the choice for home brewers, while Robusta is largely used to produce instant or freeze-dried.

The fruit on a coffea tree branch ripen at different times. In commercial plantations, the beans are all stripped from the branch in one harvest, while more expensive brands will hand-harvest multiple times, taking only the red-ripe fruit.

Once the small fruit are collected, the fruity flesh, which tastes a bit like a plum to me, is removed and the beans are air-dried. In the Panama jungle, the fruit makes a tasty, refreshing snack while working. At this point, the beans are usually bagged and sold to big processors, who will remove the outer shell of the bean in large production facilities. The beans are then resold, either green or roasted.

As with many labor intensive crops, the coffee growers often get paid very little for their efforts, especially the ones who hand- harvest. The “Fair Trade” movement has attempted to improve the situation, but grower prices are still in the $1 per pound range.

The choice is yours –  from 5 cents to 5 dollars, or anywhere in between, for that morning brew. I was surprised to find that tea is generally more expensive per cup. But, that’s a whole ‘nuther story.