Coffee and Colors

It’s springtime and the play of colors is astounding. Colors play such an integral role in our lives and our experiences and emotions. Coffee is a color too and a much-loved drink by many. The origins of coffee, types including the expensive ones and raising awareness about coffee sourcing and growing practices is so important. Strangely, some random combinations, like coffee and colors get inextricably linked and many such ‘combis’ in life weave and bind us together but also teach us so much.  Heard about the ketchup and mustard theory? Well, join me on this podcast as I share more on coffee, colors and fun anecdotes over the years.   

Transcript

Coffee and Colors 

Hello Everyone and welcome to the podcast of the Ordinary Maverick. This is Ajey, your host, an ordinary Maverick sharing real life thoughts and experiences and Maverick tips. If you haven’t hit the subscribe button yet, please do so, and you’ll not miss another episode.

I love coffee. My love affair with coffee started several decades back and I must say it’s been quite the affair to remember! Ha ha…. I guess I was drinking coffee since long, you know the instant kind of coffee? Comes in a bottle and you take a spoon and mix it with hot water or milk. I grew up with the instant coffee fix and it’s like when you know nothing else then that’s what you measure against quality…right? And of course, I loved the freshly prepared ‘filter coffee’ which had its own distinctive taste prepared in the age-old tradition of Southern India and was absolutely delicious to sip and enjoy. 

And then I got to experience the Blue Mountain coffee when we lived in Jamaica. Well…that was the turning point of my coffee journey and I have never looked back! Absolutely amazing coffee, brewed in the traditional way in a French press. Just the aroma of the coffee was enough to transport you into bliss. Through the years, we’ve been fortunate to live in countries and regions that are known for their coffee production. Papua New Guinea, Jamaica, Southern Africa with countries like Kenya, Tanzania, then there’s Ethiopia and of course my country, India. And with the coffee business booming, one can get coffees from around the world in any city today. 

Of course, the mushrooming of cafés and coffee shops globally has been another interesting phenomenon over the last 2-3 decades. Coffee shop chains providing great coffee, of course, but also the ambience of just being able to relax, catch up, do your own work…almost all of them have free wifi, and then some are linked with bookshops that adds another dimension to the whole experience. I mean, this evolution of the coffee business has been quite amazing, I must say. And you know what, I’ve spoken earlier about creating your own brand, remember? Well, I still recall my trips to Jabalpur, a city in Northern Central India that has the main India Coffee House establishment. Their signature dishes and the dress code of the servers is something that stays with you even after just one visit and of course, their coffee is unforgettable.

Ever thought about the origins of coffee? The earliest records and stories come from the 15th and 16th century and originate from Ethiopia. From where it spread to the Middle East, South India, Persia, Turkey, Northern Africa, Italy and the rest of Europe making its way into the Americas somewhere in the 17th century. The different kinds of coffee beans, roasts as well as the flavors that get uniquely defined based on where the coffee is grown is just fascinating. All this talk about coffees, reminds me of the time almost 15 years back when my wife came back from a trip to Indonesia and brought packets of the world’s most expensive coffee.  She had gone to a farm where this coffee was available. At the time, we weren’t that aware about this coffee. It’s the Civet coffee. Also called Luwark coffee and it’s made from the poop of the civet cat. Yes, you heard it right….The civet cats eat the flesh of the ripe coffee berries and the natural enzymes in the cat’s stomach enhance the bean’s flavour giving it a unique taste. During digestion, the enzymes and gastric juices enter the skin of the coffee cherries and break down the proteins further and this changes the aroma of the coffee which is then further impacted by roasting the beans.

Unfortunately, awareness about this coffee is limited. And the high price, I mean, this coffee sells for between $ 100 and $ 1,100 per kg depending on its origins. And this has resulted in forcefully caging the wild civets often in inhumane conditions and force feeding them coffee cherries. There is a worldwide campaign to raise awareness and stop the cruelty to these animals. I often think about how we become so blinded by profit that we forget humanity. The civet cat and its link to Luwark coffee has resulted in the poor animal being caged, taken from the wild and enduring horrific conditions. There are some plantations that still follow the traditional way of collecting the faeces of the wild civet cats from the forests and these coffees are labelled accordingly and are even more expensive.  But a lot of the labelling is fake and can’t be trusted. Something for all coffee lovers to be aware of and ensure that we are not inadvertently contributing to cruelty to animals and non-ethical treatment. In fact, the Luwark coffee hasn’t scored that high with all the assessments d one over the years and the Speciality Coffee Association of America actually drew the conclusion that it tastes bad. The coffee actually sells more for its mysterious origins and that it has a unique taste. As a coffee lover, I don’t think I can drink a cup of this coffee without thinking of the poor civet cat whose life has been taken away. Let’s spread as much awareness as we can and end this practice of farming and caging the wild civet for coffee forever. There are many special coffees that are brewed through different processes that does not entail any cruelty to animals.

Apart from the origins and the different varieties and brews of coffee, coffee also comes in different colors. Now what do I mean by that? You see, ‘coffee’ by itself is a color…somewhat associated with shades of brown. But the coffee beans start off as green, and then turn bright red or yellow…yes…they are beautiful shades of red, yellow and depending on how one wants the coffee to ultimately taste, one plucks these beans looking at their color..ensuring of course that they are not too ripe. And then the processing starts. After which the coffee bean is roasted. Now again here come the different shades and colors, light brown, medium, dark brown and so on. An interesting fact is that the coffee beans are never roasted entirely black. Black means they are burnt and that won’t work. So dark roast coffees are just really roasted an intense dark brown…never black.

And of course, once brewed, the coffee connoisseurs can tell from just looking at the brewed coffee and its color how the taste will be! Well, I am no coffee connoisseur, but I can do a bit of that too. Recently, we’ve been trying a few brews and I must say, just by looking at the colors of the brewed coffee, I almost know what the taste will be like! Just goes to show, how much of a coffee lover I am turning out to be as well as a ‘fussy coffee person’. And it’s not just me..but our family too. My wife and girls also love coffee and we’ve had many a ‘coffee convo’…in case you’re wondering what that is…it’s short for conversation..ha ha. We are all particular about our coffees and just cannot drink ‘anything’. In fact during the lockdown period, we struggled to get our coffees….and the one thing we asked a friend to bring from us when he was returning was ….No guesses there! It was coffee. In fact, it became somewhat of a tradition, we just got coffee from wherever we traveled and were enthusiastic about trying out different brews but our favorites remain the Ethiopian coffee, South American, Blue mountain, Papua new Guinea and South India coffees.

Well, speaking of colors…ever thought about how much our lives are linked with colors? The Indian sub-continent just celebrated the festival of colors, known as Holi last week. There are many stories about how this celebration came about but bottom line is that it’s fun and there’s color everywhere. And with colours comes the feeling of happiness, joy and just a certain elation that’s indescribable. I mean think about how intricately our moods are linked with colors. When the sky is overcast, dark, we feel down too….and when the sun is shining, skies are blue, our spirits are automatically lifted. The time we spent living in Africa, each day, I was amazed by the colors in the African skies. Stunning is the word. Clear blues, red, orange, I mean all shades during sunsets and sunrises. And the fantastic inky blue-black skies in the night. I will never forget the skies during our camping trips and sleeping outdoors. One is enveloped in a curtain of twinkling lights and wakes up to the most amazing play of blues, yellows, orange as the sun rises.

I looked it up and the definition of color is ‘the property possessed by an object of producing different sensations on the eye as the way it reflects or emits light’. Isaac Newton’s prism experiments that gave the world the scientific understanding of color. There’s also the prism effect of experiences and I’ve spoken about that in another podcast. And it’s the prism effect that produces the spectrum of colors. The study of colors is known as chromatics and is a fascinating field. It’s all about light and the interactions of light with matter and its effect. Of course, one also has color psychology which is the study of hues as a determinant of human behaviour. This is another fascinating area and how color influences our perceptions and emotions and it’s so dependent on age, gender, culture etc. it’s also used heavily in marketing and branding, here’s an interesting point….Red and yellow, as a combination, can stimulate hunger. Now think about it, which major fast food chain has red and yellow as its colors? It’s McDonald’s …ha ha.. and also Burger king. This is called the ‘ketchup and mustard’ theory and linked with the success of fast food restaurants.

Well, fellow Mavericks, if any of you out there are thinking of starting a food business….please note the ‘ketchup and mustard’ theory and plan accordingly! Ha ha.

In a similar way, blue light helps people to feel relaxed, calm. And in fact, in 2000, the city of Glasgow installed blue street lighting in some neighbourhoods and subsequently reported the anecdotal finding of reduced crime in these areas. Colors are used in cartography or map design and in art therapy, I mean the list is endless. We are surrounded by colors and they impact on all aspects of our lives.

I’ve always reflected on these combinations in life that weave and bind us together. Look out for them. And take that moment of mindfulness ….you know, linked with the first component in the Maverick formula to reflect on the combi. And its effect on you, your moods, emotions, your life.

I have to say, having the perfectly brewed coffee with the right color does wonders to the start of my day especially if combined with blue skies. Although, the dark sky also has its own beauty. All depends on how one looks at it, right?

Do keep writing your comments and sharing feedback at ‘theordinarymaverick@gmail.com’ and follow me on Instagram #theordinarymaverick.  I love hearing from you. This is Ajey, signing off and wishing you have an amazing day and a super amazing year! Keep well. 

This podcast series was put together as a team effort from the Bhardwaj family.  Concept, design, title, researchers and reviewers: Ajey, Sanjana, Avantika and Niharika Bhardwaj; Script– Sanjana; Cover design – Niharika. All rights reserved.