Chabot Spectator

Issue date: 3/8/07 Section: Points Of View

Media Credit: Graham, Paige

Let's start with a little coffee-ology, or coffee 101 if you may. Most of the coffee you drink is grown within 1,000 miles of the equator.

There are two major species of coffee, Arabica and Robusta, most espresso (that's right, its espresso with an s, not "expresso" like express service straight to hell) is comprised of 97 percent arabica beans for better flavor and 3 percent Robusta for caffeine.

Most supermarket brands have a higher percentage of robusta beans because it is a cheaper production since harvesting the beans is much easier than harvesting arabica beans. Furthermore, robusta contains approximately two times the caffeine as arabica. The downside is that there is much less flavor in robusta beans than there is in arabica beans.

If you have ever had coffee at even the nastiest of coffee shops you have most likely partaken of arabica coffee. In the better shops, and especially at specialty roaster shops, there can be over twenty varieties of coffee each boasting its own flavor and roast darkness.

The earmark of a good coffee is acidity. Acidity means that it hasn't been roasted to burn point, and that it isn't stale when brewed. Acidity is not to be confused with bitterness, sourness, or plain old nastiness. A coffee that makes your mouth dry or pucker your lips should be avoided at all costs!

Now, to the main focus of this: the Chabot College bookstore is selling an absolutely repulsive product called Java Juice. Do not be fooled by the "Black Gold" label that the company has chosen with a hand squeezing an oversized coffee bean. This is definitely a substandard coffee product that makes me embarrassed to have ever tried it.

Even though the packaging boasts that the coffee extract is made exclusively of 100 percent arabica roast, it is some of the most flavorless stuff out there. There is no complexity to the flavor and absolutely no acidity. When you brew it according to the directions there is barely even a scent that can be detected as coffee.

It can be assumed that the process is thus: they first burn the beans to death, then let them sit in a gigantic warehouse for over two weeks which is the common stale point for most coffee, then cold-pressed past the point where all of the coffee's flavor can be extracted.

Overall I must say, if you have to get coffee quickly go across the street to Eon Café, or any other local coffee shop and save yourself the time of brewing this nastiness and the $1.25. If all else fails you can always get coffee at Peet's or Starbucks, and if you're lucky there might be a Tully's nearby. Good luck, and have a good coffee.

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