Coffea stenophylla: A forgotten bean that could save coffee from extinction
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Re: Coffea stenophylla: A forgotten bean that could save coffee from extinction
#2https://youtu.be/iGL7LtgC_0I?si=V8vXK4QzF_lAfRjB
James Hoffman did an interesting episode on this bean a few years ago, very cool the work being done.
Re: Coffea stenophylla: A forgotten bean that could save coffee from extinction
#3What puzzles me about the reported birth of coffee is that I wouldn't expect that just eating the cherries would give you that much of a caffeine kick to be noticeable. Yes, there's a little bit of caffeine in them, but far more in the "beans" (seeds).
Re: Coffea stenophylla: A forgotten bean that could save coffee from extinction
#4What puzzles me about the reported birth of coffee is that I wouldn't expect that just eating the cherries would give you that much of a caffeine kick to be noticeable. Yes, there's a little bit of caffeine in them, but far more in the "beans" (seeds).
We’re probably used to higher levels of caffeine now, but if we weren’t, maybe chewing the berries would give a noticeable boost.
Kinda like ok you can eat a poppy but then there’s a reason morphine exists. (Sorry for the stupid analogy ;)
Re: Coffea stenophylla: A forgotten bean that could save coffee from extinction
#5Caffeine production is likely difficult in the face of a drier climate. Caffeine is present in the plant as a pesticide. Insects are a much bigger problem in wet climates over dry.
Having grown up in a wet climate (Chicago) but now living in a dry one (Utah) I can say that finding a droubt tolerant species which concerns itself with pesticide production may be difficult. The same water which coffee relies on is the same stuff pests rely on to reproduce. My mother was from Utah, and she always lamented at the small size of her flowers growing up in Chicago. They are much larger in Utah because they can get big without insects eating them.
(I say all this as a point of interest, but I don't drink coffee myself.)
Re: Coffea stenophylla: A forgotten bean that could save coffee from extinction
#6What puzzles me about the reported birth of coffee is that I wouldn't expect that just eating the cherries would give you that much of a caffeine kick to be noticeable. Yes, there's a little bit of caffeine in them, but far more in the "beans" (seeds).
Tea also has noticeably less caffeine than coffee, yet it has been treated as an energizing drink since it was first discovered.
When you don't have any adrenal stimulants in your diet at all, even a small amount is noticable.
Caffeine also has a metabolic half life of roughly 5 hours in the body, if I remember correctly. A few berries might not do much, but surely a handful will be enough.
Re: Coffea stenophylla: A forgotten bean that could save coffee from extinction
#7What puzzles me about the reported birth of coffee is that I wouldn't expect that just eating the cherries would give you that much of a caffeine kick to be noticeable. Yes, there's a little bit of caffeine in them, but far more in the "beans" (seeds).
If you truly detox from caffeine even extremely small amounts will be noticeable. I knew a woman who couldn't eat chocolate because she found the amount of caffeine to be too high. I didn't even know there was caffeine in chocolate.
Re: Coffea stenophylla: A forgotten bean that could save coffee from extinction
#8What puzzles me about the reported birth of coffee is that I wouldn't expect that just eating the cherries would give you that much of a caffeine kick to be noticeable. Yes, there's a little bit of caffeine in them, but far more in the "beans" (seeds).
If you truly detox from caffeine even extremely small amounts will be noticeable. I knew a woman who couldn't eat chocolate because she found the amount of caffeine to be too high. I didn't even know there was caffeine in chocolate.
> I knew a woman who couldn't eat chocolate because she found the amount of caffeine to be too high.
I think the causality went the other way in that case. I've been roughly caffeine free at certain intervals. Never felt anything from chocolate.
Re: Coffea stenophylla: A forgotten bean that could save coffee from extinction
#9What puzzles me about the reported birth of coffee is that I wouldn't expect that just eating the cherries would give you that much of a caffeine kick to be noticeable. Yes, there's a little bit of caffeine in them, but far more in the "beans" (seeds).
Tea also has noticeably less caffeine than coffee, yet it has been treated as an energizing drink since it was first discovered. When you don't have any adrenal stimulants in your diet at all, even a small amount is noticable. Caffeine also has a metabolic half life of roughly 5 hours in the body, if I remember correctly. A few berries might not do much, but surely a handful will be enough.
Tea leaves usually have more caffeine than coffee beans, but tea itself is usually more diluted than coffee.
If you want a jolt, make a matcha shot with the same mass of matcha as you would normally do for coffee ;)
Re: Coffea stenophylla: A forgotten bean that could save coffee from extinction
#10What puzzles me about the reported birth of coffee is that I wouldn't expect that just eating the cherries would give you that much of a caffeine kick to be noticeable. Yes, there's a little bit of caffeine in them, but far more in the "beans" (seeds).
Tea also has noticeably less caffeine than coffee, yet it has been treated as an energizing drink since it was first discovered. When you don't have any adrenal stimulants in your diet at all, even a small amount is noticable. Caffeine also has a metabolic half life of roughly 5 hours in the body, if I remember correctly. A few berries might not do much, but surely a handful will be enough.
Tea bushes use an entirely different metabolic pathway to produce caffeine than coffee bushes.
Here is an article that further describes how we believe caffeine synthesis evolved in multiple land plant lineages.
https://www.pnas.org/content/113/38/10613
Caffeine synthesis involves several enzymes, but the enzyme family (called the SABATH family) involved in the final stages of its synthesis can trace its origins back to the first land plants. These first enzymes are thought to have been very promiscuous (capable of having activity with several molecules), partially contributing to how caffeine synthesis managed to evolve independently multiple times throughout the evolutionary history of land plants.