Is organic coffee really better than regular coffee?

With the aggravation of environmental pollution and people's attention to health, organic food is becoming more and more popular, and coffee is no exception. more and more coffee beans in the coffee market are sold under the "organic" sign, and the "organic certification" logo appears more and more on various coffee websites, packaging and coffee shop menus. But what is the gold content of "organic"? Is organic coffee really better than ordinary "non-organic" coffee? What is the advantage? How superior is it?... All these problems do not seem to be understood by consumers, or even by sellers. Here to share with you a little bit of personal understanding of organic coffee.

First of all, there are two purposes for the production of organic coffee: one is to protect the environment and achieve sustainable land use and development. The second is to produce healthier and greener products to avoid the impact of chemical pesticide residues on human health. Therefore, the general organic certification products require the soil not to apply pesticides and chemical fertilizers for three consecutive years, but to apply organic fertilizers and to adopt sustainable farming methods. Therefore, organic vegetables and fruits sold in the general market are more expensive because they are healthier and safer. But what about coffee, which is both an agricultural product and a drink?

First of all, it is different from eating vegetables and fruits raw or cooking and stir-frying to eat. The coffee we drink is made of seeds from the coffee fruit, which are baked at a high temperature and then extracted with hot water at about 90 degrees Celsius. Therefore, in terms of health issues such as pesticide residues, the risk of coffee is far lower than that of ordinary crops. Of course, in terms of environmental sustainability, the way organic coffee is grown is very beneficial.

In addition to health and safety issues, a more important point is the taste.

Does "organic" coffee taste better than regular coffee? Not really. For example, we all know that Kenya is famous for coffee and produces a lot of high-quality specialty coffee, but if a coffee farmer in Kenya wants to grow it organically, it's almost impossible. Why?

Because there are molds that threaten the death of coffee trees almost all over Kenya, pesticides must be used frequently to ensure productivity, but if organic cultivation is necessary to eliminate pesticides, the only way is to plant new trees that can resist the mold. But here comes the problem: the typical blackcurrant and blueberry aromas that make Kenya famous, as well as bright acidity and rich flavor are the result of its unique tree species and unique combination of soil and water. So the price of coffee in Kenya is also significantly higher than that in neighboring Tanzania. But if you change the new tree species, you obviously can't make the same excellent taste. So it's up to the consumer to decide whether to focus on the result or the way.

Another special case is that not only coffee marked with "organic certification" is organic coffee. In Ethiopia, the coffee sovereign country, and Yemen, the ancient coffee producer, farmers use the most primitive "organic" cultivation because they have no money to buy pesticides and fertilizers. However, the "skinny" Ethiopian beans and the "ugly" Yemeni beans have their own outstanding taste unparalleled in the world. Coffee lovers almost know Ethiopia's jasmine and citrus lemon flavor and fresh and smooth taste. And Yemen is famous for its classic chocolate sweetness and red wine aroma, but-- it's important to emphasize that there are almost no "organic certified" coffee in these two countries. Why? If you want to get organic certification, you need not only cumbersome procedures for application and inspection, but also a lot of money for farmers. If you don't even have the money to buy pesticides and fertilizers to buy food, how can you buy organic certification?! Therefore, it is not clear whether coffee marked with "organic certification" is really better than coffee without a label.

In the final analysis, coffee is a drink, and good coffee is used to please taste buds, not to show off, to show off, to show Of course, "organic certification" is not so useless, at least it is more specific and objective than our Chinese translation of "boutique coffee" (specialty coffee, which is originally an explanation of the particularity of coffee, but has been quoted by many merchants for its own "first grade", "second grade", "third grade" or even "qualified products"). And From the point of view of the sustainable development of the environment and the long-term interests of mankind, "organic cultivation" is also worth advocating. It would be wonderful to produce organic and delicious products that can be certified to brown farmers free of charge. Haha!