Coffee or Latte?

I'd likely alternate between the two and minimize the impact of both.

 

Carbon footprint question has been asked and answered, e.g.,
What's the carbon footprint of ... a cup of tea or coffee? | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Not sure about the facts, but agrees with the general finding that grain-fed cattle have a large carbon footprint. About 80% of US milk is grain-fed.

Otherwise, judgment as to "larger" requires that you quantify what you mean by footprint.

FWIW, for heating your own, I switched from a microwave (about 50% efficient, typically) to a "hot shot" electric heater, which in theory is closer to 100% efficient (in converting electricity to useful heat).

For milk, we buy from a local dairy, so we get (largely) grass-fed milk -- delivered in the old-fashioned way, with a truck making dedicated weekly deliveries. Not sure we've come ahead on that, but my family likes it.

Probably the right answer is none of the above.

 

This is probably quite true Tony. That tea drinker feels so good about the tea choice, they use a lot of air conditioning, easily offsetting any savings. The Hummer driver only goes 2000 miles a year on bio diesel conversion (actually met a person like this). a tea drinking prius driver drives a lot:juggle::juggle:

 

I'm lactose intolerant. No latte for me. When coffee is good, I drink it black. When it's not good, I add sweetener (sometimes turbinado sugar, sometimes agave, sometimes maple syrup). But I can no longer tolerate caffeine. So I drink decaf. Since the natural decaffeination methods only remove about 3/4 of the caffeine, I use the chemical carcinogen decaffeinated coffee. I like Soyfee, but they seem to have quit making it. It was (to my taste) the best of the imitation coffees, though mocha Teeccino isn't too bad.

I don't care about the environmental impact of my coffee. I'm sure the impact of one banana is worse than a week's worth of coffee at the rate I drink it. Typically one cup a day. And I ain't giving up bananas.

 

I'm not about to give up coffee - or bananas - anytime soon. I've already given up cow milk, except for a tiny amount of 2% in my definitely caffeine-ated coffee. Whether coffee or milk has the greater 'foodprint', I'm not sure. Coffee's the world's second most traded good, after petroleum, so the impact is significant.

 

Actually, I'd prefer a shot of espresso.

 

Did you read that on the internet?

P.S. I'll have a beer! Should it be can or bottle? Or a keg in the basement?

 

You can trade coffee futures, you can only imagine beer futures. Keg is normally better, and according to some beer is the reason that man first settled down and started civilization.

Having children really is what has a high carbon footprint. Drinking coffee and beer, relatively small impact. Flying to Italy for a cappuccino, that does make things a little more intensive.

 

You don't own beer, you rent it.

 

Meh...make your own beer! But then I guess my home-made beer has some environmental consequences with freight of ingredients and the source it's coming from. I'm not much of a dairy intake person: whether with tea or coffee I like them straight. But one thing that article does not account for is where the actual coffee bean (or tea leaf) is coming from. There's shipment of the actual product, the farming of it (IE, maybe organic has less carbon from less machines), and processing of it. I would imagine that Folgers instant coffee would have a different carbon footprint then civet coffee, for example.

As for beer and civilization...I do think it's neat to see that there is more evidence that beer has been a staple of mankind since he first stopped being nomadic (fossil evidence does show a diet with antibiotics found in beer). Wine is easier to make and is dependant on the environment for good fermentability. Good brewing is just like good cooking: the more experienced and mindful you are, the better product you'll get. One surviving document from George Washington is a beer recipe: it's probably the most vial recipe for beer I've ever seen. It's nothing but molasses and pine cones...even though malted barley and hops were not a common ingredient for colonists, any "beer" was still a staple for adults and children because it was the only potable drink then. Before Pasteur, people did not conceptualize why non-alcoholic beverages didn't keep...it was common for families in colonial times to make a strong ale, a "regular" ale, and a "small" beer for various grades of everyday drinking supplies. It wasn't just the fermented beer that kept a bit longer then non-alcoholic products...but it was the only drink that was boiled while being produced.

And with comercial kegs, you do still own the beer. There is a deposit you put down...but it only covers overhead on the keg expenses themselves. The more people might want to cheat that system, the more deposits will go up in price.

 

Have you ever had any Crappuccino? I'm not willing to go to the source for it but might try some some day.

Another example of a terrible "beer" is Chicha. In the Andean area of Peru it is made from fermented corn. In real rural settings the native women chew the corn to start the process, then it's fermented for a few days. I tried some and it's nasty stuff....we were assured ours wasn't the chewed variety.

The phrase "you can't own beer, only rent it" refers to the beer once you drink it.

 

I'm sorry...

But in life there are some things I simply refuse to evaluate, and the lifetime difference in enviromental impact between a daily coffee choice or a daily latte choice is one of them.

But carry on, for truly I am lost. My usual heathen waking ritual involves making a crass, crude and totally toxic cup of Instant Coffee mixed so strongly I can usually see through the veil of time and space about 1/2 way through the cup. I don't really even think of it as "Coffee" as much as I do, Vile burning Wake Up Water....Multiply this over the course of my lifetime? Well it probably evens out because I'm relatively sure I'm shortening my lifetime with every cup.

Coffee or Latte? I'll get back to you after I pierce the veil....

 

For the last 200 years, most chicha has not been chewed. Did you ever catch Brewmasters on Discovery? It was a short lived series that was basically an ad for Dogfish. Anyways, I thought their episode on chicha was pretty funny. The formula for each episode was to have a problem at the brewery while Sam was away on a trip *to find out more about beers of the world*. Anyways, they just briefly mentioned that early chicha was chewed before Peruvians learned about germenation: IE...you can chew and chew on corn to have enzymes from your saliva break down corn starches to fermentable sugars....or you can just let it sit and sprout, and then it naturally converts to fermentable sugars. So the main problem for Sam in that episode was finding a chicha brewer that actually chewed corn (which it's about 1% of current producers). Then he tried to get all dogfish employees to keep chewing on corn during a normal workday: that struck me as maybe good advertising but really bad productivity. Especially with a brewery, you could just soak the corn in some amylase solution....you'd get a lot more yield and better conversion.

 

As I sit here enjoying my second cup of Starbucks French Roast which I bought as beans at BJ's and ground myself this morning lightened by half anf half contemplating my choice of beers for the evening: Harpoon IPA by the chilled bottle or the Growler of Wachusett Green Monsta Ale I purchased directly from the Brewery I cannot contemplate my carbon footprint on these bare necessities. I can only contemplate one thing. Life is good and I have a lot to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

 

A rural chicha "brewery" is usually some earthenware in the corner of a room in a small adobe house. It's still commonly chewed if you get far enough out into the Andean villages where chicha is made as a sideline in one or 2 room adobe homes, with maybe another side business of an indoor Cui ranch.

 

Maybe that's why it was so nasty: it wasn't chewed.

 

I'm a coffee fan. I love to stop by QT and get a refill on my way to work every morning. I leave the house with a fresh cup of coffee and then refill in Conyers as I pass through on my way from Monroe to Jonesboro. Sometimes, I look forward to that cup more than I probably should.