Member-only story
C8H10N402 (CAFFEINE): COFFEE AND GOD, IN THAT ORDER…
I have long wanted to devote some time and reflection to the subject of coffee, that wonderful distillation made from the bean of Coffea arabica (or Coffea robustica) that today fuels the entire industrial powerhouse that is Western Civilisation. To say that coffee is virtually a ‘sacred’ brew is not just underscoring its importance to American industrial dynamism and the value I personally place upon coffee, but reflects a broader, world-wide awareness that has been in circulation since the plant was first discovered in Ethiopia in about the 6th century AD.
One of the problems consequent to this wish is the fact that the very source of my muse (Caffeine) that sparks these periodic expostulations also tends to spin them out on far-flung tangents. Be that as it may, I have been a dedicated devotee of the Coffea Arabica cult since my early and impressionable years as a young bhikku in Berkeley in the late 60s. It is interesting to note that while the effects of coffee have heretofore never been conclusively shown to be severely deleterious (no matter how much the anti-caffeine forces howl), very recent medical studies suggest a number of inconsistent conclusions, among them that too much caffeine can hasten wrinkling and certain other aging processes, but also that coffee in moderation actually has demonstrably positive cardiovascular and antioxydisation…
