Saturday, October 17, 2009

What am I drinking?


I was flipping through an issue of Wired magazine in GCU's library the other day and thought an article about coffee was cool. And disgusting. So here are the ingredients:

  • Water: hot H2O brings out the flavor/oils from the beans. A decent cup is about 98% water and 2% soluble plant matter *Note: Coffee newbies pee it out faster than those who drink regularly and build up resistance, much like other beverages of choice such as Pabst or Colt 45s
  • Ethylphenol: creates tar-like, medicinal odor. Components of cockroach alarm pheromones, chemical signals that warn the colony of danger
  • Quinic acid: gives coffee slightly sour flavor
  • Dicaffeoylquinic acid: allows the cells to be protected from free-radical damage. Meaning....coffee is a good source of antioxidants. Hooray!
  • Dimethyl Disulfide: product of roasting the green coffee beans; one of the compounds that gives human feces its odor. Yum.
  • Acetyl Methyl Carbinol: gives a rich, buttery taste. I can deal with that.
  • Putrescine: produced when E. coli bacteria in meat breaks down amino acids. That's nice.
  • Trigonelline: a molecule of niacin with a methyl group attached. Breaks down into pyridines to give coffee it's sweet, earthy taste. It also prevents tooth-eating bacterium from attaching to teeth.
  • Niacin (Vitamin B): From a methyl group. It breaks down from trigonelline.

So you ask what's the story morning glory? There's your answer.

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