When was the last time you enjoyed the moment of cork-pulling??
Being in NZ, I have not used my corkscrew for a long long time. Most of the wines here (and in Australia?) are now fitted with metal screws - very user-friendly.
If you are still sticking to cork pulling... you must be buying mainly the European wines; perceived more expensive wines; you are the traditional romantic kind and chances are you are not a volume drinker!
But if you are a cork lover, you might as well know some of the facts: Portugal and Spain combined supplied over 85% of the global natural cork from their cork oak barks. Be warned, up to 10% of the wines with the natural cork can be off flavour due to cork taint as the cork is susceptible to bacteria and molds. Cork is useful in those cases where the red wines need maturing..
In NZ and Australia, people can't wait for such maturation... they drink faster than the wines can even reach puberty!
And since we are talking corks, you might as well know that there are three types of wine corks - the standard one piece cork made from a single piece of bark; the agglomerate cork made up of tiny pieces of cork bound together by glue (and it is shorter) and then the Champagne cork with mushroom shape (bigger head for better grip .... a bit like what God has given to you down there!).
It is time to go beyond the cork ... time to drink the fermented grape juice!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Coffee
Who would read a 323-page thick book entitled "Coffee", if he is not an agronomist, a planter or an academic??
I am none of the above no more. I am only a coffee drinker but this book by Anthony Wild gave me a few surprises on the dark history of the coffee development and its trade.
I shall share with you only those that interest me and some in my own words....
Coffee is the world's most valuable trading commodity after oil.
It is also a perfect example of "Unfair Trade" in this world where the coffee farmers are struggling to survive and the capitalist institutions based on the same commodity flourish. The coffee trade is an inheritance of the colonial system, produced by poor tropical countries and consumed by rich temperate ones...Today the USA is the top consumer of this brew.
Vietnam has now emerged as the World's No 2 top producer of coffee (after Brazil), having come up from their 42nd position in the 1980s. As a result, the trade is blaming Vietnam's large production for the depressed price of this commodity. An excuse? Typical of the masters, they have criticised Vietnam's variety of Robusta as coarse flavoured, low quality (as compared to Arabica) and yet many manufacturers must have used plenty of this Robusta in their blends!! On top of that they are saying that because of the 72 million litres of Agent Orange (2,4,5T herbicide) sprayed during the Vietnam war, the coffee could still be contaiminated with dioxin?!
This reminds me in the 70s when Malaysia was the top 4 producers of cocoa in the world and the trade circle or circus was complaining that the Malaysia cacao was too acidic and therefore of lower quality!. To the Masters, semua tak kena! Just finding excuses to suppress the prices at the farm/country level.
The World Bank has estimated that over 500 million people globally are directly or indirectly involved in the coffee trade. I would say this is an underestimation, particularly with the mushrooming of the Starbucks outlets globally and all the Kopitiams in Bolehland!
The key reason why Starbucks (they project their outlets as the "third place" between home and office) and the other kopitams are doing such good business, is that it is difficult and costly to make good expresso at home.
By the way, "Instant Coffee" is not real coffee... it is a "convenient, sometimes pleasant, caffeinated coffee-style hot beverage." Sounds painful for many (like me) who have to stick to Instants!!
I am none of the above no more. I am only a coffee drinker but this book by Anthony Wild gave me a few surprises on the dark history of the coffee development and its trade.
I shall share with you only those that interest me and some in my own words....
Coffee is the world's most valuable trading commodity after oil.
It is also a perfect example of "Unfair Trade" in this world where the coffee farmers are struggling to survive and the capitalist institutions based on the same commodity flourish. The coffee trade is an inheritance of the colonial system, produced by poor tropical countries and consumed by rich temperate ones...Today the USA is the top consumer of this brew.
Vietnam has now emerged as the World's No 2 top producer of coffee (after Brazil), having come up from their 42nd position in the 1980s. As a result, the trade is blaming Vietnam's large production for the depressed price of this commodity. An excuse? Typical of the masters, they have criticised Vietnam's variety of Robusta as coarse flavoured, low quality (as compared to Arabica) and yet many manufacturers must have used plenty of this Robusta in their blends!! On top of that they are saying that because of the 72 million litres of Agent Orange (2,4,5T herbicide) sprayed during the Vietnam war, the coffee could still be contaiminated with dioxin?!
This reminds me in the 70s when Malaysia was the top 4 producers of cocoa in the world and the trade circle or circus was complaining that the Malaysia cacao was too acidic and therefore of lower quality!. To the Masters, semua tak kena! Just finding excuses to suppress the prices at the farm/country level.
The World Bank has estimated that over 500 million people globally are directly or indirectly involved in the coffee trade. I would say this is an underestimation, particularly with the mushrooming of the Starbucks outlets globally and all the Kopitiams in Bolehland!
The key reason why Starbucks (they project their outlets as the "third place" between home and office) and the other kopitams are doing such good business, is that it is difficult and costly to make good expresso at home.
By the way, "Instant Coffee" is not real coffee... it is a "convenient, sometimes pleasant, caffeinated coffee-style hot beverage." Sounds painful for many (like me) who have to stick to Instants!!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
The Collapsing USA Empire?
Perhaps for a change, I am sharing something "heavy" from my recent readings.... (check my figures if there are wrong).
Some of us have seen the liquidation of the British Empire since 1945. For me, Bolehland's Merdeka was a personal experience (for good or for worse?) and Hong Kong was the last colony to be handed over (with reluctance) to China in 1997.
Are we now witnessing yet another collapse of another Empire, another imperial power?
The present day USA Empire, based mainly on its military dominance and military imperialism, is going bankrupt, with over US$13 trillion in debt. Its annual trade deficit is over $1 trillion.
USA is today the biggest debtor in the world but yet trying to maintain its influence by engaging in wars and military expansion (and imposing its system of government and economic institutions) and hoping to be able to sustain its domestic economy by creating jobs in military supplies, research and innovation.
USA military budget is in the region of $630 billion annually, or more than 50% of the world's total (China's annual budget is in the region of $65 billion).
USA is still maintaining over 761 military bases in over 40 foreign countries deploying over 190,000 troops and personnel in over 46 countries. In Japan alone, the US military support personnel numbers over 99,000 (I guess the bulk of Japan's military budget of $42 billion goes to support these bases in Okinawa). Within US, there are over 4800 military bases and facilities.
USA still has a stockpile of over 9900 deliverable atomic and hydrogen bombs (at its peak of stockpile in 1976, there were 32,500!)
USA is currently the world's biggest supplier of military weapons and munitions (and there are suckers who continue to buy from them - Taiwan is one example).
President Obama in his 2009 speech to the National Defence University in Washington DC reiterated, "Now make no mistake, this nation will maintain our military dominance. We will have the strongest armed forces in the history of the world."
USA, the world policeman? Or USA, the world tyranny (bully) who is hopelessly holding on to its past glories and influence??
I have nothing against Obama or the US but as an observer, I simply want to say in layman's term: when you are poor, you cannot "talk cock" for too long!!
Some of us have seen the liquidation of the British Empire since 1945. For me, Bolehland's Merdeka was a personal experience (for good or for worse?) and Hong Kong was the last colony to be handed over (with reluctance) to China in 1997.
Are we now witnessing yet another collapse of another Empire, another imperial power?
The present day USA Empire, based mainly on its military dominance and military imperialism, is going bankrupt, with over US$13 trillion in debt. Its annual trade deficit is over $1 trillion.
USA is today the biggest debtor in the world but yet trying to maintain its influence by engaging in wars and military expansion (and imposing its system of government and economic institutions) and hoping to be able to sustain its domestic economy by creating jobs in military supplies, research and innovation.
USA military budget is in the region of $630 billion annually, or more than 50% of the world's total (China's annual budget is in the region of $65 billion).
USA is still maintaining over 761 military bases in over 40 foreign countries deploying over 190,000 troops and personnel in over 46 countries. In Japan alone, the US military support personnel numbers over 99,000 (I guess the bulk of Japan's military budget of $42 billion goes to support these bases in Okinawa). Within US, there are over 4800 military bases and facilities.
USA still has a stockpile of over 9900 deliverable atomic and hydrogen bombs (at its peak of stockpile in 1976, there were 32,500!)
USA is currently the world's biggest supplier of military weapons and munitions (and there are suckers who continue to buy from them - Taiwan is one example).
President Obama in his 2009 speech to the National Defence University in Washington DC reiterated, "Now make no mistake, this nation will maintain our military dominance. We will have the strongest armed forces in the history of the world."
USA, the world policeman? Or USA, the world tyranny (bully) who is hopelessly holding on to its past glories and influence??
I have nothing against Obama or the US but as an observer, I simply want to say in layman's term: when you are poor, you cannot "talk cock" for too long!!
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