By Penelope A. Domogo, MD
Let’s relax, entako menkapi. (Let’s have coffee.) “Entako menkapi” (Kankanaey) or “Endaw mankapi nen” (Ibaloi) must be the most popular invitation. At least for me. Well, before covid-19. It is not only an invitation for a cup of coffee but an invitation for a package of fellowship, food and drink. “Kape” or “kapi” has become a generic term for any drink (that’s not alcoholic) and all the other good things that go with it. My late husband would be worried. “You are inviting for coffee and yet you didn’t prepare coffee.” And yes, I would serve tea and camote. I am not an expert coffee maker but you cannot go wrong with boiling leaves for tea.
Coffee has a very interesting history, just like cocoa. As a Christian, I believe that all plants and animals were created in the beginning of time. However, their “uses” and “meaning” slowly unfold as we journey through the centuries. Interesting eh. There are many theories on how coffee was discovered to be edible and as a stimulant. It is not surprising that some accounts relate that coffee was discovered when some observant people saw its invigorating effects on birds and goats. And these brave souls experimented on themselves and passed on the knowledge to others who replicated the experiment with the same effect and so on. Centuries of experimental studies, not statistically but very scientific, nonetheless. (Our own accounts in the Cordillera credit many discoveries of indigenous edible and healing plants to their observed effects on animals.)
According to Wikipedia, (I like Wikipedia because it gets information from a lot of sources) coffee traces its roots to Ethiopia (that is in Africa) as far back as the 10th century. But “the earliest credible evidence of either coffee drinking or knowledge of the coffee tree appears in the middle of the 15th century, in Yemen’s Sufi monasteries.” Sufis are Muslim mystics and they used coffee “as an aid to concentration”… “to keep them alert during their nighttime devotions”. You can imagine the intense prayer life in monasteries. Then it spread to Europe and the rest of the world. By the time Magellan circumnavigated the globe in the 16th century, we can be sure that coffee beans were part of those loaded in the galleons. Coffee is not indigenous in the Philippines. “The first coffee tree was introduced in Lipa, Batangas in 1740 by a Spanish Franciscan monk.” (Wikipedia)
Apparently, our climate in the Philippines allows us to grow the four varieties of commercially-viable coffee – Arabica, Liberica (barako), Excelsa and Robusta. In the 1950s, the Philippine government introduced a more disease-resistant coffee variety. I presume that’s where my Dad and some iBesaos started planting coffee for commercial production – in Bakate, around our houses, etc. Coffee growing became so attractive then that some of Dad’s coffee seedlings were planted in the All Saints Mission compound. In the 1960s, we were already harvesting coffee. I and my siblings would join Mom and Dad in an hour trek up to Bakate and gather ripe coffee beans, the start of the tedious coffee processing. Then these would be soaked for some days, then placed in a wooden depulper for depulping after which we would separate the left-over pulp from the beans, the beans would then be dried under the sun, then pounded in the lusong to remove the hull, after which it is winnowed. The beans would then again be spread on the liga-o (rattan winnower) and we would carefully select the whole, evenly colored beans. Dad would then bring these “first class” beans to Manila, only to be downgraded and given a low price. And as more countries produced coffee, prices of coffee beans plunged. However, coffee drinking has become so popular nowadays that world production seems not enough to meet the demand. Government is back to convincing people to plant coffee trees again, sacrificing the rain forest.
What’s with coffee or what is in coffee that makes it so popular? Well, just like the Sufis in ages past, people drink coffee mainly for its stimulating or invigorating effect. In other words, it is a psychoactive drug. And it is legal. Science has discovered that the element that gives coffee its kick is caffeine, although some people would debate this because coffee contains a lot more substances and science has not studied all of these substances. Anyway, what the world knows as of this time is that caffeine is a stimulant – it can make your heart rate beat faster and your breathing faster so even if Captain Ri is not around, you feel like you have seen him. I say “it can” because some people seem to be immune to caffeine and will even drink coffee so they can sleep. But those who are caffeine-sensitive like me should be careful with drinking coffee because it can cause sleeplessness and this stresses our body-mind-spirit. Those who have high blood pressure should also be careful because caffeine can further increase blood pressure. (By the way, some caffeine is also present in regular black tea, not in herbal teas, though.) Caffeine can also react with some medicines. So if you are takings medicine and/or suffering from any ailment like high blood pressure or gastritis or insomnia, then be careful with coffee. Pregnant women also should limit or avoid coffee intake because what you eat and drink will pass on to the baby inside. We don’t want a hyperactive baby in the tummy, besides his or her energy should be reserved for building his or her body parts, not for kicking Mommy’s tummy. In some studies, heavy coffee drinking has been associated with small babies at birth and prolonged pregnancy.
When I say coffee, I mean simply brewed ground real coffee beans, no sugar or creamer or milk. And certainly, I DON’T mean any of those instant coffees or coffee mixes like 3-in-1. We don’t know what the factory placed in those colorful packages. Not many people even read the ingredients. We just assume it is real coffee because it smells like coffee. But take a close look at the ingredients and you will see “artificial flavorings” and a lot more chemicals you can’t pronounce. 3-in-1 coffee mix usually means instant coffee powder with added milk or creamer and sugar. And a lot of other additives. Please read the ingredients. The factory is mastering the science of mimicking natural flavors so let us not be fooled. Added vitamins and minerals do not necessarily add value nor do they necessarily negate the risks of consuming a lot of caffeine, sugar and creamer. These instant mixes had also been through a lot of processes and machines in the factory thus the possibility of contamination with harmful substances. I hope these instant coffee mixes are not in the list of essential goods to be sold in the grocery at this time because they are NOT essential & may even be harmful. Besides, their packaging destroys the environment. Don’t buy decaffeinated coffee either, it’s not real, you don’t know how it was processed. The rule of thumb for food and drink is this – the less processed, the better.
For many, coffee drinking is a good pastime and a happy occasion. Coffee may not give you palpitations but psychologically and emotionally you are invigorated and warmed by just the aroma, just sipping it, or the company you have (which can be yourself) and the happy memories that go with it. There is such a thing as “aroma therapy” so, if you are very caffeine-sensitive, you can brew a cup of coffee and just savor the aroma to get the invigorating effect. (You have all the time to do this now.) And at this point, dear reader, I would like to caution you that caffeine is addicting and so coffee-drinking can be addicting. How much coffee is too much? Depends on you but usual recommendation is don’t go beyond 3 cups a day. We were gifted with these natural beverages to enjoy, not to control us. Let’s have that cup- after lockdown.***
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“Someone will say “I am allowed to do anything.” Yes, but not everything is good for you. I could say that I am allowed to do anything, but I am not going to let anything make me its slave.” 1 Corinthians 6:12.**
