The US consumes a lot of coffee - in fact, the United States has the largest coffee market with an import cost of $5.75 B. In the United States alone the economic impact of coffee exceeds $225 billion and accounts for more than 1.6% of the country’s GDP. The coffee industry produces an estimated 1.7 million US jobs. That translates (in 2017) to 28,460 ( thousand) 60 kilo bags of coffee beans - about 20% of the total world market. Coffee bean imports have dripped slightly in the last year, down just over 4%.... What happens when the international trade in coffee stops? Your answer likely is based on how much coffee you drink. (Tea drinkers get no free pass, all but a tiny amount of tea is imported to the US as well.) One solution is to start now to grow your own alternative to get that caffeine fix. My suggested alternative is Yerba mate The plant is a species of the holly genus (Ilex), with the botanical name Ilex paraguariensis A. St.-Hil., and was named by the French botanist Auguste François César Prouvençal de Saint-Hilaire. Common in South America, Yerba Mate is sold as a dry product, much like loose tea. Here are a couple of examples - Wisdom Natural Yerba Mate Royale Instant Tea 2.82 oz Jar - Swanson Health Products even found at Walmart - https://www.walmart.com/c/kp/yerba-mate-tea -- but all of it is shipped to you, no in-store sales. Can you grow this on your own? (https://www.hunker.com/12525961/can-i-grow-my-own-yerba-mate) Yes, with some effort. The bush will turn to a tree and is an evergreen. Yerba mate is grown mainly in the countries of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina in the subtropical regions. In these areas, the rainfall averages about 65 inches per year, and temperatures are between 60 and 85 degrees F. Yerba mate grows in sandy fine-grained soils with good drainage. For people who live in areas without these conditions, yerba mate is grown as an indoor plant. How to Grow Yerba Mate Yerba mate is tough to propagate for most people. Seeds need to be stratified (put through a cool period) and may take between two months and a year to germinate. Cuttings need to be semi-woody, taken late in summer and treated with a rooting hormone like Rootone. Some gardeners have had success dipping cuttings into a 50-percent acetone and water solution before using rooting hormone. Stick cuttings in a perlite and peat moss mixture. Seeds and cutting are available from mail-order outfits. This appears to be a workable alternative to raising your own coffee plants... Tea production is starting to grow int he US and Canada, but it is a tiny, boutique business (The Complete Guide to Tea Grown in the United States and Canada) Since I live in the frozen North, none of this is available to me - I concentrate on the harvest of wild Rose hips, which are dried and used in the winter for an afternoon 'tea' - one rich in Vitamin C. Still, for you folks that need that kick start in the morning, there are plants that you can grow yourself to replace that can of coffee.....
*shrugs* Coffee does zilch for me, no energy boost, no buzz... dosenteven keep me awake .... nada... so ill just wait till you all are crashing from your caffeine withdrawals & then ill take over the world bwahhahahahaaaaaaaaaa
USCG converted my blood to 50% coffee - The Chiefs secret recipe. I've 10k freeze dried doses put back, but it's still a concern Tea plants will grow in this USDA region, but getting enough going to produce a usable harvest is a different problem.
I have actually given some thought to growing Yerba, although you can grow it out doors in the South. I have also thought about growing citrus, tea, coffee and spices in a greenhouse. You might not ever grow enough for large scale trade, but you could grow enough for yourself and a few favored individuals.
In Texas we have yaupon holly. That's my plan. Foraging Texas: Yaupon Holly The Chinese drink it (to cool inner wind) and for the caffeine. They call it Bitter Nail tea and praise the stimulation of the digestive tract. (Also like coffee) I've tried the Chinese commercial product and initially it tastes like shit black. (Coffee does to the uninitiated as well). Within a week it tastes better. I cannot think of a single additive that would make it better but I am sure a person that likes sweetened coffee could come up with something. Maybe eagle brand milk and honey...... When making my own I followed traditional chinese methods. I cut the branches in the late spring when new growth had turned uniform color with old leaves. I hung these branches by the base and allowed them to dry naturally until the leaves fell off. There are now tiny holes in the waxy coating of the leaves that allow the caffeine to escape when steeping. At this point I deviated from Chinese traditional methods. The Chinese steam the leaves until tender and wrap them around the central stalk of the leaf then dry to a long headless nail shape. I instead tried a few different roasting temps and times that I don't remember. They all helped but none fantastically. I figured I would work out the rest of the details when the troubles came.
Mushroom coffee I have no idea how to make it. You can make tea out of most herbs and plants List of hot drinks - Wikipedia what i will miss is pur'hea tea https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00684OPV2/?tag=survivalmonke-20 Bulk Wholesale Pu-erh Loose Leaf Tea for Sale | Tea Leaves Suppliers I love this golden mellow fermented tea leaf.
For me it's not a long drive down to chicory land so I'm set. Maybe Gator and I could set up a bootleg run?
I have been known to reheat coffee a second day and even reuse the grounds twice , I like it mild/weak. I haven't done it but I've known those that would dry the tea bag and re use it several times that way. Unless there is medicinal value, a drink only needs a bit of flavor for me to enjoy it. Post some cataclysmic event All kinds of measures need to be made to ration the supplies to remind people that things will be thin from now on.
We keep a couple of bricks of Black tea. But when that's gone, its gone. Frankly, loss of being able to make a cuppa falls really far down the worry chain if things get that bad....
@DKR too true and I have a couple of wheels of the fermented tea. It gets better and worth more as it ages. I have canned coconut milk for the same reason. Drinking something warm can go along way to comforting the body under stress.
LOL I keep some cans of Carnation condensed for the same reason - along with a healthy amount of dry, non--instant, non-fat dry milk. Oddly, as I have noted in the past, my Dad and FiL both would drink their coffee with Carnation canned milk, both used the same method to open the can (punched with a screwdriver) I can only assume it was a habit picked up with their time in the Army - in the jungles of the Pacific as they worked their way to the PI and later, Japan.
Been drinking coffee since i was 7-8 and had to have cream and sugar ,even hot chocolate needed cream to cut the heat other wise it burns my tongue.Even powdered creamer works for me so my reserves include lots of powdered creamer, and powdered milk. Neither are a necessity, but they make life easier .
Coffee is how I procrastinate in the mornings until I'm actually awake. It doesn't affect me much, but I can't imagine not having it.
Yes, I've been to his foraging classes. Great guy. You know him as Blast on the forum we met on. He's got a book out now.
I drink coffee, so that others may live. Actually, it's one of my plans, to attempt to grow my own coffee plant(s). I'd like to try tobacco, too (though I've personally been tobacco free, for 14+ years, now). I figure that if you can do one, or both, your product would be in high demand, once the SHTF.
