Althouse: Wake up and don't smell the coffee.

June 21, 2015

Wake up and don't smell the coffee.

"If roasters our size knew what this was, they would be super proactive... There needs to be hyper-awareness among people roasting and grinding coffee."

12 comments:

Eric the Fruit Bat said...: I find it curious that the old-fashioned (or historical, if you prefer) Munich dunkel style of lager is practically nonexistent, but my wife buys "medium roast" coffee and it's burnt by my lights. I want to blame the widespread popularity of over-roasted coffee on everybody smoking cigarettes but that won't do it, anymore.

Anyway, it's been a long time since I've heard anyone say "mad as a hatter."

Maybe it's high time we all start saying "wheezy as a coffee roaster."; 6/21/15, 9:12 AM
khesanh0802 said...: Actual reporting! I am impressed. It seems a problem easily solved.; 6/21/15, 9:14 AM
Lewis Wetzel said...: Baristas are the lumberjacks of our age.
Check out the beard.; 6/21/15, 9:33 AM
Unknown said...: I'm roasting one pound a week in a hacked popcorn popper in my garage - should I be concerned?; 6/21/15, 9:53 AM
Unknown said...: cue study five years down the road, "breathing coffee roast dust is good for you, cures cancer and will stop climate warming change."; 6/21/15, 10:00 AM
Michael The Magnificent said...: That reminds me. Last Saturday I brewed a batch of Doppelbock and a batch of Oktoberfest (yes, a bit late, given that it should have been brewed in March). I need to check the gravity on both of them to see if it's time for their diacetyl rest, so the yeast can consume the diacetyl.; 6/21/15, 10:15 AM
robinintn said...: That article is very short on actual information, and long on alarming-sounding nothing. Was coffee roasting just invented? Where are the hoards of ill and dyng roasters? Higher than the limits proposed by the CDC? Color me unalarmed.; 6/21/15, 12:09 PM
kcom said...: Having your lungs destroyed in your 30s in not a good thing. It bears looking into. But perhaps it's more complicated and other factors are contributing to those cases. There don't seem to be scores of coffee roasters dropping like flies since the invention of the industry.; 6/21/15, 1:15 PM
lemondog said...: Go Green!

.....or maybe not; 6/21/15, 2:05 PM
dbp said...: Key bit: "Tests at two midsized Wisconsin roasteries that agreed to let the news organization analyze the air in their production areas found diacetyl levels from unflavored roasted coffee that exceeded safety standards proposed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

So businesses are supposed to know about and comply with standards that are not currently in force?; 6/21/15, 5:27 PM
joeknows said...: You can't be too careful Journal Sentinel. Good job. Maybe you can take it a step further and do an expose of "Overwhelming proof that printer ink gives you Cancer".

See more at: http://www.blindbatnews.com/2012/06/overwhelming-proof-that-printer-ink-gives-you-cancer/13897#sthash.Gjs0CEbx.dpuf; 6/21/15, 10:18 PM
mishu said...: Other than keeping diacetyl levels low through ventilation, this article offers nothing else to protect the worker? Would filter masks help? It seems like it's the nature of the job that the air would be more concentrated at times? Any other ideas guys?; 6/21/15, 10:28 PM