Meet the godfather of caffeine and one of our biggest heroes

Meet the godfather of caffeine and one of our biggest heroes

How do you roast coffee for milk?

It’s impossible to deny just how popular milk-based coffee drinks (such as the flat white, latte, and cappuccino) are in coffee shops around the world. According to 2020 data from Project Café USA, the latte was the most ordered drink in the UK, and the third-most popular beverage in US coffee shops. In line with […]


Brewing at Home and on the Road with Justin Pierce

In this series, we ask coffee professionals how they like to drink their coffee while at home and when traveling. BY TANYA NANETTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Feature photo courtesy of Justin Pierce Coffee professionals tend to spend most of their days brewing coffee. Baristas brew coffee behind the bar for their customers. Roasters brew it to […]


A Recap of The Barista League’s Mystery Coffee Vacation in Colombia

The Barista League’s Mystery Coffee Vacation in Colombia is over, and we’ve got the scoop on all the fun! BY VASILEIA FANARIOTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of Vasileia Fanarioti and Juan Henao During the last week of February, the 2022 Barista League champions gathered in Colombia for this year’s Mystery Coffee Vacation. It was an […]


The Color of Coffee Collective Symposium Returns for Its Second Year

The collective and the nonprofit Koffee with Keith will hold their second annual symposium in Houston on March 10-12. BY J. MARIE CARLANBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Photos courtesy of the Color of Coffee Collective The Color of Coffee Collective (COCC) is an organization that seeks to promote equity and opportunity for people of color in the […]

Meet the godfather of caffeine and one of our biggest heroes

Out Now: The February + March 2023 Issue

The February + March 2023 issue of Barista Magazine features New Zealand coffee & chef champion Sam Low on the cover. Also inside: a special section on branding, understanding trademark law, an interview with Laura Sommers, field reports from Kansas City, Indonesia, and Hong Kong, and much more. BY KENNETH R. OLSONBARISTA MAGAZINE We’re excited […]


Medium-sized farms play an important role in specialty coffee

For many consumers and industry professionals, specialty coffee and direct trade are inextricably linked. Building strong and mutually beneficial working relationships between producers and roasters is often seen as a cornerstone of establishing a truly sustainable supply chain. So with this association between specialty coffee and direct trade, there can be a narrative of smaller-sized […]


Playing Leaderboard, the Arcade-Inspired Coffee Game

We sat down to try the newest version of the game—a fun opportunity to learn more about coffee while vying for cool coffee prizes.  BY TANYA NANETTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos by Tanya Nanetti I’ve never been much into video games, except for the classic arcade games of my youth.   Growing up in the ‘80s meant […]


Why it’s easier for wealthier producers to grow specialty coffee

It takes money – and sometimes a lot – to grow specialty coffee. Producers not only need to continuously maintain and improve quality and yields, but they also have to invest back into their farms. Whether it’s replacing equipment and machinery or planting more resilient varieties, producers need to turn a profit to operate their […]

Meet the godfather of caffeine and one of our biggest heroes

Serving Coffee in the Epicenter

The Turkish specialty-coffee community is coming together to support earthquake relief. BY MICHAEL BUTTERWORTHSPECIAL TO BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE When Niji Coffee went live on Instagram,…


Breaking New Ground: A Sicilian Coffee Plantation, Part 2

The Morettino family has successfully cultivated a coffee plantation right in Sicily. Next on the agenda: making the island an international coffee hub. BY JOSEPH PHELANSPECIAL TO BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Feature photo by Tomas Anton Escobar via Unsplash Editor’s note: Check out part one of this story here. Andrea Morettino’s family has proven that coffee […]


Conflict in the Red Sea: Why coffee roasters need to prepare for shipping delays

Like many other industries, conditions in the coffee supply chain can change quickly, and in turn, have a huge impact on all actors and stakeholders. Price volatility is one of the more pertinent – which is influenced by many factors. These include fluctuations in supply and demand, extreme or unexpected weather events, global economic downturn, […]


U.S. Coffee Championships 2023 Baltimore Qualifiers Results

More than 100 competitors brought their talent to Baltimore to take part in six competitions, and 63 will progress to nationals in April. BY NATE KLOCKBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Photos by Matthew Temple courtesy of the U.S. Coffee Championships Last weekend, my hometown welcomed the U.S. Coffee Championships (USCC) qualifiers with the charm only Baltimore could […]

Meet the godfather of caffeine and one of our biggest heroes

Meet the godfather of caffeine and one of our biggest heroes

minimum dose size?

Jan 31, 2024 |

I use the Hario switch to brew my coffee and am trying to reduce my caffeine consumption. Hence I would like to brew smaller cups of coffee. I am currently using 10g of coffee with 160g of water. (1:16 Ratio) I am wondering if there is a minimum amount of coffee...

Meet the godfather of caffeine and one of our biggest heroes

Remembering Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge

Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge, a German analytical chemist known for discovering the  caffeine and one of our biggest heroes, obviously. 

Runge was born in Germany in 1794 and always had a fascination for science. While studying chemistry at the University of Jena in Germany, his professor J.W. Döbereiner became increasingly impressed with the young student and gave him a packet of coffee beans. Why? Because he said the chemical components of coffee would be worth investigating. 

And boy, were they. He researched the beans for the better part of a year, and discovered caffeine in 1819. We’d like to think that drinking coffee helped him make the discovery.

So when you’re getting your daily energy burst from your morning cup of coffee, be sure to thank Runge! 

The chemical compound of caffeine.

Now, we know that caffeine as the ingredient in coffee that keeps us alert and wake (and is the world’s most widely consumed psychoactive drug). In its purest form, caffeine is a white, bitter organic compound found in many seeds and plants around the tropic or sub-tropic regions of the world. Caffeine is a natural pesticide for these plants and keeps the bugs at bay.


Caffeine seen under a microscope.

Runge earned his doctorate from the University of Berlin and went on to teach Chemistry at the University of Breslau. He then worked for a chemical company, working on the first coal tar dye and the first extraction of quinoline, which led to quinine, which is used to treat malaria. 

Today, raise a mug to the godfather of caffeine himself! Happy Birthday, Friedlieb Runge!

Related: What caffeine looks like under a microscope

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Meet the godfather of caffeine and one of our biggest heroes

Perfect Little Beans

Chinmey Hill Coffee uses specialty-grade beans with zero primary defects (such as black beans or sour beans) and less than five secondary defects (such as broken beans). This is important because primary defects will greatly affect the taste of the coffee. Having zero defects allows the coffee to be the most optimal flavor.

Window for Optimal Flavor

Chimney Hill Coffee ships our coffee the same day it was roasted, so you will receive it before it enters the window of optimal flavor.  This means you’ll never miss the opportunity to enjoy the coffee’s peak flavor.

Coffee Ratings

Coffee undergoes many scoring processes by professionals who achieved their Q Grader certification. Coffee is first graded when it’s green. If there are defects the coffee is determined to be “not-specialty grade”. For those coffees that pass green grading, they are sample roasted and cupped. (Cupping is the official term for critically tasting and scoring coffees. The official cupping form is standard worldwide, and where the 100-point scoring system comes from.) A coffee’s dry fragrance, wet aroma, flavor, aftertaste, body, acidity, balance, and overall impression are taken into consideration while uniformity issues and defects, will lower the overall score.

Specialty Coffee

Specialty coffee, coined by Erna Knutsen in 1974, refers to a coffee that receives a quality grading score of 80 percent or higher. While “premium” or “gourmet” seem like they’re synonymous with “specialty,” they simply are marketing terms with no defined standards. Specialty coffees are grown in specific and ideal micro-climates, and have distinctive and unique flavor profiles, with little to no defects.

Third-Wave Coffee

We’re currently in the third wave of coffee. The first wave of American coffee put pre-ground, vacuum-sealed cans in kitchens across America. The second wave started with the late ‘60s introduction of Peet’s coffee (by Alfred Peet) through the proliferation of Starbucks. The third wave of coffee focuses on origin transparency, nuanced flavors, and artisan roasting. The term “third wave” is synonymous with specialty coffee.

Meet the godfather of caffeine and one of our biggest heroes

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