A caffeine-free coffee plant is finally here

Yes folks, a caffeine-free coffee plant is one of 2009's top 10 new species, announced today by the International Institute for Species Exploration at the University of Arizona. It's the only caffeine-free coffee species to be found in the whole of West Africa.. Marvel at it. Just don't use it to make my morning brew.

Among the top 10 of 2009 is another interesting organism, a bacterium that lives happily in hairspray, dubbed Microbacterium hatanonis. Think about that the next time you're getting ready for a fancy evening out.

The above two species are the only two of the 10 winners that have anything remotely to do with health and nutrition, and they're why we even managed to squeeze the news in at this site. We encourage you to go to the Institute for Species Exploration website and view the whole list. A seahorse the size of a pea, a snail that coils on four different axes (it's a spectacular-looking mess!) and a gigantic palm in Madagascar that "flowers itself to death, producing a huge, spectacular terminal inflorescence with countless flowers. After fruiting, the palm dies and collapses." 

And if you want to nominate your own species for next year, there's a place at the site where you can do so. And no, I don't think H1N1 swine flu virus would qualify.

-- Rosie Mestel

Photo: University of Montpellier II/ François Anthony

Comments

[willrolv]

Why waste money on insipid drek?

[weeklyroast]

Very interesting, especially since so much work goes into the decaffeination process in coffee-producing farms around the world. The real key will be how the resulting coffee tastes (will depend on location of growing).

[TOM]

When this would be available in the Market to buy

Looking forward

Cheers

Ayyan....

[swag]

Given how horribly distasteful the coffea canephora (robusta) and many of its sister species taste (burnt tires, etc.), how exciting is "naturally decaffeinated" when there's every suspicion that this will make us retch when brewed?

Just because a species is in the coffee family, odds are that it will either require massive amounts of chemical processing to taste like its coffea arabica sister -- or it's beyond salvaging as something palatable.

I don't see how this is a plus.