The jolt we need

摘要

The introduction 4of coffee into Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries has been proposed as an important contributory factor to the rush of creativity and energy that spawned the scientific and industrial revolutions. How ironic, then, that the world's second favourite liquid after oil is under threat from climate change caused by industrial pollution. The coffee plant is inordinately fussy about its growing conditions. It needs a "goldilocks" combination of temperature and rainfall to produce the high quality beans that most of us take for granted.