Velvet Sunrise Coffee Roasters

November 22, 2018March 11, 2019

Health and Coffee – Mycotoxins Myth

The Myth about Mycotoxins in Coffee
Is your morning cup doing you more harm than help? Study after study has been done on the health benefits of coffee, but not everyone agrees that the benefits outweigh the consequences. Some claim that commercial coffee is contaminated with dangerous mycotoxins, which can cause people to perform badly and have a higher risk of disease.

What are Mycotoxins?
Mold, which is a type of fungus, is found almost everywhere in very small quantities. Mold can grow on edible crops and produce by-products called mycotoxins. There are hundreds of different mycotoxins with different functions. For example, mycotoxins are used to create the antibiotic Penicillin. We’re mostly interested in the two mycotoxins that are found most commonly in coffee: Aflatoxin B1 and Ochratoxin A. Aflatoxin B1 is a known carcinogen and is also commonly found in peanuts, corn, tree nuts, and dairy. Ochratoxin A hasn’t been studied as much, but it has been associated with kidney disease, and it is also commonly found in grains. However, it’s important to remember that “the dose makes the poison.”

Mycotoxin Prevention and Regulation
Generally speaking, high moisture content, high humidity, and high temperatures can promote the growth of mold and related toxins. The standards of processing and storing green coffee can reduce the growth of mold by regulating these factors, and studies have found that the roasting process can destroy up to 80% of mycotoxins. Additionally, the FDA has regulated mycotoxins in food and drinks for years, and the amount that they allow is far below the amount you would have to ingest to cause yourself harm. If you’re really worried about mycotoxins, you can buy single origin coffee from regions at a higher elevation that has been wet processed. Higher elevation reduces the chance of a high moisture content, and wet processing discourages the growth of mold in green beans compared to dry processing.

Bottom Line
Mycotoxins are by-products of mold that can be found in many things, including coffee, grains, and tree nuts, but they are only harmful if they’re ingested in large amounts. FDA regulations only allow a very small amount of mycotoxins in food and drinks, and most coffee is processed with the intention of reducing mold growth. If you want to reduce your exposure to mycotoxins in coffee, you can buy high mountain grown single origin coffee that has been wet processed. At the end of the day, the health benefits of coffee outweigh the negatives, so feel free to enjoy your pick-me-up without worry.

May 10, 2018March 11, 2019

Beans and Genes

Beans and Genes

How does coffee really affect our bodies? It turns out the answer is more complicated and unclear than you might expect. Studies upon studies have been done on the long-term health of regular coffee drinkers, with mixed results. Some conclude that daily consumption is linked to a decreased risk of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, or heart disease. Others say that it’s linked to an increased risk of gastrointestinal problems, anemia, or heart disease.

First of all, these studies indicate correlation, not causation. What this means is that regular coffee consumption is linked to these problems and diseases, but it doesn’t necessarily cause them – there could be a third common factor that causes these effects. But one factor that most studies don’t take into account is genes.

Nutrigenomics is the study of the interaction of nutrition and genes. Nutrigenomics says that the health effects that you experience from consuming certain things can be determined in part by your genetic makeup. So let’s apply this to caffeinated coffee and its effect on a person’s risk for heart disease and Parkinson’s.

Heart Disease

A gene called CYP1A2 signals your liver to make one of two enzymes: CYP1A2 fast or CYP1A2 slow. If you have the gene that makes CYP1A2 fast, your liver is able to process and eliminate caffeine quite quickly, leading to a decreased risk of heart disease. If you have the gene that makes CYP1A2 slow, your liver processes and eliminates caffeine more slowly, leading to an increased risk of heart disease.
Isn’t that fascinating? One gene can determine whether your daily coffee habit helps or hinders you.

Parkinson’s

A gene called GRIN2A can affect your nervous system in one of two ways. If the gene acts one way, coffee can decrease your risk of Parkinson’s by up to 60%. If the gene acts another way, coffee doesn’t affect your risk of Parkinson’s.

So can my daily caramel latte be good for me?

The short answer is just what you would expect: no. Even if your genetic makeup is favourable when it comes to the possible health benefits of coffee, those benefits are based on the consumption of black coffee. So have your coffee however you want, but know that most health benefits are negated when you start dressing it up with milk, cream, sugar, and syrups.

February 8, 2018December 19, 2018

about velvet sunrise coffee beans

At Velvet Sunrise Coffee Roasters, we carefully craft our fresh roast coffee beans for wholesale and retail customers. Our single origin coffee sourcing and roast profile development program that puts fine quality espresso and coffee within reach. Wholesale customers take advantage of our flexible roasting program to develop custom roasts and blends, private labels, and toll roasting. Extensive cafe support, consultation and training for staff and management are an integral part of our wholesale program.

Mark Hayward claims his recent transition from civil engineer to full-time coffee roaster was the easiest thing in the world. Not to say that he didn’t enjoy his previous job – in fact, quite the opposite. He loved his job as a project manager. “Every project was like climbing up a mountain. It was difficult getting up there, but once you reached the other side, you got to look back and appreciate all the hard work you had done.” He claims that running a business is essentially the same thing, but on a larger scale. When asked how he became interested in the coffee business, he said “Interested? I’m a fanatic, I’m a raving lunatic about coffee!”

He recollected his first encounter with home roasted coffee beans quite fondly. A woman had been roasting coffee near one of his sites downtown, and the smell was so potent that his curiosity was piqued. Turns out, her boyfriend was a green coffee merchant, a person who specializes in sourcing and importing green coffee beans. He started buying green beans from them, and from then on, he could be found roasting coffee under the exhaust hood every Saturday morning. It wasn’t until twelve years later that he decided to start his own business, Velvet Sunrise. “The difference in taste between freshly roasted coffee beans and the stuff that’s been sitting on a shelf for months was so dramatic that I thought everyone should get a chance to try it,” he said.

Established in 2009, the business has grown and flourished. Small shops and cafes, all the way from Port Perry to Hamilton, serve and sell Velvet Sunrise coffee beans, including The Village Grocer and The Mad Bean. Currently, Mark is roasting thousands of pounds of coffee every week.

Velvet Sunrise opens to the public Tue – Sat from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. While it’s mainly a wholesale business, the inside of the store is warm and welcoming, the walls decorated with a few pieces of art that complement the orange, green, and brown walls. The big roaster hums away in the background, and the air constantly smells of freshly roasted coffee. “I love what I do, and I love the relationships we’ve developed with our customers. It doesn’t even feel like work.”

January 25, 2018February 8, 2018

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January 22, 2018

go cubes – the future of coffee?

Sweet, portable, convenient, affordable, and better than a cup of coffee. These are a few claims made by Nootrobox about Go Cubes. Go Cubes are chewable gummy squares made from cold brew coffee, designed for an on-the-go energy boost when you don’t have time to sit down and sip. Each cube contains 50 mg of caffeine, which is equivalent to about half a cup of coffee. Sounds like a dream come true for busy caffeine addicts, right?

Go Cubes aren’t just coffee, though. They also contain nootropics (supplements that boost cognition) such as L-theanine, vitamins B3, B6, and B12, glucuronolactone, inositol, and folic acid. You can read more about this here. Most of these supplements have been proven to enhance cognitive function, although one review points out that inositol is only effective in much higher doses than Go Cubes contain. L-theanine in particular is a green tea extract that serves to counteract the jitters that some people experience when they have caffeine.

Reviews so far have been mixed. While everyone seems to agree that Go Cubes are convenient and effective, there have been some complaints about the taste. One reviewer said that it was “sweet… but after a couple of chews the taste instantly turned bitter.” Another likened the aftertaste to “drinking nothing but coffee for a week while not brushing your teeth.” Out of the three flavours – pure drip, mocha, and latte – the lighter latte flavour seems to be most popular. However, reviewers have pointed out that it’s very difficult to tell the flavours apart. There’s a mix in each package of four and they’re all varying shades of dark brown. Others complained of upset stomachs and bad coffee breath.

Odd taste aside, most reviewers agreed that the cubes simplified their morning and pre-workout routines, and helped them keep track of their caffeine intake. Are Go Cubes the future of coffee? Maybe not, but they’re certainly another fresh, innovative way to get your fix.

January 4, 2018March 28, 2019

Cafe Pionero Ecuador honey

Café Pionero ensures that small-scale farmers receive fair prices for their coffee. Created by Jenny Zambrano after an earthquake hit her village in 2016, Café Pionero has created direct-trade between remote villages in the Andes Mountains and coffee lovers in Canada. This has resulted in better pay for the farmers, training and education seminars on sustainable farming practices, and employment opportunities – including some of the only paid jobs for women in Jenny’s village. Café Pionero aims to create lasting relationships, ensuring fairly traded coffee year after year.Special coffee,

Crop: 2018
Region: Manabi, Ecuador
Process: Honey
Fragrance: Pear
Tasting notes: Juicy pear, Peach, Mango, Caramel
Price: $16.99 / 400 g