A new species of coffee plant has made a university top10 list for scientific discoveries and a great big thank you from thousands of miles away.

Decaf lovers, get ready to celebrate. A species of caffeine-free coffee plants has been discovered in Central Africa.

The plant, called Charrier Coffee after a professor who performed coffee research in Africa for some 30 years, is the first species of its kind to be discovered growing in Cameroon. The find was reported by Arizona State University’s International Institute for Species Exploration this week and made its Top 10 new species for 2009 list.

According to ASU’s website, the plant was included on the list because “Cameroon is a center of diversity for the genus Coffea and such wild species are potentially important in breeding programs. In this case the new species could be used for breeding of naturally decaffeinated beans.”

As you may already know, the process for decaffinating coffee beans often involves dousing the beans in chemicals that strip the beans of their caffeinated properties and sometimes their flavor as well. Other, more natural methods, such as The Swiss Water Process Method, can also be used, but no process has yet been found that effectively strips coffee of 100 percent of its caffeine.

The plant joins another naturally decaffeinated Coffea arabica species found by Braziallian researchers in 2004. No word yet on when either type will produce beans available for mass production.

The ASU top 10 list also included some other unusual finds, such as a snake the size of a US quarter and a snail that has the most coils of any found of its kind.

Thank you, Digby!

A great big thank you to Digby Green of New Zealand who sent all of us here at The Coffee Couple our very own Adkafs over the weekend! I had originally told you about the Adkaf in one of my Odds and Ends Thursday posts. It’s a coffee mug holder that prevents your mug from being tipped over. I thought it was really cool, but I didn’t know much about it.

Digby owns a company called Adovationz and designed the Adkaf with the help of his father. It’s made from high-quality, molded plastic that’s designed to hold any D-shaped coffee mug. The Adkaf has a flat base that, when placed on a table or desk, makes it difficult to tip over. Mine came in a handsome Fire Engine red, but Digby also makes them Jet Black, Ice White, and Pink Swirl.

Thanks again, Digby! I have mine holding my coffee mug as I type this. I can be kind of klutzy at times, so I’m sure the Adkaf will save me some future heartache.

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