I believe I tasted espresso for the first time shortly after college. I bought it at Barnie’s Coffee and Tea in Hamilton Place Mall, and I remember two things. First, I didn’t know what a real espresso was before then. I was surprised at my drink’s smallness and lack of milk-like substances. Second, it tasted as if someone had drowned a cigarette in my cup.

I loved it.

You may find a similar earthy flavor in your regular joe, if you buy one of several major brands of ground coffee, not because you oversteeped it or got espresso mixed into your light roast breakfast blend, but because it actually has dirt in it. If not the stuff of earth, then perhaps some coffee byproducts like husks, stems, or leaves.

Researchers at State University of Londrina in Brazil have developed a test for filler material in coffee grounds. “With our test, it is now possible to know with 95 percent accuracy if coffee is pure or has been tampered with, either with corn, barley, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, acai seed, brown sugar or starch syrup,” states Dr. Suzana Lucy Nixdorf. She and her team are concerned that Brazilian coffee shortages could inspire impure coffee grounds. She doesn’t say whether someone with an allergy to one of these fillers would react to the substances in their cup, but if Maxwell House ever looks into stretching their coffee, I hope they investigate that angle thoroughly.

I hope we aren’t also at risk for finding sheep dung in our coffee, now that sensible laws, such as the U.K.’s Adulteration Of Coffee Act 1718, have been repealed. We shouldn’t assume old folk remedies are wise because they are old and folk, so no dung coffee or tea for me, thank you. (via Dave Lull)

Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay