"Is that decaf? "I attended a function at my son's school and as usual had to check out the desert table to see what all the great domestic parents had brought to share. I fill my plate with a few samples and find myself headed for the much needed coffee. When I approach there are 6-7 standard coffee carafes. I quickly scan them and instinctively reach over and between those marked with a small orange circle and pick up the solid black carafe. As I begin to pour, I hear someone say to the random group mixing coffees "is the orange decaf?" several responses come back, "ya, I think so" - "pretty sure" - "I hope so, that's what I wanted" moments later another person approaches asking the same question. I start thinking to myself, how is it that I, along with several others, have declared orange the official color of decaf? Why orange and why is it so deep in my brain that I didn't even think twice. I knew that by selecting the all black vs the all black with the small orange circle I was getting the dose of caffeine I needed. What if one day someone decided to reverse the brews? Decaf with no mark and regular with the orange mark. What would happen? Would everyone just assume the orange was decaf?

When I returned home I started doing some research. I discovered that the color orange and decaf go all the way back to 1923 when Sanka (derived from the French words words sans caféine "without caffeine")one of the earliest decaffeinated coffees was launched. The Sanka label was a distinct orange and the company gave away orange handles to attach to coffee pots so servers could identify the decaf from the regular. Pretty brilliant don't you think. Over 80's years later orange is still a staple identifier for decaf coffee. Alas, orange was tied to decaf long before I had my first sip! But who still drinks Sanka anyway?


Kristine
Lunch today: 2 side salads from Organic To Go and Honey Dijon chips.