WASHINGTON (AP) - When the Ink Spots sang ``I love the java jive and it loves me'' in 1940, they could not have known how right they were.

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The temporary closing of coffee roasting plants in the New Orleans area because of Hurricane Katrina should trim supplies to U.S. consumers as the winter demand season nears, industry members said Wednesday.

Brazil Cup of Excellence competitions and the exemplary qualities that have been awarded. When looking at the list one might be surprised that the winning coffees are all mainly pulped naturals, semi washed or even washed.

For 7 generations the Friele family has imported roasted and sold Brazilian coffees. The have a joint leadership in the very quality oriented Norwegian market, and they also have a line of speciality coffees with single origins and some flavoured coffees. Their main brand has always featured Brazil as a main component in their brand and it has also been used heavily in their advertising.

This October, it was an unforgettable experience participating as a member of the international jury for the 2004 Brazil and Bolivia Cup of Excellence competitions. The sublime flavors and lingering dimension discovered in the coffees presented was inspirational!

Regrettably many people still see coffee as a health risk and this is one of the major factors limiting its consumption in many countries. In fact, recent scientific work points in a very different direction. The overwhelming bulk of evidence shows that moderate coffee drinking is perfectly safe -- and is in no way a health risk. What emerges clearly from recent studies is the fact that coffee is more than caffeine, and that the complexity of its chemical composition is responsible for many beneficial effects now being discovered.

The 6th annual Brazil Cup of Excellence® auction held today broke both the country record and the average price per pound record for a coffee auction. With all of the coffees fetching over $3.50 per pound and the average price per pound over $5.00, all 36 winning Brazilian farmers will walk away with huge premiums. Only 4 of the 36 coffees sold for less than $4.00lb. The top coffee was sold to Maruyama Coffee and The Mikatujuku Group for $13.65lb. This group of small Japanese roasters has previously bought top competition winning coffees.

On November 18th coffee roasters worldwide will compete for the chance to own a winning coffee from the 6th annual Brazil Cup of Excellence competition. These valuable and rare coffee lots will be sold to the highest bidder during an open Internet auction beginning at 9AM Eastern standard time.

Brazil just completed its 4th National Championship when 24 baristas from all over the vast coffee country met in Sao Paulo. It may be commonly known that Brazil both is the largest coffee producer and also has been producing some excellent coffees. What is less known is that Brazil is the second largest coffee consumer, that the coffee bar culture is blooming and that the quality of its baristi is doing the same.

The thirteenth of July coincidentally marked the thirteenth Cup of Excellence auction. During the event, Honduran farmers settled the question of whether they could produce spectacular coffee. The answer was yes, as the winning farmers received a record average price $4.87 per pound during the four-hour Internet auction.