Coffee

Making a superb gourmet coffee all starts with beans. Gourmet coffee beans are mostly Arabica because of their supreme robust flavor and smooth texture. Arabica beans are considered the premium bean in the coffee industry and the demand is high which makes it much pricier than other beans. Arabica coffee beans are the most prominently grown and provide approximately 60% of world coffee production. One reason the beans are so expensive is that the Arabica plant is very sensitive to unfavorable conditions such as frost, pests and disease. What leads people to wait in long, long lines for a cup of gourmet-brewed coffee beverage? Just what are espresso, cappuccino and macchiato?

Espresso: Surprisingly enough, espresso coffee is already one of the most popular coffee drinks in the world. It is also the basis for specialty drinks like Cappuccino. Espresso coffee is regular coffee, brewed and consumed at very concentrated brewing and drinking ratios. It is brewed much faster than regular drip coffee. Since the hot water is quickly forced through the fine grounds it usually only takes between 25 and 30 seconds to brew a cup of espresso.

Cappuccino is a delicious, luxurious coffee beverage that is enjoyed by coffee lovers the world over, combining creamy, frothy texture with distinctive espresso flavor and aroma. Cappuccino is named for the resemblance of its color to the robes of the monks of the Capuchin order. Cappuccino is a cup of espresso coffee with fresh milk and milk foam bubbles burst on the top of cup. The milk foam bubbles burst acts as the insulator and keep the heat of the coffee for a longer time.

A latte is basically a diluted cappuccino with almost entirely steamed milk and a dollop of foam on top. Cafe latte is simply the Italian words for “coffee and milk”. The drink was made using a “moka” (a stovetop coffee machine which makes double-strength coffee, not espresso).

A Mochaccino is simply equal parts cappuccino and chocolate syrup. Some of the finer coffee houses prefer the term Cafe Mocha, using a powdered cocoa mixed with diluted cappuccino and topped with a whipped cream dollop. This is a very popular alternative to a traditional hot chocolate drink, neither as thick nor as sweet.

A Cafe Americano, similar to a long black common in Australia, is a style of coffee made by pulling a double-shot of espresso over hot water . A long black is similar to an which is made by adding hot water to espresso shots, but it retains the texture and is less voluminous, therefore more strongly flavored.

In addition to the hot drinks, there are a wide variety of delicious gourmet iced coffee drinks as well. If you’re looking for one of those milkshake looking drinks, you might want to try a mocha frappuccino, which is basically a cold mochaccino with more calories.

Knowing how to prepare gourmet coffee drinks is a fine art. A barista is someone who makes espresso drinks for a living, and is usually highly trained and has a thorough understanding of how to work with coffee. Similar to a bartender, a barista specializes in making drinks from almost any incarnation of the coffee bean.

Michael Stadneck deems himself to be a self-proclaimed expert when it comes to specialty coffee. As an Italian immigrant, he grew up drinking espresso and cappuccino on a daily basis. If you are contemplating a coffee franchise you have come across a great place to start your research.

Author: Michael Stadneck
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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There was a time when I thought all coffee was basically the same. Sure, you could add milk to it and get what people today call cafe latte, or make it strong and then it was espresso, or just use instant. In fact, instant was what I drank for many years. To me, that was coffee. I did keep some ground coffee for an old percolator I had, just in case guests might want it. Looking back, I truly did not know what I was missing. It wasn’t until a dear friend of mine rejected my stale, generic coffee. I thought he was a bit of a snob, but it made me think. I looked into coffee and it became an exploration and journey that opened up a whole new world for me, the world of delicious, delightful coffee. I learned to differentiate between types and blends and processing of coffee, of roasting and preparation, and of gourmet flavored coffee beans that can add so much to the enjoyment of this most wondrous of beverages.

Once I realized that instant coffee really wasn’t the real thing, no matter what the TV commercials said, I experimented with different ways of brewing coffee. I tried different types of automatic and semi-automatic coffeemakers. I fell in love with the simple elegance of the French press with its simple plunger system but also experimented with a variety of other systems. I initially bought coffee that was already ground, for no other reason than that I had unpleasant childhood memories of mom making me grind coffee beans in an old hand-powered mill. I hated it. However, I found that I was quite particular in the way I liked to have my coffee ground. It had to be just right, not too coarse and not too fine.

I also began to appreciate the many different types of gourmet coffee beans from all over the world. A lot of people still think that coffee is coffee, and it’s either black or with milk or cream, I think coffee is really more like wine-no two types and roasts are the same. After you’ve sampled imported coffee beans from various countries and regions, you begin to appreciate the subtle and not so subtle differences. Likewise, there’s a huge difference between light roasts and dark roasts. Did you know, for example, that lighter roasts actually have more caffeine, and that the way coffee is stored also makes a difference?

These days, coffee has become a hobby and passion for me. I love exploring various flavors. Yes, you can get toasted cinnamon pecan flavored coffee beans, or white chocolate, or raspberry almond, or pralines and cream. Or all sorts of Italian espresso. Or special private blends from specialty coffee places on the web. The Kona blend gourmet beans I get from my favorite place are out of this world. And when I feel adventurous I may sample coffees from Jamaica, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia or Costa Rica. Some of the Central and South American coffee growing countries offer delicious shade grown and organic coffee beans, and I also keep some decaffeinated blends for when I feel like having a cup at night before I go to bed.

Amazingly, gourmet flavored coffee beans aren’t even that expensive. The better supermarkets in my area actually often charge more per pound than the online gourmet discount coffee bean places, without having nearly the same selection and quality.

Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web. Learn more about Gourmet Coffee Beans

Author: Chris Robertson
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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