Coffee

To those who may not be aware, caffeine content in coffee acts as s stimulant and it increases our alertness and keeps us awake when consumed in substantial quantities. For those who wish to enjoy good coffee but want to avoid consuming caffeine, decaf of decaffeinated coffee is the obvious choice. Bear in mind that decaf coffee is by no means less flavorful or inferior in quality to the normal coffee. With certain flavor additives, decaf flavored coffee can be extremely delicious.

It is possible to extract caffeine from the bean without affecting its flavor, aroma and taste. But using chemical solvents for this purpose can create health problems over a period of time for coffee drinkers. Instead it is safer to remove the compound is by immersing the coffee beans in hot water.

But different companies adopt different methods and it is necessary for you to find out the method used to ensure that you are getting correctly processed coffee beans. Proper infusion of flavors and appropriate methods of removal of caffeine will make decaf coffee as a healthy and refreshing beverage to drink.

There are four major process methods used to remove caffeine from coffee -

o Conventional decaffeination.
o Natural decaffeination using chemical Ethyl Acetate.
o Water decaffeination.
o Carbon Dioxide decaffeination.

Each of these methods removes the caffeine from coffee but there are significant differences in the taste of the decaffeinated coffee.

Conventional decaffeination uses the chemical Methylene Chloride – Although Methylene Chloride levels in the coffee bean are reduced to residual levels that are legally safe, many health-conscious consumers still consider these residues unacceptable. Many connoisseurs of coffee complain that the flavor of coffee decaffeinated by Methylene Chloride method is somewhat insipid.

Ethyl Acetate decaffeinated coffee is generally referred to as Naturally Decaffeinated coffee because Ethyl Acetate occurs naturally in orange rinds and other fruits. Ethyl Acetate used in decaffeination is a man-made chemical. The decaffeination process is essentially the same as in conventional Methylene Chloride decaffeination, except Ethyl Acetate replaces Methylene Chloride as the solvent. The practice to label the beans naturally decaffeinated makes it a powerful marketing tool.

The advantage of the water decaffeination over conventional methods is that no chemicals are used. Most people seem to agree that the water process produces a slightly more flavorful cup of coffee – though water process coffee is more expensive. Water decaffeination is specially favored by those who are sensitive to health and environmental issues.

CO2 decaffeination produces the most flavorful decaffeinated coffee. There are no harmful chemicals or by-products of the process. But the fact is the setting up of a CO2 decaffeination plant is quite high and as such this process is primarily used to decaffeinate large volumes of commercial grade coffee. In view of the growing market for a safe and flavorful decaffeinated product, CO2 decaffeinated specialty grade coffees are popular and widely available.

In order to retain maximum flavor during the decaffeination process, it is necessary to use green coffee beans. This may mean paying more for the coffee, but the extra cost is worth it. It is a fact that there are many shelf brands of decaffeinated coffee available but genuine coffee lovers will find more satisfaction in the beans that have been carefully processed exclusively for decaf lovers.

Samehta is a Copywriter of Flavored coffee, flavored tea.She written many articles in various topics such as decaffeinated flavored coffee. For more information visit: http://capellaflavordrops.com.

Author: Samehtas S Capellas
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Gourmet coffee is the latest craze, and if you have ever sipped a premium gourmet cup of Joe, then I am sure that you know why. Gourmet coffee is primarily made of Arabica coffee beans, which are the higher-quality choice in coffee beans on the market. Gourmet coffee is also often called specialty coffee, and you will find it crafted by a variety of roasters, including artisan roasters and micro-roasters.

To find out more about how gourmet coffee is made, it is important to note the roasting process. The longer that your coffee beans are roasted, the darker they will become in color. The long roasting process will also cause a higher shrink rate, meaning that it will take more of the coffee beans to make 1 pound. This does vary depending on whether or not it is a light or dark roast.

A light roast is roasted for a shorter period of time, so it will not be as dark, and it will not shrink as much. A darker roast will be roasted for a longer period of time to develop smokier and deeper flavors, so the beans will shrink more as a result. Therefore, if you have a dark roasted gourmet coffee, then it will take more coffee beans to make a pound. When gourmet coffee is roasted, it will normally shrink 20%, and a darker roast can shrink as much as 25%. Lightly roasted coffees have the potential to shrink up to 11% during the roasting process.

In truth, most specialty coffee is under roasted to cut costs in production. Gourmet coffee sales have shown that many customers do prefer fully roasted coffee, but many roasters still do under roast their coffee beans to save money in the process. When coffee is being roasted, it does have an optimum degree to which it is roasted, which will bring out the best characteristics and flavor profile for each individual coffee bean. This is the part of the process that will offer you the best taste and aroma, so it is an important aspect of roasting.

You will be able to tell if your coffee is under roasted because it will have a flat and green flavor with astringent undertones. If your coffee is over roasted, then it will taste more burnt and smoky as a result. When a specialty coffee is over roasted, it also has the detrimental effect of losing all of its unique flavors from the region that it came from. Any coffee connoisseur will be able to tell you the specific flavor characteristics of a coffee based on the region in which it was grown in, but when a gourmet coffee is over roasted, then the ashy and charcoal flavors will overpower those unique flavor characteristics so that it is difficult to set apart.

For the best tasting specialty coffee, take the time to research the roaster so that you can trust that your coffee beans will be roasted to perfection. It truly is the only way to enjoy a delicious gourmet cup of Joe!

For the widest variety of Bodum French Presses, check out Mark Ramos’ website, The Coffee Bump.

Author: Mark Ramos
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Researchers have shown that coffee plants are sprayed with more pesticides than any other commercial agriculture crop.  These days, many consumers are demanding that the food they consume is organic.  Yet many people don’t realize that the coffee they are drinking contains many harmful substances.  Conventional coffee is routinely doused with pesticides, herbicides, and synthetic fertilizers.  These chemicals work their way into the beans themselves and, ultimately into your body.

Luckily, these days the consumer has a choice between buying the conventional, pesticide-ridden coffee, or an organic alternative.  Organic certifying organizations do a terrific job of ensuring that farmers meet strict guidelines when they grow coffee on their farms.  

Consumers can buy a wide range of organic coffee products, including beans from over 40 different countries in the world to decaffeinated coffee, to flavored and instant coffees.  Products that carry the USDA Organic seal need to contain at least 95% organic ingredients.  Most of them are in fact 100%, since coffee is a complete, natural product.  If you are purchasing an organic bottled coffee drink, everything in it must be certified organic, including the sugar, dairy products, etc.   

Organic coffee is already thriving in the world.  It is estimated that North America alone consumes 85% of the coffee produced throughout the world.  In 2008, 81 million pounds of organic coffee was imported into the United States and Canada.  This may sound like a lot, but it only accounts for 3% of the total coffee consumed in North America.  The trend is on the rise though, as organic coffee is one of the fastest growing segments in the beverage industry.  It has a phenomenal 35% growth rate, which far outpaces that of conventional coffee.  This impressive growth has definitely caught the attention of coffee shops and supermarkets, where organic coffee is steadily pushing conventional coffee off the shelves.

Is organic coffee worth the extra cost?  

The answer is definitely yes.  Coffee prices are so deflated these days that it only costs a few pennies to make a cup of coffee at home.  You can buy a pack of quality organic coffee for only one or two bucks more than regular coffee these days and that works out to about a cent increase per cup.  Everybody wins when you purchase organic coffee.  You get better coffee without the pesticides.  The farmer gets a little more income to support his family, and the ground the coffee is grown on isn’t sprayed with toxic chemicals.  Now that is definitely worth a penny more per cup.

Electric coffee machines are great for making organic coffee. Use a single serve coffee maker for making a perfect cup of organic coffee.

Author: Chad Damon
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Coffee is one of those drinks you either love or hate.  There seems to be no middle -ground, and as such coffee lovers everywhere are always looking for ways to improve the taste of their brew by testing different methods and techniques in search of the perfect cup of coffee.

So where do you start in working out how to achieve a richer tasting, more flavorsome cup of coffee every time?  Well, you could just throw caution-to-the-wind and see where it takes you, or quite simply you can invest in a machine that is proven to improve the taste of your coffee.

If you love coffee and haven’t already got one, you need a coffee grinder…

The reason is quite simple, only by grinding your own coffee can you hope to achieve the perfect cup.  Why?  Well, you might be surprised to learn that even expensive store bought coffee grounds are likely to already be past their best.  This is because during the packaging process the grounds have already by exposed to air and therefore will have started to oxidize, potentially already running the coffee grounds you’ve just bought.  

Whereas, if you were to purchase actual coffee beans and mill them yourself the air exposure is dramatically reduced due to the beans outer-shell safely preserving the contents.

Now before you rush-down to your nearest coffee retailer, there are a few different types of grinders that we need to discuss before making a decision.

Crusher:

One of the cheapest types of grinders is the ‘crusher’, and as the name implies attempts to squash the coffee beans to produce the grounds.  Although the crusher grinder is a step-in-the-right-direction for making coffee, it’s major disadvantage is that the coffee grounds produced are irregular and therefore not ideal for making coffee.

Blade:

The blade grinder is a popular choice and slices the coffee beans just like a food mixer would do.  The main problem with the blade grinder is again, they produce an irregular ground, not to mention they can be extremely noisy.

Burr:

The burr grinder is considered one of the best ways to grind coffee.  Normally there are two steel plates that can be adjusted at differing heights to grind the coffee to a uniform texture, making them ideal for making coffee.  However, the standard flat base burr grinders do suffer from rotating very fast.  Without having control over this heat build-up can pass directly to the bean and potentially spoil the end product, making the coffee too bitter or even burnt to the taste.

Fortunately the answer is to invest in a conical burr mill.  These operate in the same way but are able to rotate at much slower speeds, thereby preserving the great taste and aroma of the coffee whilst producing a truly even grind every time.  Although a conical grinder is the most expensive, the investment for any real coffee lover is certainly worth every penny comes highly recommended.

For coffee lovers everywhere looking for a website that is dedicated to conical burr coffee grinders that includes our must read review of the popular Krups coffee grinder KM7000 make sure you visit us today.

Author: Robert Funge
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Coffee bean direct is your best choice. You probably don’t think about it much but the chances are, the coffee beans used in your morning cup o’ joe have passed through as many as five or six different middlemen on their way to your mug. All that passing from hand to hand adds to the price and subtracts from the quality of your cup. There’s a better way:  you can do what I do and buy your coffee bean direct from the source!

Coffee bean direct from the source costs less

Did you know that by buying direct can actually cost less than buying coffee at the supermarket? All those middlemen certainly don’t work for free. You can actually save money by buying it in bulk direct from the source. By “bulk” I mean at least 10 to 25 pounds at a time – this is where you start to see significant price discounts.

Coffee bean direct from the source gives you higher quality and better taste

If you’re buying ground coffee from a supermarket, did you know that those coffee beans were ground months ago, and most of the flavor has already faded away? And even if you’re buying whole bean, that coffee has waited in several warehouses for who knows how long before it was placed on the supermarket shelf. When you buy your coffee bean direct from the distributor, you know that the coffee is fresh, and you’ll be able to taste and smell the difference.

Tips for buying

* Do some research: what kind of coffee do you like? Dark, smoky, and robust – or light, crip, and mild? Did you like that Sumatra you tried at the local coffee shop? A quick search for “Sumatra” on the internet will yield distributors who sell Sumatra coffee to the public. Contact the distributor closest to you and start enjoying fresher Sumatra right away!

* Coffee is at its peak flavor right after the beans have been roasted. In some areas you might be able to find a good coffee roaster in your area, but even if you can’t find one nearby you can always find one on the internet and have the coffee shipped to you.

* Don’t buy more coffee than you can consume within one month – coffee beans begin to lose their flavor after this time.

* For many coffee aficionados, going through 10 to 25 pounds of coffee in a month is no problem, but if you think this might be too much for you consider sharing an order with a friend.

* Coffee tastes its best when brewed right after grinding, so buy your beans whole and invest in a good coffee grinder – unless you know it was ground very recently and you plan to consume it soon. (Still, nothing beats grinding it at home and brewing immediately after!)

So if you really savor the aroma and taste of a great cup of java, wait until you try it at its peak – right after roasting – when you buy it direct from a distributor. Give it a try today! 

Damen Choy, editor of Coffee Bean Direct Coffee-Bean-Direct.com provides timely information about the coffee market, as well as tips and ideas for coffee lovers and their friends. Visit Coffee Direct to know how coffee bean direct roasters ship coffee to you directly at wholesale pricing.

Author: Damen Choy
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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