Coffee

The flavor of the coffee bean starts with the plant and the climate where it is grown. But what happens to the bean from picking until it is poured into your cup also has a lot to do with the flavor and the extent that you enjoy the end result or experience disappointment.

Roasting – What it Does

Roasting the coffee beans brings out the vibrant flavor of the beans. The heat from the process causes the coffee bean’s carbohydrates and fats to transform into aromatic oils. Roasting changes the flavor of the beans from something that is unpleasant into the wonderful coffee flavor that millions of people around the world enjoy every day.

There are also different roasting times that coffee beans experience. Each produces a different type of coffee. Light roast produces a light flavor, medium roast is sweeter and more full-bodied, and dark roast produces a deep taste that is fairly spicy and sweet.

The longest roasting time produces the really dark coffee. In those beans the natural sugar content of the beans will start to carbonize and caramelize, resulting in a smoky and full flavor.

Buying the Best Coffee Beans

Most coffee plants rely on the climate of the region where they are planted, and this produces the distinctive flavor found in the coffee cherries. For the very best beans, buy arabica coffee that is considered gourmet. Robusta beans have more caffeine, less flavor and are cheaper to make.

Your Own Coffee Grinder – A Must

People who want the best flavor in their coffee use coffee grinders. If you’d like to get the most flavor and nutritional benefit you can, buy whole coffee beans and grind your own as you use them. In order to enjoy the full flavor of the coffee, you should grind only the amount you intend to use just before brewing.

Keeping the Coffee Beans Fresh

For the best flavor you should purchase whole coffee beans from specialty shops only. After making your purchase, the whole beans should be used within a week of purchase in order to enjoy the full flavor of the coffee. Coffee beans are like sponges, soaking up the flavor of anything in their environment, which is why you want to make sure they are sealed in a air-tight container and used up within seven to ten days.

Coffee drinkers also advise against buying pre-ground coffee since pre-grinding diminishes the coffee flavor and aroma. By purchasing whole beans, grinding the fresh coffee beans and making only enough that you will drink immediately you are preparing a beautiful, intense flavor and aroma.

It wasn’t long ago that people had to depend on percolators and ground coffee. Hardly anyone had their own grinder, and few people had their own percolator. Percolators were for the church potluck or the local coffee shop.

Today we are spoiled to have available the best coffee beans for a reasonable price. In many kitchens there is a roaster, or at least a grinder and coffee maker, and often an espresso machine. This is a great time in history for coffee lovers everywhere.

Carol Stack has written numerous articles about coffee and coffee-related topics. She lives in the United States with her husband, three children, and various dogs and cats. Carol and her sister Barbara have a coffee site devoted to coffee lovers who are searching for a better cup of coffee. You can visit it at: http://www.coffeeloversportal.com

Author: Carol Stack
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Digital economy, mobile technology

African coffees tend towards the exotic in flavors as compared to the more well know Latin American coffees. These flavors include what’s described as fruity and floral with high acidity and medium body. Let’s review several of the more popular African coffee growing countries.

Kenya

The king of African coffees, washed Arabica Kenya coffee, is considered overall to be of the highest quality on the continent as a result of years and years of production, very high standards, superior milling facilities and coffee experts. Located on the east coast of Africa, Kenya’s Mombasa port has been a natural focal point of commerce for ages. The famous Rift Valley of Central Kenya where most of the people live. A fertile land from the tropical coasts, semi-desert north and the savannahs in the south, Kenya’s agricultural products, primarily tea and coffee, contribute to half of the country’s exports.

The primary coffee growing regions are located around Mt. Kenya, just north of Nairobi, the country’s capital. This region has two distinct rainy seasons; the first is April-June which results in what’s called “fly crop” and the second is October-December with its increased rain produces the “main crop.”

Characteristics include a high acidity, full body, intense floral and fruity flavors.

Growing regions include: Meru, Kirinyaga, Muranga, Nyeri, Embu and several others.

Ethiopia

By most accounts considered the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia is located in northeast corner of Africa just north of Kenya, next to Somalia, Djibouti and Sudan. It is interesting to note that Ethiopia is the leading coffee consuming country in Africa, consuming almost half their annual production.

Ethiopian coffee is a prized coffee for its very unique flavors, most often a result of a combination of soil, terrain, weather and often the natural drying process of the coffee cherries in contrast to the washed processing of most Arabia coffees considered high quality Specialty varieties.

Characteristics depending on the variety may include: balanced medium body and acidity with winey sweet or floral flavors and blueberry notes.

The most popular varieties in the United States are Harar, Yirgacheffe and Sidamo.

Tanzania

The mainland is primarily a savannah plateau lying east of the famous Rift Valley, Tanzania includes the island of Zanzibar. In the north lie Mount Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti National Park. With its tropical climate people are concentrated on the coastal region and in the north. Coffee is one of its main exports. Tanzania has several regions, north, south and west where coffee growing is found.

These Arabica coffees are mostly of the washed and fully washed varieties with the harvest season extending from April through December.

Characteristics include a balanced body with bright acidity and flavor. In the south we find more fruity flavors.

Popular varieties include Kilamanjaro, Makambako, Songea and Bukoa.

Burundi

This very small, but densely populated country borders Tanzania, Congo and Rwanda with a mountainous high plateau and tropical climate. A very poor country, most of its population survive through subsistence agriculture. Its coffee and tea earn 90% of its export dollars.

Primarily a washed Arabica variety, the harvest season extends from February through June.

Characteristics include a full body and bright acidity, typical of east African coffees. A long way from the ocean, processed coffee must be transported across land through Tanzania to the port of Dar es Salaam or through Kenya to Mombasa.

Zambia

Like Burundi, Zambia is a landlocked country lying just north of Zimbabwe, but actually bordering seven countries in all. With its tropical climate and high savannah plateau, Zambia has a long rainy season which goes from November through May.

Although primarily an Agrarian country, its economy is dependent on mining Copper, but reserves are declining. As a result, the government is promoting agriculture and coffee production is increasing. The harvest season extends from October through March producing a full-bodied washed Arabica coffee with the general qualities of an average African variety.

Raising quality is a priority and government experimental farms are helping to improve growing, harvesting and production techniques that are being shared with the coffee growing community.

Malawi

Another landlocked coffee growing country located at the southern end of the famous Rift Valley between Zambia and Tanzania, Malawi produces a small but good quality washed Arabica coffee harvest.

With a subtropical climate, its economy is primarily agricultural with 90% of the population living in rural communities. Although the country is a ward of the IMF and World Bank, independent coffee, tea, sugar and tobacco farmers are producing the main exports.

Coffee production is difficult as irrigation is required as a result of recent drought conditions and unpredictable rainfall. This situation restricts coffee production resulting in a small but quality coffee crop each year.

The washed Arabica beans are processed as fully washed coffee harvested from April through September producing a coffee of medium acidity and light body.

Author, Steve Josephs is CEO of Intellidon Marketing Solutions, whose family office coffee service business, the Great American Coffee Company, http://www.GourmetOfficeCoffee.com, is a premier Specialty coffee roaster and office coffee service provider in the Denver, Colorado metropolitan business community.

Copyright 2009 The Great American Coffee Company and Intellidon Marketing Solutions, Inc.

All rights reserved. Reprints are permissible when this Copyright statement and website link are included.

Author: Steve Josephs
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Digital economy, mobile technology

Coffee Around the World

Coffee plants are grown throughout the world in areas that have moderate rainfall and nearly year round sunlight. Areas such as Africa, Arabia, South America and Southern Asia are well suited for growing coffee and are notable for their large plantations. Other tropical regions such as Hawaii and Jamaica are known for smaller yields of high quality beans. There are only two different species of coffee beans that are used to make beverages, Arabica and Robusta. Arabica is considered the better tasting coffee and accounts for about 75 percent of the world’s coffee production, but it is more difficult and expensive to grow. Robusta, is less expensive to grow and can thrive in areas that Arabica cannot be grown, but it is considered to have an inferior “bitter” flavor.

Mexico & Central America

Mexico began exporting coffee in the late 1800s. The majority of coffee produced in Mexico is exported to the United States. Unlike many regions of the world, most of the beans grown in Mexico are grown not on large plantations, but small family operated farms. Although smaller than Mexico, Guatemala is also famous for its coffee production. First cultivated in the nineteenth century by German immigrants, Guatemala is considered to produce some of the finest quality coffee beans due to the optimal climate and excellent soil that is found on the southern slopes of the country’s volcanoes. Most other Central American countries also produce at least some coffee including Ecuador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Jamaica must also be mentioned as the famous Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is produced there, and is considered by many to be one of the finest coffees in the world.

South America

The climate and geography of South America, especially the mountainous areas, lends itself well to coffee production. There are a number of regions in South America known for their coffee plantations. Brazil is one of the leading producers of coffee in the world producing over twenty million bags of raw coffee beans a year. The country has a long history of coffee production and has grown and exported Arabica coffee beans since the 1700s. Both Venezuela and Columbia are also major South American producers of coffee. Although not as well know as the traditional South American coffee producers, Peru is home to numerous coffee plantations, and is becoming known as a producer of both “generic” and high quality coffee beans.

Asia

Vietnam has become a major producer of coffee in the last few decades, producing nearly six million bags of coffee a year. The climate of Vietnam is not optimal for the more delicate Arabica coffee plants, so the majority of the coffee grown in the country is the hardier Robusta variety. The large islands of Java and Sumatra also both produce significant quantities of Robusta at their lower elevations and Arabica can be successfully grown at the higher elevations of the volcanoes and mountains. Other coffee growing areas in Asia include Timor, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and India.

Africa

Africa was the original home of Arabica coffee plants, and a number of African countries still produce coffee for export. Ethiopia, considered by many to be the first site that coffee was cultivated produces around four million bags of Arabica coffee beans each year. Coffee exports are particularly important to Ethiopia and other poor African countries and brings in much needed hard currency. Africa is a large continent and due to the variety of climates and geographical features, it includes many different types of coffee plantations. Burundi, Rwanda and Kenya all grow mainly Arabica coffee, while Madagascar and Tanzania grow a mixture of both Arabica and Robusta depending on the local climate and soil. Cameroon produces mainly Robusta, although some Arabica is grown there.

If you like coffee, you probably have a coffeemaker! If you have a coffeemaker, you have probably broken the carafe at some point! If this happens, you don’t need to buy a new coffeemaker, just a replacement carafe! To find out what carafe fits your coffeemaker and other coffee information visit Replacement Carafe Net!

Author: Felix J. Sheffield
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Ever wonder where the coffee beans in your morning coffee come from? You probably know words like Arabica and Robusta in terms of taste, but did you know that these words can also tell us where those coffees were grown? Here is a look at three of the world’s best specialty coffees and the regions in which they originated. Read on to discover the rich history of these coffees.

Yemen Arabian Mocca

Grown in the mountainous region of Sanani in south Yemen at an altitude in excess of 4,500 ft, Arabian Mocca is the world’s oldest cultivated coffee, distinguished by its richness and full body with chocolate undertones. Yemen is on Asia’s Arabian peninsula, a stone’s throw from Africa. Since there are no other Arabian coffees, it is classified as part of the family tastes of North African coffees.

It is here that the term “mocca” was coined. Its correct spelling is Mokha, for the port city that Yemen coffees ship from. Yemen’s arid climate contributes to the production of one of the best-loved specialty coffees that led Europeans to fall in love with coffee many centuries ago.

Yemeni coffee is one of the most distinct and prized coffees in the world. It’s been called a “wild” or natural cup, earthy, complex, pungent — to some it may be strange and bitter. This coffee can also be characterized as dry, winey, and acidic with chocolate and fruit undertones, rustic flavors, and intense aromas.

(Source: http://www.sweetmarias.com/coffee.arabia.yemen.html)

Mexico “Spirit of the Aztec”

The state of Veracruz produces many average coffees in its low-lying regions, but atop the tall mountains near the city of Coatepec an excellent Arabica bean coffee called Altura Coatepec reigns. The word Altura itself means “high grown”. Altura Pluma indicates the finest coffee of Mexico. Coetepec, a coffee district of Veracruz, provides particularly outstanding coffee beans. Mexican Altura beans have a full medium body, fine acidity, a wonderful bouquet and a satisfying flavor that is mild and sweet. This fine Mexican coffee is noted for delivering a consistently smooth taste and fragrant flavor with good body, depth, and overall balance. It is likely one of the most underappreciated coffees around.

Mexican coffee botanists celebrate Mexico’s highest altitudes (with their approximately one hundred species of Arabica coffee plants) as the finest region of all the world’s gourmet coffees. An inferior grade of coffee bean known Robusta grows at lower altitudes. Mexico itself produces huge quantities of these unremarkable coffee beans, often utilized as dark roasts, supermarket coffees and beans for blending.

Arabica coffee arrived in Mexico at the start of the nineteenth century from the West Indies. Today, Mexico ranks among the world’s top coffee exporters. Most Mexican coffee is processed by the wet method to ensure better acidity and body. Mexican coffee is graded based on the altitude where it is grown. The plantations of Veracruz account for 60 to 70 percent of the Mexican coffee crop. Approximately 5 million bags of coffee a year originate in Mexico. Most of the better beans are grown on large plantations in the states of Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Guerrero. These are producers of “high-grown” Altura Coatepec coffees, among the finest coffees grown in the Americas.

Their flavor is light and nutty with medium acidity and a mild, well-balanced body. With a fine chocolate tang and a hint of sweet undertone beneath the finish, these coffees make an ideal beverage for those of us who enjoy a smooth, mellow-tasting brew that is not overpowering. Altura’s smoothness produces many loyalists of the coffee drinkers who sample it. Mexican Altura Coatepec is an incredible morning coffee, as it could be used in a blend to tone down accompanying fuller-bodied coffees, or better yet, alone for the pure regional flavor.

(Source: http://www.coffeeuniverse.com/world_coffee_latin.html)

Java “Dutch Estate”

As a synonym of coffee, “java” introduced itself in the seventeenth century when the Dutch began cultivating coffee trees on the island of Java (part of the islands of Indonesia) and successfully exported it globally. Often the standard by which all other coffees are measured, Java’s finest golden beans are roasted to yield a piquant aroma, displaying an exquisite acid balance, a heavy body with chocolate undertones, and a lighter finish than Sumatran.

At one time the island of Java was ruled by sultans and dominated by mysticism. The early Dutch settlers who came in the late 17th century found Java to be a wonderfully diverse place with high mountains, thick tropical rain forests and a sultry climate that revolved around the monsoon rains. The Dutch and the Javanese settled the coastal volcanic plains, while much of the interior of the island was left to the jungle and a few tribal groups. The Dutch found that coffee grew very well in this climate, and began to set up plantations around their initial foothold in Batavia (modern day Jakarta). Initially Arabica coffees were planted, but many of these were killed by the coffee rust plague that devastated the region in the 1800′s. Robusta was the logical replacement — a tough plant resistant to many diseases.

Eventually the Dutch plantation owners conquered Java and took on the elements. Large plantations were established in the east of the island, as well as in Central Java and the west. After the Japanese occupied Java in the 1940′s many of these plantations were destroyed or absorbed back into the jungle with their owners imprisoned by the Japanese. After the war and the ensuing independence struggle, many of the larger plantations ended up under the control of the government. Today the big Java plantations (such as Nusantara XII) are still government-owned. However there are many medium and smaller growers who produce excellent quality Arabica beans. These coffees are known as “Government Estate” Java. They are primarily produced at 4 old farms (Kayumas, Blawan, Djampit, Pancoer). The Government body grows about 85% of the coffee in East Java, close to Bali on the Ijen area. The range of altitudes suitable for coffee production is 3,000 to 6,000 feet, with most growing in the plateau region at 4,500 feet.

Government Estate is undoubtedly Indonesia’s highest quality coffee. Other more inferior coffee producers of the area are called “Private Estate” Java plantations. They are lower-grown and not processed or prepared as well but they are a good option for those who want to spend less. Java is an undeniably clean-tasting cup for this Indonesian varietal, a fully wet-processed coffee that has the Indonesian body and thickness in the cup without earthy or dirty flavors. (Source http://www.merdekacoffee.com/regions.php)

Frozen Coffee Parfait

Try making this coffee drink using one of the coffees described above and bask in the wonderful flavors of these delicious brews!

Yield: 6-8 servings

1 14-oz. can of sweetened condensed milk

1/3 cup double strength coffee sweetened with 4 tb. Sugar while hot (allow to cool before using)

1 cup whipped heavy whipping cream

In a large bowl, combine the sweetened condensed mild and the coffee into hand mixer; whip on high speed for 3-5 minutes. By hand, fold in the whipped whipping cream. Make sure the mixture is evenly distributed.

Spoon the mixture into 6-8 serving dishes, then freeze for 3 hours or until firm.

Garnish before serving with a chocolate-covered espresso bean and chocolate syrup for a yummy treat.

About The Author

Michelle Faber is owner of Gourmet CoffeeXpress, the “Ultimate Website Gallery”,
showcasing the creme de la creme in gourmet coffees, & teas, and artisan chocolates, desserts & gifts.

Within this gallery, you can find incredibly high quality items, and many designer styled products.
Gourmet CoffeeXpress offers distinctive products for gift-giving and personal pleasure with world-class service.

Please visit Gourmet CoffeeXpress at http://www.gourmetcoffeexpress.com Visit Gourmet CoffeeXpress at http://www.gourmetcoffeexpress.com to indulge in the world’s most EXTRAORDINARY Gourmet Tea, Coffee and Desserts.

Author: Michelle Faber
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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