Coffee

For those who love coffee, I mean really truly love their coffee, as in they are passionate about what makes a good coffee, it can be a dilemma. The coffee aficionado will have their preferred cafe that they frequent because they know the Batista will make the coffee just the way they like it. The passionate coffee connoisseur can tell you if the coffee is burnt, the milk too hot, the type of coffee used acceptable and so it goes on. They know the difference between a Latte and a Cafe au lait, a flat white and a cappuccino.

So what happens when the coffee wise wish to bring the sacred brew into their own home? Many realise that the same results just cannot be duplicated at home. They know and understand the artist that is the coffee Batista and respect his craft. Others however will attempt to produce a great cup themselves and there begins the pursuit of the ultimate coffee making implement.

The truly dedicated coffee lover will have in his or her kitchen an assortment of coffee brewing devices. It is likely they will have a filter coffee machine. This appliance usually takes the form of a heating plate where a tempered glass pot is placed into which the coffee drips as heated water percolates through the coffee grounds, which are contained within a paper filter inside a filter holder. The coffee from these machines, I find is usually quite weak or “watery” and lacks richness or body.

They may also have a plunger or “French press”. Coffee grounds are placed at the bottom of a straight-sided glass jug then boiling water is poured over them. The coffee is then left to brew for a few minutes before the plunger is slowly pushed down forcing the water through a fine strainer. The coffee from this method is far superior to the filter maker in my opinion, but still not up there with my local coffee house.

Then there is the caffetiere. This handy little device is loved by people of European extraction everywhere. Frankly, I never could master the technique of making coffee with this utensil. Again, it is based on the steam and pressure principal. Water is placed in the bottom section with coffee grounds placed in a perforated container above the water. After screwing the top section on the caffetiere is placed over a flame. Once the water reaches boiling point it percolates through the coffee and up into the top section. Once all the water has gone from the bottom section your coffee is made. The caffetiere makes a nice strong coffee just the way I like it. But I was never sure whether I was then supposed to top it up with boiling water or hot milk and in the end I ended up leaving it in the back of my pantry.

Not so long ago I came across a wonderful new product which seems to answer all my wishes. It is called the AeroPress and it is quite an amazing item. It processes the coffee using steam and pressure and the coffee that results is rich and not at all bitter. To add to this is the price. This is an incredibly well priced device. This handy little appliance takes up very little space in my cupboard and I am not restricted in the choice of coffee I can use. What a great find!

To find out more about the Aeropress Coffee And Espresso Maker visit Really Good Coffee

Author: Lynne Schroeder
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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When you walk into a coffee shop, or even if you make coffee at home, the smell of the brewing coffee is tantalizing, the clink of the cups and saucers reassuring, and then, the coffee is sitting in front of you and you are taking the first sip… There is NOTHING more disappointing than a mouthful of bitter coffee. It does not matter whether you drink French Press, Espresso-based, Filter based or Extract-based coffee: bitter coffee is a downright “slap in the face”.

And, for some reason, more often than not we seem to think that bitter is normal, that we should accept it, that we are just not “coffee-aficionado ‘ enough to appreciate that bitterness. Since we get served bitter coffee so often it MUST be the norm! People, you cannot be more wrong! Coffee, made with fresh coffee beans, roasted to a great flavor profile by a master roaster, and brewed with the right temperature of water in the right way is NEVER bitter!

And yes, ALL these things can go wrong, from roaster to cup.

The Roast:

Coffee beans can be over-roasted, to the point that the sugars, which are present in the beans, get carbonized instead of caramelized… it is one thing to roast coffee to a darker profile, but the blackened lumps I have seen in shops marked as “Italian” or “Full City ” roast will surely do a better job as pot-scourer than as the base for a good cup of coffee. A good coffee roaster knows how to preserve the flavour nuances, as well as retain the inherent sweetness of each bean variety.

The Water

Similarly, a good barista should know what temperature the beans currently int eh grinder need to get the best coffee out of them. Before a new variety is added to the range in the shop, the coffee should be tasted and tasted again, until the perfect temperature settings for that bean have been found. Naturally, if you make coffee at home you can only do so much testing and adjusting, but it pays to check if the water which comes out of your espresso machine is too hot and burns the coffee, which would result in a bitter flavor (it should be 92 degrees Celsius). If you use a filter machine, the same thing can happen, although in most filter machines it is not the water going IN the coffee which is the problem, but the hot plate UNDER the coffee… it is often way too hot and cooks the coffee like an old-fashioned coffee pot on a stove!

And, then there is “false economy”!

Of-course, coffee is expensive and you should be trying to get the most out of it, but please: that should be “the most flavour”, not “the most brownish, bitter liquid”!! When you start extracting coffee from coffee grinds, the first few millilitres of thick brown liquid have most of the flavour-oils ( and comparative very little caffeine!) As you flush the grinds out further and further, the content of flavoursome coffee oils gets less, but the bitter component remain, resulting in weak, but bitter coffee.

So, if you try to make more cups of coffee than the quantity of grinds can produce you end up with bitter coffee! If you use a French Press and choose to let the coffee sit on the grinds “to get a bit stronger”, you get the same result… the bitterness will increase. So, in short, the rules for sweet, flavorsome coffee are:

1. Fresh coffee beans
2. Properly roasted by someone who knows what he/she is doing
3. Ground to suit the extraction method
4. Extracted with the right water temperature
5. Not over-extracted
6. Kept on a hotplate only for a short time

For more information on how to improve the taste of your coffee, check out this article about coffee-crema: http://www.amazines.com/article_detail.cfm?articleid=1773843

Robert Booth owns and runs “Good Coffee at Home” ( http://goodcoffeeathome.com/ ) where you can see that making good coffee at home is very possible; it gives simple, informative descriptions of coffee styles, ways to make coffee and the various coffee making equipment currently on the market.

Author: Robert Booth
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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As a coffee aficionado, you know that there is more to making excellent coffee than simply brewing coffee You need to choose the highest quality beans to get the highest quality coffee.You also know that choosing the best gourmet coffee beans means that you need to look beyond the brand name on the packet. You have learned that you have your own unique preference, and have learned to look for coffee that suites your individual taste.

Instead of simply choosing from the options that are placed in front of you at your nearest Starbucks coffee shop, you have learned to shop around, choosing coffee beans by variety (most likely arabica coffee) and origin. You no longer are tied to any one coffee roaster, although you have learned to recognize good coffee roasters from bad or excellent. You may even have developed your taste to the point where you select your favorite gourmet coffee beans by estate or plantation.

But to take your appreciation of gourmet coffee beans to the next level, you will need to better understand the process that leads us from the freshly picked coffee cherry to the final product, the green beans, ready to be shipped to coffee roasters for roasting.

When coffee is picked, it is not so much a bean as a fruit. Called a coffee cherry, this fruit has a bitter skin, sweet grape flavored flesh, and a coffee bean at its heart. It is this bean that the farmer must extract to sell, but the process is very delicate. The process of extracting the bean is called milling.

There are two different types of milling that a farmer can use. The first is dry milling. What this means is that the farmer dries out the coffee cherry to extract the dried bean. There are two ways he can do this, by machine or using the sun. Both of these methods are very tricky and require a lot of care to prevent the coffee from spoiling.

Machine drying carries a high risk of spoiling the bean’s natural flavor. In this state, the beans are like sponges, soaking up the flavor of anything in their environment. This can be a problem when the machine is smoky or in poor repair. The fuel used to run the machine is diesel, and often this flavor can find its way into the bean, spoiling the gourmet coffee beans and also contaminating them. Worse yet, some machines run on oil or even old tires!

Natural drying via the sun can produce some truly exquisite gourmet coffee beans, with unique flavors that are rarely experienced in the west. But this method of milling can only be performed when the weather is dry enough (think drought conditions).

Also, it is very important to select the cherries and pick out the poorer quality ones. However, some of the farmers use this method to dry their low quality beans as it is cheaper than using a machine, producing a very inferior coffee that is usually only sold to the domestic market. If you do want to buy sun milled coffee, you should go for the very high end product, as it is more likely to be from a high quality gourmet coffee beans from a good crop.

The other coffee milling process that can be used is wet milling. This process is more expensive, more complex, and routinely turns out better quality gourmet coffee beans. It involves seven stages, and used a lot of water. As a result, there are concerns that this method can pose an environmental risk, as pollutants are washed out into the water supply. However, there are ways to process the water to remove these contaminants and so save the environment. This is where choosing an organic coffee is important, as farmers are made to comply with environmental guidelines.

Once this milling process is finished, the premium coffee beans are green (more of a blue green, actually). Darker beans are discarded at this stage, as are whitish beans. By selecting these top quality coffee beans, it is possible to guarantee the highest quality roast coffee, which means that the ground coffee will be at its best. This process leads eventually to the final product, the cup of coffee that you will be drinking!

Malcolm Blake has written more information about gourmet coffee at http://www.coffeewebinfo.com. Come and find out more about making the best gourmet coffee.

Author: Malcolm Blake
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Considering the average American drinks about 1.6 cups of coffee a day and the majority of Americans drink coffee, it makes for a perfect gift that everyone loves. If you’re looking for a great coffee gift, keep reading for suggestions, including links to where you can find them.

Coffee of the Month Clubs

Coffee of the Month clubs are a great gift that keeps on giving and serves as a monthly reminder of your generosity and thoughtfulness. By allowing the recipient to sample a different quality coffee every month, Coffee of the Month Clubs provide a fantastic variety of gourmet coffees.

Igourmet, with a popular gourmet food website, offers a great coffee of the month club for just $17.99 per month with shipping included. Each month, members receive a different coffee along with a brochure describing the bean and roast.

Coffee Gift Basket

A coffee gift basket is something you can purchase pre-made or even make yourself. Pack a few selections of coffee beans inside a mug, carafe or coffee machine to make a great gift with a lot of impact.

Gifttree.com (http://www.gifttree.com), a well-known online gift store stocks and sells a number of coffee-themed gift baskets that are great for presents, events or corporate giving.

Coffee Gift Cards

If your gift recipient makes a daily stop at their local Starbucks, Timothy’s, Tim Horton’s or neighborhood coffee shop, why not get them a coffee gift card or gift certificate? This gift makes the perfect small gift item for Secret Santas, stocking stuffers, corporate giveaways or tiny treats.

Starbucks even sells personalized coffee cards that you can have printed with the recipient’s name and coffee order.

Coffee Accessories

For the true coffee aficionado, nothing tops high quality coffee accessories. Whether it’s a French press, espresso machine, scoop or reusable and high-grade filter, your recipient is sure to appreciate the thought.

Cooking.com (http://cooking.com), a great source for cooking tools and kitchen gadgets, sells a wide range of coffee accessories ranging from a $1 coffee scoop to a $10,000 espresso machine.

Coffee Candy and Chocolate

Coffee lovers will absolutely love a sweet treat like chocolate-covered coffee beans, coffee-injected chocolate or even coffee sponge cake. You can even make or bake coffee sweets yourself for that truly personal touch that says “I’m thinking of you.”

NutsOnline (http://www.nutsonline.com) sells a popular brand of chocolate-covered espresso beans that are tasty and deliver a real punch of caffeine.

For details on enticing coffee flavors that explode your taste buds, please visit http://www.coffeetryst.com – a popular site of great coffee options, such as almond flavored coffee, a commercial super automatic Espresso machine, and many more!

Author: Wesley Johnson
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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