Coffee

There is an obstacle course involved with brewing a great cup of coffee. When you wake up for work at 6:00 AM and you have 30-45 minutes to hit the road, how are you going to get a good, hot cup of brew in your hand when you do? The chances are, you could be brewing in a way that delivers flavor far superior to what you are getting now, and in the same amount of time, or even less.

To help you decide what brewing method, or methods, will best match your needs, start by asking these questions:

1) What are the occasions do you normally drink coffee, and what is the relative importance of taste and convenience?
2) How much money are you willing to spend on coffee, a coffee maker, or various brewing equipment?
3)Can this particular brewing equipment produce great coffee?

For most coffee lovers, the biggest hurdle to overcome as you begin to get serious about coffee is the fact that you own an electric drip coffeemaker, and the vast majority of the electric drip brewers sacrifice some of the taste for convenience. If good taste is your ultimate goal, you may want to think of an investment of time rather than dollars. Grinding fresh coffee beans, and measuring coffee precisely, will become second nature after about a week. If you will be going to the trouble of buying fresh, perfectly-roasted coffee beans, then you should brew coffee to get every precious bit of flavor and aroma you are paying for.

A great drip maker combines the essential brewing elements in a specific way. You need a filter that contains a large amount of fresh grounds for each 6 ounces of coffee brewing. The water should be heated to 195-205 degrees F. The water should be allowed to saturate the grounds gently and thoroughly. The total brew cycle, from start to finish, must take from 4 to 6 minutes. If it takes longer than 8 minutes, the coffee will be over-extracted and bitter.

It is almost impossible to brew drip coffee that meets the above criteria using your typical home electric brewer. This is what leads to the frustration so many coffee lovers come across when they try to duplicate good coffee-bar coffee at home. Brewing manually, where you can control the brewing process, is still the absolute best way to get a great cup of coffee. Since almost no coffee maker under $150 can produce great coffee, you will have to sacrifice some flavor when using one. Spend some money on a coffee maker that gets the best reviews, regardless of price, always use quality coffee, and you will come closest to the best cup of coffee possible in an automatic coffee maker.

Greg has been writing articles for over 4 years. Please visit his latest website about coffee at http://www.bestdripcoffeemaker.com with information on finding the best drip coffee maker and other coffee products and discussions that any coffee lover would be interested in.

Author: Greg Parsons
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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If your coffee maker goes out on you, or you simply want to try another method of fantastic coffee brewing, consider brewing a Turkish cup of Joe! This authentic coffee can be traced back all the way to the Ottoman Empire, and it is a staple of the Turkish culture today. Before you become overwhelmed or intimidated, know that brewing Turkish coffee is much easier than it looks, and it will provide you with a unique and one-of-a-kind brew product.

Start out by pouring cold water into a small Turkish coffee pot. Use 1 cup of cold water for each cup of brewed coffee that you want to create, and then add a half cup of water extra that will be boiled out in the brew process. It is best to start out with cold water for the best taste in your brew. After that, freshly grind your coffee beans to almost a powder, which is the consistency needed for authentic Turkish coffee. Measure out 1 teaspoon of fresh coffee grounds per cup of water, and stir well. Add cardamom pods to the mixture for authentic flavors.

From there, add 1 tablespoon of sugar for every 2 teaspoons of coffee grounds in the mixture. It is important to add the sugar before the brew process to provide the correct Turkish flavor and taste in the brew. Place the pot on the stove over low heat, and gently bring it to a boil. Make sure that it does not boil over, but allow the froth to rise to the top of the pot. Pour this mixture into small Turkish cups until they are a third full.

Last of all, place the pot back on the stove on low heat, and allow it to again come to a boil to create foam. Pour the foamed coffee into each cup evenly so that each Turkish coffee contains froth. Allow the coffee product to settle for a few moments so that the fine coffee grounds can move to the bottom of the cups, and then drink right away for a fresh and delicious Turkish coffee flavor. This is a coffee that is not strained or filtered, and it provides even more depth and complexity to the brew product because the essential oils of the coffee beans will remain in the final brew.

Since this coffee has sugar while it is brewed, there is no reason to stir it. Stirring the coffee will only move around the coffee grounds, so it is better to leave it untouched when you drink it so that the coffee grounds can settle to the bottom of the cup. It is best to enjoy this authentic Turkish coffee with medium roasted coffee beans that have been freshly roasted. For an even fuller flavor in your coffee, you can use a handheld coffee grinder or mortar and pestle to grind the beans into a powder. Take the time to try different consistencies in the texture of your Turkish coffee for a delicious flavor and taste in your brew!

Another popular accessory for coffee is the commercial coffee maker! For a great selection, check out Mark Ramos’ website, The Coffee Bump.

Author: Mark Ramos
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Try browsing the Internet for single cup coffee makers, and you’ll find dozens of websites, all purporting that they sell the best brewers available. The problem lies in the fact that most sites don’t agree with each other, so you get as many different opinions as there are coffee making machines. One of the debates on these websites is whether it’s better to buy a brewing system that uses k-cups or one that uses coffee pods. Both have their pros and cons, and this article is going to explore what’s good and what’s bad about them.

K-cups are the ultimate in convenience. They are little pre-measured portions of coffee housed in air-tight plastic cups sealed with both plastic and foil in order to preserve freshness. A k-cup coffee maker sends pressurized hot water through the top of the cup into a filter filled with coffee grounds. You can purchase an optional k-cup carousel for convenient counter-top storage. K-cups are made by many different gourmet coffee brands including Green Mountain, Caribou, Emeril’s, Newman’s Own, Gloria Jean’s, and Timothy’s. You will find numerous distinctive flavors and roasts to suit any taste.

On the downside, k-cups are expensive. You can end up paying as much as $.63 per cup with certain brands of coffee. For example, a box of 22 Green Mountain Variety Flavor K-Cups costs $13.95. You may find a few websites that offer discount k-cups, but even so they tend to be expensive compared to other coffee brewing methods.

There are a couple of ways you can avoid buying so many costly k-cups if you own a k-cup brewer. One of these is a reusable coffee filter you can fill with your own grounds. Using this type of filter you still have to mess with wet grounds, and reviewers will tell you they don’t make nearly as good of a cup of coffee as the originals, but they make single cup brewers much less expensive to use. You can also reuse k-cups 10 to 20 times provided you buy reusable plastic lids and put in your own coffee grounds.

Coffee pods are also pre-measured packets of all different kinds of coffee. These pods are filters that are heat sealed to keep the coffee in them fresh. They have been likened to tea bags, but the coffee they produce is fresh-brewed, because single cup coffee makers brew coffee one cup at a time. Pods are available in dozens of varieties, and where some people have complained that k-cups are very limited in the flavors they offer, there is no problem with that when it comes to coffee pods. Companies, such as Senseo, produce their own coffee pods to specifically fit their coffee makers; however, there are numerous standardized pods available that you can use also.

Once again, the problem with coffee pods is that they are expensive. Although they don’t run as much per cup as k-cups do, they are still more expensive than either a drip coffee maker or a French press. As with k-cups, there are alternatives to using the premade packets. You can buy a machine and make your own heat-sealed pods, or you can buy adapters for some brewers that allow you to use regular coffee grounds. Another negative that some people have found with certain coffee pods is that they make coffee that is too weak. To remedy this problem they use two pods per cup which doubles the price of each cup of coffee.

As with most products these days, it all depends on personal preference and budget. You will find lots of online reviews from people loving their k-cup brewers as well as reviews from those who are very happy with their coffee pod coffee makers. Therefore, it’s pretty much up to you to weigh the options and decide which type of brewing system is right for you.

Paul Julian coffee pods and k cups at http://www.CoffeePodsAndKcups.com.

Author: Paul Julian
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Guest blogger

Aside from the finer points in roasting coffee beans, the extraction of the coffee flavor from the beans by way of brewing is the most important aspect of coffee-making. It is the final process right before we drink our coffee.

This is the one area where most of the connoisseurs have tried to concentrate their efforts in trying to improve the process throughout the ages. Today, we have several forms of coffee brewing techniques, both for commercial and home use.

Flavor extraction length
As a general rule, the length of extraction time is directly related to the grind coarseness.
The smaller the coffee particles, the shorter the extraction time.

French press coffee is the longest, with coffee and water contact lasting as long as four minutes. Espresso has the shortest contact time, about twenty-five seconds, and the coffee granules used are among the smallest.

If the coffee and water stay together for too long, other compounds start to leach and these will make the coffee bitter. On the other hand, if the granules are large, and the extraction time is short, the coffee will lack flavor because of under-extraction.

Drip brew
Most home brews nowadays are produced through the drip process. The technique is simple enough: hot water is poured over a medium-ground coffee within a filter and the water goes through the coffee grounds and drips into a holding container.

There are many variations on these drip brewers with different functions for home use, and also available in larger models for commercial use.

Auto-drip brewers
This machine makes brewing a very simple process. Water is heated in one place and piped over the grounds inside a filter. The extracted brew then drips into a holding vessel.

One complaint is that these machines do not make the water hot enough, so flavor extraction happens at lower temperatures than is recommended.

Another issue is that the machines have warming hot plates, ostensibly for keeping the coffee warm. However, continuous heat will make the coffee bitter.

Single-Serve Systems
These machines were once used exclusively in commercial places. Now, people buy them for their own use at home.

These are very convenient to use. Pre-packaged coffee is inserted into the machine and with one push of a button, the coffee starts to come out. There are variations to these, however.

Some pre-heats an entire reservoir or heats the water on demand. Some machines can brew with less water, making for stronger coffees. They are more like smaller versions of drip machines. Some involve pressure but they are not true espresso machines.

One complaint is that these machines use proprietary packaged coffee, so quality and freshness cannot be guaranteed.

French Press / Press Pot / Cafeteria / Plunger Pot
The French Press has two parts: the beaker (made of glass, metal or plastic) and a plunger which has a wire-mesh filter.

To use, heat the brewing water and pour it on the coffee grounds in the beaker. Let the coffee steep for about 3 to 5 minutes (to your taste) before putting the plunger in and push the dregs down with the filter mesh. You may stir the brew for a second or two before putting the plunger in. Pour the cleared coffee into an appropriate mug. It is now ready for drinking.

Note: Pour out the coffee into your drinking mugs or carafes right after brewing. Do not leave it steeped with the grounds all throughout. The continuous steeping will make the coffee bitter.

Espresso
Espresso is coffee created by forcing hot water steam through finely ground coffee at a certain pressure. The resulting brew is called espresso, as developed by the Italians. It is different from regular coffee in that it has a cream produced by the process unlike regular brews.

Espresso is the base for such bestselling Italian coffee concoctions as cappuccino, lattes, macchiato and more.

There are many more brewing techniques culled from all over the world. Since they are popular only in their parts, we have not included them in the list. Suffice it to say that whatever the number of brewing techniques that one knows, the quality changes accordingly.

Frankly, all of these coffee brewing techniques are just as good as any. And that says a lot on how versatile coffee is.

Jhon Noya, Author Of Free Tips Making Money From Internet and Free Tips For Dating

Author: Jhon Noya
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Grinding fresh roasted coffee beans is done at the roastery by using a burr mill, which employs rotating elements to shear the beans; or else in an electric coffee grinder which uses blunt blades to smash the beans at a high speed. The type of grind used is frequently named for the method of brewing. For example, Turkish grind coffee is the finest grind; espresso is a fine-to-medium grind; and French grind is the coarsest. The grind which most home coffee brewing machines use is a medium grind. There are lots of methods for brewing coffee: it can be steeped, boiled, or pressured. The boiling method is the traditional way which has been used for centuries, and Turkish coffee is brewed in this fashion. Turkish coffee is made by pounding the coffee beans to a fine powder using a mortar and pestle, and then this powder is added to water and boiled in a pot known as a cezve (briki in Greek). Turkish coffee has a strong taste and usually a foam layer on its surface.

Automatic coffeemaking machines and percolators employ gravity to brew coffee. Roasted and medium ground cheap bulk coffee beans are placed in a coffee filter made of perforated metal or paper, and hot water drips through the coffee grounds. As the water seeps through the grounds it absorbs the essences and oils of the coffee. The gravity flow moves the liquid down into a pot or carafe and leaves the spent coffee grounds in the filter above. In a coffee percolator the boiling water creates a pressure which forces water into a chamber located above the filter. Then gravity pulls the water down through the grounds in the filter. This process continues cyclically until a timer shuts it off. Typically a thermostat is used to turn the heat off when the percolator attains a certain temperature. The thermostat also turns the heat on again when the pot cools down (however the filter containing the grounds must removed to prevent additional brewing when the pot reheats). Gourmets tend to eschew coffee which has been reboiled.

A bean coffee company brews French grind by steeping it in a French press, or cafetiere. The ground coffee is combined with hot water in the coffee press and allowed to brew for several minutes. Then a plunger is depressed which pushes the coffee grounds to the bottom of the press. Since the coffee grounds are contacting the water directly, the aromatic oils in the coffee remain in the drink, making for a strong beverage with more sediment left in the coffee than an automatic coffee machine leaves. An espresso coffee maker forces hot (but not boiling) water under 10 atmospheres’ pressure through the finely ground coffee powder. This high pressure brewing produces a more concentrated beverage than gravity methods, containing as much as ten or fifteen times more coffee in the water. Espresso has a reddish brown foam known as crema which floats on top of the surface. Americano espresso is cut with water to make it less strong, the way Americans prefer it.

Espresso coffee made from fresh roasted coffee beans can be served in a wide variety of ways. It can be served black in small demitasse cups; or watered down in the Americano style in which a shot of espresso is placed in the cup and hot water poured over it. Adding steamed milk to espresso brewed from roasted cheap bulk coffee beans makes caf latte. A popular bean coffee company treat is cappuccino, made with foamed milk.

Author: Alice Lane
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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