Coffee

There is so much more to drinking coffee than just knowing whether you want a cappuccino or a shot of espresso. What really makes the drink are the beans, and the art of growing good beans is akin to the difference between a bottle of cheap wine and the finest Brunello from Montalcino.

Furthermore, coffee beans are a bit of a mystery to a lot people since they only grow in specific regions, due to their finicky nature and need for specific weather patterns. Here is a break-down of some of the most popular beans, and why they make such great coffee.

Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee
Ever enjoyed a drink at a bar that included Tia Maria? Then you know the secret of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee, which is known for its surprisingly mild flavor and serious lack of bitter aftertaste. In addition to flavoring one of the tastiest coffee liqueurs around, Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee also is brewed as regular coffee. The coffee beans grow between Kingston and Port Maria in the Blue Mountains, where a cool and misty climate with a huge annual rainfall ensures the soil is just right to grow these special beans.

Colombian Coffee
One of the biggest producers of coffee beans is Columbia, a country with a perfect environment for growing different varieties of Arabica beans, like Caturra, Typica, and Bourbon. The coffee grown in Columbia is imported by many countries around the world, like Japan, The United States, Australia, and Holland. Initially, harvested beans were roasted with charcoal in saucepans at the very beginning of Columbia’s long-going historical trade and harvesting.

Aloha Island Coffee Pods
Some of the best coffee in the world comes from Hawaii, really the only place in the States where coffee beans thrive. The type of beans, Kona, come in many varieties, but the absolute best are produced at a private coffee plantation on the Big Island of Hawaii, located right on the slopes of Mauna Loa, the famous volcano. It is the volcanic soil, coupled with rainfall and tropical sunshine, that makes these beans grow so well here, resulting in a cup of coffee that is incredibly smooth and not at all acidic.

Kopi Luwak
Always wanted to try a coffee made from beans that have already been eaten and digested? Well, you might have done that inadvertently, with Kopi Luwak coffee beans. Grown in Java, the coffee is some of the most popular around, all thanks to Asian Palm Civits, which love the coffee beans, eat them, and then digest them in a remarkable process that adds more flavor for us humans later. Apologies in advance if coffee was just ruined for you forever.

Remember, while different countries all produce different types of beans, it does not mean that the names on this list are the only type of coffee bean grown in that particular country. Furthermore, it is possible that many of these beans have shown up in different names and varieties through United States importers.

For socially-conscious consumers, one of the best things you can do, before deciding you absolutely must try a type of coffee bean, is to see if there’s an organization that produces and imports said beans in a fair-trade way. Harvesting coffee is tough work, and it is a shame how unfairly paid a number of these production countries are, especially considering how much the beans draw around the world.

Damian Papworth has always loved to start the day with a coffee. He recently purchased an 8 cup coffee maker which he wrote about on his website, One Cup Coffee Makers.

Author: Damian Papworth
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Coffee was originally found in Ethiopia but has since spread world wide. Most of the coffee production in Ethiopia is still using the wild coffee tree forests that were naturally there. It is important that there is enough sunlight and rain which means these plants can only be grown in tropical or sub-tropical countries. Typically countries that are on the equator.

There is a narrow band around the equator which is used to produce most of the coffee for the worlds consumption. Coffee beans are grown in over 70 different countries all around the globe, and it is the second largest worldwide commodity in dollar value.

The largest coffee producer in the world is Brazil, they produce 28% of the worlds supply of coffee. Colombian coffee is extremely famous but even so they only produce 16% of the worlds output. Indonesia produces 7%, and Mexico is the fourth largest producer of coffee at 4%.

Coffee trees can be grown in a number of different locations, however they are best when grown at locations with high altitude.

Brazil has a number of very large plantations that cover huge areas of land. Hundreds of workers are employed to harvest and process the beans. In Colombia most of the transportation of the beans is done by mule or Jeep due to the treacherous conditions and poor economy.

Colombia has coffee trees growing on the sides of the mountains, while Hawaii has them planted on the slopes of the volcano. The ash is perfect for the plants as it provides good nutrition. The level of sun is also sufficient and the rainfall required is also provided.

Indonesia is a country that is made up of lots of little islands. Coffee has been grown on these islands since the Dutch introduced it in the 17th Century. Other countries have more advanced technology, however nowhere is as good at growing coffee as here. There are hundreds of individual farms on Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi which means they are the 3rd largest producers of coffee.

In Mexico the trees are normally planted in small farms, however there are over 100,000 of them throughout the whole country. This makes Mexico an important player in the world coffee market. Most of these farms are located in the south of Mexico. In some Mexican cities the high altitude varieties of coffee are grown.

In recent times Vietnam has started challenging Indonesia to be the 2nd biggest producer of coffee. Trees were first planted in Vietnam in the 19th century by the French. Small plantations produce robusta which is one of the common varieties of coffee.

Smaller producers of coffee include Africa, the Ivory Coast and Kenya. These are smaller, but they are very famous for producing dark fruity coffee. At the base of Mount Kenya some of the largest beans are produced there which produce a very fruity coffee. The Ivory Coast produces the most robusta which is normally used for espresso coffee blends.

No matter where the coffee comes from you can be pretty sure that it will be very popular. Coffee from all around the world is popular these days!

The scriptwriter Ray Walberg is particularly interested in ideas related to coffee roasting. You might come across his work on bunn coffee maker at http://www.coffee-espresso-maker-tips.com

Author: Ray L. Walberg
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When I think of “coffee beans”, instantly I think of the coffee industry’s biggest heavy hitters like Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts to name a few. My senses are aroused with thoughts of a hot, steamy and rich cup of java. The strong intoxicating exotic smell and distinct taste of a good cup of coffee is appreciated many people the world over and has been for many, many years.

Coffee was first discovered and consumed around the 9th century in the highlands of Ethiopia. After being introduced, coffee consumption spread quickly to the Muslim world followed by Europe and later the Americas. The history of coffee that followed after has certainly been interesting and controversial. Coffee in earlier years has been associated with religious ceremonies in Africa and Yemen as well as being associated with rebellious political groups in Europe. The cultivation of the coffee bean has caused much debatable conversation in the past due to certain medical effects and conditions that have been disputed many times over throughout the years.

A coffee bean is the seed of a coffee plant. Coffee beans contain endosperms that contain caffeine. Once the coffee seeds have been removed from the plant, the seeds are roasted and this process causes several physical and chemical changes. The coffee bean is then brewed to create the ever popular product and beverage known as coffee.

Coffee is one of the world’s largest traded commodities after oil. The coffee bean is a primary source of income for many third world countries mainly African countries and much of Central American countries. Coffee beans from different countries have different characteristics such as flavor, aroma and body, such as the well known coffee originating from Colombia as an example.

Brazil is the largest coffee exporting country and in recent years Vietnam has inched in at a close second. The legendary Colombian coffee is rated third largest in export.

In our modern society of recent times there are many different variations and presentations of the coffee beverage. There is the common brewed and roasted hot cup of coffee, the espresso, café latte, cappuccino, café macchiato and the iced coffee served cold. To match so many variations of the coffee bean, the marketing distribution of coffee has many unique creative forms aside from the traditional self brewed method. The roasted coffee bean can be distributed as instant coffee, freeze dried, canned coffee and coffee is being sold right out of vending machines.

Yaser Dorri, an American scientist, has proposed that the smell of coffee can restore and increase appetite. Our civilized society may want to reconsider our much anticipated ritual of an after dinner coffee. Our evolving society may want to possibly embrace the thought of coffee as what it truly is a stimulant that if going to be incorporated in your daily dietary consumption should be best utilized in conjunction with a healthy and positive needed acceleration and or stimulant in your body’s system and process. Simply put; coffee before dinner would be more logical and practical. Coffee as a stimuli at night is not favorable unless intentional. Remember with any consumption; being responsible and moderate will always keep you safe and healthy.

Tania Penwell provides information on coffee beans and other java related topics for Coffee Xpert – your online guide to coffee.

Author: Tania Penwell
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Coffee, the brew that starts you in the morning and can wind you down at night, how does it do that? Well, I have my own theory, it is a brew that reads your mind! When I need to wake up and think it is black, robust and hot! Then when I want to sink into a dream state and unwind it is creamy mocha and warm…Yes! Now to sit and talk and sip it needs to be a robust coffee flavor with a hint of other favorite flavors and chilled.

I have several friends that love coffee as much as I do so we started our Girls Coffee Club. Once every two weeks, sometimes more, we meet for coffee and everything that comes out of a group of women enjoying themselves with their favorite coffee. At first we just went to one coffee house. Then we started moving around to different ones and we found we anticipated the wonderful new experience as much as the coffee and the chatting.

Then it happened, we ran out of coffee houses and so we started over and went back to the original location. At first it was fine and we went thru the list again, once again we finished the rounds. We found we were talking more about missing the anticipation of a new experience than the latest diet or what was going on in our world so we chose to fix the issue, Home Brew!

Now we alternate going to the coffee houses with going to each others homes and testing new coffee blends. In the summer we can get out the blender and do ice blended drinks or pour over frozen coffee ice cubes then in the colder months we can do hot coffee with flavors.

We have found that we now own at least two coffee makers each, one for plain brew and one for flavored. We have also found that we try more blends this way because it is more economical than in the coffee houses.

We serve flavored creamers and sweeteners like honey, syrups and flavored sugars. It seems the local grocery stores are getting wise to our little coffee club and are now stocking more blends of coffee, flavors and accessories as well. We can get Colombian coffee, Mountain grown, Island grown or even Organic grown coffee. They even have many of them in small vacuumed sealed bags or grind your own so you can get just enough to test. How smart is that?

One night we found the suicide blend! Remember when you were a kid and you put a little of all the soft drink flavors in your cup and your mother looked at you like you were crazy, well give it try with coffee. We had several blends of coffee so we mixed them in the brew basket and laughed till we cried thinking of what our mothers would say. It wasn’t bad, give it try. If it comes out too strong for your taste just add some water into your cup that way it works for everyone.

I like it best when everyone brings a different additive so I can try something I would never buy. I have found that I was pleasantly surprised with many of the new tastes and flavors. In the store I would think, who would try this flavor, and I can now say I would. In a group there is always the one adventurous person that pushes the limits on mixing flavors in their coffee and I know that number has expanded in ours.

The taste of choice changes with the seasons as well. Sometimes the, let’s try this, flavor is unexpected. Like a shaker of pumpkin pie spice sprinkled on top of whip cream for the Holidays, who knew? Think outside of the box.

I strongly recommend you start a coffee club and embrace the joy that comes with it.

Find more information at JustCoffeeInfo [http://www.justcoffeeinfo.com] about Roasting coffee, all about Decaf, your favorite Brands, Specialty and Organic coffee, Coffee Makers or discover the Photo Mug at [http://www.justcoffeeinfo.com]

Author: Lynda Earl
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Greek coffee (“Ellinikos Kafes”) is one of the simplest ways to make coffee. It is also known as Turkish coffee. Coffee has a very old history…

It traveled to Turkey from Yemen and from Turkey it became known in Greece. It became so popular that people started calling it “Greek coffee” instead of Turkish (or Arabic) coffee.

Differences

Usually Greek coffee gets roasted lighter than traditional Turkish coffee.

Another difference is that Greeks rarely add spices to their coffee.

How to make Greek coffee

The basic ingredient needed for a delicious Greek coffee is fresh roasted coffee, ground to an extra fine coffee powder (finer than espresso). You can also grind you own coffee beans using a traditional Greek coffee grinder or a modern high quality burr grinder.

Like Turkish coffee in order to make Greek coffee you basically bring a mixture of water and ground coffee almost to boil. Although Turkish people boil their coffee usually 3-4 times Greeks prefer boiling it 1-3 times.

The blends used to make Greek coffee have usually a high percentage of Brazilian coffees, and also some Robusta or a “secret” ingredient to add some more flavour (Colombian coffee, Ethiopia Harrar or Yemen Mocha).

In order to make Greek coffee we need a coffee pot known as briki in Greece. This special Greek coffee pot has a characteristic narrow top which facilitates the correct slow brewing of Turkish coffee and the forming of the famous “kaimaki”, which is basically the crema-froth on top of the coffee.

Traditionally these pots were made of copper or brass, but nowadays they are mass produced using stainless steel which is more durable. (I still prefer the brass ibriks for lots of reasons…). Use the proper size coffee pot to make better coffee and better froth. If you are going to make two demitasse cups of coffee use a 2-cups size coffee pot. If you use a much larger sized pot, crema forming will be much harder.

For one cup of coffee, fill the coffee pot with one demitasse cup of cold water, 1-2 teaspoons of Greek coffee, sugar to taste, and then put the pot on low fire. It is very important to use low fire and cold water to extract more flavor from the coffee. Use a gas stove-top or preferably a traditional tabletop burner.

Once the mixture comes almost to a boil and the foam covers the top, pour it into a demitasse cup slowly. You must do this slowly in order to retain the crema layer (froth) on top. If you fail to remove the coffee pot from fire on time, the coffee mixture will foam up quickly and it will get spilled everywhere! Be careful to not let this happen!

Small tip if you want to make two cups or more

There is an old trick used to maximize the froth on top of every demitasse cup, which basically involves taking the froth with a teaspoon from the coffee pot and then adding it to each demitasse cup, before pouring the coffee.

Serving

Traditionally the coffee is served using decorative discs, in small demitasse cups made of fine porcelain.

You can also pair Greek coffee with a nice desert like cookies (“koulourakia”), “halva” or “baklava”.

Things to notice

Some people bring the coffee to boil only once. Other people prefer twice and there are also some people who argue that bringing the coffee to boil three times is the absolute minimum.

Another point of argument is the stirring. Some people stir coffee, water and sugar only in the beginning and some other stir continuously till the end to make more froth.

Personal opinion

I prefer to stir the coffee continuously till the end and I also let it foam up twice.

“Why?” you may ask. It is just my taste! You can experiment and find what you like best.

What’s most important is the freshness and the quality of your Greek coffee.

Karolos Tsiligirian is the author of the “Fresh Coffee Encyclopedia” and the owner of FreshCoffeeShop.com & CoffeeEbooks.com

Author: Karolos Tsiligirian
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