Coffee

For those who love coffee, you know that you can distinctly tell the quality of the coffee just by the aroma you get from the brew. But for the average coffee drinker, brand names usually reign supreme when it comes to sipping their favorite cup of Joe.

With the growing market of delicious coffee, people continually search their local area for the best coffee that’s convenient. While some may argue that Whole Food has everything you need for the perfect brew, there are gourmet coffee brands that some might dismiss.

It would help those looking for a great brew to experiment and try these higher ticketed beans to get a better sense of what is out there. This article will cover the top five brands of coffee in America today. Some range from the everyday to the premium merchant names that we have all come to admire.

Starbucks

Coming in at number one, Starbucks still remains at the top of the list. With loyal followers nationwide, some argue this is the best coffer brand worldwide. However, this fame to glory can also be attributed to the marketing and public perception of Starbucks Coffee. Its trendiest and cozy couches do help draw in customers day in and day out.

Coffee is embedded in daily culture and it’s no longer a breakfast thing. It’s has become a social engagement as well. It caters to both young and old, across all demographics.

With humble roots back in Seattle, Starbucks has grown internationally with over 16,000 stores worldwide. They also have expanded their product line for coffee lovers to experience the prefect brew at home. One of their more famous creations is the latte and blended coffee being sold in sachet packs.

Pee’s Coffee

Another homegrown coffee brand from Seattle, Peet’s coffee has grown into a 500 million dollar business as of 2009. Its coffee is also sold in groceries stores nationwide. A little history shows a relationship with Starbucks coffee house.

The founders of Starbucks sued to be able to for Peet’s and ended up introducing their own specialty coffee blend.

Dunkin Donuts

On the other side of the coin, Dunkin Donuts ranks in the top five of coffee brands in the United States. The allure of a simple plain good ol’ cup of black coffee has its appeal. Made fresh daily and consistently, Dunkin Donuts still brews a favorite fresh cup of java for its loyal and frugal customers. Some argue it’s just as good as the fancy Starbuck brand.

The simplicity of cream, sugar and coffee is a winner everyday at Dunkin Donuts and their revenue shows that. After buying the Mister Donut brand, they quickly gobbled up more of the market share.

Maxwell House Coffee

The fourth popular coffee brand on consumer favorites is Maxwell House Coffee. Many coffee aficionados claim that their coffee rivals that of Starbucks and can be it in a blind taste test. As a household name, Maxwell house continues to serve its client base every quarter. This Kraft owned brand continues to brew coffee that’s good to the last drop.

Caribou Coffee

Caribou coffee is the second largest retailer of coffee and espresso in the United States to Starbucks.

One of their popular blends is their Rainforest Blend that gives the coffee brew a unique flavor of fruitiness.

So whatever brand fills your cup of coffee, there are a wide range of taste, textures and price ranges to suit your mood. Be sure to also visit your local supermarket for additional selections.

Want the Perfect Brew?

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Author: Timothy Schwartz
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Espresso coffee cups aren’t really normal cups at all. In reality, they’re more like coffee shot glasses, which makes sense considering they’re not meant to hold your standard brew, but espresso. Although they do look like tiny versions of cups that people use for morning caffeine, your average java drinker would probably become quite irritated trying to get their buzz from a container so tiny. After all, don’t most people drink coffee in order to feel energized without the need for sleep?

What Makes Espresso Coffee Cups Different?

Normal cups that people use for their morning fix are obviously much larger than your average espresso coffee cups. Espresso cups don’t have any particular standard size, though. Many times, the only way to tell the difference between what a company calls their espresso cups and their latte or cappuccino cups is by looking at labeling. Every one of these various little cups have matching saucers.

Why Espresso Coffee Cups Are So Tiny

Espresso is much stronger and thicker than your standard cup of joe, which is why espresso coffee cups are much smaller other cups that people generally drink their java from. Your average cup of coffee only has about a third the caffeine of the same volume of espresso. Of course, this is a very rough estimate, as the amount of caffeine and strength of the blend is very dependent on both how the coffee is ground, and the bean itself. You can easily get very different experiences by trying different brands, and blends within those brands, and espresso is not excluded.

What Is Espresso?

Espresso is a type of coffee, but the difference isn’t in the bean so much as the preparation. The biggest difference between regular coffee and espresso is density. To make espresso, a machine forces highly pressurized water through very fine coffee grounds, creating a denser, stronger coffee than normal. The result is almost like a coffee syrup and, when you experience it, it becomes very obvious why one would not want to drink a standard coffee cup of the stuff at once.

Can One Cup Coffee Makers Make Espresso?

Generally speaking, one cup coffee makers are not very good at making real espresso. The water pressure required is generally beyond the capability of a one cup coffee maker. Espresso coffee pods will generally fit a 1 cup coffee maker, but the results are not generally favorable. There are some K-Cups coffee options that are called espresso, but they are typically just stronger coffee blends. Sure, you’ll get a stronger cup of coffee out of both of these options, but you can leave your espresso coffee cups behind since it won’t be all that different. Ironically enough, ESE coffee pods work much better in espresso machines fitted with adapters than in 1 cup coffee makers.

Want to learn more about espresso coffee cups? Check out Great Coffee Cups.

Author: Anthony J Davis
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If you think that giving specialty coffee cups and mugs as gourmet coffee gifts is boring, think again. They have indeed come a long way from their basic conventional use. The type of cups suitable for the type of gourmet coffee varies. While paper coffee cups are convenient for on the go individuals to kick start their day, they are never for specialty coffee drinkers as it impacts both the aroma as well the taste of the coffee.

The best cups for coffees are porcelain cups and when serving a great coffee, you should warm it up to ensure that the coffee temperature is maintained consistent to retain and lets it exude its full aroma. The shape of the coffee cups impacts the senses, namely smell, taste, sight and the ultimate level of consumption enjoyment. While the usual coffee mug does well for your premium coffee and cappuccinos, the tall glass of the latte gives more pleasure with the rainbow layers of milk that mixes with it.

For almost every type of specialty coffee, there is at least a few specialty coffee mugs specifically designed for them to be served in. Take for instance the Irish coffee mug, which are made of heavy clear glass with a footed bottom and taller than your conventional brew of the day mugs. As different as they are, the espresso cups are dainty, petite little cups with little saucers often only containing about 3 oz of the brew.

Not to forget the very functional travel mugs which are essentially made of stainless steel, and insulated to help you keep your coffee warm. Almost every other coffee drinker would either own one or more travel mug, even when all the travelling they do are from the coffee pantry to their workstation. The main reasons being that the travel mugs double up as personal coffee mugs with their very convenient handles, their ability to keep the brew warm as well as their sipper gadgets.

Indeed, to the non coffee drinker, a coffee mug is just another cup. But to the coffee connoisseur, it makes all the differences. I am very sure they would be totally appalled if you use a bowl like cappuccino mug for your Irish coffee. Always know your coffee and their matching mugs thoroughly, especially when serving that coffee connoisseur boss of yours. They make even better gourmet coffee gifts too.

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Author: Sarah Osborne
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The history of coffee dates back more than a thousand years and is as rich as the brew itself. It is believed that coffee plants originated on the shores of the Red Sea, in the Horn of Africa. Initially, coffee beans were eaten as a food, not drunk as a hot beverage. Tribes located in East African would grind the coffee cherries (the fruit containing the pulp and seed – what we now call the coffee bean) and mix the ground pulp with animal fat making a paste. This paste was eaten by tribal warriors to gain energy for battle. Ethiopians, around the year 1000 A.D., created a coffee wine by fermenting the bean in water. Coffee was also native to the Arabian Peninsula where, in the eleventh century, it was first taken as a hot drink.

Like wine during the first century, coffee developed a mystical, religious reputation. Many believed that the stimulating properties of coffee gave a religious ecstasy to those who consumed it. This drink became shrouded in secrecy and associated with the educated people of the times usually priests and physicians. Out of this environment two stories developed to explain the origin of this gift to man.

The most common history of coffee told relates a goat herder, named Kaldi, became frisky after eating the red cherries of a wild plant. After eating the fruit he was excited to feel the effects of caffeine, of course not knowing what that was. Later, it is told, he was spotted by some monks passing by dancing with his herd. After some experimentation, the monks created a drink by boiling the coffee bean. This beverage was consumed just before all-night ceremonies to keep the monks awake.

The second story that is popular involves a Muslim dervish who was sentenced to death by his enemies. He was forced to wander in the desert to die of starvation. During this time he heard a voice telling him to eat the fruit of what was a nearby wild coffee shrub. In his delirium he tried to soften the beans in water. When this failed he simply drank the soak water out of thirst. He was immediately invigorated and believed this to be a sign from God, returning to his homeland to share his discovery.

It was during the fifteenth century that coffee was first cultivated and the Arabian province of Yemen was the most prominent source of coffee. As demand grew past the boundaries of the Near East, the exportation of coffee went through the Yemeni port of Mocha, destined for Alexandria and Constantinople. This trade was lucrative and cloaked in secrecy. It was so closely guarded that no live plants were allowed to leave the country. The restrictions proved to be no match for those Muslim pilgrims who smuggled coffee plants back home after their trips to Mecca. Soon cultivation grew in India.

As trade routes flourished, coffee began to pass through the port of Venice where shipping fleets along the Spice Route brought Arabian merchants with tea, cinnamon, and other luxuries, including coffee. Liquid consumption became the most popular method with street vendors offering the hot beverages next to their cold ones, like lemonade. As Europeans traveled and experienced coffee in Arabia they also began to return home with this new and exotic drink.

The Dutch started the first plantation-styled coffee cultivation, during the seventeenth century, in their colonies in Indonesia primarily on the islands of Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi, and Bali. The French, taking a cutting from a coffee tree to Martinique, introducing the plant to the Caribbean and Latin America. Brazil became the worlds largest producer of coffee after a rare plant disease killed the coffee plants in Southeast Asia in the mid-nineteenth century.

It is interesting that today coffee is the second most traded commodity behind oil, and many of the nicknames we have for this drink, e.g. Java and Mocha come from locations that have played a prominent role in the history of our favorite beverage.

Lance Curtis is editor and contributor to TheCoffeeDrinker.com where coffee lovers gather with a cup of their favorite brew.

The Coffee Drinker uncovers those hard-to-find gourmet tidbits that coffee lovers, like you, enjoy.

Click the link to discover a world dedicated to you, The Coffee Drinker!
http://thecoffeedrinker.com/the-rich-history-of-coffee/

Author: J. Lance Curtis
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It is hard to imagine a modern home without a coffee maker. Even if you don’t own a coffee making machine you will more than likely own a kettle and coffee granules. Coffee has become such a popular drink all around the world, it is had to imagine that it was originally brewed using a small copper container called a Turkish Ibrik. The coffee was very strong as it was not filtered and you can still get coffee prepared like this in the Middle East today.

If you are looking for an easier way to prepare your morning brew there are many options available to you. You can choose a very fancy, complex coffee maker or a more simple, straight forward machine.

The largest selection of coffee makers these days is, of course, the inexpensive drip model. Once you have poured the water into the top of the machine, it’s heated by an electric element inside, the water then passes through coffee grounds and is collected in the glass pot which sits on the heating plate.

But beyond these basics, there are a few functions it’s nice to have.

Controls have changed to the stage that many makers look like a modern stereo. LCD screens display the time, the time to brew, temperature, a timer and several options even more unmentionable .

Getting the strength of your coffee correct is very important. Modern coffee makers have many options for you to adjust the strength of your coffee. There are almost as many options as there are coffee beans! Auto shut-off is a very useful feature. If you have every been unable to wait until your coffee has finished being brewed and you have removed the pot from the hot plate too soon you will have noticed the drips on the hot plate. Auto shut-off stops the coffee dripping into the pot the second it is removed from the heating plate. Once the pot is returned to the heating plate it will carry on brewing.

Walking into your kitchen on a cold, dark morning and seeing the illuminated display telling you your coffee is ready is also a very useful and comforting feature.

Cleaning has been made easier, too, by the invention of coffee ‘pods’ – small pre-measured paper containers of coffee through which the water flows. They have the added advantage of providing good filtering for grounds. Once the brewing is complete you just pop them out (after they’ve cooled!) and toss them into the waste bin. Essential for the active – and opposed to cleaning up – coffee drinker.

With a lot of latest machines now using pods this make the whole process a lot quicker but some people question the paper quality of these pods and the effect on the environment. Others also feel that the paper may effect the quality of coffee. This is a personal choice and one you will have to consider before purchasing your machine.

Having a water filter attached to your coffee maker can be a very useful feature. This can make your choice of machine a little more expensive but if you live in an area where your water quality is not great it can be necessary to ensure your coffee tastes great.

With so many options to chose from and a bevy of coffee machines available it may seem like an impossible task to finally decide on your perfect coffee maker. But you can take comfort in that fact the once you have chosen you can enjoy your perfect cup of coffee whenever your want for a long time to come.

To find your perfect Coffee Maker take a look at www.doyoulovecoffee.com.

This is the prefect site for all coffee lovers. The site is owned by Lyndsay Whittaker who is an avid coffee drinker.

Author: Lyndsay Whittaker
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