Coffee

It’s amazing to think that just a simple drink of coffee can be so romantic. Just think how much effort has been put into harvesting the beans, processing them and then transporting them. Coffee has fascinated, cured and improved millions of people’s lives all over the world.

The most reliable information we have states that the coffee plant was originally from Ethiopia and was discovered in about 500BC. People started to notice effects when consuming the berries. It was taken to Arabia which is where it got its name!

The renaissance saw commercial production of coffee which meant it was worldwide. During the 18th century coffee spread to different countries, particularly Europe, Asia, Americas, the Middle East. It was suddenly a popular drink for every social class.

People started to say that the effects they noticed by drinking coffee were amazing, some of these health benefits were just myth, however others did have some truth in them!

Some scientific studies have noticed that sperm in mammals swim faster and have more energy when they are swimming through a liquid with coffee in it. It is thought that the caffeine in the coffee stimulates them to perform better.

Another Harvard study looked at 100,000 with diabetes and suggested that moderate coffee drinking can reduce the effects of diabetes. Other tests have shown protection against cirrhosis of the liver and even decreasing asthma.

Coffee contains antioxidants which are similar to those found in wine. These are thought to improve the health of your heart. However the problem is that coffee is known to cause some negative effects as well and nobody is sure whether it is beneficial as a whole to drink coffee. Some people have suggested that long term use of coffee can cause to nerve degeneration. If you suddenly stop drinking coffee then your body will crave for caffeine which can result in sleeplessness.

It doesn’t really matter whether coffee is good or bad, it’s going to stay because it is so popular. This is so certain because of the price. Coffee is the second most expensive commodity, with oil being the first!

Over 400 billion cups of coffee are consumed every year, no matter which country you are in it’s extremely popular. It may not be hugely popular, only around 20% of adults drink more than one cup of coffee a day however its sales still total almost $9 billion every year.

If you then go on to consider everything else that a person buys for coffee, including grinders, roasters, brewers, cups and of course the raw beans then it will be a lot more than that.

Coffee is rising in price every year, it is set to have a bright future ahead of it. You can tell just how popular coffee is by the invasion of the coffee shops in all of our high streets! Starbucks have over 10,000 shops!

There are many different ways of drinking coffee, including espresso, straight shots or even double shots. All of these exotic coffees are available from your home coffee machine, whether it’s a traditional cofee maker, espresso machine, or a coffee maker that only makes one cup.

You can even make cappuccinos and lattes if you add a few extra ingredients and press a few extra buttons.

Being really interested in one cup coffee maker, Leroy Calstard has been authoring different papers in this specific area. His contributions on single serving coffee makers can be encountered on http://www.coffee-espresso-maker-tips.com .

Author: Leroy C. Calstard
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Though I have never been a coffee drinker, I love the smell of it brewing in the morning. I guess it is because I have happy memories as a child and I knew the smell of coffee meant my mother was up and we were going to have one of her wonderful breakfasts or that we were at my grandmother’s house and we were going to have one of her wonderful breakfasts. My grandmother always had a pot of coffee on the stove for visitors – and a homemade apple pie – and there was always someone at the house visiting!

People have been enjoying the benefits of coffee for over fifteen hundred years. Originating from the Kaffa, Buno, and Ethiopia areas, the main center of production was the port city of Mocha, Yemen, where it was served to Italian merchants and then spread to Europe in the 1600′s. Little did the Turks know that they were serving what would become one of the most popular drinks in history. Coffee houses began ‘brewing’ all over North American in 1668 in towns such as Boston, New York and Philadelphia. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Americans drink on the average of more than eight ounces of coffee a day.

The benefits of coffee are astounding. Coffee is extremely high in antioxidants (substances that slow down or prevent oxidative damage to our cells and bodies and act as free radical scavengers). In Harvard Health Publication, studies have shown coffee in moderation can reduce the risk of developing gall stones, colon cancer, liver damage, Parkinson’s disease, improve endurance performance in physical activities and cognitive function.

It is recommended that coffee be consumed in moderation since it is a stimulant. Too much coffee or anything for that matter, can do more harm than good, so limit consumption to no more than two cups a day. Over consumption of coffee can cause anxiety or panic attacks and in some cases increase the risk of heart disease in some people. If you find that you are jittery or nervous after drinking coffee, cut back.

The key to brewing a good cup of coffee is to grind good quality fresh beans yourself. As soon as the beans are ground, precious oils that make your coffee taste great are lost. Just imagine how great your coffee will taste from freshly ground beans. A coffee grinder is used for this purpose and a must if you really want a good cup of coffee. I am going to add a personal note here about coffee grinders. I have one and use mine to grind nuts and seeds to make a coating for food instead of breadcrumbs. I grind almonds, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, mix them together with paprika, herbs, a little salt and pepper. This makes a grand coating for salmon cakes or chicken and fish. Then I pan sear, and serve with a mayonnaise, lemon, garlic, and horseradish sauce. Yum. 

I have also used mine to grind herbs if I want them really fine. If you wish to use a coffee grinder for other things, it is best to purchase two – one for coffee and one for grinding nuts, seeds and herbs. Purchase high quality beans, of course choosing the type of bean for a particular flavor is up to you. If your water is poor quality, use filtered or spring water to make your coffee taste even better.   Also consider organic coffee and experiment with different flavor beans to find your favorite. Our parents used to let us have a small amount of coffee when we were kids. They called it coffee milk and it consisted of coffee, pure cream – more cream than coffee and sugar. That was a real treat.

Safe Home Sue is a product specialist for Safe Home Products(R). Safe Home Products, Inc. is a growing e-commerce reseller of consumer products that improve safety, security, health and quality of life. Established in 1999 as a woman-owned business, Safe Home Products serves over 100,000 clients worldwide from its customer service and fulfillment headquarters in Iowa City, Iowa. Safe Home Products offers over 10,000 products including carbon monoxide and radon detectors, emergency preparedness equipment, environmentally-friendly cleaning supplies, pet products, pest control solutions, and home medical equipment. They ship to all 50 states and U.S. territories and to most countries.

Author: Sue Wes
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Where did coffee originate? Coffee lovers around the world today may be numbering in the millions, but only a small number could be fully aware on the beginnings of this well-loved beverage. The history of coffee is definitely as rich as its flavor, spanning numerous centuries and dating as far back as 6th century A.D.

The oldest coffee legend

In the 6th century AD, farmers from Yemen were already growing coffee cherries. According to legend, a goat herder in Ethiopia was bewildered to discover that his goats were showing inexplicable energy after consuming a particular kind of cherries. After this goat herder tried the berries for himself and found that he too felt a surge of energy, Muslims discovered a way to extract the brew from the cherries, transforming the beans into a heady beverage. Thus, coffee became a secret beverage of the Muslims for a while, revitalizing them even during lengthy periods of worship. When 900 AD came round, coffee was already commonplace in the entire region of Arabia. From this period until 1500 AD, coffee farming practices were still a well-kept secret, although coffee beans were already exported to other places.

Coffee invasion in Europe

Before long however, Europeans found a way to bring coffee seedlings into their own lands. By 1615, merchants from Venice were able to bootleg a coffee plant out of the Yemen borders and into Europe. This time, coffee was used for its therapeutic purposes, being sold both as a drink and as a health remedy. When the Dutch got hold of the Ethiopian territory, they were able to bring coffee plants into Holland.

When it was discovered that Holland’s climate was not conducive to coffee farming, the Dutch brought the plants to other regions. When the first coffee shop opened its doors to the public in Oxford, England by the year 1650, women were forbidden to enter the shops. It was only three years later, when a teahouse was opened, that women found a place to converge.

The love story behind coffee Arabica

A Brazilian coast guard officer found two things he loved when he visited Cayenne in French Guyana in 1727: one, the coffee and two, the Governor’s wife. It was this affection that led him to acquire a few seeds which he took back to Brazil, initiating the Arabica coffee variety production in the country. Brazil eventually became the world’s largest coffee producer in 1800.

Afterwards, coffee traveled from country to country, spreading its popularity as a principal beverage of choice. The British introduced coffee to Jamaica in 1730. In 1774, Americans expressed a predilection for coffee during the Boston Tea Party, as a sign that they are replacing tea with coffee, due to the exorbitant taxes levied on tea trading. Costa Rica acquired coffee from Cuba, and this eventually spread to Mexico. The Island of Martinique cultivated coffee in the 1700s and Hawaii in 1825.

Present day coffee and coffee houses

Coffee houses are popular in Arabia; however they are as popular in Europe as well. From the 1600′s to the mid 1900s, coffee shops had already proliferated in Paris, reaching to approximately 3,000 in number. Presently, coffee is second to oil in terms of the most traded commodity worldwide.

Yogi Shinde is the webmaster offering coffee maker reviews on various brands of coffee makers like Braun, Krups, Mr Coffee and many others, helping you find the best coffee maker to suit your needs.

Author: Yogi Shinde
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For most of us, the freshly brewed smell of coffee is the morning wake up call. Morning coffee is more than a morning ritual. It is a time to relax and enjoy exotic flavors while buried in the day’s newspapers. With so many different flavors of coffee, it is not possible to figure out which are the better ones. It is also a subjective matter as individual tastes differ. You should experiment with different varieties to see what appeals most to your taste buds. After extensive research market analysts have arrived at the following as some of the most popular coffee flavors:

Medical experts would say water is definitely better for your health than soda. There is vitamin water available that are no more than bottled water with coloring, vitamins and flavor. Instead of buying this type of ready-made flavored water, you can exercise your imagination and add many things to water at home to make water more enjoyable to drink. Most of us are aware of the term electrolytes used for marketing for energy drinks. Please note that electrolytes are just ions that are found in common table salt. Adding a little bit of salt to water helps your body absorb the liquid more quickly. As long as you add a pinch of salt and not more, the water should quench the thirst, and act as a recuperative agent since the body loses salt through sweat.

Chocolate: That chocolate is the most favored flavor for many needs no reiteration. Chocolate flavors can be either sweet or bitter. The smooth texture that it adds to the coffee is something really extraordinary.

French Vanilla: This is a blend of vanilla and cream that makes coffee a perfect drink. This combination comes in all sorts of types

Espresso: People coming from Europe will settle for nothing less than a good cup of Espresso coffee. In Italy, you can enjoy this cup of coffee with its strong and truly wonderful flavor. The best espresso should have a powerful aroma, and flavor similar to freshly ground coffee. The cream should be dark reddish-brown and smooth, yet thick. A pleasant and aromatic aftertaste should linger on the palate for several minutes after you consume genuine espresso coffee.

Hazelnut: This is yet another wonderful blend of coffee that coffee lovers clamor for. The unique feature of this flavor is you will get an even taste, one that is not too bitter and not too sweet.

Amaretto: This type of coffee will unfailingly offer you a little zing because it is made to taste like the Italian liquor.

Dark Roast: There is something amazing about this flavor and all coffee lovers should try this flavor.

Kano: This is an exotic coffee that is unlike all other known coffee flavors. It has a subtle taste of citrus that is just enough to excite you.

The birthplace of coffee, Africa grows some of the world’s finest coffee beans. From its musky aroma to its floral and fruity taste, Kenyan Extra Bold from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is certainly the most prized variety of African coffees.

Island Coconut Coffee from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is appreciated for its fresh, fruity aroma and creamy coconut flavor. Mixed with ice and a splash of coconut rum, this coffee makes a fantastic after-dinner drink.

Sugar Bush Maple Coffee is a true taste sensation for maple syrup lovers. Unlike other blends which make use of cinnamon and maple flavorings, Sugar Bush Maple provides the taste and aroma of pure maple syrup.

The panel of coffee lovers, who had done tasting of different coffee flavors, opined flavors like hazelnut and amaretto topped the list when asked for their all time favorite from among less known flavors.

Next on the list were the dessert coffee types. Of these, the chocolate and raspberry combination seemed to be the most popular, with peppermint is close second. Other popular flavors were caramel and toffee, as well as the ever popular French vanilla.

There were some of the more uncommon types of flavored coffee available in several different fruit flavors. These unusual flavors came in varieties such as Blueberry flavored coffee, orange coffee, and even apple flavored coffee.

Samehta is a Copywriter of Bottled water. She written many articles in various topics such as flavored water, coffee flavors. For more information visit: http://capellaflavordrops.com.

Author: Samehta S Capella
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Coffee and Cancer

Have you ever wondered, as you’re sitting in your favorite coffee shop or perhaps at your own kitchen table, sipping your morning cup of gourmet coffee, where that wonderful drink originated at? If you live in the United States, you can thank a man by the name of Alfred Peet. In 1955, Alfred Peet moved to California from Amsterdam, Holland. To his despair, he couldn’t find a decent cup of coffee anywhere. As the son of an Amsterdam coffee trader, he knew good coffee when he drank it.

In 1966, Peet opened a small coffee store in Berkley, California, and began to sell his dark roasted beans. At the time there was one other North American store selling quality coffee, but they were in Vancouver, Canada. From that time until now, Peet’s has served the gourmet coffee needs in Southern California.

While gourmet coffee didn’t come to the States until 1966, coffee has been around since the 9th century, when Ethiopian shepherds notice that their goats would “dance” and had more energy after eating wild coffee beans. Since Islam prohibits the use of alcohol, coffee provided an alternative to wine. From there it spread to Egypt and Yemen. It wasn’t until it reached Arabia that coffee beans were roasted and brewed to make a drink.

At first, this drink was not well received by the Islamic people. In 1511, it was forbidden by the court at Mecca. The drink was so popular, though, that this was overturned in 1524 by the Ottoman Turkish Sultan Selim. It was also banned for a time in Egypt and Ethiopia, before being accepted as an acceptable Muslim drink. This was largely due to the rulers at the time liking the taste of the beverage, therefore decreeing it acceptable.

By the 15th century, coffee was common throughout the Middle East, Persia, Turkey and North Africa. The word “coffee” came from “caffé” in Italy in the 16th century. Before that it was called, in Arabic, “qahwa”. In Venice traders started buying coffee from Africa and the Middle East, and in 1645 the first European coffee house opened.

The Dutch defied the Saudi Arabians prohibition on exportation of coffee by smuggling seedlings from Aden into Europe in 1616. They were also the first country to import coffee on a large scale. They took plants to Java and Ceylon, where they started exporting to the Netherlands in 1711.

Coffee arrived in the United States during the colonial period. When it was first imported, it was not widely drunk in the United States. It wasn’t until the revolutionary war and the shortage of tea, that Americans began drinking it on a regular basis. After the War of 1812, America’s taste for coffee grew and it became a common drink.

As the consumption of coffee grew, so did the companies cultivating, roasting and grinding. The larger companies used (and still do) a blend of Arabica and Robusta beans for a commercial blend, while gourmet coffee is roasted from the Arabica bean alone. Arabica beans are considered the tastiest of the three types of bean and also the most expensive.

Today, coffee is the life-blood of the third world countries that produce it. Over a hundred million people depend on the growth, production and exportation of this flavorful bean.

The next time you pour yourself a wonderful cup of your favorite gourmet blend, consider the origins and history of the coffee bean and how it came to be in your favorite store. The rich history of gourmet coffee is almost as rich and full-bodied as the drink itself which will surely give you even more of that warm and cozy feeling that only a nice cup of coffee can give!

Katya Coen provides information on gourmet coffee for Coffee Online – the site for coffee lovers.

Author: Katya Coen
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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