Coffee

There’s a lot of different ways to make coffee, the drip coffee maker sitting in the kitchen is only the beginning. They get pretty crazy with things that sound more like household items – the vacuum method, the plunger – to name just a couple. All of the methods produce a slightly different final product and just about all of them are at least worth trying once.

The most common method is with the Drip Coffee Maker, which is also called the filter method. Just about every household has at least one of these.

Coffee is made when water is poured on to grounds. The water filters through the grounds and into a coffee pot or mug below. For further instruction, please locate the nearest coffee maker in your house and take a look inside.

Another common method with enthusiasts is the French Press. They also call this the Plunger or Cafetiere.

Ground coffee is added to the bottom of this glass and metal cylinder shaped device. Hot water is poured in and then stirred around. The water saturates with the grounds for a few minutes before the plunger is pushed down to separate out the grounds. It’s said to extract the most flavor of any method.

At one point, the Percolator was the most common way to make coffee, however it was replaced by the drip coffee maker about fifty years ago. The reason that it lost it’s popularity is pretty simple, it produced horrible tasting coffee.

The Percolator looks like a kettle with an electrical cord attached to it. Water is put into a heated reservoir in the bottom, then as it heats up it cycles through the top where the grounds are. It goes through the cycle over and over until it’s ready. It makes the kitchen smell delicious, it even sounds good, but the taste has become sub par.

An increasingly popular appliance in many households is the Espresso Machine. They can be used to make espresso, but also cappuccinos and lattes.

While they can be sometimes very complicated machines, the process is simple. Hot water is injected into coffee grounds at high pressure into the waiting cup below.

Turkish Coffee or the Arab Method is the way coffee was mostly likely made originally. It produces a very dark and strong brew, so it isn’t for everyone.

It’s made by first grinding the beans by hand into grounds. Then it’s put into a pot called an ibrik with sugar and water. They bring it to boil three times, then it’s poured into cups to drink.

The Vacuum Coffee Maker is probably one of the most unusual looking methods. It looks like two glass pots placed on top of each other.

The vacuum method involves water heated up to near boiling, then it’s forced through coffee grounds into a chamber above. The mixture steeps until the heat is turned off and as it cools, the water is sucked back into the lower chamber.

If you don’t mind waiting for your coffee, you can try the Cold Water Method.

It’s a ten to twelve hour process that starts with ground coffee mixed into a large container with water. It’s left at room temperature for the day, then the grounds are removed and the extract can be mixed with hot water to make a cup of coffee.

The Neapolitan Flip may sound like some sort of ice cream desert, but it’s another interesting looking method of making coffee. It looks like two metal coffee pots on top of each other.

The two metal looking coffee pots are actually two chambers with grounds between them. The lower chamber is filled with hot water and brought to a boil. It’s then removed from the stove and flipped over. The water drips through the grinds into the serving pot below.

Some might argue that it’s not a legitimate way of making coffee, but Instant Coffee is made in thousands of cups across the country every morning.

It’s the easiest form of coffee to make, just add water, but taste is often a causality of the process.

Instant coffee is made by removing the water from grounds by freezing or heating it. That produces the powder that you can buy at the grocery store.

Growing in popularity lately because it’s so simple to use is the Single Serve Coffee Machines. Some consider it to be the future of coffee because you only have to insert a k-cup, pod or disc into it and press start. The result is a fresh cup of coffee in a few moments.

Mike Crimmins is a coffee fanatic. He’s not your traditional coffee expert or barista. He’s just your average joe, looking for that perfect cup of coffee. You can learn more about coffee at his blog http://dailyshotofcoffee.com/

See coffee maker photos.

Author: Mike Crimmins
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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For those who are coffee lovers, it may just be about time for you to start grinding your own coffee. In order to grind your own coffee however, you have to learn and this article is here to instruct you on the finer points of coffee grinding. Before you start however you should have access to some fundamental information such as the major types of coffee grinders which are blade grinders and burr grinders

Coffee grinders which are called blade grinders operate by grinding your coffee beans in an uneven manner. Because they grind coffee this way, there is a tendency for unevenness in the nature of the grind. There are also no settings to be regulated on a blade grinder as well and if you aren’t skilled in the use of blade grinders the process can get quite disorderly and cumbersome too.

Burr grinders are the faster and easier version of coffee grinders to use; they especially suit people who have just started in the process of grinding their own coffee. These burr grinders come with settings that you can use to ensure some form of uniformity in your own coffee grinding process. Most times such grinders are usually used for espresso grinds but it is highly possible for you to use them with a number of other grinds too.

If pricing is an issue for you to consider then you won’t be that disappointed either. Blade grinders cost a whole lot less than burr grinders and they go for around $20 per grinder. Burr grinders on the other hand cost nothing less than 3 times the price of a standard blade grinder. Some burr grinders costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 too. It’s usually best to opt for a burr grinder and enjoy the benefits of a great cup of coffee without the associated stress of blade grinders.

Different forms of coffee may be brewed using different grind sizes. Some forms of coffee such as drip coffee may require something smaller such as a medium grind. Espresso on the other hand requires a finer grind. Brews such as the French press may require a substantially larger grind. This is a general guide that describes the different basic grind descriptions that may be used in most coffee making devices.

Coarse grind

Such grinds are used with percolators. What the percolator does is that it boils the water and forces it over grounds in different metal filters that have holes in them. If you require the best flavor, you’d best avoid this sort of grind as it extracts too much acids and bitter oils.

Medium-coarse grind

This type of grind is mainly used with a French press or coffee makers that are called metal mess. These types of coffee makers usually send the grounds to the base of the canisters after leaving them in a mixture of hot water for a number of minutes. Again this sort of grind isn’t really desirable if you’re looking for optimum flavor. It tends to extract too much bitter oils and acids and it makes for a bad percolator.

Medium grind

This sort of grind is used with drip coffee makers. These sorts of coffee makers usually work just by pouring over the water on the grounds in a filter that has a flat bottom. If you use an electric maker on the other hand you may have to experiment with the particular grinds that you have. By doing this you control the coffee extraction better.

Fine grind This kind of grind is the one which is used with espresso machines. These sorts of machines are usually the best sort for brewing.

Extra-fine grind If you have an older version of an espresso machine or you use vacuum pots these sorts of grinds are the best to use.

Getting the best coffee extraction is all linked to grinding your coffee beans properly. If you grind you coffee freshly you can get the best coffee possible. However remember that you should never grind your coffee for more than 2 minutes before you start brewing.

Darren Williger is an over-caffeinated, low carbohydrate eating, winemaking enthusiast who writes for CaffeineZone.com, MyLowCarbPages.com, and CoffeeZen.com

Author: Darren Williger
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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When brewing coffee the ratio of ground coffee to water is vital. Generally the rule is 1 standard coffee scoop (2 tablespoons) of ground coffee to every 6 ounces of water. The only problem here is that coffee scoops can vary in capacity. The ideal way is to measure the capacity of your coffee scoop and adjust your subsequent coffee measurements accordingly. If weaker coffee is preferred then the 2 to 6 rule applies. Make it full strength and then dilute to taste with hot water or milk.

There are many ways to brew coffee but a percolator should not be one of them. Percolators violate two of the fundamental rules of good coffee brewing. They boil the coffee which extracts bitter and sour substances that should play no part in coffee and they pour water that is too hot over the grounds repeatedly. The water should be just right and poured only once.

There are many recommended methods of brewing a good cup of coffee.

The filter cone method involves pouring the hot water through ground coffee that has been measured into a filter set inside a cone. Over recent years this method has become increasingly popular. Connoisseurs prefer to use gold-washed metal filters but paper filters are convenient and easy to use.

Electric Drip machines operate in much the same fashion as manual filter cones except that they pour water over the coffee electrically from a pre-measured reservoir. The flat-bottomed cupcake shaped filters are thought to allow the water to saturate the ground coffee more evenly than the cone shaped filters.

The commonest version of the Metal drip pot is the old-fashioned stovetop pot divided from top to bottom into chambers for hot water, ground coffee and brewed coffee. These are excellent and produce coffee, which is full in flavor and body.

Plunger Pots or French Press Pots operate in a unique manner. The course ground coffee is placed into the pot. Hot water is then added and the grounds are left to steep. Then a metal screen attached to a plunger is slowly pushed down forcing the coffee grounds to the bottom of the pot. This coffee has a thick texture and is particularly appropriate to the flavors of dark roasted coffees.

Espresso coffee is fast becoming popular and the term espresso refers to the brewing method and not a coffee bean. This method gives the fullest bodied coffee by far. Espresso machines force hot (not boiling) water through finely ground coffee at high pressure.

Almost certainly every nation of the eastern Mediterranean brew coffee with a very simple method which is though to have originated in the coffee houses of Cairo in the fifteenth century. Very finely ground, sweetened coffee is lightly boiled several times in a medieval looking long handles brass or copper vessel called a cezve in Turkish and ibrik or briki in Greek. Although the coffee is not filtered the grounds stay in the bottom of the pot but some sediments will find there way into the cup where it sinks to the bottom and remains.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Coffee [http://coffee-guides.com]

Author: Michael Russell
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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When choosing the right coffee maker for you, there are so many choices. You need to decide on the style and then compare brands. I will look at the different styles of coffee machines to help you make a choice.

The most common variety for the home is the drip coffee maker. This is also one of the cheapest and easiest to use. Just place pre-ground coffee beans in a filter, fill the maker with water, press a button and watch as the jug slowly fills with fresh, aromatic coffee.

When comparing drip coffee machines, get a model that uses a built in mesh filter that can be re-used. Some models use paper filters that must be replaced after every use. This can create a problem if you run out of paper filters which inevitably happens. You will need to decide what size you need. The standard sizes range from 4 cups to 12 cups.

Percolator coffee makers enjoyed great popularity in years gone past, but the advent of the drip coffee maker has taken some of the gloss of the old style percolator. The idea of the coffee percolator is to force water under pressure through the coffee grounds, as many times as required to obtain the required strength. It uses higher temperatures than other forms of brewing and some say provides a fuller bodied taste, but experience is required to prevent over extraction.

A recent popular development in coffee machines is the Pod Coffee Maker, and the K-Cup maker. The Pod maker allows you to make a single cup of coffee using a pre-prepared sachet of ground coffee beans. These are easy to use, easy to clean, and provides a great flavored cup of coffee. Once the machine has warmed up, it only takes from 20 seconds to 60 seconds for the machine to make your coffee. The K Cup operates in a similar fashion, with the maker piecing the top and bottom of the K Cup, allowing the water to pass through the ground coffee. The temperature of the water can be changed as required to change the taste of the end product.

A French press is a simple but effective way to brew your coffee. The French Press is also known as a coffee plunger, press pot or coffee press. The French Press or Plunger is a glass beaker that has a lid with a metal plunger inserted. The metal plunger has a fine metal mesh on the base to infuse the coffee beans with the boiling water.

The ground coffee beans have longer contact with the water with the style of coffee making, the flavor stronger, and if you leave the brew in the plunger for too longer, it may become bitter.

Finally, the espresso machine is a popular home coffee maker that produces a great tasting Italian style coffee. Taste is varied by changing the grind size, and varying the pressure that the water is forced through the grinds.

The most common type of espresso machine uses a pump for brewing. You can get a single or dual boiler. The double boiler allows you boil water for brewing and also brew water for steaming the milk.

Look at getting an automatic espresso coffee maker or even a super automatic espresso maker. The automatic variety uses a programmed amount of water. The super automatic espresso machine grinds your coffee for you and adds water. Just add coffee beans and water.

So here are some of your choices. Good luck with your search for the best coffee maker for your needs, and a great cup of coffee.

Check out these tips choosing a coffee maker for your needs, whether a home or commercial coffee machine, and check out the video on how to use a coffee maker. Good luck with your search for a great cup of coffee.

Author: Steve Garrett
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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For a change, a good cup of coffee would be nice. It does take some time and some energy to find a great cup of gourmet coffee these days. If you do know of a perfect coffee shop, you are one of the lucky ones. But, did you know that you can actually make a wonderful cup of coffee on your own from home?

Here are 7 simple steps that you can take to produce the perfect cup of coffee every time.

Start with quality. One of the most important aspects of coffee drinking is the quality of the coffee that you start off with. If you have a favorite flavor, then purchase whole beans in that flavor. If you can do this, it will allow you to get the freshest coffee available.

Grind away. Purchase a quality coffee grinder. Some of the best grinders available today are easy to use and easy to clean up. By grinding your own coffee beans, you’ll be able to only grind what you need, meaning that you will have complete freshness in your coffee.

Store It Right And Tight. It is very important to store your coffee tightly. Air oxidizes the coffee and can cause it to get bitter quickly. Metal canisters can also allow a metal taste to get into the coffee, making it taste bad.

The best solution is for a plastic or ceramic air tight container for your coffee and coffee beans. Also, store it at room temperature because the moisture in the fridge or freezer can make it go bad faster.

Getting To The Coffee

The Maker. The coffee maker that you use is also important. No matter what style that you go with, you can get a good cup of coffee out of it if you take the necessary steps to keeping it fresh.

For example, you should insure that the coffee maker is kept clean after each use. In fact, you’ll need to make sure that you detail clean it, with the help of vinegar, every so often as well. Your preferences will ultimately determine which style of coffee maker you will use. Make sure that it uses a permanent filter in it.

Even In The Water. Even the water that you use is important to the quality of the coffee you will get from it. It is essential that you use water that is free from chlorine and minerals.

Often, using bottled water rather than tap water will improve the quality of the coffee. Also, keep the water nice and hot. A good temperature for the water is about 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

Provide The Right Amount. It is also important for you to use the right amount of coffee beans and coffee grounds in the maker. Too many and you will have a very strong cup of coffee and too few will make it to be too weak. Follow the directions provided by the coffee producer for the best cup of coffee.

Lastly and probably the most important aspect of getting a great cup of gourmet coffee is to make sure to enjoy your coffee when it is hot and fresh. Most restaurants are told to keep coffee for less than thirty minutes, but at home, the best coffee is the coffee that hasn’t sat for more than twenty minutes.

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Author: Steven Sarsgaard
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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