Coffee

Although electric coffee makers are used by millions of people around the world everyday, true coffee connoisseurs actually consider the coffee that comes out of these machines to be of poor quality. While it is true that many electric drip coffee makers produce coffee that isn’t so great, some coffee makers are very capable indeed of churning out excellent tasting coffee.

Great Ingredients Make Great Coffee

It all starts with what you put in the machine. You can have the best machine in the world, but if you toss in lousy beans or funky tasting water, what comes out will be lousy. Buy quality coffee beans, preferably organic. Conventional coffee is sprayed with lots of pesticides, and organic coffee tastes better. Use filtered or bottled water that tastes good when you drink it cold.

What to Look For in a Coffee Maker

First of all, it is generally agreed upon that grinding the coffee beans shortly before you brew the coffee results in a better tasting brew. Most people realize this, but quickly find out that grinding coffee beans every day just doesn’t get done. Fortunately, you can get a coffee maker that has a built-in grinder, so you don’t even have to think about this step anymore. The machine will just do it all for you. You can even set a timer so the grind and brew machine has your coffee finished at the time you want it.

Another thing you should look for when choosing an electric coffee maker is the temperature of the water when brewing. Although this fact has eluded the masses, real coffee aficionados know that the optimum temperature for brewing coffee is 200 Fahrenheit, or 93 Celsius. Many of the cheap electric coffee makers never actually get the water this hot. You have to purchase a good quality machine from a reputable brand that actually says how hot the water temperature gets in the brewing process.

Finally, the pot that the finished coffee goes into has an impact on the coffee’s final taste. Lousy machines can give the coffee a “burnt” taste from heating the bottom of the pot. Some of the better coffee makers these days use stainless steel insulated carafes to keep the coffee hot until it is consumed.

Most experts advise purchasing the best coffee maker that you can afford. Read the reviews and compare machines as much as possible before choosing. By investing in a good quality machine, you will enjoy better cups of coffee for years, and small things like this can have big impacts on your life.

Chad Damon is the author of the Best Electric Coffee Makers and the guide to single cup electric coffee makers. His automatic coffee grinder wakes him up at precisely 7:30 AM every morning.

Author: Chad Damon
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Instant coffee bears little resemblance in taste to freshly brewed coffee. It is commonly made with inferior ‘robusta’ beans. It is the product of a complex scientific process, yet we British love it.

It may be convenient, but do we actually know what we are drinking? Have you ever wondered how they make coffee soluble? After all coffee is made using tough coffee beans that surely cannot be made to dissolve in water.

The truth is that instant coffee does not contain any actual coffee beans; it is simply a dried coffee flavoured solution that is the product of a complex brewing process. Similarly to everything else in the world of food that has been altered by science is coined ‘Frankenstein’; maybe we should start calling instant coffee, ‘Frankenstein Coffee’?

The process

Extraction: The process starts by passing water through a series of cylinders full of ground coffee beans. Each of these cylinders is heated to a different temperature and in at least one of the cylinders pressure is applied to achieve a fuller extraction. One of reasons why instant coffee is bitter is because during this extraction process the coffee grounds become burnt as they are exposed to temperatures of up to 180°C. (The widely agreed optimum temperature, among coffee enthusiasts, to brew coffee is between 90-95°C).

Filtration & Concentration: This coffee solution is then filtered to remove any unwanted particles before the concentration stage. Here water is removed from the coffee solution to increase the flavour. There are several different techniques to do this, one of which involves heating the solution further to evaporate the water.

Dehydration: In this stage the coffee solution is converted to a dry form. There are two commonly used methods; Spray drying and Freeze drying. The spray drying method is quite complex, however the basic principle is to spraying hot air through the coffee solution in order to evaporate the remaining water. Freeze drying involves quickly freezing the coffee solution into blocks which are then broken up into small particles. These particles are then heated in a vacuum where the ice is vaporised and removed.

Aromatisation: All these different stages and the high temperatures used in them, destroy most of the natural flavours that occur in coffee. The dry form of the coffee solution is therefore both stewed and bitter. So to help improve the taste, aromas produced during the various stages of this process are captured and then sprayed onto the dry coffee particles.

If that is not enough to make you switch from a cup of instant coffee to a freshly brewed cup then you may want to consider that instant coffee, in the vast majority of cases, is not fairly traded. In fact, it can be argued that the instant coffee industry, which is mainly made up of large multinational companies, is chiefly responsible for the low price coffee farmers receive for their harvest. They have the power to drive down prices and buy when the market is lowest, leaving the farmer and their family to live a meager existence.

James Grierson is the owner of Galla Coffee: http://www.gallacoffee.co.uk – UK online retailer of designer coffee accessories. Through the Coffee Knowledge section of his website he aims to help people understand more about coffee and give them tips on how to make great tasting coffee in their home.

Check out http://www.gallacoffee.co.uk/acatalog/Coffee_Knowledge.html for more articles or if you have a question send it to: coffeeknowledge@gallacoffee.co.uk

Author: James Grierson
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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