Coffee

You sit in a restaurant and order a cup of coffee. The waiter brings you a cup of coffee that you really like. Great, you think. An hour later you order another cup. This time the coffee is bitter, sour and almost undrinkable. What happened here? Well, the pot with coffee has been sitting on a warming plate.

Leaving coffee on a warming plate is one of the worst things you can do to it. The intense heat burns the coffee and gradually destroys all the flavor. Yet, with glass carafe coffee makers there is no other way to keep the coffee hot. That is where thermal carafe coffee makers enter the scene.

The most obvious advantage of thermal carafe coffee makers is that they can keep your drink hot for hours without compromising the flavor. This is perfect for daily use in your office, home or anywhere you regularly like to enjoy sipping a cup of hot coffee without the tart, bitter taste of coffee that has been sitting on a warming plate all day.

There are more advantages to thermal coffee makers, however. The rugged construction of most thermal makers means years and years of use, and the brushed stainless steel exteriors are really stylish.

How do these marvelous things work to keep our coffee fresh and hot whenever we need it? Well, the thermal carafes are specially designed with double wall insulating systems. This insulation system keeps the heat in the carafe so your coffee stays hot for several hours. A great thing about it is that there is no warming plate – nothing to burn your coffee and destroy its delicate flavor.

Some of the thermal coffee makers on offer come with very handy additional features such as automatic shut off, built-in-grinder or many programmable settings. You can set your coffee maker to start brewing early in the morning before your alarm clock goes off and by the time you get up, a pot of hot and delicious coffee will be waiting for you. There is even a thermal coffee maker that comes with a steam wand – excellent for those coffee lovers who love milk based drinks.

Now let’s have a look at who manufactures thermal carafe coffee makers. Capresso and Bunn are two brands that you should definitely consider. What sets these two apart is that their coffee makers actually use a proper brewing temperature (a thing that unfortunately cannot be said about a lot of other coffee makers). Zojirushi, Braun, Black & Decker and Cuisinart also offer thermal carafe coffee makers that have very good customer reviews.

Read more about advantages and drawbacks of a thermal coffee maker. Also check the recommended models for thermal coffee makers.

Author: K. Braun
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Try browsing the Internet for single cup coffee makers, and you’ll find dozens of websites, all purporting that they sell the best brewers available. The problem lies in the fact that most sites don’t agree with each other, so you get as many different opinions as there are coffee making machines. One of the debates on these websites is whether it’s better to buy a brewing system that uses k-cups or one that uses coffee pods. Both have their pros and cons, and this article is going to explore what’s good and what’s bad about them.

K-cups are the ultimate in convenience. They are little pre-measured portions of coffee housed in air-tight plastic cups sealed with both plastic and foil in order to preserve freshness. A k-cup coffee maker sends pressurized hot water through the top of the cup into a filter filled with coffee grounds. You can purchase an optional k-cup carousel for convenient counter-top storage. K-cups are made by many different gourmet coffee brands including Green Mountain, Caribou, Emeril’s, Newman’s Own, Gloria Jean’s, and Timothy’s. You will find numerous distinctive flavors and roasts to suit any taste.

On the downside, k-cups are expensive. You can end up paying as much as $.63 per cup with certain brands of coffee. For example, a box of 22 Green Mountain Variety Flavor K-Cups costs $13.95. You may find a few websites that offer discount k-cups, but even so they tend to be expensive compared to other coffee brewing methods.

There are a couple of ways you can avoid buying so many costly k-cups if you own a k-cup brewer. One of these is a reusable coffee filter you can fill with your own grounds. Using this type of filter you still have to mess with wet grounds, and reviewers will tell you they don’t make nearly as good of a cup of coffee as the originals, but they make single cup brewers much less expensive to use. You can also reuse k-cups 10 to 20 times provided you buy reusable plastic lids and put in your own coffee grounds.

Coffee pods are also pre-measured packets of all different kinds of coffee. These pods are filters that are heat sealed to keep the coffee in them fresh. They have been likened to tea bags, but the coffee they produce is fresh-brewed, because single cup coffee makers brew coffee one cup at a time. Pods are available in dozens of varieties, and where some people have complained that k-cups are very limited in the flavors they offer, there is no problem with that when it comes to coffee pods. Companies, such as Senseo, produce their own coffee pods to specifically fit their coffee makers; however, there are numerous standardized pods available that you can use also.

Once again, the problem with coffee pods is that they are expensive. Although they don’t run as much per cup as k-cups do, they are still more expensive than either a drip coffee maker or a French press. As with k-cups, there are alternatives to using the premade packets. You can buy a machine and make your own heat-sealed pods, or you can buy adapters for some brewers that allow you to use regular coffee grounds. Another negative that some people have found with certain coffee pods is that they make coffee that is too weak. To remedy this problem they use two pods per cup which doubles the price of each cup of coffee.

As with most products these days, it all depends on personal preference and budget. You will find lots of online reviews from people loving their k-cup brewers as well as reviews from those who are very happy with their coffee pod coffee makers. Therefore, it’s pretty much up to you to weigh the options and decide which type of brewing system is right for you.

Paul Julian coffee pods and k cups at http://www.CoffeePodsAndKcups.com.

Author: Paul Julian
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Guest blogger

Coffee lovers everywhere are realizing that in order to make the most flavoursome cup of coffee you need to first start with the right coffee.  Sounds simple enough doesn’t it?  But where a lot of coffee enthusiasts come unstuck is when they mistakenly buy pre-manufactured grounds as opposed to actual coffee beans.

The main problem with buying coffee grounds is that they are already likely to have deteriorated by being exposed to the air for a given period.  This results is the coffee grounds oxidize and therefore will potentially ruin the taste, and all this before you have even started…

The only way to almost guarantee a perfect cup of coffee is to use coffee beans and grind them yourself.  The outer-shell of the coffee bean safely protects the contents from air exposure so you can grind the exact amount of coffee you need without having to worry about ever destroying the taste.

All that remains is to decide on what kind of coffee grinder suits you best.  There are three main types to choose from, burr, crusher and blade.

The Crusher Grinder.

Simply put this type of grinder compresses the coffee bean just like a vice and although responsibly cheap the crusher grinder is unable to produce a uniform grind which is essential for many coffee brews including espresso.

The Blade Grinder:

If you after a way to improve the taste of your coffee, but not looking to spend a fortune doing so then a blade grinder might just be what you’re looking for.  These types of grinders rotate very fast to chop the coffee beans over and over.  The main problem with a blade grinder is because it does rotate fast the potential of passing heat directly to the coffee is high.  This can result in the coffee tasting very bitter or even burnt.

The Burr Grinder

If you can afford one then a burr grinder is the choice to make.  There a two types to consider, the flat burr or the conical burr variant.  Both are very good at producing an even, uniform ground that is capable of producing Espresso and even Turkish coffee.  

Of the two grinders the conical burr is the undisputed king, thanks largely to it being able to grind coffee extremely slowly and evenly.  Whatever coffee grinder you decide upon, you can be sure that your brew will taste far better than any pre-bought coffee grounds.

Coffee lovers everywhere realize that conical burr grinders make a perfect cup of coffee everytime. One such example is the highly rated Rancilio Rocky Doserless coffee grinder. For more information make sure you visit us today!

Author: Robert Funge
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Gourmet coffee is more than just coffee for occasional drinkers or for those who drink it in order to stay awake. It is a special treat made of selected coffee beans, in a special manner, and its main purpose being to please the taste of the consumer.

One of the world’s most appreciated gourmet coffees is the kona coffee. Kona coffee is original from the Mauna Lao Hawaiian Island. It’s a rare and special coffee. The tree’s coffee beans come to be ripe especially after cold winters and they are then picked and carefully selected, dried and hulled.

The reddish kona coffee beans are roasted in different methods depending on the moisture of the bean, the result being a richly flavored coffee that is ready to be prepared. On the market Kona is generally sold as a blend, a Kona blend containing Arabic, Brazilian and African beans and only 10% of Kona coffee.

As the commercial market offers more and more sorts of ready-made coffee, coffee drinkers all over the world have come to favor “gourmet coffee”. Coffee’s sold by Starbucks, Peets, Tullies or Barnies can now be found in fine coffee shops and super markets alike.

Starbucks claims supremacy of the market as they offer a wide variety of coffees beverages ranging from the brewed coffee, to expresso drinks, to luxurious frappuccinos.

While Starbucks success is relatively new-founded, Peets coffee has a tradition in bringing tasty coffee to the consumers, dating back to the 1960′s; Gevalia proudly announces that they have been offering gourmet products to consumers for over 100 years.

Regardless of the time advantage that the two latter-named companies have, it is the young Barnies Coffee that challenges Starbucks as they come on the market with impeccable service and an extraordinary array of coffee types.

There are many kinds of coffee available today, varied enough to satisfy each consumer’s unique taste palette, no matter how finicky. Whether you prefer Columbian, Kona or Kenyan or Starbucks, Illy, or Gevalia as gourmet coffee, you can find a place to serve you your favorite coffee at virtually every corner.

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Author: Tyler Bond
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Guest blogger

Do coffee drinkers perceive a difference between single origin coffee versus blended coffee? A scientific study was conducted by the University of Padova in collaboration with the Tasters Study Centre in order to provide a definitive answer to this question. In order to determine whether coffee drinkers can perceive a difference between single origin and blend, 350 taste tests were made at Padova according to standards established by the International Institute of Coffee Tasters coffee shop supplies. Among the contending coffees were a blend of Arabica coffees with seven ingredients of four different origins (namely Haiti XXXXX, Colombia Armenia Supremo, Ethiopia Sidamo, and Santo Domingo Barahona Toral AA). The group of tasters was half male and half female, age range between eighteen and sixty-four. The tasters were able to distinguish the blended coffee from the single origin coffee, preferring the blended coffee, in a way which is statistically significant. The study notes that coffee drinking has evolved as an art, with drinkers becoming more sophisticated in their tastes and at the same time fussier. This has caused a boom in coffee menus at restaurants, new niches in the coffee shop and bar sector, and selections of coffee type based upon sensory pleasure. Coffee roasters have also noticed the increased attentiveness and curiosity of coffee drinkers. Our society is increasingly producing people who are knowledgeable about taste and who are seeking new sensory experience. Brand loyalty doesn’t mean as much to these consumers as does qualitative excellence. The fact that tasters preferred the blend shows that roasters are very good at selecting coffees from distinct locations and bringing out the best characteristics of each in creating an unbeatable blend.

There are already many restaurants and bars which specialize in single origin coffee and supplies. Often the choice espressos change on a monthly basis, alternating between Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, etc. It is thought that consumer curiosity about single origin coffees is sparked by the ideas these places are connected with, rather than to genuine nuances in tastes. In the first place, the term “single origin” connotes a homogeneity of product which is not there. When consumers read the word “Brazil” on a bag of coffee they believe that all the coffee bearing that name is basically identical, which is not at all true. An example of a successful single origin marketing vision is Evancaffe, which introduced its menu of gourmet coffees into topnotch restaurants. In the beginning the clients were wary; but interest in single origin coffee has grown with the years. This was helped along by the enthusiasm of the proprietors and the maitres who ran the restaurants to promote single origin coffees.

Interest level varies with nation – in Italy it is noticeable that while there is a large interest in single origin coffees among the coffee drinking public, nonetheless restaurants and commercial coffee suppliers don’t seem to respond. At the present time single origin coffees are very much a small niche in the total volume of coffee marketed worldwide, but one that is bound to grow.

Commercial coffee suppliers should take note of the increasing interest in single origin coffee and supplies among knowledgeable consumers. Coffee shop supplies in the future will be geared more and more to single origin coffees.

Author: Alice Lane
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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