Coffee

There are different types of addiction, and as far as medical science is concerned, none of them are good. If you’re an addict, you can either be addicted to smoking, drinking or even using drugs. But what is addiction, really? The Merriam – Webster Dictionary defined addiction as the “persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful”. Addiction is a clinical disorder. Shall we then consider the persistent and compulsive drinking of coffee an addiction? To all coffee lovers, rest assured that it is not an addiction, nor is it a clinical disorder, and it is not detrimental.

Today, coffee is one of the widely known and drank beverages in the world. In early societies, coffee was part of religious rites and ceremonies, making it sacred and its consumption limited to important people only. In the latter days, coffee even became part of political activities. At present, coffee is an important good widely exported throughout the world. It is actually counted as the seventh largest agricultural product, in value.

There is more to coffee that meets the eye, or rather the nose and the tongue. Before we are able to serve, inhale the aroma and drink it, where did the product come from? The beverage was actually a result of several processes. It is not as if the coffee we drink can just be picked from the tree. Coffee berries, contrary to what many think, actually tastes sweet when ripe. These berries are removed of their fleshy part and the beans are fermented. They are then washed to remove dirt and then dried. The next step is the roasting of the beans. This is an important step owing to the fact that how the coffee is roasted affects the taste when brewed. Short roasting time results in a bitter, stronger flavor and more aromatic essence.

Even in everyday life, coffee has been a part of most people’s lifestyle. Much like ancient times, coffee now serves like a personal religion. It is a part of the morning ritual in starting the day. Taking a sip of the warm exquisite drink heightens the mood and helps the person feel wide awake. Of course, we must give the credit to the essential ingredient of coffee which is caffeine. During social gatherings or business meetings, people tend to lighten up and ease the tension away with the help of the mere presence of coffee. It seems like a magical beverage! Even at simple friendly get-togethers, people talk “over a cup of coffee”.

Walk around the plaza and you won’t miss a coffee shop. Coffee is no longer a fad, but became a necessity for people all over the world! More and more people feel the need to utilize the wonderful flavor of coffee. It is not surprising, therefore, to find out that there are actually more than a hundred coffee combinations around the world. Among the hundred others, however, we have the top five most popular varieties: espresso, cafe latte, cafe mocha, cappuccino, and of course, the instant coffee. Espresso is not a coffee combination, for it is actually the pure coffee, which is in fine powder form, subjected to hot (not boiling) water under high pressure. It has a thicker and denser liquid compared to the usual brewed coffee and it is measured in shots when served. It functions as a main component in coffee combinations.

Café latte literally means coffee with milk. Latte is the Italian word for milk, so if you order latte in an Italian coffee shop, you will most likely be served just a glass of milk and not the usual cafe latte you are expecting. This beverage is composed of one third part espresso and two thirds milk. It is served with a thick layer of foamed milk, usually a third or a fourth of an inch thick.

Café mocha is almost the same as cafe latte, only instead of the thick foamed milk, chocolate syrup or powder is added. Likewise, cappuccino is a combination much the same as café latte, only having a thinner layer of foamed milk on top.

But who would ever forget the most popular type of coffee served? Instant coffee is something that you would see in every two households out of three. No wonder coffee is one of the most popular drinks ever!

Maryrose Jairene Cruz is a freelance writer for more than 2 years, accepts article writing projects in bulks or individually.
Check websites:
http://www.booksandmovies.webnode.com and http://www.ourfavoritehobby.blogspot.com

Author: Jairene Cruz
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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The flavor of the coffee bean starts with the plant and the climate where it is grown. But what happens to the bean from picking until it is poured into your cup also has a lot to do with the flavor and the extent that you enjoy the end result or experience disappointment.

Roasting – What it Does

Roasting the coffee beans brings out the vibrant flavor of the beans. The heat from the process causes the coffee bean’s carbohydrates and fats to transform into aromatic oils. Roasting changes the flavor of the beans from something that is unpleasant into the wonderful coffee flavor that millions of people around the world enjoy every day.

There are also different roasting times that coffee beans experience. Each produces a different type of coffee. Light roast produces a light flavor, medium roast is sweeter and more full-bodied, and dark roast produces a deep taste that is fairly spicy and sweet.

The longest roasting time produces the really dark coffee. In those beans the natural sugar content of the beans will start to carbonize and caramelize, resulting in a smoky and full flavor.

Buying the Best Coffee Beans

Most coffee plants rely on the climate of the region where they are planted, and this produces the distinctive flavor found in the coffee cherries. For the very best beans, buy arabica coffee that is considered gourmet. Robusta beans have more caffeine, less flavor and are cheaper to make.

Your Own Coffee Grinder – A Must

People who want the best flavor in their coffee use coffee grinders. If you’d like to get the most flavor and nutritional benefit you can, buy whole coffee beans and grind your own as you use them. In order to enjoy the full flavor of the coffee, you should grind only the amount you intend to use just before brewing.

Keeping the Coffee Beans Fresh

For the best flavor you should purchase whole coffee beans from specialty shops only. After making your purchase, the whole beans should be used within a week of purchase in order to enjoy the full flavor of the coffee. Coffee beans are like sponges, soaking up the flavor of anything in their environment, which is why you want to make sure they are sealed in a air-tight container and used up within seven to ten days.

Coffee drinkers also advise against buying pre-ground coffee since pre-grinding diminishes the coffee flavor and aroma. By purchasing whole beans, grinding the fresh coffee beans and making only enough that you will drink immediately you are preparing a beautiful, intense flavor and aroma.

It wasn’t long ago that people had to depend on percolators and ground coffee. Hardly anyone had their own grinder, and few people had their own percolator. Percolators were for the church potluck or the local coffee shop.

Today we are spoiled to have available the best coffee beans for a reasonable price. In many kitchens there is a roaster, or at least a grinder and coffee maker, and often an espresso machine. This is a great time in history for coffee lovers everywhere.

Carol Stack has written numerous articles about coffee and coffee-related topics. She lives in the United States with her husband, three children, and various dogs and cats. Carol and her sister Barbara have a coffee site devoted to coffee lovers who are searching for a better cup of coffee. You can visit it at: http://www.coffeeloversportal.com

Author: Carol Stack
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Coffee roasting is a centuries-old craft. The art of coffee roasting has made great improvements in recent times, but still requires years of dedication to achieve perfection. Although hundreds of articles and books have been written about this fascinating matter, and almost everything (yet not all) is known about the chemistry and the thermodynamics of roasting coffee, it cannot be considered an exact science. Even less for espresso coffee, which requires a particular care to roast it successfully.

Excellence for an espresso coffee roaster is an endless search, even for the most experienced roastmaster. If you are willing to become a professional – or just an amateur – coffee roaster, be prepared to try, try, and try again until you master the perfect roast. You may talk to an espresso roastmasters with 20 years experience and he will surprisingly tell you that every day he learns something new: roasting espresso coffee is a perpetual learning journey.

The whole espresso coffee roasting process consists of 5 steps: cleaning, roasting, cooling, grinding, and packaging; each of them contributes to bring the best espresso coffee to the consumer’ cup, but in this article we focus on roasting only.

Two ‘T’ factors are decisive for a successful espresso coffee roasting: Temperature and Time. Roasting coffee just means applying a certain heat to green beans for a period of time: this process breaks down the carbohydrates and fats that produce the oils necessary for creating flavour and aroma. Technically speaking, coffee roasting is a chemical process by which aromatics, acids, and other flavour components are created, balanced, or altered in a way that should make the flavor, acidity, aftertaste, and body of the coffee as desired by the roaster.

Roasting temperature typically ranges from 700°F to 1000°F. Roasting time may vary from 3-5 up to approx. 20 minutes, depending on the type of coffee beans used (often multiple blends), on the desired colour and flavor of the output coffee, on the equipment, on the interaction between the coffee beans and the air within the equipment itself, and even on the outside weather conditions.

During the first stage of coffee roasting, the beans turn from green, to pale-yellow, to yellow. If you stop the coffee roasting process at this stage, the beans retain much of their origin characteristics and their origin traits are not masked by the roast characteristics. If the coffee roasting time is too short for a particular coffee bean, not all the chemical reaction will take place. The longer the time, the darker becomes the roasted coffee. But if coffee roasting time is too long it can destroy many aromatic compounds, giving the coffee a bitter taste or burnt aroma.

That’s why the experienced roastmaster frequently checks the roasting status of the beans: no sophisticated machine can substitute his ‘feeling’.

At the end of the process, roasted coffee beans have their typical flavour and aroma, and get their definitive dark brown colour, characteristic of Italian espresso coffee. Weight is now 18-20% lower than the original green beans.

Mastering the mix of Coffee beans + Air in the roaster + Temperature + Time + Weather is therefore an ART (not a science) that reveals the true Italian espresso coffee roasting wizard. Computer-controlled roasting machines and scientific roasting profiles can definitely help – but will never substitute – the experience and the continuous visual control that must be adopted by the good roastmaster. How to manage all the involved factors is often kept secret: it is the magic formula that each roastmaster will never publish.

By the way, that should not sound strange at all: have you ever been able to discover the secret of the recipe of the delicious pie prepared by your grandmother? Nobody was. And she was not either, most likely. You never heard her say ‘X grams of butter, Y grams of sugar, Z centiliters of milk, at this precise temperature for exactly 22 minutes’, isn’t it? Viceversa, you can recall her saying: ‘just a little bit… some more… but not too much… for a few minutes’ etc… She was not very scientific, right? But what about the final taste!? (I can still remember the ‘budino di semolino’ made by Nonna Ada…)

Same with roasting espresso coffee: the ‘art effect’ wins against science. Of course new machines and knowledge help a lot to avoid major mistakes, and allow everybody roast an average espresso coffee. But the human factor, the experience of the roastmaster, is what will distinguish a generic commercial product from the real gourmet espresso coffee.

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Since 1940s, Coffee’IT is an Italian roaster of rare espresso coffee, marketed through importers, wholesalers, distributors, agents, and coffee professionals.

At the web site http://www.CoffeeIT.com is it possible to get a full view of all the espresso coffee blends currently marketed, and of the services available to coffee business operators.

Author: Andrea Tonacchera
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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