Coffee

Gourmet coffee is an incredibly delicious treat, and before you take your next sip of your freshly roasted gourmet cup of Joe, it is important to know how it came to be. Gourmet coffee roasting takes skill and specialty, but it is incredibly worth it when it becomes a premium and superior final product.

First of all, when gourmet coffee beans are roasted, they will lose weight or shrink in the roasting process. While the beans are roasted, they will swell to twice their normal size, but they will shrink down after they have been roasted. This means that if you start out with a pound of green unroasted coffee beans, you will end up with less than a pound when you are done roasting. This is something to keep in mind if you ever decide to home roast your coffee because 1 pound of green coffee beans will not yield 1 pound of roasted coffee beans.

The longer that the gourmet coffee beans are roasted, the darker in color they will become. This will also cause a greater amount of shrinkage or weight loss, which means that it will take more coffee to make up a pound. Basically, if you are roasting a lighter roast of coffee, then it will take less green coffee beans. If a darker roast is being roasted, it will take more green coffee beans to make up a pound.

Gourmet coffee beans will normally shrink up to 20%, but a darker roast can shrink up to 25%. If it is an extremely light gourmet roast, it can shrink as little as 11% during the roasting process. One thing to understand is that many types of commercial coffees are under roasted to save costs overall for the business. With more gourmet brews on the market and an increase in gourmet coffee sales, it shows that the customer truly prefers a fully and authentically roasted coffee over the shortcuts often found on the market.

When it comes to roasting gourmet coffee, there is something called the Optimum Degree of Roast, which will bring out the best flavor characteristics for each type of coffee. This will provide the customer with the perfect taste and aroma within the specific coffee blend. This is something that is unique to each different roast, based on the characteristics of the coffee beans themselves.

Last of all, if coffee is under roasted, it will have an astringent or grassy flavor because the beans will still be partially green. If a gourmet coffee is over roasted, it will taste burnt or smoky, which will be apparent in the brew. There are many different flavor combinations and characteristics available with each specific roast, but it is still important to know the step-by-step process of roasting gourmet coffee to pick the best roast and blend for you. Gourmet coffee is more popular than ever, and for a reason. This is a premium method of roasting fresh and high-quality coffee beans for your cup of Joe!

Another popular accessory for coffee is the commercial coffee maker! For a great selection, check out Chuggin McCoffee’s website, The Coffee Bump.

Author: Mark Ramos
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
The economics of product pricing

Gourmet coffee is the latest craze, and if you have ever sipped a premium gourmet cup of Joe, then I am sure that you know why. Gourmet coffee is primarily made of Arabica coffee beans, which are the higher-quality choice in coffee beans on the market. Gourmet coffee is also often called specialty coffee, and you will find it crafted by a variety of roasters, including artisan roasters and micro-roasters.

To find out more about how gourmet coffee is made, it is important to note the roasting process. The longer that your coffee beans are roasted, the darker they will become in color. The long roasting process will also cause a higher shrink rate, meaning that it will take more of the coffee beans to make 1 pound. This does vary depending on whether or not it is a light or dark roast.

A light roast is roasted for a shorter period of time, so it will not be as dark, and it will not shrink as much. A darker roast will be roasted for a longer period of time to develop smokier and deeper flavors, so the beans will shrink more as a result. Therefore, if you have a dark roasted gourmet coffee, then it will take more coffee beans to make a pound. When gourmet coffee is roasted, it will normally shrink 20%, and a darker roast can shrink as much as 25%. Lightly roasted coffees have the potential to shrink up to 11% during the roasting process.

In truth, most specialty coffee is under roasted to cut costs in production. Gourmet coffee sales have shown that many customers do prefer fully roasted coffee, but many roasters still do under roast their coffee beans to save money in the process. When coffee is being roasted, it does have an optimum degree to which it is roasted, which will bring out the best characteristics and flavor profile for each individual coffee bean. This is the part of the process that will offer you the best taste and aroma, so it is an important aspect of roasting.

You will be able to tell if your coffee is under roasted because it will have a flat and green flavor with astringent undertones. If your coffee is over roasted, then it will taste more burnt and smoky as a result. When a specialty coffee is over roasted, it also has the detrimental effect of losing all of its unique flavors from the region that it came from. Any coffee connoisseur will be able to tell you the specific flavor characteristics of a coffee based on the region in which it was grown in, but when a gourmet coffee is over roasted, then the ashy and charcoal flavors will overpower those unique flavor characteristics so that it is difficult to set apart.

For the best tasting specialty coffee, take the time to research the roaster so that you can trust that your coffee beans will be roasted to perfection. It truly is the only way to enjoy a delicious gourmet cup of Joe!

For the widest variety of Bodum French Presses, check out Mark Ramos’ website, The Coffee Bump.

Author: Mark Ramos
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
iPad games

Coffee bean direct is your best choice. You probably don’t think about it much but the chances are, the coffee beans used in your morning cup o’ joe have passed through as many as five or six different middlemen on their way to your mug. All that passing from hand to hand adds to the price and subtracts from the quality of your cup. There’s a better way:  you can do what I do and buy your coffee bean direct from the source!

Coffee bean direct from the source costs less

Did you know that by buying direct can actually cost less than buying coffee at the supermarket? All those middlemen certainly don’t work for free. You can actually save money by buying it in bulk direct from the source. By “bulk” I mean at least 10 to 25 pounds at a time – this is where you start to see significant price discounts.

Coffee bean direct from the source gives you higher quality and better taste

If you’re buying ground coffee from a supermarket, did you know that those coffee beans were ground months ago, and most of the flavor has already faded away? And even if you’re buying whole bean, that coffee has waited in several warehouses for who knows how long before it was placed on the supermarket shelf. When you buy your coffee bean direct from the distributor, you know that the coffee is fresh, and you’ll be able to taste and smell the difference.

Tips for buying

* Do some research: what kind of coffee do you like? Dark, smoky, and robust – or light, crip, and mild? Did you like that Sumatra you tried at the local coffee shop? A quick search for “Sumatra” on the internet will yield distributors who sell Sumatra coffee to the public. Contact the distributor closest to you and start enjoying fresher Sumatra right away!

* Coffee is at its peak flavor right after the beans have been roasted. In some areas you might be able to find a good coffee roaster in your area, but even if you can’t find one nearby you can always find one on the internet and have the coffee shipped to you.

* Don’t buy more coffee than you can consume within one month – coffee beans begin to lose their flavor after this time.

* For many coffee aficionados, going through 10 to 25 pounds of coffee in a month is no problem, but if you think this might be too much for you consider sharing an order with a friend.

* Coffee tastes its best when brewed right after grinding, so buy your beans whole and invest in a good coffee grinder – unless you know it was ground very recently and you plan to consume it soon. (Still, nothing beats grinding it at home and brewing immediately after!)

So if you really savor the aroma and taste of a great cup of java, wait until you try it at its peak – right after roasting – when you buy it direct from a distributor. Give it a try today! 

Damen Choy, editor of Coffee Bean Direct Coffee-Bean-Direct.com provides timely information about the coffee market, as well as tips and ideas for coffee lovers and their friends. Visit Coffee Direct to know how coffee bean direct roasters ship coffee to you directly at wholesale pricing.

Author: Damen Choy
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
How Electric Pressure Cookers Work