Coffee

Coffee is one of the most popular drinks around the world with a devoted following. It is very popular in the US and produced in numerous countries but most famously in South America particularly Columbia. This caffeinated beverage has come a long way though from the old coffee pot of diners where you got a bottomless cup of sloppy joe which your waitress would fill up with a smile.

There are now a lot of ways that you can have your coffee from espresso, cappuccino or cafe au lait. Coffee doesn’t have to be served hot either and now many people like to drink coffee cold which is know as iced coffee. According to the State Coffee Organization the proportion of US citizens who drank iced coffee increased from 26% to 31% in 2008.

Coffee companies from Costa to Starbucks now serve iced coffee but how do you make this refreshing beverage at home?

Well there are number tips that can help you produce a restaurant quality iced coffee but first here is how you make you drink:-

1) If you are going to use a flavoring such as vanilla or mint put the flavoring into your cup first.

2) Then pour in your espresso or other coffee drink

3) Now put in your ice

4) Put in your cold milk and stir or shake.

Now that you know how to make your drink here are a few tips to make it great:-

- Don’t let your drink water down

-Use a good quality machine that produces good quality java (if possible use a maker that grounds the coffee just before the coffee is brewed

- Be creative and use a number of extras such as cinnamon, whipped cream, chocolate slices and nutmeg.

Iced coffee can be a refreshing drink and make a nice change from regular coffee so go ahead and try and make some at home.

Neil has been writing articles for five years. He has a new website about airplane fractional ownership and airplane for sale to provide information about owning your own airplane for less money.

Author: N Playfoot
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The social beverage of the world, coffee, is by far one of the most satisfying addictions one can have. That aroma of a fresh brewed cup of coffee can awaken the senses like nothing else. That first sip of sweet espresso or well made Turkish coffee can entice even the most devout coffee hater. Not any old coffee will drive men to tears over its savory goodness.

Choosing the right coffee blend is an art form. You can compare it to those who choose wines for gourmet dinners. Coffee is no different. Following are several tips to help you on the way to finding great coffee.

1. Do yourself a favor and avoid buying name brand coffee. All that you are doing is helping them pay for their substantial marketing machine.

2. Look for local roasters. They take great pride in their coffee beans and the roasting process. You may find a gem.

3. Roasting is one of the keys to a great coffee. Light roasts typically go way of being acidic in flavor. Dark roasts are more bitter and “full” or “medium” roasts are balanced between the two.

4. The higher quality coffee lends themselves to distinct flavors and sweetness regardless if they are dark roasts, medium or light roasts. A good bean roasted lightly will still be sweet with a touch of bitterness whereas a good bean dark roasted will be akin to a desert that contains nuts.

5. People like to think that certain countries produce different types of coffee. The best coffees produced tend to be suited to darker or lighter roasted coffees. Light to dark the countries are: Central America, South America and Caribbean, Africa and then finishing up with Indonesia and India.

6. Use coffee beans roasted for less than ten days prior. Older beans will simply taste like boring, unsweetened cocoa.

7. Grind your coffee beans minutes before actually brewing. This will give you the height of flavor and substance in your morning cup and make those gourmet coffee recipes shine above and beyond.

Arabica vs. Robusta

When you buy coffee at a Starbucks or online you will generally be buying Arabica coffee beans. Purchasing from a deli (typically an Italian-run one) will be a blend known as Robusta. Robusta is a bitter coffee with twice as much caffeine as Arabica beans.

Arabica is the choice of gourmet coffee drinkers all over the world. It is a subtle flavor that is sweet and nutty, but pleasant. Robusta is simply just too bitter and is really your grandfather’s blend and should be avoided for social coffee drinking.

All of this information is for naught if you do not get yourself a quality coffee maker in order to brew your favorite beverage. One-cup coffee makers are great because they keep your coffee fresh by the cup with no sitting around to get stale and lifeless. Espresso makers with milk steamers are great if you wish to experiment with your coffee. You do not need to spend hundreds of dollars on a machine either. Go with the best that fits your budget.

Paul is a regular contributor to Coffee Maker Review is an informational website for Coffee Machines ratings and reviews, and provides information to the coffee club [http://coffee-club.org]

Author: Paul Simon
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Coffee is one of the most popular beverages in the world. The word coffee is believed to have been deduced from Kaffa, a place situated in Ethiopia, Africa, It came into existence around 800 A.D. and there are many legends and stories associated with discovery.

One such interesting story goes like this. One day a monk saw a goatherd imitating his sheep who were dancing from one shrub to another, grazing the cherry-red berries containing coffee beans. The monk was amazed at the goatherd’s caper on eating the beans. The monk took some of the berries for his fellow monks and that night they realized that they seemed to attain something that they felt was ‘divine stimulation’.

Other than the legends and stories there is also historical evidence about how the Africans of the same era used the coffee plant in different ways. Africans used what can be called primitive ‘Power Bars’ made of coffee and animal fat as a stimulant. They also made wine from the coffee-berry pulp. From Africa, coffee moved out towards Arabia via the Red Sea and then slowly made its way to the rest of the world.

Coffee, as we know it today came into existence around 1000 A.D. and this is when it was first roasted and brewed. By the 13th Century, coffee became popular with the Muslim holy men who found it a very convenient drink it to keep worshippers awake and send them in a tizzy. Then onwards, coffee traveled with the Muslims. Wherever Islam went, coffee traveled along. However, Arabians were cautious and did not want to share the plant with the world. They made sure that no coffee bean sprouted outside Arabia and coffee beans were boiled or parched to make them infertile before taking out of Arabia.

An enterprising Indian pilgrim cum smuggler, Baba Budan, strapped some fertile coffee beans to his stomach and left Mecca. These beans were ultimately responsible for the agricultural expansion of coffee, which later reached Europe’s colonies in the East.

From these colonies, coffee was traded by a Venice merchant who took it to Europe. The Europeans liked it so much that they wanted a constant supply of the beans. And later, it was the Dutch who set up the first European-owned coffee plantation in colonial Java in 1616. The Dutch were, however, not as cautious as the Arabians and they gifted coffee trees to the aristocracy all over Europe. Louis XIV was presented one such coffee tree in 1714, for his garden in Paris.

The coffee tree finally crossed the Atlantic with Gabriel Mathieu de Clieu, a retired French naval officer. He smuggled a sprout with him to Martinique, a French Colony in the Caribbean after he was denied a clipping of the tree. Gabriel Mathieu de Clieu guarded the plant religiously. When the ship got caught in a storm de Clieu nurtured the pant with half of the water that he was rationed. Ultimately, the sprout flourished in Martinique and in the next 50 years more than 18 million coffee trees were grown there.

By 1727, Brazil had realized the potential of the plant and wanted a share in the coffee pie. Unable to get the plant through fair means, they dispatched Lt. Col. Francisco de Melo Palheta, allegedly to mediate in a border dispute, to French Guiana. Avoiding the heavily guarded coffee plantations, he chose to take the easy route of befriending the governor’s wife who slyly presented him a bouquet spiked with coffee seedlings on his farewell dinner. Coffee had now entered Brazil, a land of extremely fertile farms.

From 800 A.D. in Africa to 1727 in Brazil, the coffee plant had traveled through Middle East, South East and Europe and then to South America. Production of coffee reached dizzying heights due to the enormous harvests of Brazil’s fertile lands. This boom in production, apart from anything else, was instrumental in turning coffee, an elitist drink till then, into a drink of the masses.

Initially considered as a poor substitute for alcohol by the American colonists, its popularity grew when tea from Britain became scarce during the Revolutionary War. During and after the American Civil War, coffee had gained a premier position and was being increasingly accepted. Later, advancement in brewing technology ultimately secured its place as an everyday beverage of America.

Coffee City Offers extensive articles and resources on coffee, espresso, coffee beans, coffee making, etc.

Author: Mel Ng
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The coffee plant was first cultivated commercially in the Arab world in the fifteenth century. Here coffee was widely consumed by the populous but condemned by the Islamic leaders because of its supposed intoxicating effects. As coffee traveled from Constantinople to Venice and then to Vienna and other European capitals it was banned repeatedly. At first coffee beans were sold by pharmacists and then by coffee houses which became popular for revolution and enlightened thinking. Even today there is controversy surrounding coffee as to whether it is good for the health or not and a new study seems to be published each week either defending or condemning this drink.

When picked coffee beans are green and do not acquire the familiar brown color and intoxicating aroma until they are roasted. Commercial coffee beans belong to two main groups, Arabica and robusta. The Arabica beans are named for the Arabs who first grew them and are the better of the two. Robusta beans have twice the caffeine of Arabica beans but less flavor.

Supermarket coffee blends are usually made up of mostly Robusta beans with a few Arabica to add some flavor. On the other hand most coffee beans sold in coffee specialty shops are Arabica.

Africa, Indonesia and Central and South America are the three main regions where coffee is grown. But there is a small amount grown in the Hawaiian Islands and some in Yemen on the Red Sea. Africa, the birthplace of coffee still grow coffee with wild flowers that coffee lovers prize. The prized of these are the true Mochas. Named after the Yemeni Port from which the coffee was once shipped to the rest of the world. Today the word Mocha has come to mean a flavor combination of coffee and chocolate, but actually has nothing to do with Mocha beans which are rare and expensive.

Another favorite, Africa Coffee is from Kenya, a country that produces many superlative beans. Indonesian coffees are popular for their body and earthy flavor. Many good coffees also come from the island of Papua New Guinea. Coffee produced in Central America (particularly Guatemala and Costa Rica) are of real interest to coffee connoisseurs because many of the beans from these regions offer the balance and smoothness that made Jamaica’s Blue Mountain coffee legendary. This coffee is almost impossible to find in America as the Japanese buy almost all the tiny annual production and if it can be found it is extremely expensive.

One third of the coffee drunk worldwide is grown in Brazil but almost none of it is of any interest to coffee connoisseurs.

Colombia has put money and research into its coffee industry but unfortunately its beans are rarely exceptional.

The flavored coffees that are becoming increasingly popular are usually based on bland, mediocre beans that are stirred with chemical flavoring essences after roasting. If these flavored beans are ground at home they will impart their flavors, possibly forever, on to your grinder and brewing apparatus. If you prefer a flavored coffee a better idea is to brew good coffee from unflavored beans and dose it modestly with one or more of the flavoring essences that can be purchased at many gourmet shops.

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

Author: Michael Russell
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Coffee Beans

Coffee Beans are derived from coffee plants found in tropical and sub-tropical countries primarily in Central and South America, Africa, and Southern Asia. Though some might claim that coffee is the second largest traded commodity after oil, a more accurate statement as defined by the UNCTD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) is that coffee remains the second most valuable commodity exported by developing countries.

Depending on how statistics are interpreted, coffee could have annual industry value from as low as $22 billion to as high as $90 billion. What is indisputable is that coffee sustains a global workforce of well over 20 million and remains one of the most popular beverages in the world.

History of Coffee

The origin of coffee is ostensibly traced back to the 9th century. It was at this time in Ethiopia where a goat herder noticed heightened activity in one of his goats after it ate a few coffee beans from a coffee tree. Though an amusing story, a more accurate account dates back to the 15th century where monks in Yemen documented the stimulating effects of coffee.

Coffee Bean Types

The flavours, aromas and strength of coffee are determined by two primary types of coffee bean; Arabica and Robusta. Originally sourced from Yemen and the Arabian Peninsula, Arabica coffee is grown globally and accounts for an estimated two-thirds of coffee production. The flavour of Arabica is often characterized by a variety of sweet, fragrant, chocolaty and hazel notes. Robusta originally sourced from central and western Africa accounts for an estimated one-third of coffee production. Robusta derives its name from the fact that the tree is more robust than its Arabica counterpart. Robusta grows in a greater number of conditions, at a faster rate and requires less care than Arabica. Finally, Robusta contains twice the caffeine as found in Arabica and is sharper as well as more bitter in flavour.

Popular coffee will typically consist of either a 100% Arabica base or a combination of Arabica and Robusta with the higher percentage skewed toward Arabica and a lower one to Robusta. In the simplest terms, by varying the ratio of Arabica to Robusta, the end product with regards to flavour, aroma, strength and colour are impacted.

Roasting

The process of coffee roasting alters the entire cellular structure of the coffee bean transforming green coffee beans into the commonly recognized brown coffee bean. Depending on the degree of temperature and length of time, a coffee bean’s colour, taste, smell and size are altered which will in turn impact the flavour.

In applying heat to beans, moisture is lost creating a reaction called pyrolysis. Roasters listen for an audible crack to measure the stages in the bean development during roasting. It is here where starch is converted into sugar and protein is broken down. More importantly, this process causes the coffee bean to release caffeol – coffee oil – which produces the essence of the prized coffee drink.

Getting the roast right is a fine balance. By applying too much heat caffeol will burn. In not applying enough heat the caffeol will not be produced.

Flavoured Coffee

It may be considered a recent trend in the world of coffee, however adding flavours to coffee has been practiced for years. Consider that in the Middle East, coffee with cardamom has been a common tradition over hundreds of years. In Mexico, adding cinnamon to coffee has also been a common practice. The two methods of flavouring are to either add the flavour directly after roasting or to add syrup to a coffee that already has been prepared.

Andrew Greenwood is a member of the Fairfax Coffee Web Team. Fairfax have been in the coffee machine business since 1945 and are on hand to offer impartial advice on choosing the perfect coffee machine for you.

Author: Andrew J Greenwood
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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