Coffee

When most people think of coffee, they think of a hot, murky beverage that tastes bitter and wakes them up from the morning sleepies, but coffee is actually prepared several different ways, that may cause you to take a second look. We’re going to explore some of the ways that coffee and tea is prepared, from the normal to the bizarre, and a look at how coffee and tea has been used throughout history. Both coffee and tea have a great story behind their history and they have been used by people all over the world, not only for drinking but for things like religious ceremonies and other gatherings.

Of course we love our coffee but we didn’t want to leave out those of you that drink tea. Tea is most popular in the United Kingdom and in fact is considered a meal there. Most British people have tea daily, which may include some type of food besides the tea that is served. Tea is made from the Camelia sinensis plant and is the beverage that is second only to water in the number of people drinking it. There are four types that are most common, black tea, green tea, white tea and oolong tea, which all four come from the same plant and are separated by processing or growing the plant differently.

The tea plant originated in Southeast Asia, and since then has been introduced to more than fifty countries. Tea is generally prepared with hot water, and you can use a tea coffee press to get the best flavor, but many people prefer the cold version of tea instead. Iced Tea, or Sweet Tea as it is sometimes called originated in the Southern United States, and in fact Sweet Tea, which is the southern term for iced tea with sugar in it, is served everywhere year round. In other parts of the United States when you ask for tea you’ll get hot tea, or if you ask for iced tea it will usually be unsweetened and you’ll need to add the sugar yourself if you like it that way.

Another trend in recent years has been iced coffee. Normally, you get iced coffee in chilled bottles from convenience and grocery stores, but we have been known to brew coffee and put it into a large cup of ice. It loses a bit of flavor when it is chilled but it is actually quite delicious. Coffee itself has been around for hundreds of years. The legend says that a shepherd named Kaldi from Arabia discovered coffee but that story has not been confirmed, as the text it was written in was published after coffee had been in use in other countries.

There are many ways to prepare coffee. Most people in the United States use a traditional coffee pot to brew coffee, which runs hot water through a basket of coffee grounds. We prefer to use a coffee press which gives the coffee amazing flavor that you just can’t get from a traditional coffee pot. Some people prefer to take the time to brew espressos, and still others prefer the percolator method which is sort of a backwards coffee pot. There are even people who implement the cone method of brewing coffee. Whatever method you choose, we hope you enjoy your coffee (or tea)!

Jay blogs about his love of coffee at his blog Coffee Press Cup. He has a masters degree and currently works as the director of a non-profit in the North Georgia area.

Author: Jay A Smolik
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Coffee and Cancer

The word we use today to describe the popular black beverage, coffee, was once used to describe wine. Indeed, this drink was often interchanged with wine and sometimes used instead of wine in the religious ceremonies of the Mohammedans, because it had the result of keeping believers awake during the long night of prayers.

That’s just one of many, many more amazing coffee facts.

All over the world, people drink coffee, but depending on which country you come from you may drink your coffee a little different. For example, in Italy, Italians drink coffee fast and they sweeten it with sugar. The Germans, Belgians and the Swiss, however, add hot chocolate, while Mexicans favor cinnamon. Austrians like whipped cream, and Moroccans peppercorns, while Ethiopians add salt. The Egyptians and Turks prefer strong and thick coffee with no milk at all.

The story of caffeine

Believe it or not, caffeine is a prohibited substance for the International Olympic Committee. In fact, if athletes test positive to more than around 12 micograms of caffeine per millilieter of urine, which translates to about 5 cups of coffee, they may well be banned from competition.

The human body absorbes about 300 milligrams of caffeine during intake. That translates to about four cups. After four cups, the body no longer absorbs the caffeine, so even if you drink more the body does not display any further stimulation. But the body releases about twenty percent of caffeine intake every hour.

International facts and figures

Germans are now the world’s second largest consumers of coffee. Previously, a German government hired a special force to uncover illicit coffee traders.

Over 53 countries grow coffee. Costa Ricans grow a lot of coffee, but the coffee plant was imported by the Spaniard, Navarro, in 1779.

A French national invented the percolator. That was in 1827. An Italian invented the espresso machine. That was in 1903. Greeks and Turks traditionally brew coffee over a strong fire and using a tiny pot called a briki.

Before that, coffee beans were roasted over a charcoal fire. Actually, though we call them coffee beans, they are actually coffee berries. Each year over seven million beans are produced.

More coffee facts and trivia

The Japanese celebrate official coffee day on October 1st. The Japanese are the third largest consumers of coffee in the world.

Germans are more likely to sweeten their coffee than Americans.

Americans kicked off the flavored coffee trend back in the 1970s.

Dark roasted coffees have less caffeine than medium roasts. That’s why espresso has less caffeine than regular coffee.

Centuries ago, coffee was thought of as a meal. Ethiopians mixed coffee beans with animal fat and rolled them into balls, to have an an energy power snack.

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Author: Samantha Evans
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Eco Friendly

The history of coffee can be traced to as early as the 9th Century. Early stories of the discovery of coffee have been told when it first came to the town of Mandi in the Ethiopian highlands. As the story goes, there was said to be a lowly goat herder by the name of Khalid who had observed that his flock of goats tended to become lively every time they eat the berries off the coffee plant. Quite intrigued by the effect, the goat herder himself tried boiling the coffee beans and thus became the first discovery of coffee as a drink.

The popularity of coffee as a drink later on spread from Ethiopia to Egypt and Yemen where they were sold by merchants. Early version of coffee had the beans directly boiled and then drank. It was in Arabia that the coffee beans were first being roasted and brewed that has become the practice still today. The popularity of this beverage soon spread to other countries. By the 15th Century, coffee drinking has spread to the rest of the Middle East as well as to Persia, Turkey and Northern Africa.

Coffee was first introduced in Europe by way of Italy. Trading between Venice and the Middle East as well as Egypt and parts of North Africa began thriving. Through this route, coffee found its way to the Venetian ports and was then introduced as a drink to Italians. From there it was introduced to the rest of Europe. Its popularity became so great that it led to the establishment of the coffee houses in Europe, the first one being opened in Italy in 1645.

Coffee then spread to parts of Asia by way of the Dutch explorers who brought with them coffee seeds that they planted in their colonies in Java and Ceylon. The introduction of coffee in North America was not as widely accepted initially as compared to other countries. It was brought along the American shores along with tea by the English colonizers. But it was tea that first became the accepted beverage. Not until the English limited the supply of tea in North America did the Americans grow to prefer coffee as their beverage of choice.

Throughout history, coffee has been a widely accepted beverage and its popularity grew due to its highly stimulating effects. It is also for this reason that coffee drinking during ancient times was widely associated with spiritual practices. Coffee drinking has since become a regular ritual among many people and its popularity seems to grow bigger and bigger everyday.

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Author: Miodrag Trajkovic
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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