Coffee

Its morning and you automatically reach out for your first cup of coffee!

Coffee has become an integral part of daily diet in some societies, especially in the US and one hardly ever gives a thought to how bland coffee beans are transformed into an aromatic beverage with strong flavors that are so familiar.

Before acquiring the state in which coffee reaches the table, the coffee berry and its seeds undergo a series of processes that require a fair amount of human labor that make a coffee what it is.

Coffee processing requires a series of agricultural and industrial procedures that are needed to deliver the desired flavor to the consumer. The processes involved are:
- Picking the berry
- Defruiting
- Aging
- Roasting
- Grading
- Grinding

As expected, the first task in the efforts to make coffee beans is to pick the fruit from the shrubs or the trees, depending on the species in question. This is done in large plantations and mostly by hand. The beans are then de-fruited and sorted. In some cases the berries are even aged, since it is believed to lend a more mature aroma to the beans. Though the picking of the berries, de-fruiting and aging are essential parts of the entire process, it is the next step that is the most essential – roasting. It is this process that transforms the insipid berries into a beverage that the world loves and enjoys.

This is one process that requires a fair amount of skill and the temperature, evenness of heating, amount of time allowed for roasting and other such parameters can make all the difference between a good coffee and a bad one. Even though different species have different characteristics and some are bitterer than the others, characteristics like aroma, flavor and taste are dictated by the process of roasting and therefore extreme care and finesse needs to be maintained during this process.

The process of roasting is actually a complex chemical process where heat acts as a catalyst to kick off a chemical reaction. This transforms the carbohydrates and fats into aromatic oils like Caffeol and removes the moisture and carbon dioxide in the beans. The process also breaks down and builds acids that lend the inherent characteristic flavor and taste of the coffee.

Before the coffee is released in the market, it needs to be graded. The grading is based on the assessment of professional tasters who are connoisseurs of coffee. The process of tasting requires them to sniff deeply of slurp the coffee loudly to carry it back to their tongues. With this, they determine the texture (mouth feel), oiliness, acidity (a sharp tangy feeling as in biting a citrus fruit), and harmony (the harmony of different flavors in the coffee).

Grinding the coffee beans can be done at various levels and the bean can be ground coarse or fine. The Turkish grind is considered to be the finest and can be mixed with water directly. The coarsest grinds are considered to be the coffee percolator and the French Press.

Grinding can be done by the coffee company, the grocery shop or at home. And these days, many people prefer to buy whole beans even though the grinding process does involve higher levels of effort at home. The most common home coffee machines use the drip and paper filter grinds. These machines give a grind that is somewhere between the finest and the coarsest grinds. The drip machines pass near-boiling water through the coffee in a filter. The other method that is used to make coffee from coffee beans is the espresso method. This method is more technologically advanced and involves hot steaming water that is forced through the grounded coffee to give coffee that is frothy and great to taste.

But there are many people who do not want to put in large amounts of effort to make a cup of coffee. For the convenience of such people, there are many instant coffee brands available in the market. Instant coffee is dried into soluble powder or frozen-dried into granules so that all a consumer needs to do is to mix hot or cold water to prepare the beverage.

So whether you like cappuccino or café latte, ensure that you appreciate the effort, perseverance and skill that it is required to make the coffee what it is.

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

Author: Mel Ng
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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It is commonly believed that the Governor of Oahu, Chief Boki, was the first to introduce coffee to the Hawaiian Islands in the year 1825. While on a British warship, he acquired the coffee plants from Rio de Janeiro. The first coffee plants were planted and flourished in the Manoa Valley in Oahu. Since then, the growth of coffee plants has spread all over the islands, including the Kona Coast, which now produces the world famous Hawaiian or Kona coffee.

The perfect blend of all the six elements comprising of rich soil, proper elevation, cloud cover, sunshine, rain and a moderate slope helping in the drainage of the roots provided by the Hawaiian islands, have ensured an ideal environment to produce some of the richest coffee in the world. The season of growing coffee starts in January and continues until the month of June. Every year the coffee growers wait patiently for the blossoms after the early rains that eventually produce coffee berries. Under the close watch of the farmers, the coffee berries ripe in the trees before they are individually harvested. Each phase of coffee making is looked after meticulously, starting from roasting and flavoring to dry milling. The typical Hawaiian coffee is rich in its color, density, and acidity with a great flavor.

The Hawaiian Islands, being the only state growing coffee in the US, produce an average of seven million pounds of coffee every year. While the Kona coffee remains one of the most favored around the world, a majority of the other islands have also started growing coffee now. Apart from the Kona coffee, some of the top flavors of the Hawaiian coffee include Kauai’s coffee, Ka’anapali Maui coffee, Haleakala Maui coffee, Molokai’s coffee, Waialua coffee and Macadamia Cream to name a few.

Due to its taste and overwhelming popularity, the Hawaiian coffee is very expensive, although the experience of tasting a quality cup is worth the money.

Coffee provides detailed information on Coffee, Coffee Makers, Gourmet Coffee, Coffee Shops and more. Coffee is affiliated with Gourmet Flavored Coffee.

Author: Alison Cole
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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A 2001 survey by the National Coffee Association indicated that over 100 million people drink coffee on a daily basis and that nearly 60 million more occasionally consume coffee. Based on average drinking habits, the daily coffee drinker will consume multiple cups per day – totalling hundreds of millions cups of coffee being consumed every 24 hours.

Such enormous consumer demand coupled with the growing trend toward gourmet coffee presents an opportunity for the enterprising coffee lovers to take their double shots at generating income while working in an industry which makes their coffee passions percolate.

Coffee-loving entrepreneurs can choose from a wide range of opportunities available to find ones that best matches their tastes. Interested in starting small? Start with a couple machines and a cart. More grande ambitions? Consider a coffee shop franchise.

The Specialty Coffee Association of America’s “Market Report” forecasts that the number of coffeehouses in the U.S. will grow to 15,000 by the year 2006. Will one of those coffeehouses be yours?

You can take a couple different paths can to starting your own coffee themed business. One option is to buy the equipment and supplies yourself, building your own identity and business systems. The other option is to purchase a franchise and benefit from their proven image, proven systems, and established supply chains. Let’s look at some examples of coffee related businesses that you could start for yourself.

If you choose the independent route you can use a wholesaler such as Mr. Churro’s to help get you started. Mr. Churro’s is Miami-based wholesaler of professional grade machines for making espresso, coffee, and hot chocolate. Beyond acquiring equipment from Mr. Churro’s you would need to work out other details of your business details on your own. For example, you would need to find a coffee bean supplier, find a suitable business location, and also learn how to run a coffee business.

For a more turn-key type of operation, The Coffee Beanery, a global franchise based in Michigan, provides franchisees with a wide menu of coffee based drinks as well as an attractive breakfast and lunch menus. The franchisee benefits from a proven image, a proven menu, a fully developed method of operation, and an established supply chain. It might cost more to purchase a franchise, but if you are new to business, the long term benefits might outweigh the short term higher startup costs.

Coffee News USA is a third type of coffee related business opportunity. Unlike the previous two examples, Coffee News USA does not involve making and selling coffee beverages. Instead, Coffee News is publishing opportunity in which the franchisee provides a free local edition of the weekly Coffee News newspaper to restaurants and coffee shops. The franchisor provides most of the content, and the franchisee sells advertisements to generate income.

These three business opportunities a just a few of the coffee related businesses that are available for coffee lovers. Most of the other opportunities are franchises, but not all franchises are created equal. Examining each business opportunity carefully can bring to light some important differences that might lead you to an opportunity that is better suited to you than another.

With over 300 million cups of coffee being consumed daily in the US, a coffee-related business opportunity should be a strong consideration for the enterprising coffee lover. Contact information for Mr. Churro’s, The Coffee Beanery, Coffee News USA, and more than 400 other specific business opportunities is available in the eBook, “Mind Your Business 101: How to Select & Start Your Own Business,” for only $16.98 USD at http://www.LinkertonPublishing.com.

About The Author

C.S. Deam is a small business owner. His eBook Leverage Yourself Out of the Rat Race is available for immediate download at www.LinkertonPublishing.com where you can sign up for FREE E-Courses & Newsletters to help you on your path to self-employment.

CSDeam@LinkertonPublishing.com

Author: C.S. Deam
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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What actually makes a Kona coffee farmer, who are they, why are they doing it, or just for the mental exercise: Could I too become a filthy rich, days-in-the-sun, surfing, shooting-the-breeze Hawaiian coffee farmer? This is a highly subjective, behind the scenes explanation of the most pressing question folks seems to have on their minds when they meet one of us coffee dudes. So for the sake of it, let’s categorize:

Cherry farms

are often held by the same family over three or four generations. These farms originated to provide additional income to the day jobs working the sugar cane fields in the 19th century. The high number of children and grandparents enabled the owners to do the unpaid hard coffee field work in the mornings, evenings and Sunday’s. Most Kona coffee is grown in the vicinity of family farmer’s residences; planted between rocks in irregular patterns, ranging from 100 to 1,000 trees per acre, often interspersed with other crops and some shade trees. Nearly all is sold as freshly picked coffee cherries to large processors, who also throw in a few bags of free fertilizer. The parcels range between 1 to 5 acres and are often leased in 40 year terms. This is and always has been the backbone of the Kona coffee industry. None of the farmers has to worry too much about government inspections regarding pesticide or herbicide usage, or coffee quality standards. The cheap lease of the land, which requires some agricultural practices to be obtained, justifies the small profit. Living and housing in Hawaii is expensive and the rural lifestyle eases the financial burden a bit. Most cherry farmers have a Japanese, Philippine or Hawaiian background and reside in the South Kona district. Age group: 50 – 90, 2 to 3 family generations under one roof. Many are members of the Kona Pacific Farmers Coop and not linked to any farmers organization. No web presence or farm tours offered.

Coffee Plantations 

in Kona are increasing in size, but there are only a few names in this category. All are owned by corporations or individuals with financial backing from the mainland. Their sizes range from 20 to 60 acres, and often contain other outlying parcels. In this production system recommended seedlings are used, the rocky land is being bulldozed, row planting, proper cover crops, mulching, manuring, weeding, and pruning methods are practiced. Nearly all use chemical fertilizers and herbicides as they are purely profit driven. Their coffees are always inspected and certified by the State. Yet most of their harvested coffees end up as highly profitable “10% Kona Blends” to duped tourists, who believe this coffee being pure Kona beans. The rest is sold to green coffee brokers in Japan and the US mainland. In addition to their own production they buy from smaller farms freshly picked coffee cherries at a fluctuating per pound price. They also process and grade coffee for farmers lacking the required big equipment. When buying from them always look for their expensive private labels, otherwise you’ll get the coffee pooled from many farms. Traditionally these large plantations in Hawaii went bust in recessions because of their high overheads. Cherry farmers may not get paid by them on time, but can i.e. hibernate through the current recession by simply neglecting their orchard for a season or two. Owners and managers are nearly all long time Caucasian residents of Hawaii, who are experienced with the local political culture. They organize in the Hawaii Coffee Association and Hawaii Coffee Grower’s Association to maintain the faulty legal status of the Kona Blend laws. Age group: 35 to 65; ‘good old boys’ networkers; SCAA members and exhibitors; all offer guided farm tours, farm stores, and professional websites. Their Kona coffees and Kona Blends have a strong presence in US mainland and Hawaiian stores.

Gentlemen farms

or “Snowbird farms” grow coffee on their properties as a hobby, as a tax incentive or because a vacation property is zoned as ‘agricultural’. One can completely relinquish the actual work to one of the larger plantations, who then in turn provide some roasted coffee upon request just in case the owner wants to sell a few bags under his/her own label. These types of farms are not really meant to be profitable but this doesn’t indicate if their coffees are good, bad or excellent. Some are organically cultivated. Some even sell their well-cared for coffee below costs. The owners have other sources of income and only reside part time in Kona. Under US tax law a property qualifies as a ‘farm’ when generating more than $1,000 in sales p.a. Gentlemen farmers are mostly Caucasians who strife for living a calm, easy Hawaiian life and have a story to tell when asked for what they are doing all day long. Geographically in the North Kona district centered around Holualoa. The 55 to 80 year old group consists of retired, married couples, single women. They have no professional affiliation or only nominally memberships at the Kona Coffee Council and the Kona Coffee Farmers Association. Some have websites and generally no farm tours are offered by them.

Boutique farms 

are yet another category but constitute the fastest growing segment. The vertical integration of the growing, processing and direct marketing to the customer and owning all means of production is essential. A small profit margin is indeed possible but it needs a multidisciplinary approach by the owners to keep any outsourcing to a bare minimum. About a quarter of them practice organic farming and they are environmentally concerned. Yet the combination of advancing age, hard physical labor and lack of computer literacy are challenging for many. But also big egos nurtured in prior high flying professions stand in their way: farming makes you humble but not instantaneously. A number of these farms default during the current recession, because their owners overlooked that equipment needs to amortize and public awareness of Kona coffee was always low. Building a solid customer base for a farm takes approximately 5 years. Learning the ins and outs of coffee farming about 3 years+. This group of farmers sees the faulty Kona Blend law as the largest stumbling block to a higher price for Kona coffee. Yet they oppose quality control and state inspections of their product, which doesn’t fly with the government. Owners are mostly mainland Caucasian and are sometimes married into Hawaiian families with various ethnic backgrounds. One can meet a colorful assortment of the human species in this group: The aging hippie, the retired colonel, the liberal professor, the activist lawyer, the Silicon Valley mini tycoon. They organize occasionally and challenge the legal status quo of the legislature. Age group: 40 to 75, couples, gay couples, single women, single guys. Affiliation: Kona Coffee Farmers Association or none. Mostly homemade web stores, shop presence in a few Hawaiian stores, farm tours offered upon requests.

There you have it. None of this background info indicates that a particular Kona coffee tastes better than the other! As long as it’s not a ‘blend’ or fake of course. The border lines between the categories are also not so well defined as one farm can be a ’boutique’ but also offers processing. Or it could appear like a large plantation with managers and all, but is held afloat by the partnership income of a big time law office in L.A. Or a fourth generation Japanese cherry farm made it successfully into the cyberage with a dazzling website.

Kona coffee beans grow regardless and despite of the local politicking on their behalf. A coffee tree doesn’t judge its farmer by skin color, age, sexual orientation, political affiliation or prior profession. Just if it gets its leaves properly tickled from time to time…

Joachim always tries to tickle the leaves of the BLUE HORSE KONA COFFEE trees the way they like it. This ancient Polynesian farm land in South Kona was developed from pure cherry farming into a boutique/family farm, but also offers wet processing and sun drying to neighbor farms.

http://www.bluehorsekona.com

Author: Joachim Oster
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Coffea or coffee is a large variety of flowering plants with over 90 species. They are shrubs belonging to the Rubiaceae family native to southern Asia and subtropical Africa. The coffee beverage is derived from the seeds of its fruit or coffee cherries. Coffee plant grows to a comparatively large height and is more precisely described as a tree.

The coffee berries, coffee cherries or fruits usually contain two stones or beans. Coffee beans are mostly made up of endosperm that consists of 0.8 to 2.5 per centum of caffeine. Only a small percentage of coffee cherries have a single bean. This bean is called a peaberry.

Coffee beans are not literally beans. The name originates from the Arabic words gahwa and bunn; gahwa means coffee and bunn means berry. They are the seeds of the coffee plant, and almost all coffee traders call these seeds beans.

Coffee develops under the shade in its natural habitat. Coffee plants grown under the shade, do not deplete the soil’s resources and lives two times longer than sun grown varieties. The quality of shade grown coffee is said to be higher than sun grown coffee. The cherries produced by the coffee tree under the shade are relatively smaller than those of commercial varieties.

Many believe that this smaller cherry contracts the flavors into the bean itself. Majority of coffee is grown on plantations with full-sun. Some coffee plantations were prepared with the use of deforestation.

The two main variety of coffee being grown today are Robusta and Arabica. Robusta comprises about 20 percent of the world’s production. It is a lower grade coffee with higher caffeine content. Robusta trees are normally grown at lower elevations and easier to maintain and cultivate. This type is typically grown to attain a lower priced coffee in the market.

Arabica coffee supplies 75 to 80 percent of the world’s coffee trade. It is usually referred as gourmet coffee by most people because of its superior grade, aromatic properties and desirable taste. Arabica species of coffee are grown all over the world but only a few growers passed the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s standard.

Other kinds of coffee plant being grown include Coffea benghalensis, Coffea congensis, Coffea excelsa, Coffea bonnieri, Coffea gallienii, Coffea mogeneti, Coffea liberica, and Coffea stenophylla. Each species has different characteristics.

Green beans are essentially coffee beans not roasted yet. Its volatile and non-volatile compounds are said to appeal to insects and distract animals from eating the coffee fruits. These compounds also contribute to the flavor of roasted beans. Nitrogenous compounds jointly with carbohydrates are significant for the full aroma or fragrance of roasted coffee beans. The non-volatile nitrogenous compounds include trigonelline, alkaloids, protein and free amino acids.

Gourmet Coffee Beans have volcanica, costa rice, Jamaica blue mountain, and kona. Volcanica are grown at 3,000 to 7,000 feet on mountain slopes created by volcanoes and nurtured on volcanic soil. The moisture coming from the clouds and the cool climate combined gives the coffee a smooth and robust flavor.

Costa rica is among the world’s largest gourmet coffees with clean, light flavor and fantastic aroma. The magnificent growing condition of this tiny Central American nation is due to the fertile volcanic soil and mild climate.

Jamaica blue mountain is considered as the Rolls-Royce of coffee. It is one of the most appreciated gourmet coffees in the world. This coffee has a strong and intense aroma, balanced acidity, and prominent fruit flavors.

Kona coffee has a rich delicious full-bodied flavor grown from the slopes of Mauna Loa Volcano in Hawaii. Plantation needs a sunny weather, rich soil and ample rainfall. This coffee has a luscious, smooth, intense fragrance and nutty flavor that made it very famous throughout the US.

For more information on Classic Roasts and Flavored Coffee Beans please visit our website.

Author: David Urmann
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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