Coffee Guide

Are you tired of your regular Joe life and your regular Joe cup of coffee that you start your day with? Then it?s time to reward yourself with something different. Why not jazz up your morning ritual with cup of rich gourmet coffee.

The dictionary defines gourmet food like this, ?Gourmet food is that which is of the highest quality, perfectly prepared and artfully presented.? If you want the highest quality food you go to a top notch restaurant but if you want the highest quality coffee, you can do that at home yourself. That gourmet meal is probably going to stay at the restaurant unless you invite a chef over but gourmet coffee can be made in the comfort of your own home with just a little practice.

Gourmet coffee is more expensive than say, supermarket brands but the taste is also much richer. Unless money is no object, why not save the gourmet cup of coffee for the weekends. Make it an end of the week tradition. Stick with the supermarket coffee for when you?re rushing off to work.

To make your own gourmet coffee start with the beans. Gourmet Coffee beans can be bought by the pound and there are many varieties to choose from. Some of the most popular gourmet beans include Kona, Jamaican Blue Mountain, and Sumatra types.

Coffee beans are similar to wine in that they name the beans after the region. In the world of wine you have the popular Sonoma wines which come from Sonoma Valley in California. In the world of coffee the equivalent would be Kona beans which come from Kona, Hawaii.

Kona coffee beans are grown in rich volcanic soil and the mild tropical climate of the Kona coffee belt on the western side of the Big Island of Hawaii. It has a wonderfully full, rich and smooth flavor with little or no bitter after taste. Be sure that you buy Kona beans and not a Kona blend. A Kona blend can legally be labeled as Kona with as little as 10% of actual Kona beans in it.

Next you?ll need to grind your beans. Ground coffee begins losing it?s flavor once it?s exposed to air. So you?ll want to grind just enough to make your desired amount. Store any leftover grinds in an air tight container. You?ll want to grind you coffee beans very fine but don?t pulverize them into dust. If you over grind them the heat and friction will vaporize the oils that give the coffee it?s distinct flavor.

When was the last time you cleaned your coffee maker? A clean coffee maker makes a significant difference in how your coffee tastes. At least once a month pour a mixture of half vinegar and half water into your coffee maker. Let the mix run through the full brew process. Repeat the process again using only water this time to rinse it out. Do this one more time if a vinegar smell is still present.

Now you?re work is done and it?s time for the coffee maker to pulls it?s weight. Use clean filtered water and fill the coffee maker to the desired level. Use about 6 ounces of water for every 2 heaping tablespoons of coffee. Turn it on and hang around while it brews. You?ll want to be there to enjoy the delightful aroma.

Everyday coffee is perfect for everyday life. But every once in a while you should treat yourself to something special. And what better way to start a special than that with a special cup of coffee. Gourmet coffees can really jazz up your day.

Anthony Tripodi is the webmaster of EndlessCoffeeBreak.com – The Guide To Coffee. For more information about coffee including speciality coffee drink recipes, ideas and equipment, visit http://www.endlesscoffeebreak.com.

At Starbucks they obviously need coffee. To insure that they get the coffee at a good price, Starbucks has chosen to buy the coffee fields, rather than pay an advanced contract price for the coffee beans. Just think it’s Starbucks was buying coffee from Cuba, and that hurricane that came through Cuba two months ago destroyed all the coffee beans, in this case Starbucks cannot sell you your Latte. That would really piss you off. Starbucks knows that if they piss you off; you may never come back again. Also if Starbucks kept raising and lowering the price of coffee they sell in the store you might get upset. But since the coffee is a commodity, the price would fluctuate. And Starbucks knows since they buy so much coffee, that they would have to guarantee they have the coffee, and then they would have to pay a premium price for the contract for coffee.

Mr. Schultz the founder of Starbucks, a former Chicago boy and commodity trader knows that with the volume of coffee it’s Starbucks sell, if they entered into contracts to buy the coffee in advance then they would also be raising the price of the commodity itself. Now Starbucks the seller to the end user owns 23 percent of all the coffee plantations in the world. Are they manipulating the commodity, sure they are. But if they fail to manipulate the commodity of coffee and sell retail the large volume of coffee they do, then they would have decreased margins of profits. That would hurt shareholder value, quarterly profits and there is no way Starbucks would have reported a 37 percent gain in profits in the fourth quarter of 2001. Not to mention the exponential growth in stores and profits since their original IPO. You should not be surprised, that Starbucks has been able to do this.

You should not be surprised that Folders coffee and other name brand coffees have increased their prices in the stores. Its Starbucks owns 23 percent of all plantations of coffee in the world then that leaves 77 percent. Now those other companies are vying for that 77 percent since the total production of coffee available to the commodities exchange is 23 percent less. Therefore simple supply and demand in the irregularities of weather, which limits output of a plantation, will tend to drive the price and upward direction. It’s Starbucks does not need all the coffee for its own stores, it can now sell its coffee beans on the open market to other companies at wholesale level. That is of course before the coffee beans actually get branded Starbucks. At that point they are just the commodities of coffee beans.

Lance Winslow

Coffee is a well-liked drink prepared from the roasted seeds, generally, but mistakenly known as coffee beans, of the coffee plant. It is typically served hot but can also be served cold. A standard 7 fluid ounce mug of coffee contains 80-140 milligrams of caffeine. Coffee, along with tea and water, is one of the most ingested beverages, amounting to about a third that of tap water. Coffee is the second most frequently traded product in the world calculated by financial volume. Trailing only unrefined oil and its products, as a resource of foreign trade to developing countries.

Coffee has its account as far back as the 9th century. It is believed to have originated in the moorland of Ethiopia and widened to the remainder of the world through Egypt and Europe. The word coffee is derived from the Arabic word Qah’wa over Ottoman Turkish Kahve, which initially meant wine or other intoxicating liquors. In part, because of the Islamic prohibition on consuming wine. Preparing and drinking coffee became a central social custom. The pick-me-up result of drinking coffee caused it to be prohibited amongst orthodox and conservative imams in Mecca in 1511 and in Cairo in 1532 by a theological court. In Egypt, coffeehouses and warehouses containing coffee cherries were sacked. But the product’s popularity, principally amongst intellectuals, led to the reversal of this verdict in 1524 by a command of the Ottoman Turkish Sultan Selim I. In the 15th century, Muslims introduced coffee in Persia, Egypt, northern Africa and Turkey, where the first cafeteria, Kiva Han, opened in 1475 in Constantinople.

From the Muslim world, coffee moved to Europe, where it became well liked in the 17th century. Dutch traders were the first to begin large-scale import of coffee into Europe. In 1538, L?onard Rauwolf, a German doctor, having returned from a ten-year journey in the Near East, was the first westerner to explain the drink: A beverage as black as ink, helpful against several illnesses, chiefly those of the stomach. Its consumers drink it in the morning, quite honestly, in a porcelain mug that is passed about and from which each one drinks a cupful. It is composed of water and the fruit from a bush called bunnu. These comments were noted by merchants, who were insightful to this type of information through knowledge in the trade of spices. English coffeehouses were centers of academic and business-related activity. Lloyds of London, the famed insurance company, was initially a coffeehouse.

For more information about coffee please visit Full City Coffee.com

Could you ever resist the craving to have a second cup of that beautiful, strongly aromatic and lazily steaming cup of coffee? Perhaps no one can do it. A passionate Gourmet?s delight, freshly brewed, thick and dark brown and irresistible coffee just brightens up your day like no other drink or anything else can do.

Why Is Gourmet Coffee So Special

One might be tempted to ask why gourmet coffee is so special. Well, here is the answer. For starters, gourmet coffee is always made by high quality fresh Arabica coffee beans which are always hand picked unlike other commercial coffees which are mostly machine graded. Hand picking of coffee beans eliminate chances for dirt such as twigs, leaves etc to sneak in and spoil your coffee.

Secondly, gourmet coffee beans are specially treated with oils after roasting which enhances its flavor to no end. The oil used for coffee bean treatment is a blend of many natural oils which do not have their adverse effect on the shelf life or stability of the ground powder unlike synthetic oils. The oils are so mixed that their characteristic flavors neutralize each other.

You can have different tailor made roast for your gourmet coffee. Deep roasted beans some what loose their natural aroma and this is why you feel the ?roasted flavor? when drinking it. Rather you would prefer a lighter roasting which retains its entire natural aroma.

Arabica coffee beans are ground to the exact perfection of fineness to get its best taste. But generally a finer grind results in a full-bodied cup of coffee, but as many would like it, coarser grinds are preferred to make coffee with coarse filters.

Finer grinds are preferred by those who like espresso but true lovers of gourmet coffee will almost invariably go with the coarse ground coffee powder as boiled water takes its own sweet time to pull out the flavor completely, especially in drip type filters.

Arabica coffee beans are never stored in warehouses as they are dispatched quickly after harvesting. It is the same story after roasting and grinding them, too. The beans from Arabica trees are, by nature, tastier than Robusta, another cheaper variety.

To its credit, Robusta coffee bean offers you higher caffeine content along with that characteristic acidic taste. Another little known fact is some marketers mix a small percentage of Robusta with gourmet coffee beans.

NamSing Then is a regular article contributor on many topics. Be sure to visit his other websites Coffee Resources, Coffee Grinder and Tea Resources

To relax and unwind after a hard day?s work, all one has to do is take a sip of her favorite gourmet coffee and feel the tension leave her tired body.

With countless gourmet coffees in the market, one needs not only a watchful eye but a discerning taste to spot the real gourmet from the fake. But where do gourmet coffees originate?

The Arabica coffee beans are the main source of gourmet coffees. The Robusta beans on the other hand, are known for their disease-resistance properties and are more popularly used in commercial blends. Gourmet coffees from Arabica coffee beans boast of a finer aroma, richer flavor, and more body than those made from Robusta beans. For commercial purposes, coffee merchants mix their Arabica gourmet coffees with Robusta beans to save on production costs.

Companies often use deception to confuse the coffee-drinking public as to the superior quality of their gourmet coffees. A typical abuse word is ?blend,? which manufacturers commonly use to describe the name of a particular brand or those from the same origin. Problems arise when, for instance, the Kona coffee blend contains only a small amount of Kona coffee beans and the rest is from other sources such as Robusta beans, thereby minimizing the coffee experience.

Considered as the best gourmet coffees are those from Central America, Jamaica, Hawaii, Columbia, Africa, and Sumatra. Those that originated from a single source are often blended with other sources to produce a distinctive taste. The volcanic regions create the most wonderful gourmet coffees, owing to their rich volcanic soil, which adds a deep and flavorful taste to the coffee. These areas are home to the best-tasting coffee ever produced.

Supermarkets are not a good place to look for excellent gourmet coffee since they normally carry generic brands and origins that are actually blends, matched with a not so affordable price. Since their market is the masses, groceries often do not carry high-quality fresh roasts or single-origin gourmet coffees. Gourmet coffee bean hoppers more often than not lose their freshness since they have been exposed to elements for weeks, thereby diluting flavor.

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

The way you store your coffee grinds and beans is an important part of maintaining fresh flavor. Properly stored coffee makes a world of difference in how the coffee will taste. This article will guide you and offer tips on how to properly store your coffee grinds and beans to keep your coffee as fresh as possible. There are different ways to store coffee. Roasted whole bean coffee must be stored in complete darkness and in an airtight container.

Using plastic or metal containers may possibly alter the taste of the coffee. Therefore, using a ceramic or glass container is the best option. Roasted coffee beans are sensitive to light and oxygen. For the best airtight concealment of roasted beans, make sure the container is filled to the top in order to keep the air inside the container to a minimum. When stored in an airtight and completely dark container, roasted coffee beans will last an average of one to two weeks.

Ground coffee will not last nearly as long as roasted whole bean coffee. Coffee that is already ground will last no longer than a few days. However, much like roasted whole bean coffee, ground coffee is also sensitive to light and air. Ground coffee must also be kept in an airtight and light-free environment. Because ground coffee lasts for only a couple of days, many coffee experts suggest grinding your coffee beans immediately before brewing the coffee.

There are some myths and Old Wives tales about coffee storage that are actually harmful to coffee. Freezing coffee is never a good idea. Water molecules adhere to the packaging, coffee grinds, and beans very easily. Ice then forms around the coffee grinds and beans after the water molecules have adhered to the coffee. Roasted whole bean coffee is especially sensitive to freezing because they are porous. When the ice melts, water will corrode the fresh taste and quality of the coffee. Is the refrigerator a better storage area? No! The refrigerator will produce water inside the packaging, corroding and taking away the quality of the coffee. Keeping coffee fresh is an easy thing to do if the coffee grinds or beans avoid the following: water, oxygen, light and heat.

For the best and freshest pot of coffee, grind the coffee beans immediately before brewing the coffee and only brew what you intend to drink. Because roasted whole bean coffee will last for only one to two weeks, only purchase what you can drink within two weeks. Properly storing coffee will help maintain the natural and fresh quality of the beans. By following a few simple rules, the perfect cup of gourmet coffee is never beyond your reach. Although it is very easy to toss a bag of coffee in the refrigerator or even the freezer, doing so will surely ruin the taste, quality and freshness of the next pot. Properly storing coffee will keep each cup like it is the first cup.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Coffee

Coffee addicts, take heed! That precious appliance on your countertop ? gasp! ? needs to be cleaned out once in a while. Have you been noticing a stale, funny taste in your coffee lately? It?s very likely that your poor coffeemaker is just screaming for a good cleaning. The good news is: it?s dead simple to clean. All you?ll need is some good old-fashioned white vinegar and tap water.

Vinegar is a powerful acid, and works to replace many of the harmful chemicals you might be cleaning with right now. And when you use it to clean out your coffeemaker, it really scrubs it out from the inside, getting rid of buildup that makes your coffee taste less than gourmet.

To clean the coffeemaker:

1. Pour vinegar into the holding tank where you?d normally pour in the water. Fill at least half full with vinegar.

2. Don?t add any coffee. Ick?can you imagine the brew that would create?

3. Run your coffee machine as usual, letting the vinegar do the work of scrubbing it out and descaling the works from the inside out. Empty out the used vinegar.

4. Run at least two or three cycles with just plain water, to truly get rid of all lingering vinegar taste.

5. There is no step five ? see, I told you it was simple!

Cleaning your coffeemaker like this at least once a month, or more often if you?re a caffeine junky, will keep your coffee tasting fresh and utterly delicious. Give it a try and you?ll be shocked by how easy it is!

Christina Spence is the author of the Happy Slob?s Guide to Housecleaning, the funniest, most laid back cleaning guide EVER written. Get your copy today, and join her free weekly newsletter at http://www.happyslob.com Her love for good coffee also shows at her Coffee Creations blog: http://coffeecreations.blogspot.com

Adultery, deceit and politics, all the makings of a modern-day best-seller, yet this story is over 250 years old and what ultimately led to brazilian coffee. In 1727 a Brazilian official named Francisco de Melho Palheta was invited to mediate a heated border dispute between French and Dutch Guiana. Both governments were actively growing coffee in Guiana and closely guarded their financial interests by not allowing the exportation of viable coffee seeds.

Palheta quickly accepted the invitation with hopes of somehow obtaining some seeds for planting coffee in Brazil. While in Guiana Palheta became romantically involved with the French Governors wife. Upon his departure, after successfully mediating a solution to the border issue, the Governors wife presented him with a bouquet of flowers in which she had disguised several coffee seedlings.

The Brazilians quickly learned the rudiments of growing coffee with emphasis on quantity over quality, which is still the prevalent philosophy when it comes to growing coffee in Brazil. Brazil is by far the largest producer of coffee in the world with over forty percent of all coffee coming from this country. However, the vast majority is of marginal quality and what the major commercial processors such as Folgers, Maxwell House etc? rely on as the base product for their blends. By adding small amounts of higher quality coffee they are able to enhance flavor, body and aroma and provide a product that is acceptable to the masses at a reasonable price.

The production of coffee in Brazil had a dark side. As the cultivation of coffee in Brazil grew, so did slavery. Without enough local labor to handle the ever increasing demand for coffee, the Brazilian Government imported slaves by the tens of thousands. By 1828 well over a million slaves, nearly a third of the population, labored on the coffee plantations.

In response to pressure from the British Government, who had outlawed slavery and were boycotting Brazilian slave-grown coffee, Brazil half-heartedly outlawed slavery. Though importation of slaves declined, it did not cease and the two-million or so slaves that were already in the country remained in bondage. It would be another fifty years before slavery was truly abolished.

As production of coffee in Brazil modernized, modern being a relative term for a third-world country. A few growers established a reputation for providing high-quality coffee and edged their way into the American specialty market.

The best coffee in Brazil comes from the region around San Paulo and is named for the port through which it is exported, Santos. Santos is known for its smooth flavor, medium body and moderate acidity. While Santos is the best coffee in Brazil, it is still far from extraordinary when compared to other gourmet coffees of the world.

Even with the reputation of providing low-grade coffee to the masses, the impact Brazil has had on the world coffee trade is undeniable. Without Brazilian coffee to stabilize the market, coffee prices could be three to four times what they are. Imagine paying $15-20 for a one pound can of Folgers. I, for one, am grateful to Brazil for providing the world with cheap coffee.

? Copyright Randy Wilson, All Rights Reserved.

Randy has more articles on coffee such as Colombian Coffee, Coffee and Alzheimers and Coffee Breaks.

All the experts agree. People who want the best flavor in their coffee use coffee grinders. Coffee grinders work so well because they unleash the bean oils and aromas right before you make a pot. It?s like opening a fresh can of ground coffee each and every time you make some joe.

Of course, besides coffee grinders, there?s also some technique that goes into making a good pot of pick me up. This holds true for both the way your put your coffee in your coffee maker, the kind of coffee maker you have, and the type of water you use.

First, coffee gurus recommend adding two heaping tablespoons of whole beans to the grinder for every six ounces of water you plan to use. To be exact, you probably should measure out your water before you add it to the coffee maker if you are using a drip coffee maker.

What type of maker should I use with coffee grinders?

As for the type of coffee maker to go with coffee grinders, experts say here that a press pot or a machine with a gold cone, or other permanent filter, is best. Picky coffee drinkers do not use paper filters. They have an aftertaste and absorb the special aromatic oils from the coffee beans that are essential for superb taste. If you must use paper filters, try rinsing them with hot water beforehand to wash out the aftertaste.

It is also important to know how long to let your coffee brew. After using coffee grinders, the ground coffee is very delicate. If water contacts it for too long, for instance, your coffee can end with an overly bitter coffee. On the other hand, if water doesn?t contact the coffee grounds for long enough, your coffee may lack its full flavor.

You don?t want to keep your coffee sitting on a burner or hotplate too long either after it?s been through coffee grinders and then brewed. More than 20 minutes after the brewing is done is dangerous because the taste will start to become bitter.

And don?t think of reheating your coffee. Talk about rough on your stomach! Follow these tips, though, and you?ll have a stomach, and taste buds, as well as good cups of coffee every time.

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Mike Long is the successful web publisher of Coffee-SuperGuide.com providing valuable
tips, advice, and info about a multitude of Coffee topics including coffee grinders.

His many articles provide the reader with well researched products, money saving tips,
and valuable topical insight.
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Owing to the hustle bustle of daily life, the amount of free time available keeps decreasing as the free offers keep expiring and the bill amounts keep prospering. This is where automation comes into play. This is why there are so many home appliances being manufactured to allow people more time to do other things.

Americans consume over 4 billion cups of coffee every year. It is a chief beverage. Coffee has some great effects, and coffee drinking experience is great when it is prepared carefully, but who really has the time? And in this hectic atmosphere, along comes the automatic coffee maker.

It would be foolish to search for a modern kitchen that has all the other amenities, that provide home and kitchen automation, yet not find an automatic coffee maker, especially if the house belongs to a java lover.

What is interesting is that, an automatic coffee maker is not some technological masterpiece that was invented a few years ago. Believe it or not, they have been around since the nineteenth century. People have been using automatic coffee makers for quite a long time. These coffee makers use the same working principles as modern automatic coffee makers, but using means they are more primitive. Like the drop coffee maker. This gadget uses the methods involve in drip-brew and percolating coffee making processes, and combines them with water, heated with the aid of electricity to make coffee without any further manual action.

One of the earliest automatic coffee makers was developed in the middle of the nineteenth century and it is known as the percolator. The percolator uses force that can be natural, as in gravity, or produced artificially with steam. The water is thus forced to mix up with the coffee beans in order to extract their flavor. Once this has gone on for long enough, the coffee beans are allowed to either settle down or they are removed to keep the coffee flavored water that you are interested in anyway.

The vacuum brewer is one more example of an automatic coffee maker. The vacuum brewer has got two chambers, one on top of the other. The bottom one is filled with water and the top one is filled with coffee beans. This contraption is then placed over a heating source like a stove or a heater. The heat causes the water to evaporate and expand, and it rises into the upper chamber as steam. And steam, being hot and all, mixes in with those coffee beans and forces them to release their flavor containing chemicals. This goes on till the bottom chamber is completely free of water, all of it having evaporated to the upper part. Then the heat is turned off. The bottom chamber cools and creates a kind of vacuum that sucks down the coffee flavored water, from the upper part. Voila, coffee is ready!

Modern automatic coffee makers don’t deviate too much except that the vacuum is more perfect and temperature can be controlled with digital displays to get it just right.

Magdalena Witkowska is a successful Webmaster and publisher of http://www.thecaffeinebuzz.com To find out more about Automatic Coffee Maker, please visit her website.