Coffee Guide

If you?re currently wondering how to select a coffee bean grinder to suit you and your kitchen then you probably already know that there are various options open to you. In simple terms most coffee grinders will be spilt into two camps ? blade grinders and burr grinders. So how do you choose between the two?

First, it?s worth noting that you can buy both types of grinder as both electric and manual options if you wish. It?s becoming more popular for people to buy electric machines on the whole as there is a big added convenience here so, for the purposes of this guide, we?ll be focusing on electrical options rather than manual ones.

In simple terms the final decision you make when it comes to working out how to select a coffee bean grinder will, in most cases, come down to budget and to how seriously you think about coffee so this is worth bearing in mind as you read through this article.

So, let?s take a look some of the pros and cons of the two types of grinder.

Blade Grinders

Blade grinders ? as the name suggests ? use a blade to chop up your coffee beans until they are ground. Most of these machines work on a simple principle ? the longer the machine grinds, the finer the grind will be.

Pros

• Generally cheaper than burr grinders.
• Do an effective job of grinding your coffee beans.

Cons

• Can?t give a completely consistent or even grind (this can have an adverse effect on the taste and quality of the coffee you drink).
• The blades on some models may overheat ? especially if they are left on longer for a finer grind ? which can again alter the actual taste of your coffee.

Burr Grinders

A burr grinder ? often also referred to in some circles as a mill ? works on a different principle to a blade grinder. Here the beans are crushed between the machine?s moving wheel and its static surface. You decide on the level of grind by using pre-specified settings on the burr. Models vary between doser and doserless for coffee bean storage in the actual grinder.

Pros

• A burr grinder will give you a consistently even grind with no problems.
• These grinders and their grinding pres-sets are easy to use.

Cons

• A burr grinder will generally cost you more than a blade grinder.
• Some models clog easily and can be harder to clean.

So, when you?re deciding how to select a coffee grinder ? as you can see ? you need to consider how important the quality of your grind and the resulting taste of your coffee is to you as an individual to a certain extent. This is what will dictate whether you opt for a blade grinder or a burr grinder at the end of the day.

Most blade grinders users will simply like a regular cup of coffee that has been ground at home for optimum freshness. If you simply like grinding your own beans for basic coffee drinking use then there?s no real reason why you should waste money on a burr grinder when a blade grinder will suit your needs just as well.

It?s very important to remember here that a blade grinder may give a more uneven grind but it still does an effective job. But you may not get the best grind ? and therefore the best tasting cup of coffee ? from the beans you buy in this case. One good tip that many blade grinder fans give is to give the grinding machine a little gentle shake every now and then as this will help distribute the bits of cut beans more evenly which may help your grind?s consistency.

If, however, your cup of coffee is real important to you and you want consistent brewing results each and every time you grind your beans, then you will probably be better off looking at buying some sort of burr grinder to meet your needs. These grinders are adored by coffee aficionados simply because they treat your coffee beans and the grinding process consistently and will therefore bring out the best taste for every cup by making sure that each grind is even across every single coffee bean.

It?s real simple to source and buy each kind of grinder ? both in stores or over the Internet. Major coffee maker manufacturers such as Braun, Capresso, Alpina, Mr. Coffee, DeLonghi, Russell Hobbs, KitchenAid, Krups and Solis will all have a grinder line of some sort to choose from.

You may find ? if you shop around a little ? that you may be able to afford to buy a more expensive grinder for your budget as there are often great bargains and discounts to be had all year round. For this reason it?s certainly worth while not rushing out and buying the first grinder you see but doing some price comparisons first to see what savings can be made.

It?s equally important to read reviews to find out how specific models have worked for other people in the past. The Internet is a great source for these kinds of user reviews so once you?ve identified a few models you can log on and see how these machines have worked for others in their homes rather than just relying on manufacturer?s ?blurb?. This will give you a real useful idea of how well a model/models may actually work in your own home rather than having to wait to find out once you?ve purchased a grinder.

There are certain things to look out for in these kinds of user reviews. For example, you should be looking to discover if other grinder users have found that their grinder:

• Gets clogged or blocked easily.
• Gets beans stuck in its mechanism.
• Overheats and leaves a bitter taste on the coffee.
• Is easy to clean and maintain.
• Gives a really even grind consistently.
• Is excessively noisy.
• Has a problem with static electricity.
• Gives you an easy way to pour out your ground coffee.
• Is well made and won?t fall apart after a couple of uses.

If you can get the right kinds of answers to these questions then the chances are you?ll find the kind of grinder ? either burr or blade ? that?s right for you.

Carol Finch enjoys writing about coffee grinders (burr and chop) and more at Coffee N’ Beans: http://www.coffee-n-beans.com

Without a doubt, coffee production and consumption is a major business throughout the world. Coffee production has the second largest commodity ranking in the world (oil production is first), and coffee is a major foundation among family circles worldwide. But when exactly did this worldwide love affair with coffee start? When was it first realized that the innocuous little coffee bean would cause so much enjoyment?

There are several conflicting stories about the origin of coffee. One such story involves a goat herder in Ethiopia around 800 A.D., who noticed that when his goats ate certain beans from a bush, they became more animated than normally. So he ate some himself and got the same reaction, and so he passed some around to his fellow herders, and pretty soon the coffee bean became a rage.

That story is probably untrue, and we really don?t know exactly where or when coffee was discovered and who discovered it. We do know that the coffee plant was originally found in Ethiopia, and the plant?s beans were eaten as is. We know Ethiopia later exported the beans. Also we know that by the first millennium, coffee was very well known in most parts of the world. Arabs were probably the first to discover the ability to roast the bean and drink the resulting mixture.

Eventually coffee became very popular throughout the world as an energizing drink. By the 1500s, in Istanbul, coffee houses were first created. They became so fashionable that other European countries soon followed suit, including France and England. Of course, these houses, just like the drink itself, were probably nothing like the trendy gourmet coffee shops we have today.

A man named Edward Lloyd set up one of the first coffeehouses in England, and that house later became the famous insurance carrier Lloyd?s of London. Of course when the British came to America, they set up coffee shops throughout the 13 colonies.

And the coffee beans were found to grow in different southern climates. Columbia started growing the plant in the early 1800s, with Brazil soon following suit. Of course today Columbia is one of the most famous and largest growers of the plant, as is Brazil. But also soon Hawaii got into the act with their Kona coffee, and of course the Indonesian island of Java became so widely known for their coffee, that one slang word for coffee is ?java.? And today there are many different types of flavored coffees to choose from, for all sorts of gourmet coffee lovers

So all together it took about 1000 years for coffee to start from a possible humble beginning as goat energy snack food, to becoming the 2nd largest tradable commodity in the world. Millions of tons of coffee are produced every year, and there is no doubt that the industry will continue to grow by leaps and bounds.

Jim Konerko is the publisher of http://www.coffee-craze.net where he provides interesting articles such as ?How To Buy Coffee?, and other advice, tips, and information about coffee.

Excellent coffee will come in handy if you consider purchasing a coffee roaster at home. Coffee lovers have a variety of brands of sizes of coffee roasters to choose from for home brewing. Nothing beats freshly brewed coffee, brewed right in the comfort of one?s home. You may also create your own coffee concoctions and regale your family and friends.

However, it is important to consume coffee from a roaster at once to experience great flavor. Green coffee beans stay fresh much longer than those that have been through a roaster. Green coffee beans stay fresh as long as six months while those that went through a roaster lasted for only a week. Why is this so? Within a week coffee from the roaster oxidizes. Upon cooling, the roaster continues with its internal chemical process.

Once the coffee is already ground, you cannot be assured of its freshness and quality unless laboratory results show you the facts, whereas, if you have your own roaster, your green coffee is guaranteed one hundred percent fresh, which in turns save you money and frequent trips to the grocery store or to your favorite coffee shop.

You will discover that once you have your own roaster, all the other coffee you have tasted will pale in comparison. Ground coffee from the grocery normally contains fillers, diluting its flavor.

Roasters employ different processes prior to giving you that delectable cup of coffee. An air roaster should not be used for a very long time, as compared to drum roasters, since they transfer heat very quickly in a high-velocity stream of air. A drum roaster, on the other hand, needs to conduct and convert heat coming from the coffee at a slower rate to prevent it from being baked and scorched by heat.

So take your pick from among the roasters advertised on the Internet, and be assured of quality coffee anytime, anywhere.

Coffee Beans provides detailed information on Coffee Beans, Green Coffee Beans, Gourmet Coffee Beans, Coffee Bean Roasters and more. Coffee Beans is affiliated with Espresso Coffee Makers.

For my normal morning cup of Joe, I settle for two glasses of espresso. The preparation and cleanup of an espresso machine is more time consuming than a drip machine. Despite this aspect, I have integrated the cleanup into my breakfast routine so that the couple of minutes I take to prepare and clean the machine are not noticed.

1. Water content

The main reason I started to consume espresso was that typical coffee contained too much water. I did not enjoy being full of water for the morning part of my day. Four cups of espresso contain the same amount of water as one cup of coffee.

2. Caffeine content

There is not much of a reduction in the amount of caffeine found in one cup of espresso compared to a cup of coffee.

3. Flavor

I love good coffee. Espresso is one way to get the full flavor of the coffee. There is no paper filter to absorb and keep flavorful oils out of the coffee.

4. Warmness

I don?t enjoy hot coffee, but I do like to consume coffee fast. This causes a problem while using a drip machine. One doesn?t want to remove the carafe until brewing is done (doing so alters the flavor). Because of this, the coffee is very hot and takes time to cool in a coffee cup. Espresso cools much quicker and I can gulp it down when it is done brewing.

If you haven?t tried a cup of Espresso, you don?t know what you?re missing!

Matthew Payne is a contributing member of http://coffee-tips.quickprovider.com and http://articles.quickprovider.com – both high content filed article sites.

Brewing a great cup of coffee depends on a number of things such as the quality of the coffee bean, the quality of the water being used, the type of brewing being done, and the grind of the coffee. Now quality of bean and water is something you can easily take care. Just use good quality beans and pure water. However the relationship between the grind of the coffee and the type of brewing being done is more detailed and could use a little explanation. Now we all know that we make coffee by passing hot water over crushed coffee beans. However for it to really work well we need to understand just how long the water should be passing over the beans. The purpose of this article is to help you understand how to match your coffee’s grind to the type of brewing you are doing in order to make the best coffee possible.

Generally speaking, the ‘soaking’ time relates directly to how coarse the coffee is ground. This means that smaller coffee grinds need less contact with the water, and coarser grinds need longer contact. Espresso coffee is only exposed to water for 20-40 seconds and as a result is made using extremely fine grind coffee. A French press coffee maker can take as much as 4 minutes and uses an extremely coarse grind. If coffee is left contacting water for too long for its grind size, unwanted extracts emerge and make the coffee taste bitter. Of course if the grind is too large and the water passes very quickly (like using French press grind in an espresso maker), very little of the caffeine and flavours extracted and will have poor flavour.

Of course filters play an important role in managing the balance between over and under brewing your coffee. Not only do they keep the grind out of your cup, but they also control how fast the water passes over the grinds. Paper filters are the most common, but many people are also using metal varieties. Paper filters are quite good. However they can absorb some of the coffee flavour, and some people claim they can taste the paper in the final coffee. Metal filters are normally made from stainless steel or gold plated mesh. They have very fine weave and filter out the coffee grinds very well. They also do not alter the taste of the coffee at all. Metal filters are also more environmentally friendly than the paper alternative.

Whichever you choose, be sure to buy decent quality. Cheap filters often clog or not allow the coffee to brew properly. A decent quality metal filter will last years and save money in the end.

Brewing a cup of coffee is not that hard. Brewing a great cup takes a little more understanding, but isn’t any harder. Start with fresh beans and good clean water and then match your brewing style to the proper grind and then mess around with the exact proportions and pretty soon your be brewing killer coffee every time.

Lynne Birch writes on home improvement http://www.my-kitchen-appliance.com selection of articles and reviews of kitchen appliances is growing daily. Updated coffee maker reviews.

Throughout history, coffee houses have been more than just places where innocent people like you and I could get a regular caffeine fix.

Although coffee itself apparently originated in Ethiopia before the 11th century, the first coffee house known to history was located in Constantinople in 1475. Coffee is an important part of my life, but in those days a wife could divorce her husband if he could not keep her properly supplied with coffee. In Turkey, coffee was normally brewed in an ibrik, a long-handled pot originally designed for brewing coffee upon the desert sands.

In the early 1500′s a coffee house was established in Vienna, Austria by the only person in town who had both lived in Turkey and who recognized the intrinsic value and potential income lurking in several bags of coffee abandoned by Turkish invaders. It seems to be about this time that the custom of softening coffee by adding sugar and cream came into practice. Value was added when coffee shops began serving pastries as well as coffee. Although some pious individuals considered coffee to be the drink of the devil, the pope who was asked to so describe the beverage in this manner was already a coffee drinker and, instead, blessed it, calling it a Christian beverage.

Although coffee houses spread through Europe, England actually got into the act through a Turkish link rather than the import of the new custom from the continent.

It was in 1652 that history records the first coffee house being founded in England by two servants of an importer of Turkish goods. They left their employer and went into business for themselves marketing the new brew at their establishment, The Turk’s Head. Coffee houses of this era were referred to as penny universities because of the penny that was charged for admission and the camaraderie and exchange of ideas that were included in the price.

In fact, coffee houses of that era were the mass media of the day. The free public exchange of information was actually frightening to those in power. Because of this, coffee houses in England were shut down for a while in 1675. Public outrage was so great, however, that this only lasted a few days.

One figure of note, Samuel Pepys, famed diarist of the era and proclaimed right hand of the navy noted that he often frequented coffee houses for naval news as it seemed to be more up to date and reliable than the information available to him at the admiralty. One well known coffee house of the day probably provided him with a great deal of news concerning ships and the sea.

Edward Lloyd’s coffee house which opened in 1688 (or 1687, by some sources) near the Thames river on Tower street, eventually lost its roots but became one of the most famous institutions in the world – Lloyd’s of London. This was perhaps a natural metamorphosis due to the number of seafaring men from the ships at London’s docks who found their way to Lloyd’s. Edward Lloyd, being an astute individual, as are all of us addicted to coffee, began in 1696 the practice of listing arrivals and departures of ships in addition to information received from arriving vessels about the conditions of ships and crews and conditions at sea. Eventually, so much shipping information was exchanged at the nearly round-the-clock establishment, that insurance brokers began doing some of their business there.

One of the earliest functions of the coffee houses of the past was to provide a meeting place for many, but particularly for intellectuals of each era. The combination of the exchange of ideas and caffeine proved to be a heady experience, launching careers and in some cases legends. Perhaps you have heard of Jonathan Swift, Honore de Balzac, Alexander Pope, Oliver Goldsmith, or Henry Fielding?

One source states that by the end of the 17th century, there were over 2,000 coffee houses in London alone. Although most were just in the business of serving coffee, some had unsavory reputations and customers, and more than one could have been mistaken for a brothel. They were also often the place for assignations or just plain dates.

It has been said that our modern word tip as in to leave a tip was first coined (no pun intended) in early English coffee houses. Usually a tin receptacle of some sort was marked with a sign reading To Insure Prompt Service (TIPS) to receive the coins of those who needed their coffee and needed it fast!

In the new country of America, the coffee house seemed to follow in the footsteps of its Britannic predecessors. One of the earliest coffee houses in America served as the founding location for the New York Stock Exchange. Of course, after the Boston Tea Party, being a coffee drinker was considered to be patriotic. Many strategies of the American revolution were born or raised in the coffee houses of the day.

A breakthrough in the history of coffee occurred when instant coffee was first successfully produced and marketed by Maxwell House in the 1950′s.

Whether instant or brewed, most modern American coffee drinkers would probably not recognize the brew of their forefathers. With a much higher ratio of coffee to water (one tablespoon to 16 ounces of water), and having been boiled for half an hour, not even the introduction of such common additives of the day as fish skin or egg shell would probably have done much to bring the taste close to a modern Starbucks mocha or latte.

In fact, the modern coffee house, typified by Starbucks or Tim Hortons might be recognized by the denizens of the past…if they were able to identify laptops as intellectual tools for research and the exchange of ideas, and cell phones as a means of conversation.

After much success in America, the modern coffee house, in the Starbucks name, image, and mold has moved westward to the East…the Far East, that is. Although coffee was not of much national interest until 1961, by the 1980′s coffee shops were quite the rage in Japan, and Starbucks opened its first store in Japan in August, 1996. Starbucks’ name recognition seems to have been its ticket to success in Japanese culture. By the time the first outlet opened, world-traveling Japanese had already had the Starbucks experience in foreign lands. The story is told that upon the opening of the first Starbucks store in Japan, the first customer, who ordered a ?Double short latte!? did not speak English! As of 2003, Starbucks had 503 stores in Japan.

Starbucks opened its first store in China in 1999, and as of February, 2006, had 165 outlets, complete with cell phone carrying, laptop using customers like anywhere else in the world. I guess it’s possible that considering the history of coffee shops something besides coffee might be brewing.

The author is retired from the Army after 21 years of service, has worked as an accountant, optical lab manager, restaurant manager, and instructor. He has been a member of Mensa for several years, and has written and published poetry, essays, and articles on various subjects for the last 40 years. Although primarily interested in the subjects of health, weight loss, and making money, he began drinking coffee at about age six and 55 years later, still hasn’t figured out how to stop…nor does he want to! Learn more about coffee.