Coffee Guide

Do you have a coffee lover in your life and want to surprise him or her with a gift they will love. Why not go for a coffee gift basket. This is one of the nicest present you can give to a coffee lover and something they can enjoy for a long time to come. Just think about them sitting around on a Sunday morning enjoying a great cup of gourmet coffee that was given to them by you. There are two ways you can get a coffee gift basket. You can either put one together yourself by picking out items you know they will love and then assembling them together. However if you are pressed for time you can also purchase a pre made coffee gift basket. Either way, you are sure to put a smile on the face of the recipient. This practical gift is always well received.

One thing that you want to be careful of is to make sure the receiver of the gift is not a member of a coffee of the month club or someone who has not just ordered a years supply of their favorite coffee. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing so just to cover your basis it can help to check first.

Take the above warning to heart because I learned this one the hard way after giving my in laws a great big coffee gift basket. Of course they graciously accepted the gift and at the time I was none the wiser. However later in a conversation to them they kind of hinted that they had not had a chance to use much of the coffee. I dug a little deeper only to find out hey were already receiving coffee through a very gourmet coffee of the month club and they just couldn?t drink through all of the coffee they were receiving.

There are many different ways to find this information out before hand and with a little detective work you should be just fine. The first ways to find out is just come right out and ask the person. This might take away a little bit of the surprise when you actually give the gift but 99% of the time people won?t think that far in advance and they will be so happy to receive the gift they won?t mind that you asked. The farther ahead you can ask the better as the more time passes the less people will remember.

Another way around this problem is to ask a few family members or friends of the person you want to give the gift to. Usually this is the best way to find out because you don?t alert gift receiver to anything and you don?t diminish the element of surprise. This also prevents you from sparking the interest in a coffee of the month club if you ask the person you want to give the coffee basket to. After you ask them they might think to themselves, ?Hey that is a great idea I think Iw ill do that.? Then that blows your gift. By asking a family or friend of the person you can find out and still keep everything a secret.

Although if you talk to most coffee lovers you will find that many of them feel you can not have too much coffee at any time. If they already are a member of a coffee of the month club you can still put together a very nice coffee gift basket. Instead of getting tons of coffee in it go from some of the coffee related accessories. A brand new commuter mug or fun mug with pictures in it for drinking coffee at home can be a great idea. There are also chocolates and all sorts of other little treats that can go along well with coffee. In the end a personalized coffee gift basket filled with wonderful accessories will make a great gift. By putting together a well thought out and personalized gift basket you are sure to warm the heart of the gift receiver.

Check out Gift Idea Help at http://www.giftideahelper.com where you can find lots of great ideas, articles and tips on Coffee Gift Baskets and even the ultimate gift ideas like Godiva Chocolate Gift Baskets.

Home Coffee Roasting ? Makes all the difference

As I sit here one the deck with my daily morning cup of coffee, I realize? just a few years ago I?d have had a cup of dark strong, stovetop brew with some milk to ease the taste. No more!! Now there?s almost every kind of coffee available that you can imagine.

Roasting at Home

First, we?ll start with the fact that you can buy green coffee beans and roast them to your liking right in you own home. One way to roast coffee beans at home is to skillet fry the beans until they are brown. They need to be cooked somewhere between 460F degrees and 530F. Beans must be kept moving so it won?t cook them unevenly. The roasting must stop at the right time and cooled down quickly. This is the old method but definitely won?t taste like today?s methods and needs proper venting.

Another way to roast coffee beans is with a hot-air corn popper. Hot-air poppers roast pretty quickly causing a bright, medium roast and strong flavored dark roasts. Giving a clear-cut taste opposite of beans roasted in a gas oven or in a stovetop popper. This may be a little easier than other methods. There is less to worry about, such as setting the temperature just right.

Although a great taste, there is a down side to using these poppers. First of all only not all poppers are designed to roast coffee. You should only use the ones with the proper roasting chambers. This way makes a less amount each time than other methods. Roasting with the popper will also cause smoke to be more difficult to vent. Most of these poppers can be used to make French or Espresso coffee, which is darker but are not recommended. This may cause your popper to be over worked and shorten its life.

Roasting beans in a gas oven was also popular. You could roast more at a time and the oven did the venting for you. Just set the ovens temperature like baking. This had to be a much easier way and the results were rather good. Don?t forget, the timing and cooling process for all roasting is very important and may be different in other blends to achieving the goal for a great cup of coffee.

The only way you are going to find out which technique you might enjoy to use is to find a whole bean coffee roasted style that you already like, then try to make it yourself at home. Do a little experimenting!

Brewing Methods

Next let?s move on to the many different brewing methods. There are several different ways in which to brew coffee. Before you choose a coffee maker you need to understand first what you demand out of the machine. It will be a question only the person using it can answer. Let?s examine the differences a little closer.

The filter drip is the most popular method used to brew coffee because it is easy to operate and consistent. Water is poured in a chamber where it is heated and slowly poured over the ground coffee. This can be done two ways. It can be electronically dripped or manually poured over the grounds. Some electric machines can be preset to have the coffee ready for you when you wake up in the morning. Others may prefer the taste of hand-brewed coffee for a different flavor.

The French drip is another form of drip coffee making, which is made without paper filters. A separate top sits above the porcelain coffee pot and acts as the strainer as the water soaks into the grounds. Working its way through the strainer, coffee liquid makes its way to the bottom pot for hot steaming coffee.

The Percolator was the preferred way to make coffee in the 1950′s. Now coffee drinkers see the light that the coffee made this way was thin, watery and bitter. Most people may remember it by the perking pot and the aroma it gave off.

The Neapolitan flip device is made up of two segment. The whole product comes in aluminum, copper or stainless steel. An area in between the two segments holds the coffee grounds. The lower part is poured with water and put directly on the stovetop to heat. While boiling the steam goes through a hole under the grounds. After that, the pot is removed from the stove, flipped over to drip the water on the grounds, which go into the serving pot. The down side to this is that it only makes about 3 or 4 cups per serving.

There are two different types of espresso makers, stovetop and household electric counter top model. A nice characteristic about the counter top model is it can steam milk for cappuccino and latte?s. Stovetop on the other hand have two parts similar to the Neapolitan flip method only no flipping needed.

French Press is a trendy European way that allows for more oils and coffee solids that give you a cup of coffee with a lovely smell and has a dense body. More of your strong coffee drinkers would prefer this technique. Although good and strong, some grounds may enter the coffee during process.

Vacuum procedures are more involved and are used for ceremonies mostly by the Japanese. They are rare and very hard to find. The Middle Eastern way is popular of course in the Middle East and also Greece and Turkey. Their form of making coffee is also very different and comes out to be dark, thick and syrupy tasting. Because it is so rich, one or two cups a day would probably be all I could drink.

Last but not least on the list, the cold water method Simply soaking the coffee grinds in cold water for about a day, straining the grounds, and storing the liquid in a refrigerator for a few weeks. When you want a cup, boil some water and add liquid to desired taste.

Makes a rather mild cup for those of you who like it that way.

If you?re not into roasting the beans yourself, your choices are still many. Coffee manufacturers have given us an almost unending list of different blends and flavors. How the coffee?s ground after its roasted will have a major effect on the taste of the coffee. There are regular, coarse and finely ground coffees. The taste is also affected by the combination of the type of coffee used. The two categories of trees from which the coffee beans come from are called Arabica and Robusta. The Arabica is a milder coffee and the Robusta a much stronger coffee.

Another important addition to the coffee world has been the addition of many flavorings, and flavored creamers. If you haven?t browsed through coffee selections lately, you owe it to your taste buds to check out the many varieties and flavors of coffee.

Hilda Maria is the mother of five great children. She understands the need for a great cup of coffee in a flash and enjoys using a coffee maker and fresh green coffee beans to get it.