Coffee Guide

Italians are unique to the world when it comes to coffee. They aren?t content to just drink it the old ordinary way. They love it so much that they also enjoy tinkering with the recipe.

It started with the unique thick coffee invention known as espresso. Later, Italians came up with cappuccino, which is similar to espresso but not as heavy, yet loaded with power. Eventually cappuccino?s flavor spawned other coffee conceptions, such as desserts (you ever have cappuccino ice cream?), frappuccino and others. But cappuccino is quite a popular worldwide drink itself.

Cappuccino is normally made using the rich and heavy espresso as its foundation. As a rule then, milk that has been steamed is added to the espresso, and finally a lovely foamy cream tops off the mixture. Naturally there are several deviations from this idea, such as equal parts of all 3, or a huge amount of foam to tower over the cup, or a smaller amount of milk for a stronger cappuccino.

In America, we usually will drink cappuccino after dinner, as a coffee substitute. But in Italy, it is often enjoyed during the breakfast hour. When it is made strong, it can really wake you up for the day ahead. The cappuccino Americans enjoy is not quite so strong, rich or bold, but still quiet pleasant.

Nowadays there are many coffeehouses that will serve cappuccino drinks at anytime of the day. Also cappuccino can be enjoyed at many of the finer restaurants, whether Italian or not. Many places such as bookstores that feature caf?s serve many varieties of cappuccino as well as coffee. For sure, cappuccino has become a stronghold among the coffee drinkers of the world.

And I must admit, I love cappuccino far more than coffee. It is richer, has more flavor, and I just love to hear that unique sputtering sound of when a cappuccino maker is adding the frothy cream to the top. It makes me feel that the restaurant is making something special just for me.

And cappuccino doesn?t stop with its drink in the cup. You can get cappuccino ice cream as mentioned earlier, and cappuccino cheesecake and cappuccino cookies. There is no limit to the variations of delicacies made with the cappuccino flavor and texture.

The Italians have come a long way with improving on the tropical born drink known as coffee. And as cappuccino testing continues, there will be even more wonderful versions of this lovely drink to come.

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.

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.

Flavored coffee syrup is a popular addition to any coffee beverage and a welcome change for any regular coffee drinker. Whether you are looking to satisfy a sweet tooth or just want something different, flavored coffee syrups put a great kick into any drink. If you own a coffee business, these syrups are another great way to attract customers, allowing them to customize their own drinks so they can enjoy exactly the flavors that their taste buds desire.

Coffee, of course, has a wonderful taste itself, but it also acts as a catalyst for many other flavors. The growth in popularity of flavored coffee is testament to coffee’s versatility and strength. People today have come to expect variety and certainly flavored coffee offers them a choice. Flavored syrups means that coffee drinkers can enjoy their beverage all day in a host of different ways.

The best flavored coffee syrups are made from all natural ingredients. The chemical additives and preservatives found in some syrups can distort or hide the flavor of the coffee, while all natural flavors will simply enhance a beverage. Although all natural syrups are more expensive, they are worth the investment as your customers will surely taste the difference and come back time after time for more.

There are four different groups of syrups. The most popular syrups are the vanilla based, which include nut and creme flavors like Irish creme and hazelnut. These flavors go well with just about any type of coffee, and can even be used to sweeten a cappuccino or latte. Chocolate is the next most popular flavoring group, followed by the fruit and spice flavors. It is always a good idea to have an offering from each group so your customers can experience different flavors (and spend more!)

Today, more than 100 different and delicious flavorings lace the coffees, espressos, cappuccinos, and frappes. To say the least, flavored coffee has become an interesting and fast growing area of the coffee market. Blends such as Irish Creme, French Vanilla, Hazelnut and even Macadamia Nut grace the shelves of both coffee specialty shops and home kitchens alike.

The concept of adding flavors to enhance the taste of coffee is, by no means, a new craze. Arabs began flavoring their coffee with cardamom hundreds of years ago, Africans experimented with citrus flavors, and South Americans enjoyed a hint of cinnamon in their cups.

Flavored coffee syrups are highly concentrated, so a little goes quite a long way ? this makes it very cost effective for the caf? owner. One half-ounce shot of syrup is usually adequate to flavor an entire coffee drink. These syrups are available from most coffee suppliers; if you are a new retail or business customer, they will often send you samples to allow you to taste them for yourself; this way you can choose the best tasting syrup product for your customers. This is the fun part ? then you have to sell them!

Looking for information about Coffee? Go to: http://www.dkcoffee.com DK Coffee is published by Julie Carter The Complete A to Z Of Coffee Resources Check out more Coffee related articles at: http://www.dkcoffee.com/archive

Around 850 A.D it is thought that a lone shepherd and his sheep happened upon a strange and mysterious plant growing upon a secluded and forgotten hillside. Before he could stop them some of his herd had began to gnaw away at this unusual berry. After about fifteen minutes or so the herder started to notice that his sheep were behaving in an odd manner. Not only were they unusually alert but they also appeared to be extremely hyperactive. Now being a little weary and extremely tired the shepherd decided to try the berries and see if the end results would be the same for him as they had been for his flock. To his pleasant surprise the shepherd began to feel wide awake and he too became very alert. After a few hours had passed along came a wandering monk who, after being informed of the plants amazing qualities proceeded to scold the poor shepherd and lecture him on his foolish indulgence. After he had finished telling the shepherd just what a sinner he had been the monk set upon his journey but not before he had added a little something to his backpack and supplies.

Back at the abbey the monks decided to try this new magical stimulant. Soon the endless hours of praying became easy to endure. Coffee the beverage had been unleashed. Its widespread use first took hold in the Ethiopian regions before then moving on to the Arabian empire. Here it was to be held for many years as a sacred substance until it was illegally exported to the outside world by an Arab called Baba Budan. Word of its effects then began to spread and in a short while coffee was to become one of the most treasured commodities in our history. Today we drink a staggering 4 billion cups each and every year and there are many among us who would simply refuse to start our day without it.

Although coffee is mainly known as a sleep suppressant there are those who consider coffee to have many health benefits. It is thought that people who suffer from asthma and partake of the beverage have at least 25% less symptoms which may be due to a substance in coffee called theophylline. This is known as a bronchodilator and quite simply it is thought to help those who suffer with the disease to breath with a little more ease. Drinking coffee on a daily basis is also thought to help lower your chances of developing colon cancer by a figure also in the region of about 25%. This may be due to the fact that coffee helps to keep you regular. Coffee can do more than just help you get through your day.

Apart from the benefits that have just been mentioned it has to be said that simply drinking coffee as a beverage is a delight that cannot easily be surpassed. The amazing thing is that the average person has no idea of the varied tastes that this hallowed bean has to offer. One of the growing trends of recent years has to be the rising popularity of ordering coffee via the wonder we call the internet. Never before have we been able to sample such a wide variety of tastes, blends and aromas without having to endure the tedious trials of hiking around the city. I myself tend to place small orders but I always make a point to record the name, blend and of course exactly from whom I purchased.

Now that you are aware of the tale of the mystical beans I hope that if in the days to come you are considering visiting your local coffee shop you recall the story of the lowly shepherd and think about just what you might be drinking were he not to have wandered onto that bleak and lonely hillside. Why not take advantage of the internet and try the many different varieties and blends available. Not only will you impress your tastebuds, your friends will be grateful as well.

Cappuccino or latte?

Valerie Shapero is the owner of Fuzzy Coffee which is a premier source of information about coffee. For questions or comments about this article, please visit: http://fuzzycoffee.com

With a ?good? cup of coffee costing almost as much as a good sandwich these days, more and more people are taking to making their coffee at home from an ?old fashioned? drip coffee machine. With the influence of Starbucks and the others out there, people are demanding a better cup of coffee all of the time. This article should help you make the best cup of drip coffee possible.

Coffee from a can just doesn?t work for the general public anymore. You know what I?m talking about and it sounds as lousy to you as it does to me. The good news is that great coffee beans can be obtained at pretty much any grocery store. If you use coupons (and if you don?t, shame on you), you should do quite well if you aren?t too worried about the brand name. My tip for you ? worry about quality more than anything else. The big stores like Sams Club and Costco offer big bags of coffee beans at some very good prices. Your author?s favorite, in case you?re interested, is Kirkland brand (two pound) of Espresso Roast (Starbucks) that you can find at Costco.

Be willing to experiment with different bean types to find the kind of coffee you like best. For what it is worth, more times than not, I?ve found that a good espresso roast makes a great cup of drip coffee as well. Do experiment though, you just might be surprised at what you find.

Good beans deserve a good grind. You?d be surprised at the difference between a good grind and a bad one. If you don?t have a good grinder at home, consider grinding the beans at the store where they were purchased as the grinders there often do a great job. Burr grinders are the best, and the most expensive.

It is probably obvious but good water makes a difference as well. The more things you take out of the water, the better your coffee will taste.

A good drip machine is also a must. More than anything else, the warming element is what you need to worry about. If you find that your coffee often has that scalded burned taste, the warmer might be too hot. And, of course, there is seldom a way to change that so, ? you?ll need a new machine.

Consider the French Press alternative. French presses are dirt cheap, make an incredible cup of coffee, and never leave you worrying about overactive warmers, water tube build-up and the like. Remember that the grind for French Press is different than normal drip coffee so grind accordingly.

What about people stuck in a bad coffee situation in the office or somewhere else? Here?s a trick that can help with some issues: Bring in a cinnamon shaker and dash a little on the grinds before starting the machine. This will give the coffee a bit more taste, hide some of the bad taste and help with the aroma. Grab the coffee as soon as is brewed and, most of all, lobby for better coffee.

You?re worth it.

About The Author

Chiacchia Del is the webmaster of Yo! Coffee, the Internet’s hot spot for all things coffee. You can read more of her work at http://www.yocoffee.com.

chiacchia@yocoffee.com

Specialty gourmet coffee is a very hot commodity in today’s market. The consumption of gourmet coffee has steadily grown with consumers enjoying the more sophisticated tastes of gourmet coffee beans.

Specialty gourmet coffee, sometimes called premium coffee, is exceptional coffee beans grown only in ideal coffee-producing climates. These coffee beans have unique characteristics because of the soil they grow in which produce very distinctive flavors.

Gourmet coffee has a more balanced flavor and richer taste than the standard mass-produced coffee. Gourmet coffee beans go through a rigorous process of certification that is stricter to help keep the quality high.

In the 1974 issue of the Tea & Coffee Trade Journal, Erna Knutsen first used the term ‘specialty coffee’ to describe these unique coffee beans that are produced in special microclimates with these distinctive, exceptional flavors.

In 1982 the Specialty Coffee Association of America was created by coffee professionals to help set quality standards for the specialty coffee trade.

Since the 1990′s the growing popularity of the coffee houses and specialty gourmet coffee retailers, have made gourmet coffee one of the fastest growing food services markets in the world. In the United States alone, it nets approximately $8.5 billion a year.

Some have compared specialty gourmet coffee to wine. The aromas and flavors have similarities in how the consumer connects with the two beverages. The characteristics of gourmet coffee however, are more even complex than wine. The coffee bean is more dependent on altitudes, climate and soil variation than with the grapes used for wine.

The history and tradition of the specialty coffee grower makes this a very complex beverage. So pour yourself a cup of your favorite specialty gourmet coffee, sit back and enjoy, you deserve it.

Copyright ? 2005 Perfect Coffees.com. All Rights Reserved.

This article is supplied by http://www.perfectcoffees.com where you can purchase specialty gourmet coffee, tea, cups, mugs, coffee makers, delicious desserts and sugar free desserts online. For a free monthly coffee newsletter with articles like these go to: http://www.perfectcoffees.com/newsletter.html

Caffeine is only one of several hundred chemicals found in coffee. However it is the most notorious because of the many physiological affects it has on the human body. Caffeine naturally occurs in many other plants apart from the coffee bush, such as tea and cocoa plants.

There is a long established link between coffee and mental stimulation, which gives a cup of coffee a certain appeal. In fact it could be argued that coffee drinking has helped change the course of history. In 1773, it was in a Boston coffeehouse where citizens planned the Boston Tea Party; and in 1789, it was from Caf? Foy that Camille Desmoulins led the angry mob that later brought down the Bastille.

Whether caffeine is actually good for us is a long and much argued debate. Caffeine is commonly used by endurance athletes to permit them to train for longer and aid their recovery afterwards. Scientific studies have also linked it to the prevention of Parkinson?s and Alzheimer?s disease. However, too much caffeine can lead to insomnia, dieresis, gastrointestinal disturbance, arrhythmia, psychomotor agitation and osteoporosis.

The amount of caffeine in an average cup of coffee (8oz/230ml) varies from between 80 to 150 milligrams. This variation is due to a number of factors. The main difference is caused by where, and from which variety of plant, the coffee beans are harvested from. As caffeine is a natural anti-fungus, coffee plants grown in environments less favourable to the growth of fungal spores contain less caffeine. At high altitudes, the temperature and humidity is such that spores germinate too slowly to have too much of an affect on a coffee plant. So generally speaking, the higher the altitude a bean is grown at the lower its caffeine content. Also Arabica beans typically have half the amount of caffeine when compared to Robusta beans.

The roasting process alters the amount of caffeine in a coffee bean. A common misconception is that the darker the roast level the lower the caffeine content. However this is not really the case as caffeine changes very little during the roasting process. Caffeine has a very stable structure with a boiling point above 315?C, well above roasting temperatures which rarely exceed 245?C. Nevertheless a small amount of caffeine is lost due to sublimation, where a substance changes directly from a solid state to a gaseous one. This occurs in caffeine at approximately 175?C.

The roasting process dramatically alters a coffee bean. A bean loses weight, mostly due to water evaporation, causing the level of caffeine by weight to increase. However, as beans nearly double in size when roasting, the level of caffeine by volume decreases.

The final factor affecting the caffeine content of your cup of coffee is the brewing method. Different brewing methods require different amounts of coffee, ground to different sizes. Many people believe that an espresso contains less caffeine then a regular cup of coffee. But as you require more coffee to make an espresso then a regular cup and the coffee is ground finer, increasing the surface area, means that the caffeine content is roughly the same. However the affects will be felt more quickly with an espresso, and wear off faster, as caffeine is absorbed more rapidly when taken in concentrated doses.

James Grierson is the owner of Galla Coffee: http://www.gallacoffee.co.uk – UK online retailer of designer coffee accessories. Through the Coffee Knowledge section of his website he aims to help people understand more about coffee and give them tips on how to make great tasting coffee in their home.

Check out http://www.gallacoffee.co.uk/acatalog/CoffeeKnowledge.html for more articles or if you have a question send it to: coffeeknowledge@gallacoffee.co.uk

About 850 A.D it is said that a lone shepherd and his flock came across a strange and mysterious plant growing upon a secluded and forgotten hillside. Before he could stop them some of his herd had began to gnaw away at this unusual berry. After about fifteen minutes or so the herder started to notice that his sheep were behaving in an odd manner. Not only were they unusually alert but they also appeared to be extremely hyperactive. Now being a little weary and extremely tired the shepherd decided to try the berries and see if the end results would be the same for him as they had been for his flock. To his pleasant surprise the shepherd began to feel wide awake and he too became very alert. After a few hours had passed along came a wandering monk who, after being informed of the plants amazing qualities proceeded to scold the poor shepherd and lecture him on his foolish indulgence. After he had finished telling the shepherd just what a sinner he had been the monk set upon his journey but not before he had added a little something to his backpack and supplies.

When the monk reached his monastery his fellow holy men also decided to try this new and enchanting beverage. Soon the endless hours of prayer no longer seemed so wearisome, in fact they became easy to endure with the help of this exciting new drink. Coffee, had now well and truly arrived and the news began to spread! Its widespread consumption first commenced in the wilds of the Ethiopian outlands before then moving on to the heart of Arabia . Here it was to be held as a holy delicacy but was eventually to be unlawfully exported by a trader by the name of Baba Budan. In no time at all word of its qualities began to spread and coffee was to evolve into one of the most valued drinks ever known to the human civilisation. Its hard to believe that each year we consume a staggering four billion cups and there are many among us who would not contemplate starting their day without it.

Although coffee is usually thought of as a sleep suppressant there are many who think that it also has many health benefits. It is said that folk who suffer from the complaint of asthma and drink coffee have an average of at least 25% less symptoms due to a substance in the coffee named theophylline. This is known to be a bronchodilator which helps those who suffer with the disease to breathe a little more easily. Drinking coffee on a daily basis is also thought to help lower your chances of developing colon cancer. This is also by a figure in the region of about twenty five percent.

Its curious that the vast majority of folk have no idea of the different tastes and delights that this king of all drinks has to offer us. One of the swiftest growing trends of the last few years has to be the rising popularity of buying coffee via the internet. Never before have we been able to so easily get hold of such a large and voluptuous variety of blends, tastes and tantalising aromas from all over the world. With the aid of the wonderful web, trekking around the local neighbourhood to try and find some new exciting coffee blends has became a thing of the past. Sitting at home I can now search out an almost infinite variety of coffees from all over the world and order them at the click of a mouse. I tend to place numerous orders via the web and I always make a point of recording blend, country, and from exactly whom I purchased.

Now you know the history of this magical bean I hope that if in the days to come you are thinking of visiting your local coffee shop you recall the information you have read on this website and make the most of this wonderful drink. Go on and try some new varieties. Not only will you impress your friends, your tastebuds will be thrilled as well.

Latte or Cappuccino?

Valerie Shapero is the owner of Fuzzy Coffee, Inc. which is a premier source of information about coffee. For more information, go to: http://fuzzycoffee.com