Coffee Guide

If you are a real coffee drinker and I mean the kind that is willing to pay a lot of money for good coffee do I have something to tell you. You may be over charged for your coffee. For instance, if you were to buy a bag of Starbucks Gourmet Blend from a local Supermarket for $7.99 per 12 oz bag you might not be getting your money?s worth. If you were to pay over $5.00 per 12 oz bag of any coffee at the Supermarket you are paying way too much. Let me explain just why that is.

Most of the Gourmet Coffee at the supermarkets is usually a Gourmet Blend. Blended with what you might ask? Exactly! You have no idea what the blend is. Is it fresh Arabian beans blended with stale French Roast? Could it be Galapagos Island Coffee blended with old dried out Mexican Coffee beans? You can never really tell, but I promise you that if you think for one minute a company won?t try to recoup their loses then you have another thing coming. A Blend Coffee is the perfect way to sell damaged coffee or half stale coffee & half fresh coffee combined with out the customer?s knowledge. I am by no means accusing anyone of doing such a thing, but I know it happens.

I have seen coffee blends sell for as much as $14.95 a 12oz bag. The part that makes me laugh is that you never know how much of the coffee is high-grade and how much is low-grade coffee. Yet people believe it is just as good as the unblended coffee. That is to far from the truth. Let?s take the Kona Blended coffee for instance. Lets say it is a 50% Kona and 50% mixed coffee beans. If you were to taste pure Kona Coffee next to this Blend the pure Kona would standout as the better of the two in smell and taste. How much is Gourmet Blended coffee really worth? There is a market for just about everything these days and blends are no exceptions. Seeing you are probably pay for 50% good coffee and 50% crap then I wouldn?t pay more then 50% of the price for the unblended coffee.

What about coffee that is not blended? It really depends on where you buy it. Supermarkets don?t know what really fresh coffee is, but a private roasting company will. Gourmet Coffee ranges in price from $7.95 a lbs to $48.95 a lbs. Why so much? Because the hard to find and rare coffees like Kona, Jamaican Blue Mountain, and Galapagos Island coffee are in high demand. The higher the demand is for rare coffee the higher the price is as well. I always recommend shopping around, but it can be difficult to find rare coffee. As a coffee roaster I have a hard time locating good Kona coffee beans, and due to the hurricanes the Jamaican crop has been scarce too. The cost associated with Kona and Jamaican coffee is expected to go up even more this year. Just like the inflated price of gasoline we may all have to pay a high price for great coffee.

Don is the owner of several free information websites and the sole proprietor of Java Jakes Gourmet Coffee Co. Visit http://www.megainfosource.com
http://www.egolfplace.com
http://www.javajakes.com Visit these sites today and become informed.

Over the past 30 years marketers have tried thousands of tactics to sell things. We have heard the ?Your to smart to be without this product? tactic. We have heard the ?Everyone needs this product? tactic. We have also seen the way that TV sells products making them more appealing then they really are. Has the coffee industry followed such tactics? Sure it has! Do you remember Folgers little jingle? ?The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup.? That ad made Folgers famous! So, is the term ?Gourmet Coffee? another sales tactic? No! Allow me to explain.

Coffee is grown all around the world, and because of the many differences in governments, cultures, and religions people do things differently in other lands. So, how is Gourmet Coffee made? When you acquire coffee beans from different regions they for the most part go thru a similar process. Beans are picked, dried, and sorted pretty much the same way. The differences are the climate and the elevation they were grown in, and the pesticides the farmers used to protect their crop. Those are just a few factors. We also need to consider the roasting process. The roasting process is as crucial to coffee as air is to our lungs. If you under roast your coffee your coffee may turn out weak, and if you over do it your coffee will taste burnt. So, where does the word Gourmet fit in? The hardest coffee to acquire today is the Jamaican Blue Mountain. The reason is due to the hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico. This coffee is the most sought after coffee, because of its rich taste and divine smell. When roasted correctly this coffee is probably the best tasting in the world. What other factors makes coffee Gourmet?

When Roasters add flavorings such as chocolate syrups, or caramel to name a few, these additives give your coffee a unique taste that is qualified as Gourmet Flavored Coffee. The definition of Gourmet is a fine food or drink that has been judged by an expert to be excellent. When coffee experts say that a certain brand of coffee is excellent then their credibility is on the line. It better live up to the hype or their opinion and reputation becomes as worthless as the dust on a windowsill. If an expert deems a product as excellent then it has to be good. Right? Well, it should. We live in an imperfect world, but Gourmet Coffee is legitimate. Many people around the world take pride in there coffee and when you find one that stands out you will find that it is in high demand. It cost more then regular coffee, but depending on your preference in many cases it is worth its weight in gold.

Where do you find Gourmet Coffee? The best place is straight from a Coffee Roaster, and there are thousands to choose from. They all have different techniques, recipes, and philosophies about coffee. The great thing about them is that they always have fresh roasted coffee. Some other places would be at a supermarket, but I highly advise against these places. The coffee is usually never as fresh as it should be. I hope that this article was able to help you understand that Gourmet Coffee is real, and not a clever marketing tactic.

Don is the owner of several free information websites and the sole proprietor of Java Jakes Gourmet Coffee Co. http://www.javajakes.com http://www.healthyinfosource.com http://www.egolfplace.com Visit these sites today and become informed.

First of all, what is this beverage called espresso? The word espresso itself is derived from the Italian word meaning express. This is because espresso is ordered by and delivered quickly to the customer. A good espresso must taste sweet with a strong aroma whose flavor is like freshly ground coffee.

The wonders of science have made it possible for people to make their own espresso using espresso machines at home – instead of having to visit commercial coffee houses for it. Before, coffee houses employed professional baristas to brew each and every cup of coffee for their customers. Now, people can just buy an espresso machine to enjoy their own coffee at their convenience.

How does one select the best espresso machine for their purposes? Ideally, consumers should test-run each espresso machine and judge every one based on taste, build-quality, features, and ease of use. However, since this is not practical, consumers can rely on testimonials from their friends or turn to the reviews published by reputable coffee afficionado magazines. They can also go around the stores and window-shop, asking pertinent questions from the salespeople in order to make the best buy.

How does an espresso machine work? An espresso machine shoots out water that is 90 degrees Centigrade hot (or at a temperature equal to 195 degrees Fahrenheit) using 9 bar of pressure into a puck of freshly ground coffee. The oils in the finely ground coffee are thus extracted and emulsified to create a rich, nearly syrupy liquid.

Ideally, a machine can churn out a double shot of espresso within 20 to 25 seconds from when its pump is initially switched on. The amount of time necessary can be adjusted by putting in coffee that is either of a finer or coarser blend. Or you can change the tamping pressure.

Certain espresso machines are combination machines that rely on a steam wand to create milk-based espresso beverages like the latte and cappucino. The machine steams and froths milk to produce these drinks.

The different kinds of espresso machines are called the pump-driven espresso machine, piston-driven espresso machine, steam espresso machine, stovetop espresso machine, automatic espresso maker and lastly the super automatic espresso maker.

The key to good espresso is using an excellent espresso blend. Coffees must be specially blended to produce the smoothness, aromatics and sweetness inherent in good espresso. However, the blend should be freshly ground and brewed within four days from roasting.

Another element of good espresso making is that the espresso must be roasted light so that its sugars and aroma will not be lost. Darkly-roasted espresso produces a bitter liquid that tastes like charcoal.

You must filter water used for brewing since if the water tastes weird it can affect the final outcome of brewing.

Make sure that the espresso machine you choose can maintain water temperature between 92 to 96 degrees Centigrade to assure a consistent espresso.

Many machines are made to be as easy to clean up as a standard coffee machine.

So there?s no reason to feel intimidated about buying your own espresso machine. Clearly, the benefits do outweigh the difficulties.

Dave Poon is an accomplished writer who specializes in the latest in Food and Drink. For more information regarding Best Espresso Machine please drop by at http://www.hotcoffeeplus.com/

You go to a cake bakery when you want a delicious dessert, so it makes almost perfect sense that you would go to a Coffee Bean Bakery when you want the most delicious coffee beans.

Of course, you might not actually find a store called a Coffee Bean Bakery. But a specialty store that roasts their own beans by hand will do the trick nicely. In many cases, the specialty store will employ skilled roasters to add exquisite flavor and aroma to each and every one of their blends, ensuring consistent quality, bean after delicious bean.

In these specialty stores, roasting coffee is an art and not just a method of developing a fantastic coffee flavor. They understand that each individual coffee bean possesses a different size, shape, color, and density. Each bean requires a different roasting heat and timing to bring out its full flavor. And, yes, you can make out the difference. It?s like eating a cake from a master baker, enjoying and savouring each and every mouthful and then eating a bulk made, store bought one from a box off the shelf. Just like a top-notch cake bakery, a coffee bean bakery focuses on extracting the most out of each of the coffee beans, while calling out the individual characteristics that are essential to make each coffee blend what it is.

Deep roasting goes even further. Every coffee you buy in a can is roasted to an extent. Even a machine can roast a coffee bean from green to brown. But, this is where it gets good, a roasting expert deep roasts his product, bringing out the utmost body, flavor, and acidity. This gives the finished product a certain viscosity, as well as a lively, energetic feeling on your tongue. All of this can be lost when a bean is roasted half-heartedly.

The catch to full roasting used by experts is slowly does it, no rushing. It may sound hokie, but bean roasting experts almost ?talk? to their beans during the roasting process, to see what each bean needs to reach their full, roasted, potential. It always means, nonetheless, that bean experts thoroughly roast their product all the way through.

If you want a good test to see if beans are properly roasted, crack one open before you buy it. A good bean, more often than not, will be darker on the inside than it is on the outside. Poorly roasted beans, which have been processed too quickly and have not reached their full potential, will be darker on the outside. Buy these at your own risk!

So a Coffee Bean Bakery persay may not actually exist but the same care and attention that a master baker would take over a first rate cake is also taken when a master roaster takes up the beans and gets to work. Long may they continue.

Lorna Mclaren has an information and resources website at http://www.alove4coffee.com where you can find out everything you need to know about different coffee.