An Introduction To Gourmet Coffee

Over five hundred billion cups of coffee are consumed each year making it the most popular drink on this earth. For centuries, this aromatic, spirit-lifting drink has been the beverage to serve at any and all events. Many board meetings and friendships have thrived over a cup of coffee. Extracted from the seed of cherries growing on coffee trees, coffee is grown extensively in fifty-three countries across the equator.

Specialty gourmet coffee is very popular among coffee drinkers today. As a matter of fact, statistic show that Kona Coffee is one of the fastest growing food retailers netting approximately $8.5 billion a year. People enjoy the taste of the sophisticated beans used in the making of this delightful gourmet drink. The beans are grown at very high altitudes on Arabic trees and feed on volcanic ash. A cool climate and lots of moisture result in a high quality bean group. The soil the beans are grown in produces the very distinct flavors of the gourmet beans. Gourmet coffee has a more balanced flavor and richer taste than the standard mass-produced coffee. The beans go through a rigorous process of certification that is very strict to help keep the quality high. To help keep standards high, the Specialty Coffee Association of American was created in 1982, for the specialty coffee trade.

You can find gourmet coffee in most grocery stores, specialty shops, restaurants and coffee shops. If you are a true connoisseur, you might compare gourmet coffee to a wonderful bottle of wine.

How To Grind Coffee Beans

Air is the enemy of all coffee drinkers. Once air comes in contact with your coffee grinds, they begin to lose their flavor. Coffee manufacturers vacuum seal their grinds to keep them fresh while they sit on the shelves at the supermarket but once you break that seal, it’s all downhill from there. Buying whole coffee beans and grinding them yourself is a great way to ensure that your coffee remains as flavorful as possible. But do you know how to grind your coffee beans properly?

Different types of coffee calls for different types of grinds. So you’ll need to learn to use your coffee grinder properly if you want to make the freshest best tasting coffee possible.

If you plan on brewing your coffee with a percolator or a French Press coffee maker then you’ll need a coarser grind. Place the coffee beans in your coffee grinder and tap the grind button a few times as you would use the pulse feature on your food processor. The goal is to break the beans up so that they look like tiny pieces of coffee bean. If they look like a powder, then you need to slowly back away from the coffee grinder and start again. Remember to tap the button and not hold it down.

Automatic drip coffee makers work best with medium grinds. Picture the grinds that you’d find in a can of supermarket coffee. Those are medium grinds. They can be described as looking like brown sand. So remember the last time you went to the beach but instead of seeing the sand in between your toes, imagine seeing sand in your coffee maker. Once again, while holding the coffee grinder button, don’t get carried away and over grind your coffee beans. You do not want a fine powder if you’re going to use an automatic coffee maker.

Finally if your using an espresso maker, you want those fine powdery grinds that you’ve been trying to avoid when making coarse and medium grinds. So grind away until your heart is content.

Grinding your own coffee beans right before you brew your coffee is a great way to make sure that you’re getting the freshest cup of coffee possible. But a fresh cup of coffee can still be bitter or weak. Learning how to grind your coffee beans is an important part of making great coffee.

How To Clean Your Coffee Maker

Your coffee maker could be killing you. Well it is if your morning cup of coffee is a matter of life and death and you have a filthy coffee maker. When was the last time you thoroughly cleaned your coffee maker? Washing the pot is important but getting the internal components of a coffee maker clean is a task that shouldn’t be skipped. Did you even know that you were supposed to clean it? A clean coffee maker can be the difference between a good cup of coffee and a nasty cup of sludge.

A clean coffee maker really makes a big difference in how your coffee tastes. Left over coffee oils can accumulate inside your coffee maker. Also mineral deposits can form especially in areas with hard water. These deposits are called “scale”. There are two kinds of scale, lime scale and mineral scale and you don’t want either one. Scale can affect the heating unit and the water flow of your coffee maker and reduce it’s efficiency. How quickly scale forms depends on the quality of your drinking water. If you use bottled water to make your coffee, scale probably won’t form as fast but you still have to worry about accumulated coffee oils. Better to play it safe and clean your coffee maker regularly.

Cleaning your coffee maker is not a hard task to accomplish and in fact it’s as easy as making coffee. All you have to do is pour a pot of half vinegar and half water into the coffee maker’s water reservoir. It goes without saying that white vinegar should be used. Steer clear of the red wine or apple cider vinegar varieties. Then just turn on the regular brew cycle. You’re kitchen will probably have a nice salad smell while it’s brewing which you may even like. If you’re not a salad fan though, just remember that it’s a small price to pay for a good cup of coffee.

Now rinse the coffee maker out by using only water this time in the water reservoir and running the brew cycle again. You may have to do this a few more times if you still smell vinegar.
Another easy way to keep the coffee maker clean is to put a glass marble in the water chamber. All the mineral deposits that would usually accumulate inside the coffee maker will instead accumulate on the marble. Every once in a while just remove the marble, wash it and then place it back in the chamber. How much easier could that be?

The best solution would be to clean your coffee maker with vinegar monthly while also using the marble method. Change the marble once a week and you’re coffee maker will be in great shape.
If you have an old coffee maker and you aren’t happy with the taste of it’s brew, why not try cleaning it. A clean coffee maker will brew better tasting coffee.

Today's Coffee Makers

Coffee, the most popular beverage the world over, has been in use from time immemorial. The making of coffee has always been a matter of interest and innovation and has undergone drastic changes over time. The evolution of coffee making from the early boiling of ground beans, and then the conventional filter over a small pot of boiled water, has finally reached modern standards.

The wide variety of coffee that is available in the markets and coffee shops induced the modern home maker to go for a coffee maker to enjoy the luxury of a satisfying cup of coffee of choice at any given point of time. Today the espresso coffee and cappuccino coffee that were once available only in restaurant or a modern coffee shop can be easily made and enjoyed at the comfort of home with the help of a coffee making machine.

The coffee maker is an innovation of the advanced technology and rich experience. The machine has a built in grinder to have a fresh ground beans that saves the job of grinding outside giving each cup of coffee with freshly ground beans. The proper mix the machine makes make available strong coffee with proper flavor and rich aroma. The espresso coffee maker on the other hand also adds proper quantity of milk at the most appropriate temperature and time, challenging even the most gifted human coffee maker in the world.

The utility of this home product has made this kitchen marvel, a common item in the modern kitchen at par with the micro wave oven or the electric kitchen mixer. Coffee makers are plentiful in the market in various sizes and capacities. However, the smaller machines are the one most in demand. The single cup coffee maker has flooded the market since many of the families have either few coffee drinkers or they prefer to reduce the intake of caffeine.
The quality of coffee comes from its flavor, aroma and taste in that order resulting from the proper mix of milk, water and the best ground beans in the market. It is said that the best beans make the best coffee. The best coffee beans of the world are obtained from the Central America, and some parts of Africa and Asia having identical climate. The beans grown in this area has the perfect flavor and quality. The best ground beans also need a perfect blend of milk and water to produce the best coffee.

The roasting of the beans is an art though the method differs. The objective is to get the beans roasted up to the point when the beans give the best flavor and Aroma. Many a drink has come and gone but this beverage still remains the most liked and favored. It is not the beans not even the process of roasting and grinding but the skillful art of coffee making that made this drink irresistible through out the ages.

How To Choose A Coffee Maker

Have you seen the choices in coffee makers today? Have you seen what they can do? I don't think it will be long before they are able to bring you your cup of coffee in bed! Perhaps you are looking for more of an old fashioned coffee maker?

There are the very popular filter machines, French press and stovetop espresso coffee makers. There are glass carafe coffee makers, thermal carafe coffee makers, some industrial sizes with two pots that brew at the same time. If you are into espresso did you know that there are three different types of espresso makers to choose from? Steam, pump or piston. How about the coffee maker that makes you one individual cup of coffee?

Then, to complicate it even more there is the decision of what you want the coffee maker to do other than brew coffee!!! Do you want your coffee maker to have a pause so that you can pull the pot out for your first cup before it is finished brewing? Or, do you want your coffee maker to have the coffee ready for you when you get up? Do you want to be able to grind your own beans? If yes, do you want a separate coffee bean grinder or do you want one that is built right into the coffee maker? If you say yes, do you want your coffee maker to figure out just the right amount of ground coffee for the amount of water you choose? How about the strength of coffee? There are machines that let you choose how strong they brew your coffee. Some have built in water filters. Some have auto turn offs. Some allow you to use a permanent filter rather than deal with messy paper filters.

If you head isn't spinning enough now comes the toughest decision of all... what type of coffee do you want? Do you prefer a light roast or a medium roast or a dark roast? How about an Italian or Espresso roast - the heaviest of all roasts. Have you thought about roasting your own beans? There are many sources of green beans available and home coffee roasters can easily be purchased and you can be well on your way to not only brewing your coffee, but roasting your beans.

Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee Is So Good!

The island of Jamaican is known for many things, sandy beaches, reggae music, Bob Marley and coffee. The high regard for Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee among avid coffee drinkers has driven its price up to between $26 and $40 a pound. What is it about this particular brew that warrants such a high price tag?

True to its name, Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is grown in the Blue Mountain region of Jamaica, generally located between Kingston to the south and Port Maria to the north. Rising to 7,500 feet, the Blue Mountains are the highest point in the Caribbean. The area is characterized by cool, wet weather and dark, rich soil with good drainage, ideal conditions for cultivating coffee. Though coffee is not native to Jamaica, it is the chief export of the island.

Not just any old cup of Joe can call itself Jamaican Blue Mountain. The Coffee Industry Board of Jamaica must certify every bag of coffee to ensure only the highest quality coffee beans bear the prestigious trademark. The Board only recognizes beans grown in specific parishes of Jamaica: St. Andrew, St. Thomas, Portland and St. Mary.

The Coffee Industry Regulation Act established a system of three grades of Jamaican Blue Mountain based on the screen or size of the bean. The term screen refers to the literal screens of various dimensions used to sort the beans according to their size. The theory behind this practice is that beans grown in higher altitudes are larger and make better-tasting coffee than those grown in lower altitudes.

The rigorous quality standard for Jamaican Blue Mountain excludes beans that would probably be considered fine for other coffees. The screening process also helps to eliminate maragogipe (elephant beans). A mutant strain believed to have originated on Brazil, elephant beans are large, green, porous beans that seem to absorb the flavor of the soil they grown in. The jury is still out on their worth, but they are considered an insufferable defect for Jamaican Blue Mountain production.

At least 96 percent of the beans used must be of the same size and bluish-green tint. No more than two percent can stray from that standard in any way. Sour or black beans, or foreign matter of any kind, are considered unforgivable defects and do not fall under the two-percent rule. The most unbending benchmark is needed to maintain the traits that coffee drinkers have come to expect.

The geographical area that grows Jamaican Blue Mountain beans is relatively small and can only produce so much coffee. The limited quantity, the matchless quality resulting from painstaking cultivation, the alluring aroma and the renowned name of Jamaican Blue Mountain have undoubtedly contributed to its reputation as one of the most sought-after coffees in the world. As long as hard-core coffee drinkers continue to demand it, it will also be one of the most expensive.

The History Of Kenya Coffee

The birth place of coffee is relatively close to Kenya but getting it there was not an easy task and full of bloodshed. The Arabs who controlled coffee enslaved thousands of Kenyan's where they worked on the coffee plantations in Kenya and Arabia. This was followed by the British settlers around 1900 who quickly assumed control over the country which led to more bloodshed.
In the first part of the 20th century the interior was settled by British and European farmers who became rich by farming coffee on the backs of the Kenyan workers. By the 1930's the farmers powers had become very strong. Even with over 1 million Kikuyu tribe members calling it home they had now real land claims according to the Europeans. To protect their interest the wealthy Europeans banned them from growing coffee, introduced a hut tax and gave them less and less for their labor. The Kikuyu were forced to leave their land and go to the cities in order to survive. This legal slavery of the population continued until the century until the British relinquished control in 1960. Despite all this bloodshed and slavery Kenya coffee has flourished and is among one of the finest cups of gourmet coffee the world.

All Kenya coffee grown is Arabica coffee grown on the rich volcanic soil that is found in the highlands of the country. Today around 250,000 Kenyans are employed in the production of coffee. Most is produced by small land holders that are members of cooperatives that process their own coffee. Still, even with this Kenya coffee's specialty status Kenya coffee farmers still remain among the poorest in the world. In 2001 a farmer producing 1,007 kg crop would only earn £20.14 for his labor, that same coffee is available at specialty stores for $10 + per pound.
Recently Kenya farmers have introduced the Ruiru 11 hybrid plant and it is causing concern amongst true Kenya coffee lovers. This is because it may lack the traditional Kenya coffee attributes that coffee aficionados love. The Kenya Coffee Board is trying to promote Ruiru 11 as an alternative to the farmers but their efforts are overshadowed by the rumors that it tastes like a low grade coffee from a different country. History will have to be the judge to see who is correct.

Kenya coffee has a bright acidity and a wonderful sweetness with a dry winy aftertaste. A really good Kenya coffee will also have a black-current flavor and aroma. Some of the worlds finest coffees come from Kenya and as a single origin coffee it wins praise at the cupping table. Kenya has this level of quality through a government-run system that offers rewards to farmers for producing better quality coffee. This policy has lead to steady improvements and consistent improvements in the cups quality. Each lot of Kenya coffee, if it is from a large farm or a small co-op has to undergo rigorous testing for quality by the Coffee Board of Kenya.