Gourmet Coffee

In order to create the delicious beverage, coffee beans must first be ground and brewed.  The grinding of the roasted coffee beans can be done at a roastery, in a grocery store, or in the home.  They are most commonly ground at a roastery and then packaged and sold to the consumer. though whole bean coffee can be ground at home.

Coffee beans may be ground in several ways.  A burr mill uses revolving elements to shear the bean; an electric grinder smashes the beans with blunt blades moving at high speed; and a mortar and pestle crushes the beans. 

For the best tasting coffee at home, you should buy whole bean coffee rather than coffee that is already ground. Grinding the coffee beans releases the freshest taste and delicious aromas of the coffee, and the longer it sits around after being ground, the less fresh and delicious it will taste. That’s why it’s best to use a coffee grinder to grind the coffee right before you brew it. Not all coffee grinding is the same, however. Here are a few tips.

The coarseness of the grind will determine how fast the brew cycle is. Water takes more time to pass through finely ground coffee than it does through coarsely ground coffee. These different brew cycles drastically alter the taste of your coffee. You should grind your whole bean coffee to a medium grind for drip coffee, and you should use a good grinder that consistently grinds beans to a certain grind. You also want it to be efficient so that it generates little heat, which can literally burn the beans and alter the taste of the coffee.

An expert operator of an espresso coffee maker is a “barista,” which is Italian for a bartender.  In Italy as well as other parts of Europe, a barista is considered a career position, often with skills - such as being able to grind espresso coffee beans - and training passed down from generation to generation.

 In other parts of the world, the job of the barista has been frequently seen as an employment choice for young people, one to get them started in employment, but is not seen as a career choice.  As a result, many coffee shops have moved to fully automatic espresso machines which allow a minimally-trained employee to create an espresso drink by merely pushing a button.

In order to create the delicious beverage, coffee beans must first be ground and brewed.  The grinding of the roasted coffee beans can be done at a roastery, in a grocery store, or in the home.  They are most commonly ground at a roastery and then packaged and sold to the consumer, though Whole Bean Coffee can be ground at home.

 Coffee beans may be ground in several ways. A burr mill uses revolving elements to shear the bean; an electric grinder smashes the beans with blunt blades moving at high speed; and a mortar and pestle crushes the beans.

The popularity of flavored coffee continues to rise in this country, and for very good reasons.  The final product is a very savory and flavorful cup of coffee.

Chocolate Flavored Coffee  is a common additive that is either sprinkled on top of or mixed in with the coffee to imitate the taste of Mocha.  Other flavorings include spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, or Italian syrups.  Both vanilla and hazelnut flavored coffees are popular in the United States; however, these flavored coffees are usually artificially flavored.

What makes a 100% Columbian Coffee brand better than the rest?  Most supermarket brands consist of blends of different origins with different quality levels.  A 100% Columbian Coffee brand is guaranteed to contain only the richest coffee in the world with no other origins blended in.

To insure a full bodied roast from the finest coffee beans, 100% Columbian Coffee has undergone rigorous quality testing.

Coffee-lovers who have kidney disease, anxiety disorders, hypertension or trouble sleeping may switch to decaf coffee on the advice of their doctors. They should be advised, though, that most decaf coffee still has some caffeine in it. Decaf coffee beans are 97% to 99.9% caffeine-free, but drinking five to 10 cups of decaf can give you the same amount of caffeine in a cup or two of regular coffee. Coffee-drinkers should consult their doctors about their consumption if they have conditions that limit their caffeine intake.

The great thing is that, in moderation, everyone can still enjoy the great taste of gourmet decaf coffee. That’s because decaf coffee beans go through decaffeination processes that are designed to keep flavor intact. For example, in the Swiss Water Process, a batch of green, unroasted beans is soaked in hot water to release the caffeine. The beans are discarded after they release all the caffeine and coffee solids into the water. The water and coffee solids then pass through a carbon filter that removes the caffeine. The resulting water is full of flavor, and put in another filtration device with new coffee beans. The flavor-charged water only removes caffeine from the new beans. The process is repeated until most of the caffeine is filtered out and the beans meet decaf standards, and then they are dried so they retain most of their flavor and aroma.