Are You Looking For Gourmet Coffee?

Taste

The perception of gourmet coffee is characteristically rich and luxurious.  But if you are a true coffee lover, fresh gourmet coffee has a flavor that can't be beat.  It's rich, full-bodied Taste is a daily necessity to millions of people.  But everyone's taste in coffee is uniquely there own.

Coffee perceptions great by themselves, but for an extra special flavor sensation, try gourmet flavored coffee.  Not all these flavors are everyone's "cup of tea", but the taste sensations of gourmet flavored coffee give you a new outlook on your cup of joe.  You can taste the sweet caramel just as you can smell the aroma of the freshly ground coffee nearby.

The differentiation may seem miniscule, but the gourmet coffee or tea you beverage will Taste completely divers.  More importantly, all the variances affect the flavor and aroma.  Many coffee drinkers are not aware of how gourmet coffee should taste since their senses have been desensitized with below-par coffees.

Beans

The gourmet coffee bean is considered to be among the finest coffee beans in the world.  Out of these varieties, fine gourmet coffee beans are obtained mainly from the species Coffee Arabica.  The gourmet coffee beans are offered in a variety of dissimilar serving sizes.

When brewing your own gourmet coffee blend in your kitchen, you have a choice of fresh ground coffee beans from fine Italian Espressos to the rare and exotic Indonesian Kopi Luwak.  You want the best cup of coffee you can get, right?  If so it pays to do some research and ask questions about what you're buying.

When doing your legwork for the perfect gourmet coffee, there are a number of things to be cautious about.  One thing you should know is whether the beans are fresh Arabian beans blended with stale French Roast.  Are the coffee beans roasted in house or locally, or are they shipped from across the country to sit on a shelf waiting for orders.  If possible, get coffee beans that have been roasted less than 1 week before.

Quality

The dictionary defines gourmet nourishment like this, "Gourmet foodstuff is that which is of the highest quality, perfectly prepared and artfully presented".  Commuters can consider making gourmet coffee beverages at home or the office before departing and enjoy it at home or work while spending quality time with the family and coworkers or take it along in a commuter coffee mug.  Gourmet coffee beans go through a rigorous process of certification that is stricter to help keep the quality high.

As a coffee aficionado, you know that there is some extra work to making excellent coffee than simply brewing it.  You need to choose the highest quality beans to get the highest quality coffee.  Today you can buy quality wholesale gourmet coffee and the right coffee machine to get the coffee you deserve.  In addition, only Arabic beans contain the high quality needed for gourmet coffee beans.  The quality of a coffee bean depends vastly on where and how that particular coffee bean is grown.

Grind

By grinding your own coffee beans, you'll be able to only grind what you need, meaning that you will have complete freshness in your coffee.  The best way to do this is to buy the whole bean in batches and grind them with yur own grinding machine as you need it.  But be careful:  The type of coffee grind that you use is critical in order to properly match the type of brewing method you will be using.  Be sure to ask your coffee merchant which grind is best for you.

Gourmet Coffee -- You Can't Resist The Second Cup

Could you ever resist the craving to have a second cup of that beautiful, strongly aromatic and lazily steaming cup of coffee?  Perhaps no one can do it.  A passionate Gourmet's delight, freshly brewed, thick and dark brown and irresistible coffee just brightens up your day like no other drink or anything else can do.

Why Is Gourmet Coffee So Special

One might be tempted to ask why gourmet coffee is so special.  Well, here is the answer.  For starters, gourmet coffee is always made by high quality fresh Arabica coffee beans which are always hand picked unlike other commercial coffees which are mostly machine graded.  Hand picking of coffee beans eliminate chances for dirt such as twigs, leaves etc to sneak in and spoil your coffee.

Secondly, gourmet coffee beans are specially treated with oils after roasting which enhances its flavor to no end.  The oil used for coffee bean treatment is a blend of many natural oils which do not have their adverse effect on the shelf life or stability of the ground powder unlike synthetic oils.  The oils are so mixed that their characteristic flavors neutralize each other.

You can have different tailor made roast for your gourmet coffee.  Deep roasted beans some what loose their natural aroma and this is why you feel the ''roasted flavor'' when drinking it.  Rather you would prefer a lighter roasting which retains its entire natural aroma.

Arabica coffee beans are ground to the exact perfection of fineness to get its best taste.  But generally a finer grind results in a full-bodied cup of coffee, but as many would like it, coarser grinds are preferred to make coffee with coarse filters.

Finer grinds are preferred by those who like espresso but true lovers of gourmet coffee will almost invariably go with the coarse ground coffee powder as boiled water takes its own sweet time to pull out the flavor completely, especially in drip type filters.

Arabica coffee beans are never stored in warehouses as they are dispatched quickly after harvesting.  It is the same story after roasting and grinding them, too.  The beans from Arabica trees are, by nature, tastier than Robusta, another cheaper variety.

To its credit, Robusta coffee bean offers you higher caffeine content along with that characteristic acidic taste.  Another little known fact is some marketers mix a small percentage of Robusta with gourmet coffee beans.

Coffeehouse Lingo: How To Order The Perfect Cup Of Coffee

These days when you walk in to a coffee shop it's a whole new world.  You're not just ordering a "coffee".  You're ordering a "coffee drink".  There's an entire language you need to know just to order a coffee drink!

It all starts with placing your order.  It used to be that you'd tell a waitress what you wanted.  Now this job is held by a barista, or a person who serves coffee drinks as a profession.  You need to tell the barista the size of the coffee drink you want.  If you look on the menu, small, medium, and large will probably not be there.  Your size choices are usually short (8 oz), tall (12 oz), grande (16 oz) and venti (20 oz).

The hardest decision will be what coffee drink to order "Black, cream & sugar" is probably going to get a strange look from the friendly barista.  Ordering a drip coffee drink is not the fashionable thing these days.  The more common drinks are cafes or espressos.  You then need to figure out if you prefer a latte, mocha, or a cappuccino.  A latte is an espresso shot with steamed milk.  A cappuccino is equal parts of espresso, steamed milk and frothed milk.  Mocha is basically a latte or a cappuccino with chocolate syrup added.  But these are just the basics!  The following list contains just a few of the coffee drinks available in a coffee shop (of course these names will vary slightly from one coffee shop to another).

• Caffe Americano:  Single shot of espresso with 6 to 8 ounces of hot water added.
• Espresso Con Panna:  An espresso shot with whipped cream.
• Ristretto:  A restricted shot of espresso (called a short pull).  During the brewing process, less water is allowed to pass through the coffee grounds.  The makes for an especially intense flavor.
• Lungo:  An extra long pull.  During the brewing process, twice as much water is allowed to pass through the coffee grounds.
• Cafe Breva:  Cappuccino made with Half & Half instead of whole milk.
• Dry:  Espresso with a small amount of foam and no steamed milk.
• Chairo:  Espresso drink made "clear" by adding more milk.
• Caffe Mochaccino:  Cappuccino with chocolate syrup.
• Frappe:  Coffee drink made with ice cream and milk.
• Shot in the Dark:  An espresso shot in coffee cup, then rest of cup filled with drip coffee.

Once you get your coffee drink, you just can't take a taste and say "Good coffee".  One must first comment on the aroma (or bouquet), then the tone or appearance of the coffee drink.  After the first taste, one can judge the body or weight consistency of the coffee drink.  Next you need to describe how the coffee actually tasted.  Was the coffee bitter, briny, buttery, spicy, sweet, stale, or even chocolaty?  If all went well in the coffee preparation, and if you chose a good blend of coffee, this particular coffee drink could be considered mellow (or full and well balanced).  Coffee sure has come a long way!

Coffee Machines: Making The Perfect Cup

There are basically four types of coffee makers on the market today:  the drip, the vacuum, the French press, and the stovetop.  Each requires a different type of preparation and a varying amount of time and involvement on behalf of the user.  However, having different types of coffee makers allows the user to find his or her particular taste and preference and make coffee at home.

Drip coffee makers:

The drip coffee is the easiest and most common coffee maker used today, partly due to its simplicity and efficiency.  The machine itself does most of the work -- you just add the freshly ground coffee and cold water.  The drip coffee machine is an efficient method whereby the cold water is poured into the reservoir and the heating element then delivers the heated water for brewing.  The coffee is ready in a matter of minutes.  Paper filters are used to hold the coffee grounds.  These filters are then discarded after each use, so the clean up is easy.  The drip coffee machine burner will keep the coffee hot for an extended period of time after brewing.

Vacuum style coffee makers:

Vacuum style brewing has been around since 1840.  A vacuum style coffee maker is made up of two separate glass containers stacked one on top of the other with the brewing taking place in the top section.  The lower section is filled with cold water, which heats up to a boiling point.  A siphon will pull the hot water from the lower section through the grounds and into the top section.  Then gravity takes over and the coffee will feed back into the lower section, leaving the coffee grounds in the top section.  When you take the top section off, your freshly brewed coffee is ready to be served.  Many people prefer vacuum style brewing rather than drip coffee brewing, due to the taste that the drip coffee paper filters leave behind.

Stovetop coffee makers:

Stovetop coffee makers have two separate, stacked pots very similar to the vacuum style coffee makers;  however, the grounds and cold water are in the same container.  In the stovetop method, the second container houses the finished product.  The lower container holds the water, filter basket, and the ground coffee.  The lower container needs to be heated, forcing the water through the grounds that get siphoned from the lower to the top container.  The coffee is then be ready to be served from the top container.  The style and shape of the stovetop coffee maker makes it a very attractive piece to those who want an elegant flare in their coffee makers.  However, the stovetop coffee maker is not recommended for larger parties.  Also, when preparing the coffee, it must not be allowed to boil -- for this could potentially lead to a bitter tasting coffee.

French Press coffee maker:

The French press method, which was developed in 1933, is a simple design yet produces a full-bodied coffee.  The method consists of filling the canister with one tablespoon of coarsely ground coffee for every cup of hot water.  The plunger handle is then placed onto the pot to aid in the heat retention, and is then slowly depressed.  The stainless steel mesh of the plunger will push the grounds to the bottom of the canister, separating them from the coffee.  The coffee may then be served right from the canister.  Coffee brewed this way must be consumed right away, for the glass canister losses heat quickly.  This makes for a not very desirable cup of coffee.  Stainless steel press pots are available, but are not as popular as the glass canisters.

No matter which coffee maker you choose, it is very important that you clean your coffee maker thoroughly.  All four of these methods make great tasting coffee;  however, each method has a unique process that must be developed and mastered by the user.  The challenge is to find the one that best fits your needs and lifestyle!

Coffee Caffeine: How Much Is In Your Cup?

Coffee is a complex mixture of chemical components of the coffee bean.  Some of these components are partially destroyed by the roasting process;  however, many of these components are not.  Caffeine is one of the components that is not affected by the roasting process.  With the addition of hot water, the caffeine is extracted from the coffee bean.

Caffeine was discovered in coffee in 1820.  Caffeine is an alkaloid that acts as a mild stimulant.  It increases the blood pressure, stimulates the central nervous system and the action of the heart and lungs, and promotes urine formation.  It also acts as a diuretic and delays fatigue.  Caffeine does have some positive side effects.  It has been found to help treat migraines since it helps constrict the dilated blood vessels, therefore reducing the pain.  It also has been documented to increase the potency of aspirin and to slightly relieve the affects of asthma attacks.  It has been suggested that caffeine has been linked to possible cancers and birth defects.  However, this has not been confirmed and there are no bans or warnings that have been issued by the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA).

The amount of caffeine found in the coffee beans varies.  On average, a regular cup of coffee contains approximately 90 to 150 mg of caffeine.  Coffee brewed in a drip coffee maker has about 115 to 175 mg of caffeine while other coffee makers may brew coffee with about 80 to 135 mg.  Typically, espresso has about as much caffeine as a regular cup of coffee.  On average, a standard espresso cup would have about 100 mg of caffeine.  However, the serving size for espresso is much smaller.  The actual content of caffeine per milliliter in an espresso is much higher than in a regular brew.  Also, caffeine is assimilated quicker when ingested in a concentrated dosage such as an espresso cup.

The amount of caffeine found in coffee blends will also vary.  The following are examples of the caffeine content for different coffee blends:

• Brazilian Bourbons:  contains 1.20% caffeine
• Columbia Excelso:  contains 1.34% caffeine
• Columbia Supremo:  contains 1.34% caffeine
• French Roast:  contains 1.22% caffeine
• Costa Rican Tarrazu:  contains 1.35% caffeine
• Vienna Roast:  contains 1.27% caffeine
• Decafs:  contains 0.02% caffeine

People hypersensitive to the caffeine found in coffee may decide to drink decaffeinated coffee.  This way, they can still enjoy the great coffee taste, yet avoid the caffeine.  Coffee can be "decaffeinated" by treating the green beans with solvents called chlorinated hydrocarbons.  Once the solvents are removed, the beans are then roasted by ordinary procedures.  Most people become accustomed to decaffeinated coffee and do not have to worry about the effects of caffeine.

Where In The World Is Your Coffee From?

Coffee drinking has become very popular around the world, especially since it's available on nearly every street corner coffee shop and quick mart.  Coffee beans are grown in many regions between the Tropic of Cancer to the North and the Tropic of Capricorn below the equator.  Coffee can grow anywhere from sea level up to about 7,000 feet, which leads to many different possibilities to satisfy any taste.  However, the highest quality grades of coffee are grown at the higher altitudes.  There are over eighty countries that produce coffee.  The following are some of the larger coffee producing regions in the world today:

Brazil:

Coffee was first introduced to Brazil in 1727.  Today, Brazil is the world's largest producer of coffee -- producing about 25% of the world's supply.  About 80% of the coffee beans grown in Brazil are Arabica.  Brazil is also known in the specialty coffee industry.  Brazilian farms grow primarily Bourbon, Typica, Caturra and Mundo Novo coffee cultivars.

The Brazilian harvests take place between March and October.  The farmers harvest the coffee cherries by strip picking and other mechanical methods.  Depending on the weather conditions, either the dry or wet method of bean processing is used.

Columbia:

Coffee was introduced in Columbia in the early 1800's.  Today Columbia is second only to Brazil as the world's largest coffee producer.  Columbia produces about 12% of the world's supply of coffee.  The Columbian coffees are rich in flavor with a heavy body and bright acidity.  They are known to be intensely aromatic.

The Columbian harvests take place between October and February, and then again between April and June.  Columbian farms grow Bourbon, Typica, Caturra and Maragogype coffee cultivars.

Mexico:

Coffee was first planted in Mexico in the late 1700's.  The coffee bean grown in Mexico is generally considered to be an uncomplicated bean, and is used more as a base for blending.  The Mexican farms grow Bourbon, Mundo Novo, Caturra and Maragogype cultivars.  These are usually grown organically on small farms.

Guatemala:

The climate in Guatemala is very diverse due to the soil, rainfall, humidity, altitude and temperature.  For this reason, Guatemala has seven distinct coffees that are produced.  The time of harvest varies throughout the regions, but is primarily October through January.

Indonesia and New Guinea:

Sumatran coffees are some the heaviest, yet smoothest and most complex coffees in the world.  Their most notable coffees are the Mandheling and Lintong types.  These are grown inland.

Honduras:

The coffees produced in Honduras are generally considered unremarkable in quality, but are a good base for use in blending.  The Honduran harvesting takes place between October and March and generally the wet process method is used.  The Honduran farms grow Bourbon, Caturra and Typica coffee cultivars.  Very little of the Honduran coffees or coffee blends reach the United States.

Ethiopia:

The coffees grown in Ethiopia are widely considered the most unique and fascinating coffees in the world.  The three common types of coffees grown in Ethiopia are Harrar, Ghimbi and Sidamo.  These are known for their full bodies and rich aromas, and each has its own fruit-like tastes.

Some other countries that also produce coffee are Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, Malawi, Nicaragua, Tanzania, Uganda and Venezuela.

Grinding Coffee: For Coffee Lovers

If you are a coffee lover, perhaps it is time for you to learn to grind your own coffee.  If you don't have the slightest clue of where to start, then this article is for you!  To begin, there are two main types of coffee grinders on the market today:  burr grinders and blade grinders.

Blade grinders grind the beans unevenly and without consistency in the grind.  Since there are no settings on blade grinding units, you basically grind until you achieve the coarseness or fineness you need.  The blade grinder causes static electricity and tends to make the process a bit messy if you aren't used to doing it.

Burr grinders, on the other hand, grind the beans evenly and are much cleaner and easier to use; especially if you are just learning.  Burr grinders have settings that allow you to choose an exact uniform size and consistency.  They are often recommended for espresso grinds, but can also be used for other types of grinds as well.

If you are concerned about price, blade grinders are the cheaper of the two and sell for roughly $20 each.  On the other hand, burr grinders often cost between $60 to $125.  The extra money for the burr grinder would be well spent since you would be getting a better quality cup of coffee and the clean up would be quicker and easier!

Each coffee brewing method requires a different grind size.  Drip coffee, for example, requires a medium size grind.  Espresso requires a fine grind.  The French press requires a much larger grind size.  The following is a general guideline describing the basic grind requirement for use in coffee makers:

Coarse grind:

Coarse grind is used in a percolator.  The percolator boils the water and forces it over the grounds in a metal filter that has holes in it.  This grind would not be recommended for optimum flavor, as it over-extracts bitter oils and acids.

Medium-course grind:

Medium-coarse grind is used in a French press or metal mess coffee maker that has gold or stainless steel filters.  These coffee makers force grounds to the bottom of the canisters after steeping the water/grounds mixture for several minutes.  This would not be recommended for optimum flavor because it over-extracts bitter oils and acids and is a bad percolator.  However, it is a good choice if you like a strong brew and don't mind a bit of sediment.

Medium grind:

Medium grind is used in drip coffee makers.  These coffee makers pour the water over the grounds in a flat bottom filter.  You may have to experiment with the grinds if you use an electric maker, as this is the only way to control the extraction.

Fine grind:

Fine grind is used in espresso machines, which are considered the most efficient method of brewing.

Extra-fine grind:

Extra-fine grind is used in vacuum pots or some older Espresso machines.

In order to get the best extraction for your coffee enjoyment, grinding the coffee beans properly is the key.  Freshly grinding the coffee prior to brewing is one of the most important steps to a great cup of coffee.  Just remember, the coffee beans should not be ground more than two minutes prior to the beginning of brewing.