Home Coffee Grinder Buying Guide For Serious Coffee Drinkers.

Serious coffee drinkers wouldn't consider anything less than grinding their own beans at home.  Grinding beans does take a bit more time but as any connoisseur will tell you, it is well worth the effort.  The reason for this is that coffee beans like any other food product oxidize when they are exposed to the air.  Once the beans have been ground they have a much larger relative surface area than the unground bean plus there is no outer layer of protection so they suffer this effect even more.

Consequently grinding beans at home produces the least exposure to air and hence the freshest grounds.  In making the perfect cup of espresso what is important is that you grind only the amount you will use immediately.

There are three main types of Coffee Grinders which include the burr, blade and crusher designs.

Blade Grinders operate pretty much the same way as the ancient mortar and pestle which crushes and mashes the beans.  As you would understand this method is not 100% effective because it produces grounds of uneven size.  If you have other choices steer away from these models and go with the ones that have superior features.

Contrary to their name Blade grinders don't actually grind at all but rather chop.  Being electric the whirling blades slice the roasted beans into smaller and smaller sections until they are reduced down to a small grain size.  Unfortunately, you end up with grains that are invariably too large and of inconsistent size.

As a consequence the surface areas of the granules vary, releasing varying amounts of flavor oils when brewed.  Another effect of slicing is often the production of excess heat because of the high speed of the blades.  Friction warms the grounds and partially dissipates the aroma.

If you want to make the best grounds Burr grinders are by far the top model to buy for home use.  This type of grinder has a pair of motor driven plates with pyramid-shaped teeth that grind the beans to an even small granule.  With the better models they allow the operator to adjust both the size of the grain and the speed of the grinding which is important if you want to get your coffee grounds just right.

The really serious coffee aficionados will always prefer a burr grinder over any other even though they can be noisier to operate.  The reason for this is because this type of grinder allows for the most control of bean grain size from coarse to fine through being able to adjust the speed.  The best of the conical burr grinders can rotate as slowly as 500rpm.

When the home barista is considering buying other attributes to look for are solid construction, easy cleaning and low noise.  A cleaning brush and removable upper burrs is essential as different materials used can affect how much static electricity is produced -- this causes the grains to stick to the burrs and container.

If you are serious about producing the perfect brew and don't mind spending a little extra time and effort to make a gourmet cup then a good quality coffee grinder is definitely worth considering.

Enjoy!

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.

About Gourmet Coffee

Gourmet Coffee -- Not Only Gourmet Food

Gourmet Coffee, what is not to love?  For those who are hooked on coffee, Gourmet coffee is what gets the day off to a good start, and it picks us up in the middle of the day.

Coffee has been around for thousands of years.  Gourmet coffee however, has been around for less than one hundred years, and it has fast become the favorite of millions of coffee connoisseurs throughout the world.

There are hundreds of different types of gourmet coffee.  These include Colombian gourmet coffee which has a bold, strong flavor, with a rich aroma guaranteed to satisfy every coffee lover.

There are also flavored gourmet coffees, which include French Vanilla, Toasted Almond, Cookies and Crème, and Hazelnut.

There are so many choices, that the Gourmet Coffee enthusiast will have a difficult time choosing,

The Gourmet Coffee lover can enjoy specialty coffee such as Pumpkin Spice, a rich savory coffee that is like a slice of pumpkin pie.  These types of gourmet coffees are not available year round.

There are Gourmet coffee shop in every city and town in the United States, and around the world.  The most popular of all the gourmet coffee shops are Dunkin Doughnuts, Starbucks, and Honey Dew Doughnuts.

Each of these Gourmet Coffee shops offers the standard cup of coffee, and the flavored coffees but each offers a different twist of their coffees.

What about the Gourmet coffee shops that nobody even realizes is a coffee shop?  The coffee stations that are in grocery stores or in department stores?  These shop sell fabulous gourmet coffee, but often they are past by.

When you do a Google search for gourmet coffee, you will find that there are a variety of Internet sites that are dedicated to gourmet coffee.

The Internet sites offer specials and discount just for trying their coffee.  These offers include a special type of coffee maker designed especially for one brand of gourmet coffee.

When driving through small town America, and a roadside coffee shop pops up on the horizon, one can imagine how the bigger chains got started.  The bigger gourmet coffee shops have teams of coffee roasters who are dedicated to creating new and delicious flavors of coffee.

The Gourmet Coffee consumer will undoubtedly look forward to all of the new flavors that are created.

The true Gourmet Coffee consumer will travel out of their way to try a great cup of gourmet coffee that they heard mention of either in conversation or through a crowd.

Virtually at any event, sporting or otherwise, college of professional, there are gourmet coffee shops everywhere.

The Gourmet Coffee consumer will unquestionably look forward to all of the new flavors that are created.

When you are making gourmet coffee at home, you will need whole coffee beans, (grinding the beans just before brewing insures the freshest coffee) fresh spring water, light cream and sugar.  These are the key ingredients for the freshest, best tasting cup of coffee you will ever taste.