Coffee 2 Tea

Drink to a healthier you. Choose healthy alternatives to promote total wellbeing. Opt for organic coffee grown the old-fashioned and natural way. These are far from those coffees raised using forced growth. Instead, they are pesticide-free and were grown without any herbicides or chemicals.

Organic coffee is grown with only pure and natural fertilizers combined with careful nurturing up to their full maturity. Choose from these fantastic 100% organic variants:

~Columbiano supreme
~Peruvian
~Sumatra mandheling
~Espresso

There is a lot to learn about coffee.  The terms Robusta and Arabica for instance, which are often mentioned in the same breath as coffee, cannot be defined by many coffee drinkers.  The two are actually the foremost varieties of coffee being grown today. Robusta, which contains more caffeine than Arabica coffee beans, ranks lower in quality and comprises about a fifth of the coffee produced worldwide.  Arabica coffee is more prevalent, accounting for more than 70% of the world’s coffee business.  It is also more superior in taste and aroma. These days most people consider Arabica a gourmet coffee.

Green beans and organic beans are two more terms associated with coffee.  Simply put, green beans are coffee beans that have yet to be roasted.  In contrast, organic coffee beans come from coffee plants grown naturally and sans the use of pesticides. Coffee retailers purchase them raw then have them roasted and packed just before transport and delivery for maximum freshness.

All coffee drinkers love the rich, distinct aroma of their favorite brew.  They savor cup after cup of this hot beverage daily, most often in the morning or after meals.  Not all however, like the caffeine that comes with coffee.  Studies have shown that caffeine, when consumed, can cause wakefulness and increase heart rate, which some people look on unfavorably.

Thankfully, there is decaf coffee so no one has to give up his or her daily coffee habit.  Decaf espresso beans for example, are made from the highest quality Arabica beans, are roasted dark, and taste awesome, but contain no caffeine.  Many other gourmet coffee blends have decaf versions and have retained their appetizing aroma and flavor even without caffeine. Health-conscious individuals would appreciate receiving decaf coffee as gifts.  So give one or several bags today to people you care about. Choose from whole bean, drip grind, or French press, in half pound, one pound or five pound packs.

How many of us having just finished our thanksgiving meal has vowed never to over do it again next year, over eating that is. It’s hard to do, the joy of family, friends the festive holiday we can’t help our selves, and why should we.

This year have your guest talking not so much about the meal instead more about the coffee you served. Here are a simple and easy to make coffee recipe that is sure to do just that.

Café Disaronno
¾ ounce Amaretto Disaronno liqueur

5 oz brewed coffee

1 oz whipped cream

1 tsp brown sugar (white will do)

Garnish with an Espresso bean

Add the liqueur and sugar into a coffee mug. Add the fresh brewed coffee. Put a dollop on the whipped cream on top and garnish with the Espresso bean.

Serve with a heart felt warm smile.

Café Grande

1 part Kahlua

1part dark crème de cacao

1 part Grand Marnier orange liqueur

5 ounces fresh brewed coffee

Whipped cream

Maraschino cherry

Pour liqueurs into a clear glass mug. Add freshly brewed coffee. Top with heavy scoop of whipped cream and garnish with a cherry.

Serve with a heart felt warm smile.

COWBOY COFFEE: Ground coffee steeped in hot water then strained to separate rounds from brew. Legend has it that the separation method often called for a clean sock into which the ground coffee was spooned before being immersed in water. (Also called hobo, campfire or open-pot coffee.)

CHLOROGENIC ACID: One of the principal acids in green coffee beans, unpleasantly astringent by itself. As the roast progresses much of the chlorogenic acid disappears and other flavourful acids form, more thank making up for its loss.

CINNAMON ROAST: The lightest roast commercially available, with no oil on the surface. Large manufacturers often incorporate very light roasted coffee into their b lends, because roasting for a short time both saves money and adds bulk. A cinnamon roast rarely appears in specialty shops, though, because it is so high in chlorogenic acid and low in body and flavour.

CITY ROAST: A roasting term controversial for its impression but in wide use. Today a city roast is barely darker than a cinnamon roast. “Full –city” is used for a l medium roast, more or less dark cinnamon in color and with no oil on the surface; this is the fullest development of a bean before oils appear. The next stage is usually called a Vienna roast.

CLEAN CUP: A term professional tasters use to indicate a brewed coffee that is free, of virtually free, of taste defects. A clean coffee is not the same as a great coffee, but it will bring the grower or broker a higher price.

CREMA: A golden foam made up of oil and colloids, which floats atop the surface of a perfectly brewed cup of espresso. Achieving crema depends on a number of factors, including kind of coffee used, its freshness and the degree of pressure used in brewing; achieving it is tricky when not using a professional espresso machine.

CUPPING: The process by which professional tasters evaluate a sample of beans, Roasted and ground coffee is steeped in hot water, like tea, and the liquid is stasted both warm and as it cools.

For many years my wife and I bought our coffee beans in bulk. We both delight in taking the time to grind and brew our gourmet coffee, but we started to notice that toward the end of the bag the beans started to taste a bit off. That led me to do some research on coffee storage. How should the beans be stored, I wondered – in their raw, green form, or roasted? Left whole or ground? Frozen or at room temperature?

It didn’t take long to discover that fresh roasted coffee beans store best, and they should be kept whole until just before consumption. Most beans will retain their freshness for up to two weeks when stored at room temperature provided that they’re kept in an airtight container. When storing your own beans, bear in mind that they create excess carbon dioxide. Open up the lid of the coffee periodically to allow this gas to disperse.

CAFFEINE: The chief mood altering substance in coffee, with an average of 1.1 percent in Arabica and 2.2 percent in Robusta beans, the tow main coffee species. When extracted, as in the decaffeination process, caffeine is a pure white crystal, bitter to taste. Caffeine is the world’s most widely used psychoactive drug, appearing naurallin in tea leaves and, in very small quantities in cocoa beans.

CAFFEINE WITHDRAWL: Not yet an official diagnosis, but a syndrome currently under research for possible inclusion in psychiatric manuals . its symptoms include headache, sleepiness or drowsiness, impaired concentration, difficulty working, precession, anxiety, irritability, nausea and vomiting, and muscle aches or stiffness.

CAPPUCCINO: A espresso based drink classically made with one third espresso steamed milk and one third foamed milk. The king of Italian espresso drinks.

CARAMELIZATION: Beans are naturally high in carbohydrates, which must be heated to develop toasty, sweat flavours. Caramelized sugars give body and mouth-feel to darker roast: the darker the bean, the higher the degree of caramelization. When caramelization is taken to far, coffee tastes burnt.

CEZEV: More commonly called an ibrik, this is the correct term for the long handled brass or copper pot, tinned on the interior that lopes inward at the top and is used to make Middle Eastern coffee.

CHERRY: Coffee beans are seeds of a berry, called cherry for the shape and for the deep crimson color of the fully ripe fruit. The even, ovoid shape resembles a plump holly berry or cranberry.

CAFÉ au LAIT: A French breakfast drink made up about one third strong brewed coffee, as in coffee for a café filter or Napolitana pot or the stovetop moka brewer, and two-thirds scalded or steamed milk. Virtually identical to the Italian family version of a caffé latte.

CAFÉ FILTER: The metal flip-drip pot not more commonly called by its Italian name, Neapolitana, used in French households. The Italians like to claim credit for it, but in fact the French invented the device I the early nineteenth century.

CAFÉ AMERICANO: In Italy, usually a thin drink made with instant coffee. In America, an espresso lengthened with plain hot water after brewing (not by brewing for a long time), so that the body is the same as that of a filter brewed coffee, A good way to spread out the taste of espresso over a longer sipping time without adding cups of milk.

CAFFÉ LATTÉ: In Italy (where it is spelled caffe latte), this is a family drink made in the morning with coffee brewed in the napoletana or moka and milk scalded on the stove, in proportion of 1 part coffee to 3 parts milk. Italian espresso bars use genuine espresso and sometimes add more steamed milk, but not as much as is used in the United States. Also, Italians don’t add foamed milk, as Americans usually do. The drink served as a “latte” in American coffee bars is really giant sized cappuccino.

CAFFÉ MACCHIATO: An espresso “stained” with about two tablespoons of foamed milk.

Let’s start with the ‘A’s

ACIDITY:  Not a defect , acidity is one if the reasons the best    high grown Arabica coffee beans fetch the highest prices. As a roast gets going, flavourful acids form, giving coffee life and sparkle. The lighter the roast, the more the acids are highlighted; very dark roasts destroy most acids. Not be confused with bitterness.

ADENOSINE: One of the chemicals, or neurotransmitters, the body makes to control neural activity; adenosine triggers a series of slowing effects in the body. Researchers think caffeine acts as an adenosine imposter, locking into special receptors on brain cells and fooling the body into thinking that adenosine is circulating when it is not. Caffeine thus speeds up by not slowing you down.

AGED COFFEE: Green coffee beans that have been stored in the climate, typically hot and humid ,on which they were grown, for a year or two ore even three before being shipped similar to monsooning , which takes less time, aging bean is expensive, because stocks are tied up. Aged coffee has a soft roundness many connoisseurs seek, especially for blends.

AIR QUENCHING: The cooling of roasted beans with blown air rather than with sprayed water. (see water-quenching)

ARABICA:  One of the two main coffee species. Coffee  Arabica is named for its original popularizes, the Arabs, who   bought it to native East Africa to the Arabian Peninsula in the fifteenth century. All the delicate, prized flavours possible in coffee are found in Arabica and not robust, the other main species , although not every Arabica is fine. Arabica beans, which produce the best flavors when grown at high altitudes in semitropical climates near the equator, naturally contain about half the caffeine (an average of 1.1 percent) of robusta beans (which have an average of 2.2 percent).

The Italians simply call their espresso “caffe” and actually it doesn’t matter if you prepare it with a professional machine or the traditional stovetop maker. Espresso is the essence of coffee and the basis for many drinks, such as cappuccino and latte macchiato. Espresso is famous for being small, strong and black. Its okay to sweeten it with sugar, but milk is a no-no.

All you need to make the basic espresso recipe is freshly ground dark roast espresso coffee (Arabica is ideal) and really hot water.

• Unscrew espresso maker and pour in the right amount of water (do not cover valve).

• Place one spoonful of the ground coffee in the filter basket per cup and spread smooth – don’t tamp it down. Then insert the basket in the lower section of the pot.

• Heat pot on the stove at the highest setting. As soon as espresso starts to hiss in the tube remove from the stove.

• Stir finished espresso once in the pot and then pout it into the cups (preferably use prewarmed). If desired, add sugar to taste.