Coffee 2 Tea

According to legend, human cultivation of coffee began after goats in Ethiopia were seen mounting each other after eating the leaves and fruits of the coffee tree. In reality, human consumption of coffee fruits probably began long before humans took up pastoralism. In Ethiopia there are still some locales where people drink a tisane made from the leaves of the coffee tree.

The first written record of coffee made from roasted coffee beans comes from Arabian scholars who wrote that it was useful in prolonging their working hours. The Arab innovation of making a brew from roasted beans, spread first among the Egyptians and Turks and later on found its way around the world.

Tea pots and tea kettles can look very similar, and perhaps why the confusion that began in the first place. But these two things will certainly be more used for different functions in the tea lover. People who are not regular tea drinkers sometimes get different bits of tea terminology confused. You are amazed at how many times I heard the others all get together when it comes to tea kettles and tea pots, electric teapot. They use the terms interchangeably, and it is enough to make a true connoisseur of tea and if your nails down a Board hearing!

The teapot is a container that is sometimes decorative, sometimes very simple. It is used for tea in a serious supply of hot water and tea is loose or tea bags. Often, you can use a tea kettle on the stove or on an open fire. The tea kettle is designed for use above a stove or hot plate to heat the water is in the kettle of persons wanted by hot water. When the water has reached the right temperature, it is usually used to make tea, even if it can be used for any purpose in very hot water which is necessary.

Typically, a kettle is a type of pottery that the mind of someone who needed a good tool for use in a fire or a stove for cooking purposes. The word “kettle” comes from Latin. “Catillus” is Latin for “a deep dish or pan used for cooking. You can go back to research the history of cooking lore and found that every house, rich or poor, a sort of kettle in the kitchen.

This is a cuisine that was a vital necessity. Over time, some people saw the need for kettles slightly below the monster that had become a kitchen staple. They want something that can be used with particular boil water for making tea, and through the cup and the pot. Therefore, the first born teakettle.

By the time we reached the 20th century, the various types of cuisine and dishes had come and gone, but the tea kettle and tea pot are two devices that are not faded into the background of culinary history. Instead, they would be more useful and indispensable.

What a kettle to make tea? Tea kettles that sit on an open fire, of course, that was fashioned from a material capable of withstanding the heat. Different types of metal to fill the bill very well. Stainless steel, copper, chrome, and are all popular. The design of your basic, generic tea kettle is an eligible lid comes off easily so you can put the water in a kettle, a spout to pour easily heated the water outside the boiler, and a sturdy handle for a kettle tea can be withdrawn from the heat and moved from the area, if desired area.

An important part of the project will be a test of heat. Do you want a handle that will not be too hot for you to understand and hold. Many of the cheapest tea kettles do not offer this option, and is not captured by the cruel used to it, especially when they are burned by hand for nurses as a result of the test until a heat manage a tea kettle and the kettle did not discover the have one!

Some tea kettles are equipped with whistles to allow a piercing sound when the water began to boil. People can be really fun on whistling tea kettles! They either love or hate love these close, without in-between feelings. The whistle could come in easy when you’re going to be able to stay in the same room with tea kettle – at least we know when the water is ready to make the tea, when you hear the whistle! Tea kettle purists say there is no need for a whistle, and distracts the mind from the true purpose of the kettle, which will lead water to a rapid boil.

Believe it or not, you can find true for replacement whistling tea kettles! And, you can also buy a tea kettle whistle that only a tea kettle spout started without a whistle at all. The most popular type of tea kettle whistle is made in the form of a bird in flight, and its color is light red. The notes of the whistle is clear and bright, very much like a bird song.

You can also find tea pots can also be used as tea kettles, because the material is a craft. Some good ones made from cast iron double-duty as a tea kettle. You can also consider an electric tea kettle like most lovers of British tea use. Usually bring water to a boil in half the time a regular tea kettle, and the price for electric models is well justified.

So you’re bored with black tea and green tea doesn’t cause much of a stir either. Perhaps it’s time to throw caution to the wind and taste some tea with a little added zip. White tea is characterized by its less processed flavor and comparatively higher caffeine levels. Most white teas are brewed from buds and young leaves, which harbor a unique flavor that is lost by the time they age enough to make black tea.

White tea also boasts some notable health benefits. Many white teas contain high levels of catechin, an antioxidant that has been shown to reduce the signs of aging. Some studies have even concluded that white tea has anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties – more so than even green tea.

Blade Grinders

You may ask “blade grinder” do you mean my blender… This type of grinder is more like a blender for coffee beans.  Blade grinders are very popular because they are quick,
cheap, readily available, and easy to use. However, blade grinders have serious drawbacks. First and foremost, they offer very little control.  Basically, you are guessing how
long you want the blades to chop, splinter the beans apart. Instead of a consistent, even grind, you can easily get chopped chunks mixed with powder.  Also, blade grinders produce
a lot of friction which produces heat. Heat actually starts to rob your coffee of it’s aroma and essences before it’s even brewed. Grind your coffee with a blade for long enough,
can give your final coffee a burned taste. These are fine grinders for basic use, but that’s about it.

Burr Grinders

The best and most common burr grinder is a conical burr grinder. These devices actually crush the beans between a moving surface and a non-moving surface. The positioning
on the burr is what regulates the ground size, which allows for a more consistent grind. Since the beans are being crushed rather than sliced, there is not a noticeable increase in
heat when using a burr grinder, so there will not be a burned taste or a loss in flavor.

Coffee roasters and commercial coffee companies use burr grinders, and they are available in all sizes from large commercial grinders to countertop models. While you could get
away with using a blade grinder for brewing coffee in a drip machine using paper filters, you should certainly only use a burr grinder if you are brewing coffee with a French press or
using a permanent filter.

Wheel Burr – The less expensive of the two burr grinders. The wheel spins very fast, and these grinders can be noisy. The higher speed rotations make these grinders more messy as well.

Conical Burr – The best grinders you can get are conical burr grinders. The burr spins slower than the wheel model, which makes them quieter and less messy. You can use a conical burr grinder for oily or flavoured coffees and it’s not likely to clog, like the other kinds of grinders. These are the best type, but you will pay the price for them.

There are six types of tea– Black, Green,White, Oolong and Scented and Compressed.

Black tea includes Assam, Darjeeling and Nilgiri form India: Ceylon and from Sri Lanaka; and keemun and Lapsang Souchong form China. Each has its own distinctive flavor and aroma. The leaves undergo four processing stages: withering (which happens when the leaves are laid out to dry), rolling, fermenting (a process that makes the leaves turn their familiar brownish color and imparts a healthy flavor), and drying. Darjeeling – considered to be the Premier of teas – is grown at varying altitudes in the Himalayas; the higher up it is grown, the lighter the tea. Especially prized by connoisseurs is the new season’s tea, the light and fragrant first flush Darjeeling, picked in April.

Green tea, which is paler and milder than black tea, was the first to be enjoyed throughout the world, but its popularity waned as peopled showed a preference for a stronger brew. There are only two processing stages involved in producing green tea: rolling and drying. Varieties include gunpowder form China and Matcha and Sencha from Japan.

White tea is produced in very small quantities in China and Sri Lanka and is available from specialist tea suppliers. A tea for the connoisseur.

Oolong tea is semi-fermented and is generally the most expensive type of tea. The best varieties are produced in Taiwan and include the exclusive Monkey picked.

Scented teas are made from green, oolong, or black tea flavored with fruits, herbs spices and flowers, such as roses, orchids, and jasmine.

Compressed teas are formed into ball, brick, hest, and cake shapes. These are produced in China.

Blended Teas

Blended teas have an important place in modern tea-drinking, particularly the English Breakfast tea blend. Originally a mix of black Indian and Chinese teas, today Assam, Ceylon, and African teas are blended to provide drinkers with the three elements they require – strength, flavour and colour. More exotic sounding is the blend of Chinese tea called Russian Caravan tea, which is named after the camel caravan that bought Chinese tea to Europe along the silk and spice trade route.

Earl Grey, so called after Charles, the second Earl Grey who was the Prime Minister of Britain between 1830 and 1834, is a popular blend. Made with Indian and Chinese teas, flavoured with bergamot oil, it is a refreshing tea, best served black or with lemon.

The basic rules that most people follow today includes using freshly drawn and boiled water and allowing one scoopful of loose tea or a one tea bag per person.

Brewing time is, it is agreed , all-important and depends on the type of tea you are brewing, Darjeeling requires from 3 to 5 minutes, Kenya form 2 to 4 minute and China Oolong 5 to 7 minute. At what point you add milk, however, has been a contentious subject for decades, Victorian etiquette was definite on the matter; the milk or cream had to be put in last, so that its addition could be rejected or limited.  The British novelist and essayist, George Orwell, who also published his own eleven golden rules for a “nice cup of tea’ in 1945, had equally firm views. Last was best, he wrote, for “by putting the tea in first and then stirring as one pours, one can exactly regulate the amount of milk.” The last word goes t Nancy Mitford, the English aristocrat novelist and biographer, who claimed that “milk in first,” know as the “MIF” debate, was without doubt, not the “thing” to do.

Excerpt form Where to Take Tea: Susan Cohen

Many of us love a steaming cup of freshly brewed, flavorful coffee in the morning to get us going (& throughout a busy day for a little “pick-me-up.”) But what happens when your coffee turns your stomach into a fiery, churning cement mixer? Part of the problem may be your body’s own acid/alkaline balance but certain coffees are known to be more acidic than others. It has been shown that coffee grown at higher elevations in volcanic soil has a higher acid content than its lower elevation kin.
First off, let’s not confuse the bitterness of poor quality coffee that is improperly brewed and left on the burner too long. There’s nothing like over-heated, low-grade java to turn your stomach into a gurgling volcano—not to mention what it does further on downstream! Good quality Arabica beans make a big difference in the outcome. The majority of supermarket ground coffee is made from a lower grade Robusta beans which are cheaper to produce.

Coffee experts use the terms “acidity” & “body” to describe the highly valued attributes of different kinds of coffee. Acidity can be described by such terms as bright, sharp, dry or vibrant and is not usually related to the undesirable bitter or sour taste achieved with poor quality beans & improper brewing techniques. Body is described as the weight of coffee: light, medium or dark, & sometimes rich or heavy. The type of bean, where it was grown & how it was roasted determine coffee body & is related to the fat content of the bean. (A light roast has a lower fat content, whereas a full-bodied coffee has more fat.)

Proper brewing of your gourmet coffee beans is the key to a delicious, non-acidic cup of coffee. Using a French Press-type coffee maker is the best way to control brewing time & temperature—the 2 key factors that affect the final outcome. Put measured amount of coarse-ground coffee (2 Tea spoons per 6 oz. of filtered or spring water—adjust according to strength desired) into bottom of press. Add water 195-205 degrees, stir & steep for 4 ½ -5 minutes. Press the plunger down to separate the grounds from the extracted coffee. Enjoy! If you are using a large press (up to 12 cups) & don’t plan to drink it all at once, store your freshly brewed coffee in a thermal carafe. Or use an insulated version of a coffee press.

Pour yourself a cup, sit back and enjoy.

Someone sent this to me in an email some years back, I’m glad I kept so that I can now share it with you.

“Carrot, Egg, and Coffee”
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen, filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She took the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ”Tell me what you see.’ ‘Carrots, eggs, and coffee,’ she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
‘Which are you?’ she asked her daughter. ‘When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Are you the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do you wilt and become soft and lose your strength?

Are you the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did you have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have you become hardened and stiff? Does your shell look the same, but on the inside are you bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or are you like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavour. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.

May we all be COFFEE!

There are four key types of this beverage which are white tea, green tea, oolong tea, and black tea. One study out of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, suggests that drinking green tea can help abate esophageal cancer, while another from Pace University reveal that drinking black tea can help destroy oral viruses such as herpes, as well as prevent diarrhea, pneumonia, cystitis, and skin infections.

Many folks drink tea simply because it taste great, and not just for benefits. There are two main methods of brewing tea, loose leaf style, and by tea bag. But only one method will give you the ultimate tea flavor and benefits!

Most people brew their tea form a tea bag and remain unaware of the true way tea is meant to be enjoyed. Even drinking white and green teas that are in iced tea form in bottles sold in stores does not provide the same taste and benefits. The reason is because tea bags consist of fanning (or tea dust) which happens to be the lowest grading of tea. Loose leaf tea is the way to go; it offers more varieties and drinking pleasure over any tea bag! So brew it, sip it and enjoy it!

Brewing the Perfect Shot

Contributor

By Lindsay Champion

Espresso is like regular coffee in that it is brewed from coffee beans, but making the perfect shot of espresso requires much more than a regular coffee maker. Espresso is brewed by forcing a small amount of hot water under high pressure through a finely ground selection of espresso beans.

When brewing or “pulling” a shot of espresso, the steady stream of brewed espresso should come out evenly, hot and without any grounds. If you brew a shot of espresso correctly, light and creamy froth should float just on the top. Espresso is used in many coffee drinks including Americano, macchiato, latte and cappuccino.