Coffee 2 Tea

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.

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).

Drip and Presses and One-Cups, oh my! When it comes to coffee makers, java junkies are spoiled for choice, so here are my thoughts on the three types.

French Press ($15 plus)

One Cup Mini ($100 plus)

Pros	Cons	Best for
We had this machine up and running out of the box, with a mug brewed in under three minutes.  There is no mess or measuring. Want a different flavor change the pod.	If you don’t use your own coffee beans the pods produce a lot of waste. Some units do not have a a reservoir so you have to refill the water with each cup.	Those that wasn’t to brew a single serving.

Drip Programmable ($120 plus)

Pros	Cons	Best for
We love this coffee machines for uses every the weekends, and when guests come over. We chose one that produces 12 cups.	It is the priciest of the three options, and the hardest to keep clean.	Devoted drinkers who don’t mind some scrubbing and descaling.