Coffee – From Beans to Shelf
From its origins over two thousand years ago, coffee bean processing has grown to a worldwide market whose output as a commodity has a dollar value second only to petroleum.
The variety of coffee beans is staggering, but they have classified into 2 main types the arabica and the robusta. The arabica gets it name from its original home, the Arabian Peninsula. The robusta is different because it has a high caffeine content.
The fruit is not of any interest to coffee growers. It simply serves as a protective home to the valuable seed, or bean, that it holds inside. This beans is the start for the over 400 millions cups of coffee made worldwide on a daily basis.
The beans come in two main varieties, green and red, with the latter - with its higher aromatic oil and lower acid content - used to produce the finer coffees. Hence one of the most important stages in the life cycle of bean to shelf is the picking.
Since most beans are hand picked by laborers, at the rate of a few baskets per day, separating the red and green is a valued skill and has a large effect on the final product.
After the fruit it is soaked and scoured to remove the beans from its center. After being removed the beans are cleaned to remove any excess fruit. The beans are then laid out on the ground to dry in the sun until almost all moisture from the bean is evaporated away.
Once dried the beans are separated. Some of this work is still done by hand, though machines are now more prevalent to do this part of the job. Once sorted, some beans are allowed to age from between 3 to 8 years, to be used later to make special types of coffees. Others are set aside to be roasted within the same year picked.
The oil that is contained within the beans gives them their unique flavor and aroma. This oil is released during the roasting process where the beans reach up to 400F and burst to release the inner flavor.
Once roasted the bags must be allowed to stand so that the carbon dioxide that they produce can dissipate. Roasting is done to different degrees to produce different flavors of coffees. Kenya and Java have a technique of lightly roasting their beans and this gives their coffee bean a unique flavor.
Shopping for an Espresso Machine? Here's a selection at affordable prices:
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De'Longhi EC155 15 BAR Pump Espresso and Cappuccino Maker List Price: $140.00 Sale Price: $79.99 Used From: $59.00  |
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Enjoy delicious espresso made your way with De'Longhi's pump espresso and cappuccino maker. You can choose to brew ground espresso or E.S.E pods with the unique patented dual filter holder. The choice is yours, making your espresso truly made to order... |
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Mr. Coffee ECM160 4-Cup Steam Espresso Machine List Price: $49.99 Sale Price: $39.99 Used From: $30.00 |
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Makes delicious espressos, cappuccinos, and lattes. Powerful milk frother. 4-Cup capacity: 20-ounce. Per shot. Removable drip tray. Easy to pour decanter. Removable frothing aid. On/off indicator light. |
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Capresso 303.01 4-Cup Espresso and Cappuccino Machine List Price: $59.99 Sale Price: Too low to display Used From: $38.91 |
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Experience the full taste of espressos, cappuccinos and lattes. The Capresso 4-Cup Espresso and Cappuccino Machine features an exclusive Coffee/Steam Selector that makes it easy to control both brewing and steaming, allowing the user to adjust coffee strength to their personal taste... |
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DeLonghi EC702 15-Bar-Pump Espresso Maker, Stainless List Price: $350.00 Sale Price: $149.95 Used From: $139.99 |
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Enjoy delicious espresso made your way with De'Longhi's pump espresso and cappuccino maker. You can choose to brew ground espresso or E.S.E pods with the unique patented dual filter holder. The Sempre Crema Filter, used with two measures of ground coffee, enhances the brewing process to produce a perfect crema... |
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Urnex Dezcal Home Activated Descaler, For Home Coffee & Espresso Equipt., 4 - 1 oz Packets List Price: $11.36 Sale Price: $2.87 |
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Dezcal home activated descaler, 4 portion packets per retail carton |
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Tags: brewing coffee, coffee, coffee beans, coffee drinker, coffee maker, coffee processing, coffee roasts, drinking coffee, expresso maker, java, making coffee
February 18 2009 04:45 am | coffee