Coffee: Different Tastes Across The World

As the holiday season rapidly approaches, many people find their calendars quickly becoming filled with gift exchanges, holiday soirees, and dinner parties with family and friends. Indeed, while we all look forward to the holidays as a time for gathering with friends and family from near and far, this time of year can also be a bit stressful as we attempt to fit everything into our schedules. Additionally, finding time to purchase holiday gifts and plan for the soirees you may be hosting, can be very difficult for those who of us who did not necessarily plan ahead for the season.

And this holiday season seems to be a bit more stressful than others as many people are hoping to ensure that the costs of their gifts and parties stay within a very reasonable budget. With the economy still on shaky ground it seems that economical concerns are no longer being outweighed by holiday cheer.

Luckily this year, experts have advise for all of the economical shoppers out there, to help ensure that you have a wonderful, stress-free holiday season. They suggest that instead of purchasing expensive, often impersonal gifts or decorations, you give gifts that may cost a bit less, but that will have more meaning for your loved ones.

And what if you found out that you can purchase a simple, inexpensive gift that will be sure to delight any loved one, while also helping to provide an activity for you to share together? You may be surprised to learn that the ideal gift may literally be right under your nose. We all take coffee for granted as our go-to morning pick me up, but today's premium coffee makers offer a variety of holiday packaged bean and roast sets to suit every taste preference. With so many flavors, aromas, and types available, you can rest assured that you will find something for each of your loved ones, as you have your pick of different tastes across the world.

Coffee has long been enjoyed by people with different tastes across the world not only because of its unique energizing properties, and rich, bold flavor, but also for its role in social conversation. When you give the gift of a nice set of premium coffee to a friend, you are also giving the gift of many wonderful future conversations together. Whether your friend is from a foreign country, loves to travel, or simply enjoys trying new things, you can rest assured that they will enjoy savoring a uniquely chosen, rich example of one of the different tastes across the world. Coffees representing different tastes across the world are also a great conversation piece for new friends as well.

Coffee beans come in a wide array of types, and are grown in numerous regions and climates throughout the world. Unlike tea, coffee beans also reflect their unique origins and thus each type of bean will have a flavor unique to the region in which it was grown. Thus this is the ideal gift for friends from a distant country, or for those who enjoy traveling, or even just for those who enjoy trying new things. When you give the gift of a brew which one of the unique different tastes across the world, you give your friends a gift which will continue to invoke dreams and memories of wonderful things with its rich aroma.

Unlike tea, each type of coffee has a taste and aroma that is always largely derived from the environment from which it came. One coffee bean grown in different climates, soils, or regions, will have very different taste and aroma properties upon maturation. Each cup of freshly brewed coffee then reflects the region in which it was grown. Thus when you purchase a gift of coffee for a friend this holiday season, you will be giving them a small, but meaningful piece of the different tastes across the world. Thus this year make sure that you save your cash and buy the perfect gift for your loved ones with a great blend of one of the different tastes across the world of premium coffee.

Damian Papworth loves coffee. So, he published the One Cup Coffee Makers website. His most recent purchase though was a 5 cup coffee maker.

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May 31 2011 | coffee | No Comments »

How Do They Make Instant Coffee

We who write espresso machine reviews decided to write a quick article on how instant coffee is made. So we did some quick research on the topic and here is what we found.

Along with tea, coffee has become one of the world's most popular drinks. While most coffee consumed is fresh brewed, a small fraction is made from instant coffee granules, which allows people to make coffee quickly, easily, and without any complicated brewing equipment.

Starting with coffee beans, which come from the fruit of the coffee plant. The mature fruit, which resembles a large cherry, usually contains two seeds or "beans" surrounded by sweet pulp. This sweet pulp is removed, and the beans are dried and roasted to remove the moisture, bringing out the distinctive rich, bitter flavor of the coffee.

In manufacturing instant coffee, the roasted beans are first coarsely ground to enable water to percolate freely through the coffee grounds. The water passes through the grounds in several "hot" cells (140-180C) and then passes through two or more "cold" cells (100C). This temperature variation allows the different flavors in the coffee to be extracted efficiently. The liquid extract is then cooled to about 5C. At the end of this cycle, the coffee extract contains 20-30% solids.

Next the slushy coffee liquid is filtered and more liquid is removed so solids are now 40 percent of the mixture. This is accomplished by either evaporation or by freezing and mechanically separating the ice crystals from the solids. This step aids in the subsequent drying process. Oxygen is then removed from the liquid by bubbling carbon dioxide or nitrogen through it. The purpose of removing the oxygen from the coffee liquid is to preserve the aroma of the instant coffee final product. And we are all greatful they don't skip this step as every time we open a new jar of instant coffee that "aroma" can be very intoxicating to the coffee lover!

As the final steps approach, the vast majority of water is removed as the solids that form the "instant coffee" become more prevalent in the mixture. There are two methods for this. The first is to spray the liquid in a large chamber while flowing heated air to remove the water from the droplets, leaving behind only the coffee solids. This is the cheaper and quicker method, although the heat compromises some of the flavor of the instant coffee. Freeze drying is the second method used in making instant coffee, which, as the term suggests, freezes the mixture and then breaks it into very small pieces. The water is then extracted from the ice mixture by sublimation under vacuum with the application of a modest amount of heat.

As with any manufacturing process there is a slight loss of quality in the end product. The coffee aroma is less robust, thus aromatic elements are added back to the coffee product just before final packaging. These aromas are recovered from gases collected from coffee roasting or by using steam to capture aromas from coffee grounds. Additionally, oils from coffee grounds can be extracted using high pressures; and it is these aromatic compounds derived from the oils that are sprayed onto the instant coffee product just before packaging.

Occuring in a dry, oxygen-free environment to preserve both the flavor and the aroma of the final product, packaging is the final step in the manudacturing process.

As the years since instant coffee arrived on the scene the quality of the product has improved greatly due to advances in the manufaturing process. This has been great news for all coffee lovers over the past several decades. Go ahead and make that cup of "instant coffee" - I bet you will be glad you did!

Dave Lashier writes Espresso Machine Reviews on such espresso makers as the Mr Coffee Espresso Maker. Visit www.EspressoMachineReviews.biz for great espresso machine reviews!

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May 30 2011 | coffee | No Comments »

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