by Matt Hellstrom
How great is the smell of roasted fresh coffee beans brewing as it works its way up the steps and into your bedroom? It starts to seep into your nostrils and all of a sudden you perk up a little bit. Instead of waking up grumpy, you already have a smile on your face in anticipation of the perfect cup of coffee.
It all starts with the beans. If you have lousy coffee beans, you have not shot at getting a great cup of coffee. There are hundreds of different varieties out there and it will be a matter of preference as to what you actually like. One person may rave about Jamaican Blue Mountain while Sumatra may be your favorite. It would be great if there was a simple method of figuring out, but tasting is the best way to find your favorite.
For the perfect cup of coffee, you'll want to start with whole roasted fresh coffee beans that you grind yourself. By the way, you should only buy small quantities of whole beans, maybe enough for 1 or 2 months at a time and keep them in an air tight container to preserve freshness.
If you prefer to buy your coffee on the way into work, you more than likely stop at the same place each and every day. There is no shame in this as the power of the perfect cup is something that is undeniable. Be it Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts, Wawa or McDonald's, your favorite is often a cup that you will drive miles out of your way to make sure you are getting what you want.
When you are brewing your coffee at home, the coffee maker is just as important as the coffee bean. Go cheap and you are lucky to ever truly enjoy all the flavor that your roasted fresh coffee bean has. The optimum temperature for brewing is 200 degrees and you at least want to make sure that your machine does that or close to it.
On your quest for the perfect machine, do a lot of research and don't believe everything you read. If you want an honest opinion, go to a neutral reviewing site or check out forums that are aimed at coffee lovers. Even after all of that, you are still going to want to taste a cup before you buy it. Most decent sellers will have machines of various types up and brewing so you can try the coffee from the machine.
If you are a true coffee lover, you may find that you will travel to the ends of the world to make sure you get the perfect cup of coffee. You are probably also the person that goes away on vacation and drives the wait staff crazy because there is never a cup that is good enough to satisfy your desires. It's okay, there are plenty more out there just like you!
About the Author:
Are you a coffee aficionado? Are you just not ready to take on the day until you've had that first cup? Do you need to find a gift for someone who loves coffee? Then you've just got to visit
http://mycoffeecuprunnethover.com to learn about all things coffee, including
wholesale gourmet coffee and much more!
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June 06 2009 | coffee | No Comments »
by Matt Hellstrom
More and more consumers are realizing the need to evolve with the times to get green smart. Growing organic produce is the ultimate starting point for such environmentally friendly projects, thus the increase in the popularity of organic beverages.
The best organic coffee beans are grown in Africa. The farmers plant their coffee trees in naturally mulched and composted soil under other vegetation such as banana trees. Here the coffee plants flourish as the other vegetation provide shelter from direct sunlight and heavy rain allowing just enough light and rain through for the coffee trees to grow healthy and strong without added hormones and chemicals. Non-synthetic pesticides may only be used in terms of the organic growing organizations regulations.
Coffee beans enjoy a very large market share and are of highest value to traders with an estimated 70 Billion US Dollars trade value capacity. In previous years pricing had been manipulated and farmers were easily paid peanuts for their efforts and hard work, but with continued economic development, minimum prices for the beans have been set, counteracting the harsh effects of dips in the business cycle.
When ready for harvesting, seeds are carefully picked from the coffee trees as a tree produces a mere 2.20 pounds of coffee beans per year. The beans are soaked in water until no pulp is present around the seeds. The seeds are then dried in the sun and weighed. After the weighing, the seeds are prepared for their long journey across the world to various coffee drinking countries. The seeds are sacked and re-weighed where it's then stored in special organic produce store rooms and safe guarded until auction and final shipment is done.
A downside to organic produce is the scarcity of the products. Organic foods have a tendency to be associated with higher prices to consumers due to the products' steeper pricing in relation to conventional products. Prices are higher due to various direct and indirect influences such as low yields, higher labor requirements, business start-up financing and additional land needs.
Organic coffee farmers have to comply with strict International rules and regulations prescribed by independent organic organizations, Fair Trade and KNCU (Kilimanjaro Native Cooperative Union). Compliance with these directives entail recognition for producing and supplying high quality coffee beans of international standards, which in turn assist the farmers of organic coffee beans to tap into global markets.
Farmers of organic coffee beans and their nations make a commitment to changing their lives for the better by taking positive actions in countries often labeled as third world. By participating in farming of organic coffee beans, these farmers are helping to build up their communities, establish better health care and education opportunities as well as creating brighter economic futures.
About the Author:
Are you a coffee aficionado? Are you just not ready to take on the day until you've had a couple of cups? Do you need to find a gift for someone that craves coffee? Then you've just got to visit
http://mycoffeecuprunnethover.com to learn about everything coffee, such as
roasted fresh coffee and much more!
Tags:
beverage,
coffee,
coffee beans,
coffee gifts,
coffee machines,
espresso machines,
family,
food,
food and beverage,
food and drink,
fresh ground coffee,
Gourmet Coffee,
hobbies,
home
Related posts
May 29 2009 | coffee | No Comments »