Showing posts with label cream and sugar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cream and sugar. Show all posts

Friday, December 26, 2008

Does Coffee Really Taste All That Good?

Before anyone gets up in arms lambasting this as a blasphemous suggestion, be assured that the question comes not from an observer, but a partaker. Or has it just become a habit?

Specific qualifications include: decades of indulging in somewhere between a cup to a quart daily on average; sampling of countless brands; mixing it up with varieties from espresso to cappuccino; often grinding my own beans; and though an early user of cream and sugar, taking it straight longer can be remembered.

But a while back, after preparing the morning brew, I actually paid attention to the first sip. It's an accepted routine that mostly happens on autopilot. Normally coffee gets consumed without much thought.

Nor did things improve after drinking more. Rather, it actually caught me up short just because it was so blah - in fact the taste was really somewhat unappealing. I suppose there was some anticipation of that delicious initial taste, but it didn't happen that way.

There was simply no apparent reason for it not to taste good. Likewise, neither was the water, measuring, or anything else in the production process to blame. The problem was not the coffee - it was a premium brand with a name familiar to all.

Initially I wrote it off as some unknown anomaly, but it happened the same for a couple more days. Experiments with switching out the coffee itself, water and other variables didn't really seem to change much.

Over time, I didn't notice so much, but then again it's unusual to notice a lot anyway until later in the morning when the brain kicks into gear. But from time to time I try and savor that first sip especially, to see what I really think about it.

The results are still mixed. Sometimes it appears to be pretty good, yet others it just seems like coffee - nothing special, just comfortable. Will I continue to drink it - absolutely. Why, is hard to say, but probably that's where the habit kicks in.

Try an experiment yourself. Savor that next cup and really focus on the taste. Is it actually as good in your mouth as in your mind?

Or is it sort of like golf, where hitting a perfect shot from time to time keeps us coming back despite all the crummy ones in between?

Friday, September 26, 2008

gourmet coffee my everyday whats yours

I know, I understand, but I really can't resist the incredible taste of coffee. Lots of friends tell me this is no good, yeah... Before work, during work and after work. Well, I drink coffee everyday. Some intro and history here... Where does this amazing small black pee from? This is the coffee bean. On the rising hills of Columbia, the fastest growing cash crop in the country is cultivated. The seeds of this shrub, which belongs to the Madder family, are called coffee, as is the beverage made from them, produced by passing boiled water through a filter containing ground roasted coffee beans. It can be consumed warm or cold and in any of the following styles: instant, filter, cappuccino, espresso (so strong you are only allowed 5ml at any one time, and it must be served in a steel reinforced cup), mocha, latte, or any combination of these with the word 'double' attached somewhere. Some drink their coffee with cream and sugar, others with milk and sugar; but purists claim the only way to drink a cup of 'Joe' is black... with or without sugar. Columbia is not the only country to produce fine grains of ambrosia. The hands-down best producer of coffee may be Puerto Rico. Yucua is the name of the plant. It is grown on the mountains of the rainforest on the beautiful island. Rare and expensive, this is the coffee of choice not just for Puerto Ricans, but also for the Vatican... and the Pope knows his coffee! So here're some Coffee Facts * Coffee beans grow on small trees. * It takes the annual yield of one tree to produce one pound of roasted beans. * Coffee beans are grown in subtropical regions around the world. * The biggest growers are Brazil and Columbia. * Commercial coffee crops are of two main types: Robustas and Arabicas. * Robusta coffee has twice as much caffeine as Arabica. * Arabica beans produce a smoother flavor and are the main constituent of most high-quality coffees. * It takes about 40 beans to make an espresso. * Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee beans are the most expensive in the world. * Coffee beans of several types are roasted together to produce appealing flavors.

I know, I understand, but I really can't resist the incredible taste of coffee. Lots of friends tell me this is no good, yeah... Before work, during work and after work. Well, I drink coffee everyday.Some intro and history here... Where does this amazing small black pee from?This is the coffee bean. On the rising hills of Columbia, the fastest growing cash crop in the country is cultivated.* Coffee beans of several types are roasted together to produce appealing flavors.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

coffee for a better life

Everything else is decadence. To understand coffee, one must understand the core value of tea: that the brewed leaf itself is the only healthful component. The fact stands that tea can only be as beneficial as its preparation, which in some cases may have as much sugar as a can of soda. Tea, its main rival, seems to offer a bounty of better health benefits; a drink for the New Agers and those who want to escape the decadence of the brown, caffeinated drink. Coffee, a drink cherished by many; a drink avoided by others. The bean is the important part. But all of this remains unchanged from tea. Along with cream, sugar waters down the benefits of coffee, where it turns the brew into drinkable candy. And then the all-consuming vice: sugar. Espresso machines, for example, produce a highly concentrated form of ordinary coffee. But the culture of coffee, like the tao of tea, contains a lot of excess trimmings. To that, the coffee bean itself contains a number of benefits to health. A daily cup poses no threat to the average person. Symptoms like these may sound off-putting, but they exist only in the long run for an abusive drinker. And depending on the brew, coffee contains acids that have been linked to stomach ulcers. Coffee is rich in the B vitamin niacin, it in turn restricts the body from other vitamins. But such an alternative could downplay the positive affects of the drink. To those sensitive to caffeine, the obvious alternative can be found in decaffeinated coffee. Serving size also comes into play. Different kinds of coffee (all prepared differently) will yield varied levels of caffeine content. Caffeine can wreak havoc on the nervous system, but that does not make it synonymous with coffee. The pressurized water in an espresso will not keep out most of the volatile acids, The pressurized water in an espresso will not keep out most of the volatile fatty acids in the brew (though some claim it helps the coffee to taste better). The use of a French press, with its lack of a filter, will keep the acids in the brew (though some claim it helps the coffee to taste better). The use of a French press, with its lack of a filter, will keep the acids in the bean. The use of a French press, with its lack of a filter, will keep the acids in the bean. The use of a French press, with its lack of a filter, will keep the acids in the bean. The use of a French press, with its lack of a filter, will keep the acids in the bean. The use of a French press, with its lack of a filter, will keep the acids in the bean. The standard method used by drip machines yield a good amount of caffeine and the filter traps out most of the volatile fatty acids in the bean. And a cup can be prepared several ways.

Everything else is decadence. To understand coffee, one must understand the core value of tea: that the brewed leaf itself is the only healthful component. The fact stands that tea can only be as beneficial as its preparation, which in some cases may have as much sugar as a can of soda. Tea, its main rival, seems to offer a bounty of better health benefits; a drink for the New Agers and those who want to escape the decadence of the brown, caffeinated drink. Coffee, a drink cherished by many; a drink avoided by others.The bean is the important part. But all of this remains unchanged from tea. Along with cream, sugar waters down the benefits of coffee, where it turns the brew into drinkable candy. And then the all-consuming vice: sugar. Espresso machines, for example, produce a highly concentrated form of ordinary coffee. But the culture of coffee, like the tao of tea, contains a lot of excess trimmings. To that, the coffee bean itself contains a number of benefits to health.A daily cup poses no threat to the average person. Symptoms like these may sound off-putting, but they exist only in the long run for an abusive drinker. And depending on the brew, coffee contains acids that have been linked to stomach ulcers. Coffee is rich in the B vitamin niacin, it in turn restricts the body from other vitamins. But such an alternative could downplay the positive affects of the drink. To those sensitive to caffeine, the obvious alternative can be found in decaffeinated coffee. Serving size also comes into play. Different kinds of coffee (all prepared differently) will yield varied levels of caffeine content. Caffeine can wreak havoc on the nervous system, but that does not make it synonymous with coffee.This along with less cream and less sugar, can make for a risk-free casual cup of coffee. Compared to their quality cousins, instant coffee should satisfy the balanced drinker. All told, for those who refuse to switch to decaffeinated, instant coffee granules contain less caffeine and fatty acids. The pressurized water in an espresso will not keep out most of the volatile acids, and it will also increase the caffeine content. The pressurized water in an espresso will not keep out most of the volatile fatty acids in the brew (though some claim it helps the coffee to taste better). The standard method used by drip machines yield a good amount of caffeine and the filter traps out most of the volatile fatty acids in the brew (though some claim it helps the coffee to taste better). And a cup can be prepared several ways.

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