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Coffee Cups
Buying Gourmet Coffee
How many different kinds of coffee do you suppose are available around the world today? I don't know, either, but there isn't much doubt that hundreds of thousands would be a guess that was not far off the mark.
Just go look on the shelves of your local supermarket. My goodness! There are dozens of brands and several choices of roasts for each brand. There are coffees that are made especially for drip coffee makers. There are coffees that are prepackaged and ready to be put into coffee makers. There are single servings. It's mind-boggling, and you haven't even scratched the surface yet -- the coffees on the shelves of your local supermarket aren't even the gourmet coffees.
To find the gourmet coffees, you will need to visit a coffee specialty shop or go surfing on the web. Now the choices are REALLY mind boggling. Unless you already know which gourmet coffee you are looking for, you will need to have some good information before you buy. It might even be a good idea to buy a "variety" package that includes several different gourmet coffees and give yourself the opportunity to try before you buy.
Some gourmet coffees have very high acidity. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Only your taste buds can decide. Some people prefer high acidity coffee, while others do not. Is the acidity a good thing or a bad thing? Well, some say that acidity causes stomach problems, and others say that the acidity is what makes the coffee a cancer fighter of the first order and what gives it the unique taste.
Some gourmet coffees, particularly those from the islands, have an earthy taste that isn't present in coffees from other regions. Some coffees, particularly those from Jamaica, are so smooth they make you want to cry. It all depends on your own individual likes and dislikes.
See Also:
Coffee of the month club, Fresh coffee of the month with our Monthly coffee & gifts clubs
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Wake Up and Smell the Coffee
Coffee with a Twist
When I think of a cup of coffee (which is often), two pictures come to mind. The first is me pouring my first cup of coffee out of my automatic coffee maker first thing in the morning, and the other is a picture of the waitress at my favorite coffee shop handing me a cup of coffee over the counter. There isn't anything fancy about the coffee in either situation. It is coffee….good, hot coffee.
However, I have discovered that coffee doesn't have to always be just plain coffee. Plain coffee is terrific, but you can make coffee as fancy as you want to make it.
For example, hot coffee in cold weather is great, but hot coffee in hot weather isn't. Iced coffee in hot weather is better…much better. The trick to making good iced coffee is to brew the coffee well in advance. Let it cool to room temperature and then refrigerate it in a very tightly sealed container until you are ready to serve it.
But wait…you can make it even better by using one of the many flavored syrups that are on the market that are specifically made for use in coffee (either hot coffee or iced coffee). These flavored syrups can be purchased in regular flavors like vanilla, chocolate, and the usual fruit and nut flavors, but they can also be purchased in some really exotic flavors as well. Flavored syrups like lavender, gingerbread, Granny Smith apple, eggnog, pumpkin pie, and cheesecake are available.
You can also add flavored whipped cream to coffee that really gives the coffee a festive air and a different taste. Flavored whipped cream recipes are available free all over the Internet, and flavored whipped cream can be purchased as well.
Coffee is great as just plain coffee, but coffee with a twist can be fun and interesting. |
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More articles:
The Joy of a New Coffee Maker
Health Benefits of Coffee - WebMD
Fully Automatic Coffee Cappuccino Machine Maker - Australia
Coffee Filters
Coffee Caffeine and Weight Loss & Dieting- What You Should Know
Coffee To Go
Iced Coffee
Wow! The temperatures are soaring so it must be summer. Those nice hot cups of coffee that we were enjoying fully only a few months ago now just look…well…HOT, like the weather. Hot drinks certainly lose their appeal when the mercury climbs, but the taste of coffee never loses its appeal, so the answer is obvious. Serve iced coffee! Now, there is a great idea.
Coffee is taste that is great only at extremes. Hot coffee is wonderful, and iced coffee is just as wonderful. Anything in between those temperature extremes is just awful and totally unacceptable. Luke warm coffee, tepid coffee, slightly cool coffee -- they all taste bad. There may be a scientific explanation, but I have no idea what that explanation might be. All I know is that hot coffee is good, and iced coffee is good.
Now, you can't keep hot coffee hot for a long period of time. It tends to gain strength by the minute. But you can keep cold coffee cold for as long as you want. When you make a pot of coffee, immediately pour it into a container that can be refrigerated. Here is where you stir in any flavored coffee syrups, because they will dissolve well in the hot coffee. Then when the coffee cools, refrigerate it and you are all set.
To prevent a tall cold glass of iced coffee from being weakened by melting ice, you can also freeze some coffee in your ice cube trays and use them rather than regular ice cubes.
There are some ways to really jazz up the iced coffee that you serve your guests. Try one of the many iced coffee recipes that you can find on the Internet, and have fun! Many of the iced coffee recipes will call for the use of whipped cream, and you can also find recipes for flavored whipped cream that will make your iced coffee drinks really spectacular.
Related Topics: Coffee and Alzheimers,
Wake Up and Smell the Coffee, What to Look for in a Coffee Maker
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