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Coffee Lovers Gift Baskets
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.
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Welcome to Beantrees Fine Organic Coffees
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Coffee Mugs
Coffee Lovers Gift Baskets
I am simply amazed at the variety of coffee lovers' gift baskets that are available today. One of my real coffee-loving friends had an upcoming birthday, and I had determined that I would send him a gift basket made up of coffee and coffee items. We had shared many cups of coffee over the years, and it seemed like an appropriate and thoughtful gift for my old friend.
The idea sounded simple enough, I thought. I would just go online, find a nice coffee gift basket and have it sent to him. Problem solved! That was before I discovered how many choices there were available. It was a mind-boggling array.
I had the option of choosing a gift basket that was already made up and consisted of a variety of gourmet coffees. I had the option of choosing a gift basket that I could determine which coffees would be included. I could give my friend a membership in one of many "coffee-of-the-month" clubs that would provide him with a different gourmet coffee each month of the year.
I could choose coffee gift baskets with coffee that was already ground, or I could choose a coffee gift basket that consisted of a variety of coffee beans and a coffee grinder so he could grind the coffee himself. There were even coffee gift baskets that included an espresso coffee maker and espresso coffee cups along with the coffee. What to choose, what to choose? I had thought this coffee gift basket idea was going to be easy! Well, ordering was easy, but deciding WHAT to order was anything but easy.
I finally made a choice. I chose a coffee gift basket that had a variety of gourmet coffees in single serving packages so that he would enjoy trying different coffees from around the world and now I have a long list of future gift ideas for my friend. |
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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: Jamaican Blue Coffee,
Low-Acid Coffee, Perfect Coffee
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