A Monthly Coffee Subscription Makes a Great Gift
A coffee of the month membership is a great gift for your family, friends, or even yourself. Each month the recipient will get a tangible reminder of your love and affection. For a coffee drinker there’s nothing better than the gift of a new and fabulous coffee. 
Whether beans or ground, loose or pods, large or small packets, a monthly subscription is a real treat.
Give Some of the Best Beans in the World
A monthly subscription will bring sample of the best roasts from all over the globe. Real coffee fans will appreciate the subtleties of the best coffee from the prime growing regions around the world. Each month will bring a new coffee from far off places. Most likely the coffee will be accompanied by a detailed description of its origins and suggestions for brewing. Some clubs even include a monthly newsletter that gives an insiders view of the coffee roasting and blending world. Read more
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Coffee Bean Producers Around The World
Coffee plants require plenty of sunshine and rain to flourish, so it’s not surprising to find it produced in tropical or sub-tropical areas.
Take your globe and follow the equator to find that the most important coffee producers are nearby. There is a narrow band from 23 degrees north or 25 degrees south that produces the all world’s coffee. Some 70 countries produce and market coffee beans.
In 2008 the leading coffee producing countries were as follows. Read more
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The Mystique of Coffee
How could a simple drink be responsible for so many romantic legends and so much hard-headed business? From the first discovery of coffee til today, this dark and pungent beverage has fascinated, enriched, and possibly cured millions.
Many people believe that coffee was discovered in Ethiopia around 500 BC. After observing the stimulating affects of its berries, travelers brought beans to Arabia and it began to be called coffee.
Coffee gained popularity in Europe during the Renaissance and became a commercial success with wide distribution. Eventually coffee became popular in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas. Read more
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How To Make A Great Espresso
Making espresso is something that any coffee lover can do at home with the right ingredients and tools.
THE INGREDIENTS
Water: You can’t make great coffee with poor quality water. Espresso requires fresh nearly boiling water. The secret to fresh water is to run the tap a bit to clear to pipes and get clear cold water. If you filter your water, make sure that you change the filter often. If you live in an area with really foul tasting water, use a filter or bottled water. Bottled water isn’t good for the environment, even if it makes better coffee.
Coffee Beans: The best espresso uses aribica coffee, robusta should be used for ordinary coffee. The coffee beans should be fresh and used no more than a couple days after roasting. The roasted beans should be a dark color and have a fresh smell.
Ground Coffee: Burr grinders are best for for preparing the coffee for espresso. You want a mixture with a grind that is somewhere between sand and gravel. The best way to learn the proper grind is to watch a professional prepare it. Don’t let the ground coffee stand around for days, the less time it’s exposed to air the better.
Espresso Machine: A good quality machine will make good espresso. Make sure that your machine is clean.
THE PROCESS
Once you have assembled these elements, you are ready to brew your espresso.
- Rinse the espresso machine and preheat it by running a cup through to flush the system.
- Add clear cold water.
- Add ground coffee and tamp it down a bit so it’s lighted packed.
- Place a warmed glass carafe under the spout.
- Start the machine and in about 5 seconds you will have a a steady stream of steam.
- When the coffee hit the arafe it should have a dark brown foam which is known as crema. When the crema begins to lose it’s dark color, it’s time to shut down the process and remove the espresso.
That’s all there is to it: use fresh water, properly ground aribica coffee beans, and a good espresso machine and you will have an outstanding cup of espresso in almost no time.
You can use the espresso as a base for making latte or other coffee drinks.
Updated May 30, 2009
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How to Make a Great Latte
We all know that drinking latte can be expensive. If we make our own we can save quite a bit and make it just the way we like it. Making latte is not particularly difficult once you understand the basic process.
It may surprise you, but the first step in making a great latte is preparing a great cup of espresso. You begin by grinding your fresh aribica beans to the proper consistency. Too coarse a grind will result in a very weak and thin espresso, but if your grind is too fine the espresso will taste much too bitter. Of course you will need a burr or espresso grinder to get the grind just right. It might take a little practise but you will succeed.
Next you brew the espresso. In less than half a minute you should have an espresso with rich dark foam that is called crema. If the color begins to lighten, stop making the espresso or it will be ruined.
Finally it’s time to take the last steps the whole process. A proper latte is a mixture of espresso and steamed milk with a frothy top. You will need about one and a half ounces of freshly brewed espresso. Next you have to steam the milk and create the froth topping. You can use your microwave or stove top, the steaming wand on your espresso machine will do a better job. A good espresso machine will make it easy to prepare delicious latte quickly.
Updated May 30, 2009
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Coffee FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions About Coffee
Coffee drinkers often want to know more about some of the topics covered by this blog. If you have any questions you would like to see added to our Coffee FAQ, please use the comment form to ask them. We will do our best to answer them.
Here are some of the questions we gotten about growing, processing, and making coffee. Read more
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