Copied from the web:
You already know that drinking water is key to your health. Downing at least six cups of water daily can minimize bloating, prevent headaches, help prevent you from getting sick and smooth the appearance of wrinkles. It may even temporarily rev your metabolism, if you drink it on the cool side (72 degrees). That's a lot of benefit from a beverage you don't even have to pay for! But H20 isn't the only sip that can safeguard your health.
Coffee, which some people accuse me of being addicted to, is basically liquid gold. It may lower your risk for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, breast cancer, skin cancer, diabetes, gallstones, even oral cancer.
P.S., java drinkers make half as many errors in daily life compared with decaf fans, according to a study from Cardiff University in Wales, because caffeine helps you process information quickly. It's also linked to a reduced risk for depression. Those pit stops at Starbucks aren't just perking me up—they're protecting every part of me! Not a java junkie? Read on to learn the hidden health bennies of your favorite bevy:
Chamomile tea can keep you calm. People who downed chamomile extract daily for two months felt significantly less anxious, a study from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia reports. Ease into mellow mode at night with a cup of chamomile tea.
Green tea may keep your weight steady. Mice that exercised and drank green tea were 22 percent less likely to gain weight than those who only exercised or only had tea, according to a study in the International Journal of Obesity. Polyphenols in the drink may rev your metabolism and make it easier for your body to fry fat. Plus, the tea's plentiful stash of antioxidants slashes your risk for cancer and heart disease. Try it iced in summer!
Black tea may help fend off skin cancer. The classic brew is loaded with flavonoids, antioxidants that carry anticancer perks. Research suggests that downing a cup or more of tea a day may lower risk for squamous cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer, by 30 percent. Hot or iced, black tea is a delicious addition to your skin care regimen—and a lovely way to wake up thanks to its caffeine content—so put on the kettle each morning!
Just watch the sugars—one cup contains 21 grams and 122 calories.
Courtesy of your Coffee Reviewer. Have a nice day, and God Bless!
This blog is all about the coffee. It will be filled with my personal opinions of the various coffees that I, personally, have tried. I have my preferences, when it comes to coffee. I prefer dark roasts, and do NOT like decaf much at all. I will be reviewing coffee, latte, cappuccino, and various other varieties of my favorite beverage.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Cold Brewed Coffee - copied from Boston Globe
I have tried "Cold Brewed Coffee" at Square One Coffee located
at 145 North Duke Street in Lancaster, PA. They use the drip
method you'll read about a few paragraphs down. This is AMAZINGLY
GOOD. Very Highly Recommended for Flavor, Richness, and a fabulous
finish. Smooth as silk, and totally delicious! If this was YouTube,
I'd be giving it 5 Stars!
Copied Article
Courtesy of:
The Boston Globe © Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
Cold-brewed iced coffee makes a stir
Smooth, full-flavored drink gains fans locally
By Andrea Pyenson
Globe Correspondent / August 25, 2010
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/food/articles/2010/08/25/cold_brewed_coffee_makes_a_stir_in_the_hub/?camp=localsearch:on:twit:rtbutton
The first sip is like a revelation. It looks like iced coffee, smells like iced coffee, but doesn’t quite taste like iced coffee. That’s because it’s cold-brewed, and it fills your mouth with intense flavor. But there’s no bitterness. Instead, it’s almost sweet, accentuating the finest elements of coffee taste. In weather like we’ve been having most of the summer, it would be easy to sip on this all day long.
Judson MacRae uses a cloth-lined strainer to make cold-brewed coffee at the Hi-Rise Bread Co. in Cambridge. (Wendy Maeda) Judson MacRae uses a cloth-lined strainer to make cold-brewed coffee at the Hi-Rise Bread Co. in Cambridge.
Related
* Cold-brewed coffee makes a stir in the Hub
* Recipe Cold-brewed iced coffee
Cold-brewed iced coffee isn’t new in the industry, but relatively new to the Boston area — at least at the scale it’s being offered now. According to coffee experts, taking the heat out of the brewing process also removes much of the coffee’s acidity. The result is a drink that is richer and smoother than the hot-brewed alternatives. Jaime van Schyndel, co-owner of Barismo in Arlington, compares it to “having a nice bourbon over ice. You get a lot of essence out of the coffee, a lot of texturing and depth. It’s just a better experience.’’
Judson MacRae, who runs the coffee bar at Hi-Rise Bread Co. in Harvard Square, says cold-brewed iced coffee “has a lot of body, tends toward chocolate-y flavors, finishes sweet.’’ This is the third summer the Brattle Street cafe has been serving the beverage. “It’s been gaining a lot of popularity,’’ he says. “People know what it is now — to a degree.’’ Hi-Rise cold-brews “as year-round as possible,’’ says MacRae, though the demand is smaller in colder weather.
“It’s a whole new brew method for us,’’ says Jake Robinson, coffee program director at Pavement Coffeehouse in Boston, a relative newcomer to the local scene. “You get a lot of sweetness, not bitter or sour notes.’’ Because cold brewing is a slow process, and Pavement is introducing its customers to the drink slowly, the shop makes relatively small amounts and sells out quickly.
The primary brewing techniques used in local shops are total immersion and the Toddy method. For total immersion — used at Barismo, Hi-Rise, Pavement, and Cafe Fixe in Brookline — baristas steep coffee grounds in filtered water for 12 to 24 hours, at room temperature or in the refrigerator (steep time is longer if it’s chilled), then the grounds are removed through a cloth filter, fine-mesh strainer, cheesecloth, paper filter — or some combination.
At 1369 Coffee House in Cambridge, Toscanini’s in Cambridge, and one of the two Jaho Coffee and Tea shops in Salem, coffee makers use the Toddy method, in which ground coffee is placed in what is essentially a very large teabag, put in an even larger container of water to steep at room temperature for up to 24 hours. That creates a coffee concentrate that is diluted with water. Josh Gerber, owner of 1369, says, “It’s a lot of work to cold-brew iced coffee, but we think it pays off.’’ It has been the method of choice at his shops since 1996. “We think it makes a superior product.’’
At one of the Jaho shops, owner Anil Mezini uses a Kyoto-style drip system imported from Japan, which looks like something out of a science lab. This method takes about eight hours to brew. Mezini, who spent a year in college studying in Japan, believes the system is “very visually pleasing for the customer.’’ And he thinks it brews iced coffee with “bolder, richer flavor.’’ It takes a finer grind than other cold-brew methods, he says. “You get more extraction from the coffee.’’
If you don’t feel like going out for your chilled caffeine, it’s amazingly easy to cold-brew iced coffee at home. There are several cold-brew coffee pots on the market, but you really don’t need any special equipment. Invent your own system with a couple of Mason jars, a fine-mesh strainer, coffee filter or cheesecloth.
Once brewed, the coffee will keep in the refrigerator for four to five days. Just add ice.
Andrea Pyenson can be reached at apyenson@gmail.com.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
Courtesy of your Coffee Reviewer. Have a nice day, and God Bless!
at 145 North Duke Street in Lancaster, PA. They use the drip
method you'll read about a few paragraphs down. This is AMAZINGLY
GOOD. Very Highly Recommended for Flavor, Richness, and a fabulous
finish. Smooth as silk, and totally delicious! If this was YouTube,
I'd be giving it 5 Stars!
Copied Article
Courtesy of:
The Boston Globe © Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
Cold-brewed iced coffee makes a stir
Smooth, full-flavored drink gains fans locally
By Andrea Pyenson
Globe Correspondent / August 25, 2010
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/food/articles/2010/08/25/cold_brewed_coffee_makes_a_stir_in_the_hub/?camp=localsearch:on:twit:rtbutton
The first sip is like a revelation. It looks like iced coffee, smells like iced coffee, but doesn’t quite taste like iced coffee. That’s because it’s cold-brewed, and it fills your mouth with intense flavor. But there’s no bitterness. Instead, it’s almost sweet, accentuating the finest elements of coffee taste. In weather like we’ve been having most of the summer, it would be easy to sip on this all day long.
Judson MacRae uses a cloth-lined strainer to make cold-brewed coffee at the Hi-Rise Bread Co. in Cambridge. (Wendy Maeda) Judson MacRae uses a cloth-lined strainer to make cold-brewed coffee at the Hi-Rise Bread Co. in Cambridge.
Related
* Cold-brewed coffee makes a stir in the Hub
* Recipe Cold-brewed iced coffee
Cold-brewed iced coffee isn’t new in the industry, but relatively new to the Boston area — at least at the scale it’s being offered now. According to coffee experts, taking the heat out of the brewing process also removes much of the coffee’s acidity. The result is a drink that is richer and smoother than the hot-brewed alternatives. Jaime van Schyndel, co-owner of Barismo in Arlington, compares it to “having a nice bourbon over ice. You get a lot of essence out of the coffee, a lot of texturing and depth. It’s just a better experience.’’
Judson MacRae, who runs the coffee bar at Hi-Rise Bread Co. in Harvard Square, says cold-brewed iced coffee “has a lot of body, tends toward chocolate-y flavors, finishes sweet.’’ This is the third summer the Brattle Street cafe has been serving the beverage. “It’s been gaining a lot of popularity,’’ he says. “People know what it is now — to a degree.’’ Hi-Rise cold-brews “as year-round as possible,’’ says MacRae, though the demand is smaller in colder weather.
“It’s a whole new brew method for us,’’ says Jake Robinson, coffee program director at Pavement Coffeehouse in Boston, a relative newcomer to the local scene. “You get a lot of sweetness, not bitter or sour notes.’’ Because cold brewing is a slow process, and Pavement is introducing its customers to the drink slowly, the shop makes relatively small amounts and sells out quickly.
The primary brewing techniques used in local shops are total immersion and the Toddy method. For total immersion — used at Barismo, Hi-Rise, Pavement, and Cafe Fixe in Brookline — baristas steep coffee grounds in filtered water for 12 to 24 hours, at room temperature or in the refrigerator (steep time is longer if it’s chilled), then the grounds are removed through a cloth filter, fine-mesh strainer, cheesecloth, paper filter — or some combination.
At 1369 Coffee House in Cambridge, Toscanini’s in Cambridge, and one of the two Jaho Coffee and Tea shops in Salem, coffee makers use the Toddy method, in which ground coffee is placed in what is essentially a very large teabag, put in an even larger container of water to steep at room temperature for up to 24 hours. That creates a coffee concentrate that is diluted with water. Josh Gerber, owner of 1369, says, “It’s a lot of work to cold-brew iced coffee, but we think it pays off.’’ It has been the method of choice at his shops since 1996. “We think it makes a superior product.’’
At one of the Jaho shops, owner Anil Mezini uses a Kyoto-style drip system imported from Japan, which looks like something out of a science lab. This method takes about eight hours to brew. Mezini, who spent a year in college studying in Japan, believes the system is “very visually pleasing for the customer.’’ And he thinks it brews iced coffee with “bolder, richer flavor.’’ It takes a finer grind than other cold-brew methods, he says. “You get more extraction from the coffee.’’
If you don’t feel like going out for your chilled caffeine, it’s amazingly easy to cold-brew iced coffee at home. There are several cold-brew coffee pots on the market, but you really don’t need any special equipment. Invent your own system with a couple of Mason jars, a fine-mesh strainer, coffee filter or cheesecloth.
Once brewed, the coffee will keep in the refrigerator for four to five days. Just add ice.
Andrea Pyenson can be reached at apyenson@gmail.com.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
Courtesy of your Coffee Reviewer. Have a nice day, and God Bless!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Copied from CoffeeAM... www.coffeeam.com ... so they get the credit for this posting!
This is a good site, to buy fresh roasted coffee (whole bean or fresh ground), various types of tea, and to get information like you are about to read. I recommend their products, very highly!
Storing Coffee
There are popular misconceptions on the way roasted coffee should be stored and maintained. The enemies of roasted coffee are moisture, air, light, and heat. Storing your coffee away from them will keep it fresher longer. Therefore, an airtight container stored in a cool, dry, dark place is the best environment for your coffee.
Freezing Coffee - Not as Good as an Iced Mocha!
Some people store their coffee in the freezer thinking it is going to keep the coffee fresh. Here are a couple of reasons why storing coffee in your freezer is a bad idea:
* Coffee is porous. This is a good thing for fans of flavored coffee as the beans absorb the coffee flavoring syrups and oils that are used to make flavored coffee. However, if given the chance, coffee can also absorb other things like the flavor of seafood or the moisture that your freezer produces. This moisture will in turn deteriorate the coffee and even make it taste like, well... like a freezer.
* When coffee is roasted, the beans release their oils and essences to give the coffee its distinct flavor. You'll notice these oils are more prominent on dark-roasted coffee and espresso. When you break down these oils by freezing, you are removing the flavor.
Think about it...if coffee tasted better and fresher from the freezer, then you would buy it in the frozen food section, your local coffee shop might look more like an ice cream parlor, and our power bills would be through the roof trying to maintain a meat-locker the size of a warehouse.
When to Freeze Coffee:
How long does coffee stay fresh? A good rule to use is two weeks. Now, if you happen to have found a great price on bulk coffee, and you don't plan on using it within two weeks, the freezer can be an acceptable one-time shot. What this means is that once you take it out of the freezer, it should never go back in. The constant changes in temperature will wreak havoc on your coffee. The frozen moisture on your coffee will melt and be absorbed into the bean. When you put it back into the freezer, you are repeating the process.
The goal in freezing coffee is to keep it away from moisture. If you have a five-pound bag of coffee to store, divide it up into weekly portions. Wrap those portions up using sealable freezer bags and plastic wrap. I've even read you should go so far as to suck out the excess air from the freezer bag using a straw!
Remove the weekly portion when you need it, and store it in an air-tight container in a dry place like your pantry. Do not put it back into the freezer!
When to Refrigerate Coffee:
Never, unless you are conducting a science experiment on how long it takes to ruin perfectly good coffee. The fridge is one of the absolute worst places to put coffee.
Buy whole beans and keep them whole as long as you can.
Would you cut a cake into pieces the day before you plan to serve it? Would you buy it pre-sliced? Of course not! The pieces would quickly become stale and the frosting would start to dry out. The same goes for coffee. Grinding the coffee breaks up the beans and their oils, exposes the beans to air, and makes the coffee go stale a lot faster, no matter how you store it.
This holds especially true for flavored coffees!
For the best tasting coffee, buy your beans whole and store them in a sealed container in a dark place. Grind right before serving.
Vacuum-sealed coffee:
Vacuum-sealed coffee does not equal fresh coffee. When coffee is roasted, it releases carbon dioxide and continues to release it for days afterward. Fresh-roasted coffee can be packaged in valve-sealed bags to allow the gasses to escape and will taste best about 48 hours after roasting. To be vacuum sealed, the coffee has to first release all its CO2 or it will burst the bag. The vacuum bag will indeed help preserve coffee longer while it ships and maybe sits on a store shelf, but before it shipped it had to sit around for a while before it was "sealed for freshness."
Vacuum sealing is best for pre-ground coffee, which we already know is not going to taste as good as fresh-ground coffee.
A quick review for serving the best coffee:
1. Buy whole beans directly from a coffee roaster if possible.
2. Look for valve-sealed bags, not vacuum-sealed.
3. Store your coffee beans in a sealed container in a dark place.
4. Grind your beans just before brewing.
5. Enjoy!
Courtesy of your Coffee Reviewer. Have a nice day, and God Bless!
This is a good site, to buy fresh roasted coffee (whole bean or fresh ground), various types of tea, and to get information like you are about to read. I recommend their products, very highly!
Storing Coffee
There are popular misconceptions on the way roasted coffee should be stored and maintained. The enemies of roasted coffee are moisture, air, light, and heat. Storing your coffee away from them will keep it fresher longer. Therefore, an airtight container stored in a cool, dry, dark place is the best environment for your coffee.
Freezing Coffee - Not as Good as an Iced Mocha!
Some people store their coffee in the freezer thinking it is going to keep the coffee fresh. Here are a couple of reasons why storing coffee in your freezer is a bad idea:
* Coffee is porous. This is a good thing for fans of flavored coffee as the beans absorb the coffee flavoring syrups and oils that are used to make flavored coffee. However, if given the chance, coffee can also absorb other things like the flavor of seafood or the moisture that your freezer produces. This moisture will in turn deteriorate the coffee and even make it taste like, well... like a freezer.
* When coffee is roasted, the beans release their oils and essences to give the coffee its distinct flavor. You'll notice these oils are more prominent on dark-roasted coffee and espresso. When you break down these oils by freezing, you are removing the flavor.
Think about it...if coffee tasted better and fresher from the freezer, then you would buy it in the frozen food section, your local coffee shop might look more like an ice cream parlor, and our power bills would be through the roof trying to maintain a meat-locker the size of a warehouse.
When to Freeze Coffee:
How long does coffee stay fresh? A good rule to use is two weeks. Now, if you happen to have found a great price on bulk coffee, and you don't plan on using it within two weeks, the freezer can be an acceptable one-time shot. What this means is that once you take it out of the freezer, it should never go back in. The constant changes in temperature will wreak havoc on your coffee. The frozen moisture on your coffee will melt and be absorbed into the bean. When you put it back into the freezer, you are repeating the process.
The goal in freezing coffee is to keep it away from moisture. If you have a five-pound bag of coffee to store, divide it up into weekly portions. Wrap those portions up using sealable freezer bags and plastic wrap. I've even read you should go so far as to suck out the excess air from the freezer bag using a straw!
Remove the weekly portion when you need it, and store it in an air-tight container in a dry place like your pantry. Do not put it back into the freezer!
When to Refrigerate Coffee:
Never, unless you are conducting a science experiment on how long it takes to ruin perfectly good coffee. The fridge is one of the absolute worst places to put coffee.
Buy whole beans and keep them whole as long as you can.
Would you cut a cake into pieces the day before you plan to serve it? Would you buy it pre-sliced? Of course not! The pieces would quickly become stale and the frosting would start to dry out. The same goes for coffee. Grinding the coffee breaks up the beans and their oils, exposes the beans to air, and makes the coffee go stale a lot faster, no matter how you store it.
This holds especially true for flavored coffees!
For the best tasting coffee, buy your beans whole and store them in a sealed container in a dark place. Grind right before serving.
Vacuum-sealed coffee:
Vacuum-sealed coffee does not equal fresh coffee. When coffee is roasted, it releases carbon dioxide and continues to release it for days afterward. Fresh-roasted coffee can be packaged in valve-sealed bags to allow the gasses to escape and will taste best about 48 hours after roasting. To be vacuum sealed, the coffee has to first release all its CO2 or it will burst the bag. The vacuum bag will indeed help preserve coffee longer while it ships and maybe sits on a store shelf, but before it shipped it had to sit around for a while before it was "sealed for freshness."
Vacuum sealing is best for pre-ground coffee, which we already know is not going to taste as good as fresh-ground coffee.
A quick review for serving the best coffee:
1. Buy whole beans directly from a coffee roaster if possible.
2. Look for valve-sealed bags, not vacuum-sealed.
3. Store your coffee beans in a sealed container in a dark place.
4. Grind your beans just before brewing.
5. Enjoy!
Courtesy of your Coffee Reviewer. Have a nice day, and God Bless!
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