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Coffee, both hot as well as cold, is perhaps one of the most universally consumed beverages. The number of variations you can make with the drink are truly amazing, especially as you move on to the various parts of the world, where each region adds its own exotic touch to give the drink a new taste altogether. In this section, we take a quick look at the different modes of preparation of this wonderful drink and the methods followed across different countries and cultures.

Across the world

Well, to begin with, the Caribbean style is one of the most unusual and almost challenging to prepare. You have to begin by baking a coconut for 30 minutes approximately, at a temperature of about 134C. Once done, remove it and let it cool for some time. Following this, break open the shell and take out the flesh and grate. Now mix together the meat, coconut milk as well as half a cup of cow’s milk in a pan. Keep the heat on until the mixture thickens. After straining to remove the present granules, mix the entire mixture with a cup of coffee.

On the other hand, the Mexican mocha brings together the wonderful flavors of coffee along with chocolate. Mix a teaspoon of chocolate syrup, a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon and the same quantity of nutmeg together. Add in one cup of coffee along with white or organic sugar. Now, lets move on to Grog, which also happens to be the traditional treat for an English holiday.

To prepare this, foremost carefully peel a large orange and lemon and slice them properly. Add a peel of moderate size into the bottom of the cup. To this, further add in 1/3rd tablespoon of butter, 1 tablespoon brown sugar and a small pinch of nutmeg, ground cloves ad cinnamon. At last, add half a cup of coffee. Stir until it is well blended and add cream to taste.

Other Flavours

The other internationally flavored styles include the Viennese, Turkish and famous for its iced drink, the Vietnamese. In the Viennese style, 1/8th cup of dark chocolate is put into a sauce pan along with 1 tablespoon of light cream. After adding in half a cup of coffee, you will be required to whip it to make it frothy, thereafter allowing it to settle. On the other hand, the Turkish coffee is very strong, usually made in a special “dezva” pot. Meanwhile, the iced coffee of Vietnam is also a specialty in its own.

A long time ago, in a forgotten era, the world hand only one way to make coffee: the percolator. In those days, housewives in pearls and pumps would sit and gaze as the water heated, until the rising pressure forced it through a narrow tube which filtered the water over the coffee grounds. There was no fancy way to brew coffee back.

It really was a fascinating process, though, but the problem was that it did not make very good coffee. Boiling the coffee, and then running liquid over grounds multiple times can produce an unappetizing batch of coffee.

Thankfully, conditions improved by the end of the 1970s. The drip method of coffee production was introduced to the world. This little machine was cheap, fast and made better-tasting coffee. As one could imagine, it caught on quickly. Just pour some grounds into the coffee filter, wait a couple minutes as the heated water filters through and then enjoy a delicious pot of coffee.

Eventually, coffee “pods” made their way onto the market, which made coffee even easier. Improvements in many coffeemaker components gave the average brewer more control over the result. Internal spouts were developed to filter the water evenly through the grounds, and so quality became more consistent.

Espresso makers took off in the 1990s as Americans decided to adopt European culture. American engineering lowered the expense of the machines without sacrificing flavor. Hot water pressured through aromatic grounds produces a delicate drink for connoisseurs.

Slap on a dollop of frothed milk, and suddenly you have discovered a cappuccino. Espresso makers allow the average consumer to experiment with his or her own ideas to make up a new and exciting drink, depending on his tastes.

The French press is another European technology that Americans happily adopted. A metal rod runs through the center of a cylindrical glass container with a handle on top. At the other end of this rod is the filter, fits perfectly around the inside perimeter of the glass.

Simply dump in quality grounds and fill the rest with boiling water. In this method, the grounds float around in the water until you push down on the rod and force the filter through, pressing the grounds into the bottom of the container. Then, simply pour and enjoy.

None of these methods is really an innovation. Rather, they are new to us here in America. However, the methods described in this article were invented hundreds and hundreds of years ago. One Turkish invention may be one of the oldest. Water gets heated in copper receptacle that features a long handle and a curved tongue for pouring. The grounds get put directly into the heated water. From there, they are poured into your cup, unfiltered. The result is famously strong.

When it comes to using your coffee maker, experiment with these options from around the world!

Mexico is home of a special coffee tree that actually produces coffee that is almost 100% naturally decaffeinated. However, until that tree is being used for commercial production of decaf, caffeine needs to be removed from coffee. The question remains though, how does this decaffeination process affect the taste.

Most people say that the difference is not noticeable, but there are some who of course can tell. One of the methods for decaffeinating coffee is hot water treatment and methylene chloride rinsing. It may be surprising to some to learn that coffee has already seen water before it is brewed; more than once actually. The coffee berries are rinsed after they are picked and then they are rinsed again to get rid of the fruit flesh. It is not the water that removes the taste, but determining whether the chemicals used do or not.

The chemical decaffeinated process starts with green unroasted beans. Then they are warmed with either hot water or steam. This helps the bean’s pores to open. After this, the beans are rinsed using methylene chloride. This attaches to the caffeine and is then washed away.

Or, it can be done where the beans are soaked for many hours in hot water and the caffeine leaks out into the water. Then the chemical is added to the bath. The chemical then bonds to the caffeine in the water without removing the flavor from the water. Then the beans are re-soaked in the flavorful water without the caffeine and regain their taste.

There is also a process called Swiss Water. This process does not use any chemicals. The beans are soaked in hot water, same as above but the caffeine is removed using charcoal instead of chemicals. The caffeine sticks to the charcoal and is removed from the water that way. This is considered to be the chemical free method of decafeinating coffee.

Using methylene chloride is the preferred method because of its cost. It is debatable whether the chemical does alter the taste of the bean or not. Regardless of the decaf process, the coffee drinker always has ways to reduce caffeine intake. For instance, the darker the coffee is roasted, the less caffeine it has. Decaf can also be blended with regular coffee whenever to obtain optimum taste and reduced caffeine.

Individuals will always have their own specifications about decaf and regular and beliefs about whether there is an altered taste with decaf or not. However, caffeine does add some bitterness, so decaf coffee can be detected by some. Whether the detected alteration is taste is preferred or not, is up to the individual coffee drinker. In the end, people will always love coffee, so enjoy it, and be lavish.

For a plant that is found in more than 70 countries worldwide from Brazil to Indonesia, its strange how the plant can survive in just enough conditions needed to produce top brass beans and how comparatively small the entire output is.

The reason the word beans is notable is that the thing that is roasted and crunched to make the drink is not at all a bean but, in fact, a seed.

Specifically saying, it is the seed of a fruit that grows on trees which go beyond twenty feet or more in height. There are even some kinds of trees that reach up to 45 feet or 15 metre. The majority of these seeds are found in pairs, though there is also a type called the peaberry, that has only one. The berry looks like a cranberry with a sweet pulp covered with a membrane known as a silverskin.

In an area near the equator at more or less 25 degrees north or south, is found the hugest coffee output of the world. Between 60F (15C) and 70F (21C) is the best temperature for the growth of coffee as well as a rainfall of six inches or more every month.

To get the best quality of output the prerequisite conditions also demand loamy, good draining earth, high humidity, lots of mist and cloud hovering over high altitudes, which can be over 3000 feet or 915 m. At this height the content of oxygen is lesser, so the trees take more time to grow into maturity.

The coffea canephora or robusta is what constitutes most of the coffee since it can grown at lower heights and is resistant to diseases. But its the coffea Arabica grown at higher altitude that is the drinkers delight.

Dim lights and average breeze are also good both of which can be made manifest when grown intentionally in shade and shelter. Quite opposite wine grapes require hot sun and the more the better.

When the trees are planted, they take around five years to mature enough for the first crop and then also one tree will only produce just about two pounds, that is, 1 kilogram, of coffee.

It takes around 2,000 beans (thats the standard term to use, right or wrong) to make those two pounds of coffee. The beans are generally picked by hands by manual workers. Well they may be manual, but they are very much aware of what they are doing. Harvesting of coffee beans is a skill that is acquired over time, where the picker can differentiate between the good and the bad stuff, selecting the good beans and throwing away the rest.

The trees have wide leaves dark green in color and produce a flower that looks like Jasmine. A few for example those in Brazil and Mexico burst forth over a period of six to eight weeks. In countries that are located near the equator like Columbia and Kenya, a tree, however, can have ripe berries growing together with still growing ones. This is where sound knowledge of picking saves the day.

From these very remote places, where weather conditions are strong, the berries are picked up and processed that go into making the globes second largest product if we go by annual dollar volume.

So when you sip your cup of coffee or use your own cappuccino maker, remember the long journey it had to traverse to be put into your cup. Probably the steep price would no longer seem so high.

The Art of Coffee Grading

Grading coffee is truly an art form. It requires a lot of skill and knowledge to sure that the coffee you find in stores and shops is of the best quality. Coffee is graded before roasting and a person who does it is called a ‘Green Coffee Seller’. This grading expert is trained to know all of the characteristics to be inspected and they can tell a good bean form a bad bean with matchless skill. The average person could only dream of having the skills an experienced grading expert has. They know how good your coffee will be before it ever hits the sales floor.

Bean Traits

There are many traits of a bean that need to be evaluated in the grading process. These traits are carefully examined by the grader and sometimes it can be a tricky process because even slight differences can end up being huge differences in the end. Here are the main traits that have to be considered during the grading process:

Size and Shape: The beans should be uniform in size and shape. This will help to ensure an even roast since larger beans and smaller beans have different roasting time and that means the timing will not be able to be adjusted properly.

Color: Similar color is desirable because uneven color suggests that the beans were dried differently. It could also indicate a mixing of beans from different cultivars which will lead to problems with roasting and the resulting flavor.

Region and Cultivar: Beans should be separated by region and cultivar. This helps to ensure roasting and the final product are even and consistent. By making sure the region and cultivar are the same with each bean, it can be ensured they were dried the same.

Processing: Beans should be processed as soon after harvest as possible. After harvested beans start to ferment which producing unwanted compounds. If drying is put off too long the flavor will be greatly affected. Additionally the type of processing used is inspected. Wet processing involves separating beans of different densities by removing floating beans during the wet washing process. Dry processing is a more meticulous and efficient system of separation. Dry processed beans will have a brown color which is similar to the color of unprocessed beans. However, when rubbed the skin comes off of dry processed beans and not under processed beans.

Drying Aspects: The signs of improperly dried beans are obvious and well checked. Harsh mechanical techniques, drying too fast or infrequent turning during drying all result in a mottled appearance. Properly dried beans are dried slowly enough to let the skin dry and have several, short periods of mechanical drying. They will result in an even color and the right moisture content needed for proper roasting results.

Tell Tale Signs: White edges on beans indicate bad drying or storage and will not produce a good flavor. Bright appearance is a sign of a good bean. Smell: Finally, the smell of the bean can say a lot. They should have a fresh scent without a smoky or musty undertone.

Researchers and experts have always wondered since ages on the marvel of the concept of bean plantation. It is indeed a contradiction that a tree which is grown in more than 70 countries, right from Indonesia to Brazil has an immensely narrow range of accompanying conditions that govern the production of quality beans. The amazingly small amount of output that emerges from the extensive procedure is another unusual fact.

The Seed

Specialists on the subject point out that what appears to be a bean is actually a seed that is ground to make the drink. This seed is basically known to grow on trees that reach up to a height of a whopping twenty feet or even more. In fact, there are some wild varieties that might grow over 45 feet or 15 mm also. The ideal temperature for this particular seed is between 15C (60F) and 21C (70F), along with a rainfall of six inches or more. A loamy, good-draining soil and high humidity are also helpful factors. In addition, since diffuse light and moderate winds are also effective, at times such conditions are deliberately created by growing the seed in shelter and shade.

Once plantation has been done, the tree generally takes up to five years to mature to the first crop. Such trees normally have broad, dark green leaves and generally blossom over a six to eight week period. It is another amazing fact that one such tree will only make about two pounds or one kilogram of coffee. Picking of the beans by manual laborers is the next step in this process. This is done by leaving out the bad beans, which also accounts for the high price of the drink. On an average, a good harvest will bring around 6,600 lbs and 8,800 lbs per hectare.

In all, there is usually a gap of nine months between blossom to harvest, which might vary in accordance with the weather and other such factors. The berries thus produced are then brought down and processed to manufacture the popular drink. A series of state-of-the art techniques and machinery is used for the processing of beans, before it is ready for your home coffee maker.

The likes of robusta or coffea canephora are used to produce to the maximum amount of coffee, basically due to the fact that these can be grown at lower altitudes and are more resistant to disease.