Curious Coffee Stories and Exhilarating Coffee Knowledge
You just roasted a batch of coffee? Well you better grind it up and brew it soon, because the coffee will soon begin to lose its fine flavors and aromas. Even if you store it in the very best way, in a cool, dark, dry place, it will still begin losing its flavor after two weeks.
During coffee roasting the beans are heated to more than four hundred degrees Fahrenheit as the outside of the bean darkens and oils begin to rise to the surface. Soon the bean gives off a "crack" or "pop" noise. This is known as the first crack and is roasting may stop here for lighter roasts. If roasting continues there will soon be a second "crack."
A typical well-cared for Arabica coffee plant produces a crop each year for about thirty years.
How much coffee can a coffee picker pick? Perhaps a good day is about sixty pounds providing about 2,400 people with one cup of coffee each!
Of all coffee consumed, how much of it is drank at breakfast time? The answer: Thirty-four percent.
Also see:
The Top Ten Coffees in the World
How many coffee trade workers are there in Brazil? About five million.
In the 1600s, the long and pointed cowl on the habit of the Capuchin monks was called cappuccino from the term cappuccio which means hood. Italians thought the peak of foam atop their espresso and steamed milk coffee drinks had a similar look the cowl of the Capuchin friar's habit, and so named their drink cappuccino!
Since the United States imports about 2.4 billion pounds of coffee this must require more than 1.6 billion coffee trees to produce that coffee supply.
A spice and water concoction is used in some parts of Africa to soak coffee beans providing a tasty treat that can be chewed like candy.
What do coffee critics and wine critics have in common? They are both concerned with the many of the same aspects of the bean/grape including the climate of the region where it was grown, the fertility of the soil where it was grown, the drainage of the soil, the altitude at which it was grown, and how much care was taken during the cultivation and harvest as well as in all the steps of processing, storage, and transportation. They are also both concerned with the fine nuances of the tastes and aromas as well as the body, acidity and aftertaste.
People in the United States consume a lot of caffeine and about seventy-five percent of it is consumed in coffee while other popular sources of caffeine are soft drinks, chocolate, tea, and chocolate.
About thirteen percent of all coffee consumed is instant coffee.
In the 1970s Americans in large numbers developed a taste for flavored coffees.
Crema is the finest part of the espresso. The golden-brown layer sits atop the freshly brewed shot of espresso holding in the heat and aroma and containing the espresso's finest flavors.
Coffee was used medicinally in England in the 1600s for a variety of ailments and when used for this purpose it was sometimes mixed with oil, honey, or heated butter.
For tips on brewing the perfect cup of coffee see the Espresso Coffee Guides section on coffee brewing.
For easy to follow instructions on how to make great espresso drinks see Espresso Drink Recipes and the How to make Lattes and Cappuccinos. Also provided are tips on Pulling A Perfect Espresso Shot.
For the history of espresso and coffee see World's Best History of Coffee, and for a complete list of coffee terminology with detailed definitions see the Espresso Coffee Guides Coffee and Espresso Glossary.
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