Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world, rivaling tea as the morning beverage of choice for millions of people. Whether the preference is organic shade-grown specialty blends or the average ground beans in a can, there is no doubt that true coffee lovers will go to great lengths to get their “fix.” Read on for some interesting tips and insights about this passion-inducing liquid that we can’t seem to live without.
There are coffee makers that are great for brewing only single cups of coffee. They let you brew just one cup and many flavors are available. All types of makers exist, each having different features.
A little coffee can be healthy. How you prepare your coffee makes a big difference; cream and sugar are generally not ideal. Use almond milk instead of cream and stevia or honey in place of sugar to make your drinks healthier.
Buy a coffee grinder, and buy whole bean coffee. There is no substitute for the taste of freshly ground beans. If you can’t afford a coffee grinder, you can still buy whole beans. Most supermarkets have grinders that you can use to grind your coffee purchase before you leave the store.
Buy smaller cans of coffee. If you buy coffee in a can, only buy what you will consume in a couple of weeks. It will cost more money than buying a large can and storing it for a while. What you save in money by buying a larger can, you end up sacrificing in taste.
Do you enjoy strong coffee? You should try using a French press instead of a drip machine. Pressing the coffee means more oil will end up in your beverage instead of being retained by the filter of your coffee machine. You will find that pressed coffee has more flavor and contains more caffeine.
Consider investing in a coffee grinder if you want incredible flavor. Doing so, you will be able to grind your beans as you need them. You will be amazed at the difference between coffee brewed from fresh beans and that made from a canned or bagged grind. You owe it to yourself.
For the perfect cup of coffee use fresh roasted coffee beans. If you insist on buying whole beans, make sure they haven’t expired and check the roasting date. Also, best quality beans are bought from a coffee shop or specialty store.
One of the things that you can do to improve the quality of your coffee is to filter the water that you use instead of using tap water. This will reduce the amount of chemicals in the mix when you are making your coffee, yielding a clearer and fresher taste upon drinking.
Some people drink their coffee black, and prefer just the pure coffee flavor. Others add just creamer, and still others like their coffee with a flavored creamer. There are many different brands and flavors or creamers available. Some common holiday creamers are flavored with pumpkin spice for Thanksgiving, or peppermint for Christmas.
If you are used to an independent coffee house, then be careful when ordering in Starbucks. They have a very different language for their products, as part of their distinct branding. The Caramel Macchiato you love back home is not going to taste at all the same in a Starbucks while on the road.
Never drink coffee in the eight hours prior to going to bed. The half-life of caffeine can range from 30 minutes to 8 hours, so this is the only sure fire way of having it out of your system when it is time to rest. Otherwise, you are going to need even more caffeine the next day. A coffee habit can be a little healthy, but caffeine dependency is bad news.
If your morning coffee doesn’t taste quite right, test that water to make sure it tastes okay. If the tap water in your kitchen tastes bad, buy a filter for it. If you don’t want to install a filter, you can buy pitchers that contain filters or use bottled water as the base for your coffee.
Make it a habit to only grind enough coffee for your immediate use. When you grind a whole bag of coffee, you are speeding up the flavor shelf life. Those grounds will lose flavor within a couple of days, where the fresh beans would have held out a little longer.
The kind of coffee you enjoy drinking depends on the region in which is brewed. If you prefer coffee that has a mild flavor, go with coffees from Latin America countries, like Brazil. If you like those with an exotic taste, you should drink coffee from African or Asian countries.
You can use coffee to bring the shine back to hair that looks worn and dull. Brew some extra strong coffee then allow it to cool. Place it on hair that is clean and dry and leave it on for 15-20 minutes. After that, rinse your hair and style it as you normally would.
Remember that coffee does have calories. While it is true that a good jolt of caffeine right before a workout can enable you to exercise more intensely and hopefully burn more calories, that is not carte blanche to drink as much coffee as you want. Each cup still adds up to your total caloric intake.
To allow for proper water penetration in your coffee grounds, be sure to indent them. Take your index finger and add a small dimple to the middle of your grounds. It should be about an inch and a half deep. That indent will allow the water to evenly penetrate the grounds that reside at the bottom of your cone.
As you see, coffee is indeed an important element in the world’s daily dietary consumption. Use some of the insights here to enrich the experience of your morning cup of “joe” and to expand your knowledge and enjoyment of a product that employs millions of workers across the globe.
