Hans Dekker asked:




You can be a coffee lover without knowing much about coffee beans, but learning a little bit about the different types of coffee can help you get the perfect cup every time. There are many types of gourmet coffee beans. The way they have been grown in processed has a huge effect on their taste. Here’s a little bit of information for getting the best from your gourmet coffee beans.

Coffee is a common agricultural product of many tropical countries. There are two main species of coffee plant – Arabica and Robusta. Gourmet coffee beans are mostly Arabica because of their superior flavor and smoothness. Many blends, however, include Robusta coffee beans to give an edge to the coffee.

After the coffee is picked, it must be roasted. Roasting makes the green coffee beans expand in size and changes their color to a light to dark brown. Lighter roasts reveal more of the flavor of gourmet coffee beans, while darker roasts take on the flavor of the roasting process itself. After roasting the coffee should be kept in vacuum packed containers to minimize flavor loss.

Gourmet coffee beans must be ground to the correct fineness to bring out the most taste. Generally speaking, a fine grind will result in a full-bodied cup of coffee, but coarse grinds are used when making coffee with coarse filters like the French cafetiere.

Once the coffee has been ground, there are many ways to brew a cup of coffee. No matter whether you prefer espresso, drip, perked, or pressed, you need to start with high-quality gourmet coffee beans to get a good cup of coffee.

You can buy gourmet coffee beans in many types of blends. Most blends are a mixture of dark and light roast coffee beans and can be ground to suit the type of coffee maker you use. Freshness is important when making good-quality coffee. Fresh ground coffee beans will give you the best tasting cup of coffee.

Mike Pennachio asked:




If you are looking to buy a pod coffee maker, you may be a bit hesitant about buying the wrong one. With popularity in the single serve variety growing, more and more companies are coming out with their own versions. So which one should you go with? Read on to find out!

No matter which brand you choose, every pod coffee maker is designed to brew the perfect cuppa. No grinding up beans or measuring out grinds anymore. You just pop the pod in the machine, add water, press the button and you’re good to go. And you can forget about pouring yourself a cup only to find it stale and cold because that pot has been sitting around for an hour. Now you can have a fresh cup every single time.

To help narrow down your choices, you can basically break down pod coffee makers into three different categories based on the kinds of pods that they use. They are k-cups, T-discs, and pods.

K-cups are small little pre-measured cups designed to be used with Keurig machines. They come in a multitude of varieties of gourmet coffees as well as teas and hot cocoa. They are simple to use, as you just place the k-cup into the reservoir, and press the button. When you’re finished, you just toss the used cup away. The only problem is that the k-cups are only compatible with Keurig coffee makers. However, the varieties they offer are tremendous. Companies like Green Mountain offer all kinds of roasts and blends. You can even get some of your favorite name brands like Tully’s coffee, or even Bigelow’s and Twining tea.

If espresso is more to your liking, then Tassimo offers what they refer to as a T DISC. The T DISCs utilize a special bar code printed on the label that will tell the Tassimo pod coffee maker what kind of beverage you are making, the size, as well as brewing time and the proper temperature the water should be. Tassimo offers name brand coffees you love like Starbucks as well as Gevalia. Because of the unique bar code, you can have a steaming cup of cappucino complete with foam using a Tassimo machine.

The third kind of pod coffee maker is universal ones such as the My Cafe by Bunn or the MokAbista by Kenwood. These coffee makers are designed to take a variety of pods so you’re not limited to just one type. That doesn’t mean that they can use any kind, though, so be aware of what pods are compatible with what machine before you buy. For example, the MokAbista can use any Senseo, Kenco, Cafe Crema or supermarket brand pods. It does this by utilizing a dual pod system. One holder is designed to hold Espresso (ESE) pods, while the other holds Cafe Crema and Double Crema (soft pods).

There is another option if you prefer to use k-cups but don’t want to be stuck using the brands that Keurig offers. The Perfect Pod Holster will allow you to use almost any kind of 55ml pod in a Keurig machine. This means that you can use a Senseo pod in your Keurig coffee maker by putting it in this device. The holster does this by use of a self-tamping spring that allows it to properly extract the coffee from the pod.

As you can see, each kind has its own distinct advantages and disadvantages. No matter which type you go with, you can agree that pod coffee makers have done a lot to simply our lives.

Jim Cheresly asked:




A barista is a person who prepares coffee drinks in a coffee house as his or her profession and especially strives to create the perfect espresso. The barista possesses extensive knowledge on different kinds of beans and roasts and has the technical skills required to master the espresso machine.

Baristas consider the extraction of coffee as art and they actually perform in front of their customers each time they prepare an espresso, a cappuccino, a caffe latte or a caffe mocha. However, if they wish for larger audience and consider themselves as really talented they can consider competing in barista competitions. These events take place every year and they are held at local and national levels. The ultimate title to win is the World Barista Champion.

The World Barista Championship was first held in 2000 in Monte Carlo and it became quickly a public event where the best baristas from different countries battled for espresso making supremacy. The World Barista Championship takes place every year in a different country and the competitors are the winners of the national barista competitions.

In the United States the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) hosts several local barista competitions. There are ten regions, and each state has been assigned to a region. Local competitions are sponsored by businesses, and the winner of each of the local events has the chance to try to impress the jury at the US Barista Championship. There are many barista competitions in Europe and the United Kingdom. Canada, Australia and Central America also have barista competitions at the local, regional and national levels.

In a barista competition the judges have to assess both the contenders and the coffee drinks they make. The criteria based on which they score each barista involve the quality and taste of the beverage, personal presentation, technique and also the presentation of the coffee drink.

The baristas race against the clock as they are only allowed to perform for 15 minutes. They also have 15 minutes before the actual presentation to prepare with every detail for the show – ingredients like syrups, chocolate sprinkles or anything that you can think of except alcohol, cups, trays, blenders, mixers and portable burners. Contenders even roast their own coffee and bring it with them at the competition. After serving their drinks, baristas have 15 minutes to clean their station before they make room for another contestant. The espresso machines used in the competition are key to the taste of the coffee. The machines must be left absolutely clean and free from any impurities.

During the 15 minute performance interval baristas have to prove their skills by preparing 4 espressos, 4 cappuccinos and 4 signature drinks. Four sensory judges that have to decide on the quality of the drinks sample each one of the beverages. While preparing the beverages, the baristas have to present their work, give details about the ingredients they used to the audience and also treat the judges as customers in a coffee shop. One can only imagine the stress.

After the espressos and cappuccinos, which are finished with latte art – complicate designs drawn atop the cup with foamed milk by using the pitcher, the time comes for the signature drink. It is the competitor’s original creation and this is where baristas reveal their creativity and skills combining roasts, syrups, steaming and frothing milk and using all sorts of ingredients and flavours that turn their beverages into savory works of art. The baristas can spend even months to invent this perfect drink that can bring them the victory in a competition.

Here are some examples of drinks that barista champions have invented:

Troels Poulsen, the 2005 World Barista Championship winner, created a drink called ESB, as in “enhanced sensory balance” by combining melted pepper-gel, espresso and lavender syrup.Phuong Tran, the 2005 USA Barista Champion, was inspired by her childhood in creating the Crimson Sage, a drink made of sugar cane juice, white pepper powder and steamed milk infused with sage leaves. She said that as a child she loved drinking sugar cane juice with ice and she always dreamed of using it in a drink.Sammy Piccolo, the 2004 Canadian Barista Championship winner, created “Insieme” by using raw sugar, egg yolks, curry, bittersweet chocolate and milk.Bronwen Serna, USA Barista Champion of 2004, entitled her signature drink “Sweetness” because the main “secret” ingredient was honey. She also used dark chocolate powder and served it with a dark chocolate square.

Baristas train hard for these competitions, especially if they have the chance to participate in the World Barista Championship. They try to bring to perfection their technique and put together their program as during the competition everything has to work smoothly, no glitches are allowed. They can actually be compared to athletes rehearsing for the Olympic games as some of them even have coaches that sometimes play the role of judges in preparation for the competition.

Barista training

Well, perhaps after reading about the competition requirements it might be wise to brush up a bit on your skills. There are several ways to either get basic skills training as a barista or enhance your existing skills:

Books and manuals. There are many books or manuals available that take you step by step through the processes of making an espresso, a cappuccino and other specialty coffee drink. The drawback is that you only have still pictures to look at which may make it difficult for beginners to see the details of the methods.Videos. These provide both visual modeling as well as commentary on how to produce the perfect cup of espresso.Training classes. There are training locations in most areas that offer courses that range from three hours to a full day on learning the secrets of a barista. Many of these programs also deal with how to care for the espresso machine and offer a certificate upon completion.Hands-on. Some experienced barista will offer personal training or mentoring for those interested in becoming a barista or in improving their skills.

Whatever you decide to do, if you have a talent for making a great cup of espresso you should consider entering a barista competition. You will meet other people that share your passion for coffee and will certainly get some new ideas to try in your coffee shop.

TG3602006 asked:


To make real espresso, do i have to buy espresso beans or can i just go to the local walmart and find one of their coffee grinding machines and then choose a bag of coffe beans from their selection and just grind it using the espresso setting ? can i just use any type of beans like a hazelnut roast

I have heard that its this simple but to use the darker roasts. not sure if thats true or not.