Go Ahead—Have Some Coffee— It’s Not JUST COFFEE Anymore!

As I sit here one the deck with my daily morning cup of coffee,
I realize… just a few years ago I’d have had a cup of dark
strong, stovetop brew with some milk to ease the taste. No
more!! Now there’s almost every kind of coffee available that
you can imagine.

Roasting Coffee at Home

First, we’ll start with the fact that you can buy green coffee
beans and roast them to your liking right in you own home. One
way to roast coffee beans at home is to skillet fry the beans
until they are brown. They need to be cooked somewhere between
460F degrees and 530F. Beans must be kept moving so it won’t
cook them unevenly. The roasting must stop at the right time and
cooled down quickly. This is the old method but definitely won’t
taste like today’s methods and needs proper venting.

Another way to roast coffee beans is with a hot-air corn popper.
Hot-air poppers roast pretty quickly causing a bright, medium
roast and strong flavored dark roasts. Giving a clear-cut taste
opposite of beans roasted in a gas oven or in a stovetop popper.
This may be a little easier than other methods. There is less to
worry about, such as setting the temperature just right.
Although a great taste, there is a down side to using these
poppers. First of all only not all poppers are designed to roast
coffee. You should only use the ones with the proper roasting
chambers. This way makes a less amount each time than other
methods. Roasting with the popper will also cause smoke to be
more difficult to vent. Most of these poppers can be used to
make French or Espresso coffee, which is darker but are not
recommended. This may cause your popper to be over worked and
shorten its life.

Roasting beans in a gas oven was also popular. You could roast
more at a time and the oven did the venting for you. Just set
the ovens temperature like baking. This had to be a much easier
way and the results were rather good. Don’t forget, the timing
and cooling process for all roasting is very important and may
be different in other blends to achieving the goal for a great
cup of coffee.

The only way you are going to find out which technique you might
enjoy to use is to find a whole bean coffee roasted style that
you already like, then try to make it yourself at home. Do a
little experimenting!

Brewing Methods

Next let’s move on to the many different brewing methods. There
are several different ways in which to brew coffee. Before you
choose a coffee maker you need to understand first what you
demand out of the machine. It will be a question only the person
using it can answer. Let’s examine the differences a little
closer.

The filter drip is the most popular method used to brew coffee
because it is easy to operate and consistent. Water is poured in
a chamber where it is heated and slowly poured over the ground
coffee. This can be done two ways. It can be electronically
dripped or manually poured over the grounds. Some electric
machines can be preset to have the coffee ready for you when you
wake up in the morning. Others may prefer the taste of
hand-brewed coffee for a different flavor.

The French drip is another form of drip coffee making, which is
made without paper filters. A separate top sits above the
porcelain coffee pot and acts as the strainer as the water soaks
into the grounds. Working its way through the strainer, coffee
liquid makes its way to the bottom pot for hot steaming coffee.

The Percolator was the preferred way to make coffee in the
1950’s. Now coffee drinkers see the light that the coffee made
this way was thin, watery and bitter. Most people may remember
it by the perking pot and the aroma it gave off.

The Neapolitan flip device is made up of two segment. The whole
product comes in aluminum, copper or stainless steel. An area in
between the two segments holds the coffee grounds. The lower
part is poured with water and put directly on the stovetop to
heat. While boiling the steam goes through a hole under the
grounds. After that, the pot is removed from the stove, flipped
over to drip the water on the grounds, which go into the serving
pot. The down side to this is that it only makes about 3 or 4
cups per serving.

There are two different types of espresso makers, stovetop and
household electric counter top model. A nice characteristic
about the counter top model is it can steam milk for cappuccino
and latte’s. Stovetop on the other hand have two parts similar
to the Neapolitan flip method only no flipping needed.

French Press is a trendy European way that allows for more oils
and coffee solids that give you a cup of coffee with a lovely
smell and has a dense body. More of your strong coffee drinkers
would prefer this technique. Although good and strong, some
grounds may enter the coffee during process. Vacuum procedures
are more involved and are used for ceremonies mostly by the
Japanese. They are rare and very hard to find.

The Middle Eastern way is popular of course in the Middle East
and also Greece and Turkey. Their form of making coffee is also
very different and comes out to be dark, thick and syrupy
tasting. Because it is so rich, one or two cups a day would
probably be all I could drink.

Last but not least on the list, the cold water method simply
soaking the coffee grinds in cold water for about a day,
straining the grounds, and storing the liquid in a refrigerator
for a few weeks. When you want a cup, boil some water and add
liquid to desired taste.

Makes a rather mild cup for those of you who like it that way.

If you’re not into roasting the beans yourself, your choices are
still many. Coffee manufacturers have given us an almost
unending list of different blends and flavors. How the coffee’s
ground after its roasted will have a major effect on the taste
of the coffee. There are regular, coarse and finely ground
coffees.

The taste is also affected by the combination of the type of
coffee used. The two categories of trees from which the coffee
beans come from are called Arabica and Robusta. The Arabica is a
milder coffee and the Robusta a much stronger coffee.

Another important addition to the coffee world has been the
addition of many flavorings, and flavored creamers. If you
haven’t browsed through coffee selections lately, you owe it to
your taste buds to check out the many varieties and flavors of
coffee.