Sunday, August 21, 2011

Coffee - All you need to know

By Morgan Burgess


Coffee, one of the most loved & heavily consumed drinks in the world, is basically made by brewing the roasted seeds of a coffee plant, producing a dark, rich, aromatic and bitter drink. Coffee trees are currently being cultivated in over 70 countries all around the world, each area producing its own distinctive taste and blend. Today, you can buy coffee online, in the usual grocery stores or just about anywhere else.

Before they become available to you in supermarkets, the product actually goes through a complex series of processes. They start out as fresh seeds that are especially picked by hand. Harvesting coffee berries are said to be one of the most labour intensive part of the manufacturing process. Berries need to be at their peak of ripeness to be harvested, not sooner nor later. However, green and less ripe beans can also be harvested and made into a different blend.

After harvesting, the covering is taken out with the help of a machine and the seeds, now known as the beans, are left out to ferment. The fermentation process is important to help remove the mucilaginous flesh away from the beans. After this, the beans are thoroughly washed with large amounts of water to take out the fermentation products and residues. When done, they are spread out in drying tables and are raked every now and then for more thorough drying.

When dried, they are then heated and roasted. The roasting process is very important because it changes the physical and chemical characteristics of the bean. The heat reduces the moisture content of the beans, which can in turn reduce its density and strength as well. Beans are roasted at an average temperature of 200 F. Commercially available coffee beans can be pre-roasted by the manufacturer or they can be roasted at home by coffee drinkers.

Roasted beans are generally graded by their taste - from light, medium light, medium, medium dark, dark or very dark. As mentioned before, the degree of the roast can affect the strength and the taste of the coffee. Thus, customers who buy roasted beans need to know just how string they want their coffees to be. Darker roasts are more subtle in taste generally because of their low-fibre and high sugar content. Lighter roasts on the other hand, are stronger because of their high content of aromatic oils and acids.

There are also certain kinds of coffee that are already decaffeinated. The process is done when the coffee berries are still green. The beans are placed in hot water and in a certain solvent to dissolve the caffeine-containing oils within the seeds. This is a great choice for people who love to drink coffee but are not allowed to take in caffeine or any kind of stimulants for health reasons.

So whether you plan to buy coffee online, your local coffee shop or supermarket, remember the above mentioned things in mind. There are now a wide number of specialty shops that sell great quality coffee both online and in stores so you'll never have trouble looking for that perfect blend.




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