Gourmet Coffee Beans

Heloise does coffee. Here is a simple recipe to make your own cafe mocha. She also has an address where you can get more coffee and tea recipes.

Wake up and SMELL THE COFFEE! It can be even more enticing if you do something a little extra to that cup of java. Here’s a little Coffee 101, so you can sound like an expert when you step up to the coffee bar to place your order.

Espresso is popular coffee drink that is concentrated, strong, rich-flavored and usually served in small demitasse cups. It is a basic ingredient for cappuccino, caffe latte and cafe mocha. By adding spices, milks and syrups, you can make your own specialty coffee.

A simple method for making an instant cup of cafe mocha is to make a mix by combining 1/2 cup of instant coffee, 1/2 cup of sugar (or equivalent measure using sugar substitute), 1 cup of powdered milk or powdered creamer and 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder. To make, put 2 rounded teaspoonfuls into 6 to 8 ounces of hot water. This dry mixture can be stored and made up quickly when needed, and you’ll avoid all the hassle of cleaning up a coffee machine. There are other fun, quick coffee and tea recipes in my Heloise’s Flavored Coffees and Teas pamphlet. Send $3 and a long, self-addressed, stamped (63 cents) envelope to Heloise/coffee, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5001. With spring coming just around the corner, save up your used coffee grounds and sprinkle them in your flower beds. If you do want to dispose of them, try putting them in a plastic newspaper sleeve for less mess in your garbage can.

February 13, 2006; Fort Lauderdale, FL

Volcanica Coffee™ – – Volcanica Coffee announces the start of their 2006 gourmet coffee harvest in Costa Rica.

Today, Volcanica Coffee announced the kick off of the 2006 gourmet coffee harvest in Costa Rica. The gourmet coffee farms that supply Volcanica Coffee have started the laborious process of the annual harvest.

The harvest is taking place in the Tarrazu region of Costa Rica which is located in the high mountains south of San Jose. The high altitude of 5,000 feet above sea level is a main contributor to the elegant flavor in the Costa Rican Tarrazu coffee but the steep sloping volcanic mountains make it very difficult to farm. Coffee plants must be picked by hand then carried long distances to the closest road for pick up. The other challenges facing farmers in this region is the scarcity of workers to pick the harvest.

“We are very excited that another harvest is upon us which literally brings us the fruits of our labor over the past year” says Jorge Umana the manager of the Don Evelio Coffee Estate which is a major supplier to Volcanica Coffee. “The first cupping from the harvest indicates that we have another great gourmet coffee crop for 2006” said Umana. The Don Evelio Coffee Estate does not use pesticides or fertilizer which allows them to qualify as organic coffee though it has not been certified due to the high cost. The coffee plants are also shade grown thanks the natural tropical rain forest that surrounds the area. Their concern for the environment is evident by a 247 acre reserve that they maintain to preserve local plants and animals and paid for by the coffee harvest.

After the red coffee cherries are picked they are washed with water to remove the outer fruit to leave the green inner bean. They are then laid out to dry on tarps. The coffee beans are sorted to remove any defective beans or foreign objects. The final step occurs when the green beans are roasted just before purchasing by the consumer.

The harvest is expected to continue until early late February and will involve many long hours. The first shipments of the 2006 have already been received by Volcanica Coffee. Photos of the harvest can be viewed at www.volcanicacoffee.com/coffee-articles/costa-rica-coffee-harvest.htm.

Volcanica Coffee is a specialty importer and retailer of exotic single origin gourmet coffee beans. The Company is committed to offering only the finest quality coffee from volcanic regions around the world that is wonderfully exotic and remarkable in taste. The Volcanica Coffee website is located at www.VolcanicaCoffee.com.

Starbucks has figured out that consumers are flocking to iced coffee drinks. I noticed on several occasions going to my local Dunkin Donuts in the morning that kids and teens were not ordering hot coffee or soft drinks but iced coffee. This seems to be a trend for the drink industry.

SEATTLE (AP) — Starbucks Corp., the world’s largest specialty coffee retailer, on Wednesday said it plans to launch Starbucks Iced Coffee, a ready-to-drink product, in grocery stores and company-owned locations later this year.

The company plans to launch the iced coffee drink at its stores in late March, followed by grocery and convenience stores, which will sell regular and light varieties nationally starting in May.

The product is being offered through the North American Coffee Partnership, a joint venture with Pepsi-Cola Co., the company said.
“With the introduction of Starbucks Iced Coffee, the North American Coffee Partnership is creating a new coffee refreshment segment within the more than $800 million overall ready-to-drink coffee category in the U.S.,” Starbucks said in a statement.

We love those sweet concoctions that our local Starbucks or coffee house whips up but many of us lose sight that it is a whopping heap of high calories. Add on the fat grams from the cream and we are looking at a double shot of coronary cafe, This short article from the Miami Herald highlights the fact that a caramel frappuccino packs 560 calories which for many of us is one third of our daily calorie intake. Is it any wonder we have trouble shedding the pounds?

Starbucks’ Caramel Frappuccino — a blend of coffee, milk, caramel and ice capped with whipped cream and a swirl of caramel is a tempting treat.

But at 525 calories for a venti, or 24-ounce cup, it’s nearly as decadent as a Big Mac, which weighs in at about 560 calories.

That’s almost a third of most people’s daily allowance of calories; add a couple of colas and you’ve consumed 1,300 calories — without taking a single bite of food.

”Most women will maintain their weight on about 1,600 or 1,700 calories a day,” said Connie Ruiz, a dietitian and professor of Family and Consumer Sciences at Lamar University.

“If you have a beverage like that, where does it leave you? To me, it’s like a meal.”

Researchers at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., revealed last year that beverages, whether coffee, soda or cocktails, have become one of the main sources of calories for most Americans. Even fruit juices, with natural sugar content, have come under attack.

And although they might be high in calories and fat, liquids usually don’t make people feel full.

The origin of the phrase “cup of joe” goes back to the early 1900s and Admiral Josephus Daniels who was a secretary of the navy during the Wilson administration. The U.S. was involved with World War I at the time. He outlawed alcohol on ships which lead to coffee becaming the favorite beverage of naval crews. Hence the name “cup of joe.”

The Kona Coffee Council is looking at changing the designation of what legally can be called Kona Coffee. Today it only has to have 10% of actual Kona Coffee beans and a blend of the rest. Volcanica’s coffee is 100% pure peaberry

Kona Coffee purchased direct from the farm on the big island. Here is an article about the issue.

Two bills have been introduced in the state Legislature that would create stricter requirements for coffee carrying the Kona label. One would require such coffee to contain at least 50 percent Kona coffee; the other 75 percent Kona. The current law allows the Kona name on packages containing only 10 percent Kona coffee, although that coffee must be called a blend.

Only pure Kona coffee can be labeled 100 percent Kona.

Although the proposed labeling requirements could help farmers who sell unprocessed coffee cherries by creating more demand, it could hurt blenders who mix the Kona coffee with cheaper imported beans and sell the result as a Kona blend. The Kona Coffee Council’s election brought only three new members onto the 11-member board, but some current board members fear that will be enough to tip the balance of power away from those who support the bills. Read the full article.

We already know that coffee picks us up if we need to focus better on a task and keeps us on our toes before an important meeting. Here is a study that confirms the effects that we feel. Such a great drug we have that is easily available. It’s legal and very healthy to our body as discovered in many other research findings.

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Brain scans confirm what many coffee drinkers already know — caffeine perks them up. of the brain governing short-term memory and attention, Austrian researchers said on Wednesday.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging scans performed on the brains of 15 subjects who had just consumed caffeine equal to that found in two cups of coffee showed increased activity in the frontal lobe where the working memory is located and in the anterior cingulum that controls attention.

“We are able to see that caffeine exerts increases in neuronal activity in distinct parts of the brain going along with changes in behaviour,” said Austrian researcher Dr. Florian Koppelstatter of the Medical University Innsbruck.

Participants who were subjected to a 12-hour period without caffeine and a four-hour period without nicotine, another recognised stimulant found in cigarettes, were better able to remember a sequence of letters after consuming 100 milligrams of caffeine. Reaction times on short-term memory tests also improved.

Caffeine is the world’s most widely used stimulant, according to the research presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America. Global daily consumption of caffeine averages 76 milligrams, equal to 1 1/2 cups of coffee. In the United States, average consumption is 238 milligrams per day, equal to that found in 4 1/2 cups of java.

The coffee harvest in Costa Rica has begun and we have received many photos. The new shipments have arrived from the Don Evelio Coffee Estate in the Tarrazu region. Check out the photos of the Costa Rica Coffee Harvest.

Every wondered how much caffeine your are taking into your body? A single cup of coffee can give you 135 mg while a cup of tea is 50 mg. One of the reasons you might love that Hershey chocolate bar is because it contains 31 mg of caffeine. Check out the caffeine content chart on the Volcanica Coffee website.