Gourmet Coffee

After my in-law broke our only coffee press before the hurricane I need to add this to list of neccessities to have in case of a hurricane, a Frech press. Hurricane Wilma tore through our area this week and took out the electricity in our home for 3 days. On the first day, feeling confident since I had everything prepared, I fired up the grill and was ready to boil water for my coffee press. Then my wife explained to me that the glass in the Fresch press broke. I had to resort to pouring hot water through a strainer with a coffee filter.

So much for preparation for a gourmet coffee professional. The tip of the week, make sure you have a French press before a hurricane arrive. Oh, and grind your beans ahead of time.

All right now, this is going to get a little gross for most of us. When I first heard of it I thought it was a joke but I researched it and found it to be true. There is a "gourmet coffee" that gets its flavor by passing through the digestive system of a wild animals.

The Kopi Luwak is supposidly most expensive coffee in the world. The beans are passed through an Indonesian wild cat known as a palm civet, a dark brown tree-dwelling cat-like creature found throughout Southeast Asia (people have mistakenly called them monkeys). Coffee pickers then pick them up as they excrete them whole without any dung.

Most of the beans are sold in Japanese buyers. Experts believe the wild cats give the drink a unique earthy taste and say it smells musty.

Yuck!

If you don't need to impress your high-brow friends stick to just fine gourmet coffees.

Shade grown coffee magically creates some of the best tasting gourmet coffees. By definition, shade grown coffees are simply coffee beans grown beneath a natural canopy of trees, not on cleared land. The natural surrounding of trees besides giving shade also provides a habitat for birds that feed on insects eliminating the use of pesticides and enrich and conserve the soil.

Shade trees such bananas, plantains eucalyptus and indigenous trees provide a canopy of protections of day-long sunlight from the coffee plants. The canopy prevents the sun from bleaching nutrients from the topsoil. The base and roots of the trees also prevent soil erosion. Some farmers mix in other types of farm trees such as bananas and plantains to help supplement their farm income while providing the side benefit for the coffee plants and the environment.

The Volcanic coffees from Costa Rica and Kona are all shade grown coffee and have been verified that they comply with this designation. We personally inspect our farms to verify they are incompliance.

Data gathered by Harvard researchers over the course of almost 20 years indicates that having six cups of coffee a day or more lowers the risk of diabetes in men by 54% and women 30% over those who don`t drink coffee.
According to WebMD.com, there are at least six studies that indicate that there is a direct correlation between the amount of coffee one drinks and the probability that he will develop Parkinson`s later in life.

Three of the six studies concluded that the more coffee one drinks, the lower the risk and that those who drink it on a regular basis are "up to 80% less likely to develop Parkinson`s."

Other research, reported on by the Chicago Tribune, says that at least two cups daily can reduce the risk of colon cancer by 25%, liver cirrhosis by 80%, and be a preventative measure in dealing with gallstones. Also, there is indication that coffee may help lift one`s mood and help reduce anxiety and depression.

Though it is the strong antioxidants that cause the above health benefits, scientists have concluded that caffeine can also have a strong positive impact on athleticism.
In fact, its effect on endurance and performance is so strong that it has been considered a `controlled substance` by the Olympic Game Committee in recent years. This means that competitors are only permitted to drink very small, pre-determined amounts of it.

The cafenets of Constantinople and Damascus were the prototypes of the great Western coffee houses. Simple and comfortable with prints and rugs decorating the walls they were located in cool pleasant open squares, often with a view onto a water way or landscape. These represented a welcome refuge from the scorching desert. Friends met there to talk and contemplate life. Backgammon and chess were played in coffee houses and it is said the game of bridge originated in the coffee houses of Constantinople.

We just revamped our Coffee Recipes web page. It contains a collection various recipes to enjoy gourmet coffee. Some hot, some cold and some exotic. Here is one of my favorites:

Bailey's Irish Coffee

1 cup hot gourmet coffee
1 shot of Bailey's Irish Cream

Combine your gourmet coffee and Bailey's Irish Cream. Top with whipped cream and serve. Makes 1 serving.

Now this is taking the unwired world to the next phase in home automation:

LONDON: Next time you fancy a cup of tea you really don't need to make a tiring face, as a kettle manufacturing company has bridged the gap between you and your first sip of the refreshment by collaborating with a mobile phone company to create the world's first satellite kettle. Now, just tap out a text message and the job's half done.

Tea makers 'PG Tips' have joined forces with mobile phone company 'Orange' to create a kettle, called "the ReadyWhenUR", which lets you brew via a text message.

Now, all you need to do is text the words "switch on", even when you're on the way home from work or lolling in the lounge watching TV, and the water will be on the boil by the time you get to the kitchen. Read full article.

The only think left is to add cream and sugar.

Another coffee show on TV this Saturday. The History Channel's Modern Marvels series will air a show about coffee at 1 pm EST. Here is the short description from their website:

Traces the origins of this tasty drink from Ethiopia over 1,000 years ago to the espresso-fueled explosion of specialty coffee stores like Starbucks today. Along the way, we'll see how American companies like Hills Brothers, Maxwell House, Folgers and MJB grew to be giants. Discover how billions of coffee beans make their journey from coffee farms and plantations, and are processed in gigantic roasting and packaging plants before showing up in coffee cups all over the world. Details the invention and production of instant coffee, decaffeinated coffee and freeze-dried coffee, and the espresso machine. Also, we explain how coffee made shift work in factories possible, while coffeehouses provided a creative cauldron that brewed political and artistic progress in the 18th and 19th centuries. And, we also provide tips on how to make a better cup at home

Tune In:
Saturday, October 8 @ 1pm ET/PT

Sounds very descriptive covering the many facets of the world of gourmet coffees.

On the Food Network this week is a show on coffee:

Secret Life of... Coffee
Coffee is the dark rich brew that gives you a boost in the morning and a break in the afternoon. In fact, as a world commodity coffee beans are second only to oil. How did a little bean become such a beloved beverage? Find out how when we reveal the Secret Life of Coffee.

AIR TIMES:
October 08, 2005 3:00 PM ET/PT
October 23, 2005 6:00 PM ET/PT

Coffee drinking from the beginning has been associated with artist, scholars and the witty folk. Ideas and liberal opinions generated around coffee cups from Constantinople to the coffee houses of the eighteenth century New England have made rulers from Amurath III to George III fear coffee's influence. Charles II tried to close the London coffee houses in 1675, when he rightly connected them with the progressive political sentiments that were to change the course of the British Empire. Eleven days after his "Proclamation for the Suppression of the Coffee Houses" was issued, he was forced to withdraw the order due to indignant public outcry from all parties.

The ideology and leadership of the French Revolution was first tested in Parisian coffee houses. The merchants of coffee house in New York was the government headquarters in the days immediately following the outbreak of the American Revolution.

If you are a rebel or an advance thinker, drink up you are in good company.

The earliest coffee drinkers from 900-1000 A.D. documented in Arabic scientific documents scientific qualities of the coffee bean. In addition to describing stomach benefits the writers noted that coffee gave "an excellent smell to the whole body." There is truth in that coffee does have an unusual quality of appearing to retain its aroma throught the sweat glands. One will note this in heavy coffee drinkers where the coffee smell still is present on their body hours after their last cup. In the days before people took baths on a regular basis and in areas where water was not in great supply, people must have greatly appreciated this deoderant effect that coffee provided.

Burger King Corp. Chief Executive Greg Brenneman said on Tuesday the No. 2 burger chain will launch a new coffee brand called "BK Joe" in the next 10 days, beating McDonald's Corp.'s nationwide rollout of its new coffee blend by several months.

The blend will replace Burger King's existing coffee, which Brenneman said "wasn't any good." Read full article.

National Coffee Association's National Coffee Drinking Trends of 2004 survey that found that approximately 16% of American adults drink specialty coffee on a daily basis and nearly 56% drink gourmet coffee on an occasional basis.