Coffee is one of the most popular drinks around, followed by soft drinks and tea. Just think about it: when you wake up in the morning, just to get you up and running, you have a cup of coffee. At lunch break, after you've had your meal, you serve another cup of coffee, not to mention the other ones you already had back at the office while working, without even realizing it. When you ask someone out, the most chances are that you ask him or her out for a coffee. But what is coffee all about? Where does it come from and how did it become so popular? And what makes it such a delight? In this article, we'll learn all about coffee and espresso as well as processing, roasting and recipes that give you the best flavor out of every coffee bean. Where does it come from? The word coffee" is thought to be derived from the name of its place of origin: Kaffa, Ethiopia, in the Ethiopian highlands. There, it has been traced back to the ninth century. During the times that followed, it spread across Africa and Asia. It became popular in Europe during the 17th century, as the Dutch started to import it on a large scale. As it reached the US continent, it wasn't so popular at first, but, as time got by, the demand for coffee increased as people used it as a substitute for alcohol. Nowadays, coffee and espresso represent about 70% of the total US caffeine consumption. Next in line concerning numbers are soft drinks and tea. What exactly is coffee? Coffee as we know it is made from roasted coffee seeds, which are in fact the stones" inside the coffee plant's fruits. There are mainly two species of coffee plants. The older species is Caffea Arabica. The connoisseurs believe that the Arabica coffee bean is more flavorful and tastes better when brewed. Caphea Canephora or Robusta, the younger species, contains up to 50% more caffeine and is bitter, so it provides the coffee less flavor. These beans are exposed to a steam treatment while industrially processed to improve their quality. However, they make better foam when brewed and are considered useful due to this feature. How is it processed? After a laboring sorting process, coffee beans are usually roasted through a complicated chemical process. However, some merchants provide them raw, so that everyone can prepare them as they wish. The key of the aroma is the heat, for the raw bean contains all the acids and other compounds, but no flavor whatsoever. Heating triggers complex chemical reactions within the coffee bean that eventually develop the aromatic features. What about preparing and serving coffee and espresso? The finest method is mixing the ground coffee directly with water. It is also known as the Turkish" grind. Other ways include using a drip machine and a paper filter. This provides reasonable quality and consists in passing hot steam through the coffee that has been previously set in a paper filter within the machine. The espresso requires a more complicated device. This passes very hot water through the ground coffee, unlocking stronger flavor. Next, the coffee is to be served plain, with sugar, cream or anyway you prefer. Also, there are delicacies such as roasted beans covered with chocolate that are to be served plain. There are numerous specialized sites on the internet concerning coffee, brewage recipes, coffee and espresso machines and many others. Let's take for example talkaboutcoffee.com. Its numerous pages contain advices, reviews and all sorts of information regarding varieties of coffee. There is also guidance to growing, roasting, grinding and brewing on your own. All you need to do is log on and find out what suits you best.
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