Gourmet Coffee: Not Just for Special Occasions Any More

Through the years, coffee has been that quick and easy beverage that offered a kick but very few options other than cream or sugar. As the consumer has become more sophisticated; so has his coffee. Instead of simply a choice of brewed or instant, coffee now comes in just about any flavor, strength or combination to please even the pickiest of drinkers. Instead of being a rare treat, more and more coffee drinkers keep gourmet coffee stocked in their cupboard for any and all occasions.

Where Do I Buy Gourmet Coffee?

Gourmet coffee is readily available in most grocery stores as well as café’s but the easiest way to buy and get the best selection and price is by doing a search on the internet. There are many gourmet coffee websites available with something for any taste along with a price range from fairly inexpensive to over $100 a pound.

Does Gourmet Coffee Make a Good Gift?

Gourmet coffee makes a great gift - in fact many couples are adding it to their bridal registry! Gourmet coffee gifts are always a hit for housewarming or business gifts as well. Many coffee makers even offer their own gift registry along with gift baskets that include not only the gourmet coffee but also accessories to go along with it. Once again these gifts can range from under $20 to well into the hundreds of dollars depending on what kind of gift you want.

It is pretty clear with all of the gourmet coffee houses that are springing up on almost every street corner of every main business and college town that gourmet coffee is not only here to stay but is also good business. Starbucks comes out in the top ten most popular stocks on a regular basis and over the holidays they are as packed as any department store with shoppers looking for the perfect gift.

Gourmet coffee is not just for special occasions anymore and with the wide variety available there is no reason that you can’t enjoy a cup in the morning, at your desk or when sitting back and watching television. Look around and try out some the many varieties that are available until you find the gourmet coffee that is right for you. You are sure to find at least one favorite but it is more likely you will find several to suit your many moods.

Indulge Yourself with Gevalia Coffee

For coffee lovers, Gevalia is one of the favorites both for the convenience of shopping at home and a vast selection of quality coffee to choose from. Gevalia coffee became well known for giving away a free coffee pot with your first order and for shipping a different package of coffee every month for as long as you wished to receive the coffee.

Today Gevalia coffee is one of the most popular online coffee companies in the United States. If you ask around, someone you know has either ordered from Gevalia coffee in the past or they are a regular customer even today. With a variety of coffee from all over the world and flavors to treat even the pickiest of coffee drinkers, Gevalia coffee is a quick and easy way to try new coffee without ever leaving the comfort of your home to shop.

Seasonal Blends

Gevalia coffee is a perfect solution for any office or business as they deliver coffee right to you and you can order as much or as little as you need. For the more discriminating coffee drinker Gevalia coffee offers many specialty coffees including their limited edition and seasonal coffee lines. You might want to stock up on their seasonal coffee before the season ends as nobody can really resist crème brule in the summer or pumpkin spice in the fall.

Tea and Snacks

If you need more than coffee, Gevalia coffee can also take care of you tea needs from traditional black tea to green and herbal teas Gevalia coffee offers both quality and taste for your tea. Of course neither coffee nor tea can ever be complete without a delicious snack to go with them, so Gevalia coffee offers a selection of cookies, pastries and chocolates to make you experience complete.

Today Gevalia offers more than just a coffee of the month package; they also offer a tea of the month and a coffee and tea combination along with a wonderful free gift. If you are a coffee lover and you haven’t tried Gevalia yet, now is the time to give it a try. If you are a long time Gevalia coffee drinker you might want to check out all of the new things that Gevalia coffee now has to offer. There is no better way to indulge yourself than with a great cup of coffee or tea anytime of the day or night, so what are you waiting for - give Gevalia coffee a try.

Espresso Coffee – The Grand Taste Experience

If you are an avid coffee drinker, then chances are you are familiar with espresso coffee. This particular type coffee is very concentrated, has a strong flavor and the consistency is usually much thicker than your average coffee.

Espresso coffee is usually enjoyed alone with a rich, bold taste that stands up very well on its own. It has a distinctive aroma which is similar to freshly ground coffee, only richer. Many people like to enjoy a cup of espresso coffee in the afternoon as a pick-me-up. The concentrated flavor and caffeine level serves to give you an energy burst, especially if you are feeling sluggish after a big meal.

Espresso coffee involves extracting only the best parts of the coffee bean by using water and pressure. You can purchase machines for the home that will produce some surprisingly good espresso coffee. It is best if you do some research before purchasing one of the machines since they offer different ways to extract the coffee bean flavor. The cheaper home machines usually put out a bitter tasting espresso which is not that great to drink. By paying a little more for a quality machine you will find that the difference in the taste of the espresso is well worth the difference in price of the machine.

Enjoying the Perfect Grind at Home

Learning how to produce a great cup of espresso coffee will take practice and patience. Creating that special blend will take a lot of hands-on tasting experience. There are websites that offer suggestions and help with this process.

Espresso is quite often dark roasted which will turn out bitter. A light roast is usually sweeter and offers the best aroma. Espresso is best if brewed within four days of roasting. The grind is also an important factor in flavor. Typically espresso is ground finer than regular coffee. The best taste is achieved when it is brewed just after the grinding process. This is when you get the maximum benefit of aroma and taste.

Water temperature for brewing espresso coffee is usually best if it is just under the boiling point. This prevents the coffee from having a bitter flavor. When looking to purchase an espresso machine you should always look to see what temperature water the machine produces. This is a very important factor when you are looking for great taste.

The taste of espresso is also added to many other drinks to provide richness and flavor. Frozen espresso drinks are becoming a very popular item at specialty coffee stands. Espresso syrup is also used to flavor ice cream. For those people who really love coffee, espresso will be something they feel they must experience on a daily basis.

How Starbucks Coffee Became a Worldwide Success

Starbucks coffee is one of the top names in the coffee industry, producing high-class beans, brewing accessories and building coffee shops worldwide. However, Starbucks coffee started out the same as any other business – with a few shops and enough products to sell.

The history of Starbucks coffee began in Seattle around 1971 when three friends (Zev Siegl, Gordon Bowker and Jerry Baldwin) opened their small shop and began selling freshly roasted coffee beans and brewing accessories. It branched out to six outlets throughout Washington around 1980, when Zev Siegl sold out in pursuit of other ventures.

Howard Schultz and His Vision

In 1982, a plastics salesman named Howard Schultz was hired as head of the marketing department of Starbucks coffee. During a trip in Italy around 1983, Schultz found himself obsessed with Italy’s coffee beans and industry, which started his idea of setting up a coffee shop in the United States. Unfortunately, Baldwin wasn’t too excited about Schultz’s idea, but he did let him test the idea by implementing a small espresso bar in one of the Starbucks stores. Because of its immediate success, Schultz opened up his own store named “II Giornale”.

It was only in 1987 that Shultz started a worldwide name for Starbucks coffee when Baldwin decided to sell the company for $3.8 million. Schultz convinced several investors of his vision – 120 Starbucks outlets for the next five years. He converted the six Starbucks shops into coffee houses and changed the name of II Giornale shops into Starbucks.

In 1992, the Starbucks coffee shops in operation totaled 165, exceeding Schultz’s original vision. Today, over 8,000 cafes in thirty countries are in operation with annual revenues of over $7.5 million.

Starbucks Coffee Liqueur

Starbucks coffee liqueur is the company’s “adult-only” version of their line of coffees. Sold in 750 ml bottles, the main idea of the company is to sell the liquor, their coffee and the name Starbucks into one. The product itself comes from 100 per cent Starbucks coffee combined with 20 per cent alcohol. This line of liquor-coffee product is a result of a joint venture with Jim Beam Brands, which is a major player in the wine industry. The reason for the marketing of this product was due to a Starbucks survey that revealed that over 50 per cent of their loyal clients consumed coffee liquors.

Starbucks coffee has collaborated with other companies, such as Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream and Pepsi-Cola Company. With the company’s collaboration with Jim Bean, Starbucks coffee reports that their DoubleShot remains the number one in the liquor-coffee category.

With the production of high-class coffee beans, brewing accessories, coffee makers and espresso machines as well as the collaboration of different top players in other industries, Starbucks coffee continues to produce well-known products that both loyal patrons and new coffee drinkers love.

Home Roasting Green Coffee Beans

When one thinks of coffee, the color green never really comes to mind. However green is actually the color that coffee starts out before it is ground, roasted, brewed and served up. Home coffee roasting is a lot easier than many of us may think. Roasting green coffee beans takes practice and if done in the correct manner, the results will be far better to anything you would buy at your local store. The biggest advantage to home coffee roasting is that it allows coffee lovers to experience the freshest cup of coffee possible by roasting Arabica green coffee beans at any time to suit any taste preference. With the vast selection of green coffee beans, the home coffee roaster also can create a coffee that best meets the taste and enables them to enjoy their own flavor preference.
Roasting is the gradual process of heating the green coffee bean to a desired roast. Different degrees of roast can be obtained by monitoring the coffee roasting process. The green coffee bean goes through a chemical change that causes the bean to change color during the coffee roasting process. Roasting green coffee beans can be done by several methods. The most economical method is roasting the beans in the oven or over the stove in a heavy frying pan. There are also several manufactures of home coffee roasting machines on the market today, which make the roasting process simpler for someone trying to roast green coffee from the comfort of their own home.
Coffee Roasting Hazards
No matter what method you decide to try keeping safety in mind and never leaving your coffee roaster unattended as it can be a definite hazard. Home coffee roasting requires supervision. Roasting at high temperatures require certain items to safeguard accidents. You will need to be prepared and organized; you should make completely sure that you have the items that are needed close by to prevent any unforeseen safety issues. Roasting coffee beans can emit smoke and chaff, which is a paper like skin that falls from the bean during the roasting process. Roasting green coffee to achieve a dark roast can produce oil called, caffinol, if left unsupervised it can be a highly flammable produce. In other words, it is never wise to walk away from the coffee roaster, it is just better to wait for the coffee roaster to do it’s job, or you may very well have your oven, stove or coffee roaster go up in flames and that would not be good situation.