Did you know that prior to the 1600's, the favorite breakfast drink was beer? Since then, coffee has become second only to oil as the world's most valuable commodity. Click here for more fun coffee facts.
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There is a myriad of ways to brew your favorite coffee and for the most part it all begins with a simple introduction: Know Thyself. Are you after a thick silty morning mug? A thinner brighter brew? A full bodied but smooth sensation? Once you have this part down, you’re ready for the facts.
AUTO DRIP
About 70% of the coffee made in this country is brewed with paper filters, a method that produces what some refer to as the classic American style: light-bodied and clear, free of oil or sediment. Due to the popularity of the drip method, the brewers out there are constantly being improved. Gone are the accidents, the errant grinds, the unpredictable water temperatures.
One improvement is the “gold” filter which allows more oils and organic compounds to get into your cup. With a washable filter you eliminate the slight papery taste due to the disposables, and you get a fuller-bodied brew.
With an auto drip brewer you can usually get peak performance with even the most inexpensive of machines. Any more money you spend will go towards whatever bells and whistles fit your fancy. Of course, we at GMCR have our preferences:
Capresso Thermal Coffee Maker
Capresso CoffeeTEAM Brewer
SINGLE CUP BREWERS
Single-cup brewing is the latest step in the quest for great coffee. GMCR stands behind the line of Keurig brewers which offers easy, fast, personalized coffee - and total satisfaction. That is, of course, if you are using the right coffee. Luckily, we make this part easy; our Green Mountain Coffee K Cups live up to our standards of great coffee, and ensure that your morning mug will live up to yours. For more information on single-cup technology, go to the single cup page and check out the options from Keurig:
Keurig B30 Mini Brewer
Keurig B40
Keurig B60
Keurig B70
Breville Keurig
COFFEE PRESS
Developed in Italy in the 1930s, the coffee press is most often associated with France and most commonly known as the “French Press.” Its sophisticated design belies the simplicity of the concept - manual filtration. The coffee press itself looks like an elegant beer mug wearing a cap. Coffee and water are added to the glass and allowed to sit for around four minutes depending on taste. Finally a plunger (a mesh filter on a stick) is pushed from the top of the mixture to the bottom, pushing the grounds to the base of the contraption and readying the clarified coffee for pouring. The result: A much heavier, grittier, richer taste than the above-described creation. This difference is due to the presence of sediments, oils, and a gelatinous substance called colloids, most of which are eliminated in the drip method. Coffee press users: Make sure to grind your coffee on a course setting as even the biggest grounds have been known to find their way through this filter. Coffee press novices: Here are some suggestions.
Chambord Coffee Press
Eileen Press
Bodum Travel Press
Thermal French Press
MOCHA POT
Also known as a stovetop espresso maker, the modest metal mocha pot creates a thick dense brew that rivals the real stuff. The mocha pot consists of two reservoirs and a filter that separates them. Water is poured into the bottom bucket, coffee grounds are spooned into the filter basket, and steam-produced air pressure forces the not-quite-boiling water through the coffee and up into the top reservoir. Presto, a perfect little cup. Our experts suggest using finely ground beans for this one.
GMCR offers:
Bialetti Mocha Pot
VACUUM POT
No, this is not a nightmare; you are not back in your high school chemistry lab. This crazy contraption is actually a coffee brewer, and a good one at that. Similar in concept to the mocha pot, the vacuum pot consists of two glass globes that attach to either side of a filter. Water is poured into the lower globe, the lower globe is set on the stove. As in the mocha pot, the increased air pressure (see? chemistry class was relevant!) forces water to escape through a tube, through the filter, and into the upper compartment. Hot coffee then cools and is sucked back down to the bottom globe via yet another imbalance of air pressure. No papery taste, rich but without the sediment of the french press.
Bodum Mini Santos
ESPRESSO MACHINE
As its Italian name implies, Espresso is pressed coffee. Even if you are loyal to your drip brewer, you have no doubt seen the giant espresso machines in coffee houses, the tamped-down grounds, the slow trickle of the dark rich liquid into delightfully delicate receptacles. You have heard the hiss of steam as it makes the coffee and is used to steam the milk, and you have smelled the luxurious aroma. This is espresso, and to many people, having a machine in the house that will create this thick, dark, “crema”-topped coffee is well worth the effort and expense.
What the espresso machine basically does is force water through a compacted cake of finely ground coffee with pressure and heat high enough to emulsify the oils and organic compounds that are left out of regular gravity-brewed coffee. Beans should be blended especially, roasted accordingly, and ground into a fine powder.
Rancilio Silvia Espresso Machine
"Brewing Coffee"
Automatic Drip, Single Cup Brewers, Coffee Press, Mocha Pot, Vacuum Pot, Espresso Machine. How do you brew your coffee?
Coffee Corner
Fun Coffee Facts
Visit these sites for great coffee recipes:
