My days are not the same without a cup of coffee in my hand or at my side most of the day. It is a part of my routine that I am loathe to give up, and when I have to give it up due to travel or schedule, my days do not run the same.

My personal favorite cup of coffee, is a latte with some hazelnut added. And I usually nurse that throughout the first half of my morning.

There is something about coffee that is different from any other drink. It is definately a comfort food, but it is also something cultural and sophisticated. Coffee has its place in the art world that I inhabit.

And I love to immerse myself in the coffee culture. The smell of it, the fresh ground coffee, and the biscotti and other treats that go with it. I don't ever think I will lose my love for the coffee culture, even though I do not sell it anymore. It seems to have sunk right into my skin and bones. (Probably literally because when you work with coffee, the dust, the oils, and the grounds are everywhere).

Coffee is a very subjective experience. No two people have the same taste buds or likes and dislikes. That is why it is important for customers to taste the coffee they are buying. After much of my own experimentation, I have found over the years that I like dark roast coffees that do not have a bitter aftertaste. But I do not like Starbucks in general because their coffees are too dark for me.

Coffees need to be tasted without any cream or sugar in them. It's best if the water is filtered, and the beans are freshly roasted. The better the water, the better the coffee will taste.

People generally seem to like a certain type of roast. The length of the roast changes the acidity, the aroma, and the body of the coffee. Year to year the coffee grown in any specific field can have different nuances depending on the soil, the weather, and other outside influence.

The best coffee to buy is from coffee beans that have been roasted that day. Now that is really tough to do unless you personally know a coffee roaster. So the second best choice is to get whole bean coffee that has been roasted in the last 7 days.

Coffee becomes stale more quickly if it is ground before you brew, because it absorbs more moisture and aromas from the air around it. So when you buy it whole bean and grind it yourself, your coffee will be fresher.

DO NOT freeze your coffee. That will induce lots of moisture into the coffee and totally changes the quality and taste of it.

How do you decide what kind of coffee to buy?

That is really a matter of taste. I prefer darker blends that have a smoother, smokier taste. Coffee flavor changes depending on the roasting time, the area of the world the beans come from, the way it was roasted. Another big factor is how you brew it.

Do you use a standard coffee maker, an espresso maker, or a single brew method?

Another factor is the grind of the coffee. Is it coarsely ground or finely ground. I like to grind my coffee at home.

And another huge factor is the water you use. I always use the purest water I can because I just want to taste the coffee, not the water.

And here is an interesting fact to consider: Grocery store coffees that are made with Robusto beans (like Maxwell House) have 2.5 times more caffeine than gourmet coffees made with Arabica beans.

Here is some coffees to try:
Mystic Monk Coffee
Shop for All Starbucks Coffees at StarbucksStore.com

Starbucks and all its competitors have built their businesses by introducing us to the espresso based drink usually loaded with milk and sweet syrups and sauces.

Having worked in the coffee industry, I can tell you that all of those drinks are essentially the same drink.

2 to 4 shots of espresso
2/3 or more of whole milk
Flavored syrup
and if it is a mocha, some kind of chocolate.
Often they are topped with whipped cream and more chocolate.
There are hundreds of recipes with these combinations with slight adjustments of flavors.

I am a latte junkie. My favorite drink is a large latte with hazelnut. It is usually my one indulgence a day that gets me going.

Just so you know, it is easy to make these drinks at home with a small espresso brewer. Espresso is just densely packed coffee that is brewed with a small amount of water. Ironically enough, the espresso drinks have much less caffeine than regular coffee. Who figured?

I used to think my mother was crazy because she liked all things coffee. Coffee candy, coffee ice cream, just the smell of coffee. But I find myself drifting into that craziness. I guess it is true, that we end up like our parents. At least in some ways.

By Joshua Lurie, Special to The Times
August 20, 2008
Dora Jaramillo slides off the top of a wooden box to reveal 36 numbered vials of "perfume." Each number in the kit corresponds to a different aroma commonly found in coffee, some positive (lemon and butter) and some not so positive (medicinal and rubber). These codified aromas are part of Jaramillo's professional infrastructure.

As quality assurance manager of Vernon-based Gaviña Gourmet Coffee, Jaramillo, in common with other coffee professionals known as "Q graders" uses a vocabulary based on these aromas to describe coffee.

Java judgingWorldwide, there are 395 such graders -- coffee buyers and cuppers (tasters) who have passed an exam administered by the Long Beach-based (CQI), a nonprofit organization that is the educational arm of the Specialty Coffee Assn. of America (SCAA). Of these graders, 11 work in Los Angeles.

Certification means an applicant has passed 22 challenging sensory tests in the course of three days, consistently distinguishing brewed coffees by taste and smell from each major coffee-producing region, and is able to grade coffee using established criteria.

Among the certified graders around town are Jaramillo and purchasing manager Michael Gaviña, who share the Gaviña cupping room; John Gozbekian, director of coffee at LA Mill's roasting facility in Alhambra; Rocky Rhodes, owner of Rocky Roaster in Canoga Park; Jeff Chean, co-owner of Supreme Bean Coffee Roasters in North Hollywood; and at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf's Camarillo roasting facility, Jay Isais, senior director of coffee, Jesse Martinez, master roaster, and Mark Woods, quality assurance manager.

Effective system

SAYS Craig Min, LA Mill's chief executive, "There are a lot of great coffee buyers who don't have this certification, but the amount of coffees we're tasting, you do need a system. It serves as a huge benefit to be able to buy efficiently and effectively."

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf's Isais was inspired to take the test to help elevate industry standards. Supreme Bean's Chean felt becoming licensed was important because he's establishing direct trade with farmers, buying container loads (37,500 pounds) of coffee.

"When we're negotiating with the farmer," Chean says, "I'm qualified to say it's not the grade we requested, or it's better." This objectivity helps ensure fair trade for buyer and seller.

"Individuals who cup and grade coffee in large measure determine the prices paid for the coffees they evaluate," says Ted Lingle, executive director of the CQI. "It's like having an outside Realtor, someone who's trained in appraising value, who gives an opinion about what a particular property's worth."

The CQI expects those it has certified to grade coffee consistently and objectively using its 100-point scale. In a related program, the organization grades coffee beans submitted by growers.

Practically speaking, a coffee that's graded at 79 is worth less than a coffee graded at 89. "Consumers pay for higher quality," Lingle says, "but don't necessarily pay for other certifications, like organic or fair trade."

For the exam, candidates assemble for a battery of tests, including olfactory tests using the standard 36 vials of aromas. Test takers are asked to match like aromas, drawn from four aroma groups.

The triangulation skills test is a brewed-coffee shell game. Faced with three cups, candidates must pinpoint which coffee's origin is not the same as the others.

"It could be three coffees from the same region of Colombia, but one's from a different farm," says K.C. O'Keefe, who until recently oversaw L.A. quality control for Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea but has relocated to Washington state. "You have to get five out of six sets to get it right."

Green grading requires candidates to sort through 350 grams of unroasted beans for defects and cleanliness. This part of the exam mirrors a function of green coffee buyers, who work to remove black or brown beans, foreign objects and beans with insect or fungus damage.

Blind samples

"CUPPING" IS when coffee tasters measure the consistency of multiple cups of the same brewed coffee, keeping in mind the aroma, flavor and body. For the cupping test, candidates simultaneously grade blind samples of five brewed coffees using the 100-point scale.

Candidates discuss tastes and aromas, grades are averaged, and scores too far from the mean ensure failure.

Chean says cupping offers a unique challenge. "You have to divorce yourself from what you like."

Any coffee professional is eligible to take the exam, but industry experience doesn't necessarily provide an advantage. Local coffee pros who've passed the test generally agree that it is impossible to study for it.

"It's not a test to prepare for," Rocky Roaster's Rhodes says. "You do it in your daily job and understand it, or you don't."

The SCAA sells handbooks, charts, forms and even the aroma kit, but Chean contends that training might never be enough. "You've got the right amount of taste buds or you don't, and you're in touch with them or you're not."

Passing the test helps to instill confidence in tasters who previously judged coffee without a structured system to support their instincts. The program allowed Rhodes "to be honest and trust myself . . . I taste everything better now. I'm a better wine taster and food taster because I can trust I'm tasting what I'm tasting and am able to communicate that to other people."

And the license carries prestige within the industry. "Until Q grading, there was no objective measure," LA Mills' Gozbekian says. "It doesn't change the way we purchase, roast or blend coffee, but it validates our ability to taste coffee or buy it."

Other highly regarded local coffee professionals say they won't be satisfied until they become Q graders. One aspirant is Intelligentsia's Kyle Glanville, the current United States barista champion.

"It's important because it validates me as a well-rounded coffee professional," Glanville says. "For Intelligentsia, it's important because it says the people who we have tasting and grading coffees, they understand it."

"There are 800 different flavor components in coffee," O'Keefe says. "All customers know is if they like it or don't like it."

If that's too much to contemplate as you grind your morning beans, leave it to the growing cadre of certified pros.

food@latimes.com

No difference at all really.
Espresso is made with dark roasted coffee ground finely and densely packed into the espresso brewer. Water is forced through at a faster rate than with regular brewing. Espresso has less caffeine because of the rate of brewing and amount of water used.
Many companies just use one of their dark or medium dark roasted coffees for their espresso brewing.

I always drink my coffee in ceramic mugs. I have a weird thing about drinking out of metal cups. Although, I will drink out of paper or plastic if I am traveling. Ceramic mugs hold more and I can use one that meets my mood. Those dainty coffee cups just won't do it for me. Here is one I designed with a watercolor print of mine.

Love My Morning Coffee by Paula Atwell
by

lakeerieartists

Design ceramic coffee mugs With Zazzle.com
See other Non-Alcoholic Drinks Mugs

Category: Science Vault
Posted on: August 13, 2007 1:00 AM, by Shelley Batts

Its been nothing but roses lately for us coffee drinkers needing a scientific reason to validate our habit. The past couple weeks have yielded no less than four separate studies on the beneficial health effects of drinking coffee: reducing the risk of liver cancer, protection from age-related memory decline, cutting the risk of colon cancer in half, and caffeine + exercise might contribute to lower risk of skin cancer. With all these "real" benefits coming to light, it is amusing to discover that coffee (while once maligned as a bad habit) was once touted as a ground-breaking treatment for the Plague in 18th century Europe. Guess what? It didn't work.

Coffee drinking was on the rise during the mid 1600s, coffee houses spread through England filling an important niche--public meeting place which did not serve alcohol. Originally coffee was sold as a medicine, "the first steps it made from the cabinets of the curious as an exotick seed, having been into the apothecaries' shops as a drug." Coffee became increasingly popular during the plague of 1664 when it was believed to be therapeutic and protective against the "Contagion," as it was called.

Specifically, a publication which came out during the plague of 1664-1665 entitled 'Advice Against the Plague' by Gideon Harvey recommended coffee against the contagion. Harvey was an eminent human physiologist, and played a large role in characterizing the circulatory system. He was also a great lover of coffee and upon his deathbed in 1657, bequeathed to the Royal Society the greatest treasure in his lab-- 56 pounds of high-quality Venetian coffee.

In 1721, R. Bradley published a work entitled 'The Virtue and Use of Coffee with Regard to the Plague and Other Infectious Distempers; Containing Most Remarkable Observations' which spurred a renaissance in the belief that coffee protected from the plague. He goes on to discuss the reason why some plants, like the coffee plant, have fewer insect pests than others and attributes it to the presence in them of aromatic substances inimical to insects. He then infers that aromatic substances may be harmful to the poisonous insects which produce pestilential diseases and that this provides the justification for the common use of aromatics (coffee) during the plague.

Interestingly, while the use of coffee as a plague prophalactic was unproven, this work represented an early hypothesis of the "germ theory of disease" pre-Louis Pasteur. Bradley expresses his belief that one of the reasons why London had been free from the Plague since the epidemic of 1665 was that the Great Fire the following year destroyed " the Eggs or Seeds, of those Poisonous Animals, that were then in the Stagnating Air " and that the enlargement of the streets, superior sanitation, and the greater public cleanliness were important contributory factors.

Coffee was predicted to protect against more than the plague; the English medical community convinced consumers that coffee possessed all kinds of virtues including curing drunkards and warding off phthisis (pulmonary tuberculosis) and scurvy. However, it was possible that the act of gathering to drink coffee itself was a risky behavior in times of plague. Coffee was so popular that people ignored the advice of the Lord Mayor "who during the epidemic plague of 1664-1665 warned them that the promiscuity in the cafes was a danger to their health." So, paradoxically, even if drinking coffee had any health benefits, the act of congregating in large public spaces upped the risk of being infected by a person carrying the plague.

For more information go to:
http://scienceblogs.com/retrospectacle/2007/08/science_vault_coffee_as_a_cure.php