Archive for the 'Decaffeniated Coffee' Category
Modern gourmet decaf coffee is a marvel of chemistry. The techniques developed in the last century have done much to preserve the flavor of the coffee while removing the caffeine. Here are a few things about gourmet decaf coffee you may not have known.
* Decaf coffee is not caffeine free. The decaffeination process removes from 97% to 99.9% of the caffeine. This leaves about 5 milligrams of coffee in an six ounce cup.
* Not all coffees are the same. Coffees made from Robusta beans contain twice the caffeine of Arabica beans. By definition the coffee must be made from Arabica beans to be considered gourmet coffee.
* More decaf coffee is consumed annually than the combined amount of both Fair Trade and organic coffee.
* Approximately 17.7% of all coffee consumed worldwide is decaf coffee.
Until next time, happy brewing.
A friend related an amusing story the other day. He had a box of camping supplies that he hadn’t opened in several years. In it he found an unopened bag of gourmet coffee.
He opened the bag. His comment was, “It smelled like coffee, but not good coffee.”
So just a reminder – coffee has shelf life, about two weeks once you open the bag. Even a sealed bag will experience some degradation in the quality of the coffee, but you can expect to get about 9 months of shelf life for an unopened bag.
Note that whole coffee beans will hold up better than pre-ground coffee. So grinding your own beans is always the freshest possible choice.
Until next time – happy brewing.
Did you ever wonder what happens to the caffeine removed from your decaf coffee? I did and was I amazed.
The caffeine removed from gourmet coffee is used in medicines. A quick search of the web turned up a migraine medicine, stimulant pills such as No-Doz, pain relievers and antihistamines.
The other big use is in soft drinks. Less than 5% of the caffeine in most sodas comes from the kola nut. The balance comes from the coffee decaffeinating process. Some sodas have no caffeine directly from the kola nut.
Ain’t chemistry wonderful?
Until next time, happy brewing.
Hot weather is coming and a steaming hot cup of discount gourmet coffee may not be your first preference of drink choices. The heat shouldn’t stop you from enjoying coffee. This coffee au lait recipe provides a cool coffee choice for your summer time refreshment.
Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 cups gourmet coffee, cold
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups crushed ice
Preparation:
Blend all ingredients until frothy. Serve over ice.
Source: About.com
For the unleaded crowd try decaf coffee. And for more variety try adding coffee flavor syrup(s) of your choice or use a flavored coffee of your choice.
Until next time, happy brewing.
Here’s a coffee recipe that uses decaffeinated coffee. The source for this recipe is the Kraft Foods website.
Prep Time
10 min
Yields:
6 servings, 3/4 cup each
Ingredients
- 6 Tbsp. decaffeinated coffee, any variety
- 1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping
- 4-1/2 cups cold water
Directions:
PLACE coffee in filter in brew basket of coffee maker. Place topping in empty pot of coffee maker.
ADD water to coffee maker; brew. When brewing is complete, stir until well blended.
Until next time, happy brewing!
Whether you call it unleaded or decaf coffee, many out there can’t drink the “real stuff” anymore. Here’s how they get the caffeine out but keep the taste in.
Various methods can be used. The process is usually performed on unroasted (green) beans, and starts with steaming of the beans. They are then rinsed with a solvent that contains as much of the chemical composition of coffee as possible without also containing the caffeine in a soluble form.
The process is repeated anywhere from 8 to 12 times until it meets either the international standard of having removed 97% of the caffeine in the beans or the EU standard of having the beans 99.9% caffeine-free by mass. Coffee contains over 400 chemicals important to the taste and aroma of the final drink; one can only imagine the difficulty of removing only the caffeine in this process.
While not every method uses the same exact process, the Swiss Water Process gives a good sense of how these processes work in general.
- A batch of green (unroasted) beans is soaked in hot water, releasing caffeine.
- When all the caffeine and coffee solids are released into the water, the beans are discarded.
- This solution then passes through a carbon filter that traps caffeine but lets the coffee solids pass through. The resultant solution is called “green coffee extract (GCE)”.
- New green coffee beans are introduced to the GCE. Since the GCE is coffee solids without caffeine only the caffeine diffuses from the new beans.
- The new GCE solution passes through proprietary carbon which captures the caffeine.
- Repeat process, filtering out all the caffeine until the beans are 99.9% caffeine-free.
- These beans are removed and dried, and they retain most if not all of their flavor.
Now you know, well, at least more.
Until next time – happy brewing.
French Roast Coffee does not come from a specific region or the world or a specific plantation, rather it refers to the darkness of the roast of the coffee chosen for that roasting session. French Roast is the darkest possible roast done on a coffee bean, Italian Roast being the next lower darkness level. Since it is not a specific coffee, it could be a single origin coffee or a blended coffee.
During the coffee roasting process there are two significant moments in time. They are referred to as “pops” or “cracks”. These are the moments when the expanding coffee bean cracks its shell and makes a popping sound. Most American roasters stop after the first pop but before the second pop – producing either a “cinnamon” or “full city” roast, depending on how long after the first pop they leave the beans in the roaster. At this stage the inherent flavor of the coffee remains intact and the coffee receives no flavoring from the roast.
At the second pop the oils of the coffee rise to the surface of the bean. During this time the sugars inside the bean also begin to caramelize.
The result is a coffee that is bitter sweet, with a light body and almost no acidity. The inherent flavors of the coffee(s) roasted this way is lost and the flavor of the roast predominates a French Roast coffee. The flavor is very intense, and those used to a milder coffee may find the taste overwhelming.
The roast master’s skill is critical for this coffee – a few minutes too long in the roaster and a great coffee experience becomes an awful coffee experience.
Until next time – happy brewing.
Gourmet coffee, has often been the subject of artists and pundits. Here are a few samples.
“I believe humans get a lot done, not because we’re smart, but because we have thumbs so we can make coffee.”
~ Flash Rosenberg
“Ah, that is a perfume in which I delight; when they roast coffee near my house, I hasten to open the door to take in all the aroma.”
~ Jean Jacques Rousseau
“In Seattle you haven’t had enough coffee until you can thread a sewing machine while it’s running.”
~ Jeff Bezos
“Ah! How sweet coffee tastes! Lovelier than a thousand kisses, sweeter far than muscatel wine!”
~ Johann Sebastian Bach
Coffee Cantata
“For lo! the board with cups and spoons is crowned
The berries crackle, and the mill turns round …
At once they gratify their scent and taste
And frequent cups prolong the rich repast…
Coffee (which makes the politician wise
And see through all things with his half-shut eyes).”
~ Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
The Rape of the Lock
Until next time – happy brewing.
A winter chill may still hang in the air, but spring will soon be here. Here’s a recipe to try out during the first warm spring day.
Cinnamon Caramel Coffee
Ingredients:
- 6 tbs ground gourmet coffee
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup caramel dessert syrup
Preparation:
Add the cinnamon before brewing to give this recipe spicy touch. You’ll need to stir well to blend in the caramel syrup.
Mix the cinnamon into your loose ground coffee and then brew a pot of coffee by whatever method you prefer. Add the caramel syrup to the cinnamon-spiced coffee, and stir well until completely dissolved. Chill through in the fridge, and serve over ice cubes, with added milk or sugar to taste. The syrup makes this iced coffee pretty sweet as it is.
As an alternative to flavoring syrup try coffee flavoring syrup.
Source: www.coffeetea.about.com
Happy Brewing!
We all know about drinking gourmet coffee, but what about cooking with coffee? Yes, this wonderful elixir can be a welcome addition to foods outside the coffee pot.
Gourmet coffee can be used for everything from a spice rub to part of that delicious sauce you’re serving. Used judiciously the resultant dish may not even taste like coffee. Coffee can both complement and contrast the dish in question. And in the case of some deserts the coffee taste is intended to come to the foreground.
So whether it’s the secret ingredient in your marinade or that extra spice in your sauce, coffee can increase your culinary vocabulary and give you a refreshing cup after the meal as well.
Until next time – happy brewing.