Gourmet Coffee Chatter

One of the pleasures of the holidays is the feasts and the snacks. The bane is the extra weight we need to lose as our New Years resolution. Here is a caffe latte recipe that might help shed some of those pounds and allow you your favorite coffee shop treat. The source for this is the weight watchers website.

Not on a diet. Try it with real sugar. Or maybe with a couple of pumps of your favorite flavoring syrup . . . Yummy!

Ingredients:

• 1-1/4 cups regular grind espresso or other dark roast coffee
• 1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
• 6 cups water
• 2-1/2 teaspoons EQUAL® FOR RECIPES or SPLENDA
• 2-1/2 cups skim milk
• Ground cinnamon or nutmeg

Instructions:

Place espresso and cinnamon stick in filter basket of drip coffee pot; brew coffee with water. Stir sugar into coffee; pour into 8 mugs or cups.

Heat milk in small saucepan until steaming. Blend half of milk in blender at high speed until foamy, about 15 seconds; pour milk into 4 mugs of coffee, spooning foam on top. Repeat with remaining milk and coffee. Sprinkle with cinnamon or nutmeg before serving.

Nutritional Information:

Calories 31, Total Fat 0 g, Protein 3 g, Carbohydrates 5 g, Cholesterol 1 mg, Sodium 46 mg, Fiber 0 g

Until next time, happy brewing!

Coffee has sometimes been maligned as a dubious choice health-wise. That attitude is changing.

None other than the Harvard Medical School is reporting potential preventative benefits for coffee coffee drinkers for:

• Colon and Rectal Cancer
• Type 2 Diabetes
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Heart Disease

They are even reporting increased life span for coffee drinkers, especially women coffee drinkers.

Another study from the National Cancer Institute reports that chronic Hepatitis C sufferers can reduce the progression of liver damage by almost 53% by drinking 3 or more cups of coffee a day.

If you’re concerned about the caffeine gourmet coffee is recommended. The Arabica bean has almost half the caffeine of the Robusta bean. Arabica beans are used almost exclusively in gourmet coffee, while most commercial grade coffees use Robusta beans. And you get the added benefit of a better tasting coffee with gourmet coffee.

Caffeine only constitutes about 2% of coffee. There are also over 1,000 different vitamins, minerals and amino acids. There’s even some fiber in there that may help prevent the absorption of cholesterol.

A cautionary note: Pregnant women should be careful as coffee drinking has been associated with miscarriages. For the rest of us, remember moderation.

So drink up – it’s a healthy choice.

So far I’ve been talking about how flavoring is applied to flavored coffee, either by flavoring oil or by syrup. The final issue is dietetic in nature – sugar (and calories) or no sugar.

Flavoring oils have the clear advantage here, imparting scent and flavoring without any sweetening agent. Flavored coffees prepared with flavoring oils are suitable for both diabetics and dieters. Flavoring oils usually add less than five calories to the coffee.

Flavored syrups are another story. There are definitely sugars and calories added here, as much as 100 calories and 24 grams of sugar per fluid ounce. Your usage will determine the final calorie count.

The good news for diabetics and dieters is that sugar free syrups are available. For example, Monin, a major manufacturer of coffee syrups, offers a small line of sugar free syrups, boasting zero sugars and zero calories. They use Splenda as a sweetening agent. Other examples abound.

For some however sugar free solutions just don’t work. Personally, I can taste aspartame and other artificial sweeteners. I don’t enjoy the taste. If you’re like that then moderation is the rule.

Drink up and enjoy the flavors.