Store Coffee and Preserve Freshness
If I cannot use the freezer for a bag of coffee that I am using, where can I put the coffee? Remember that the warmest place in the kitchen is above and beside the stove. So, don’t put coffee in containers in this kitchen hot spot. Although your refrigerator is cool the top may be warm from heat bleeding off. Try a cupboard away from heat and sunlight.
Once I Open the Container
Many coffee containers are fine for shipping and until opened. After first use it is often wise to put remaining coffee into an container with an air tight seal. The cost is worth it as you will store coffee and preserve freshness away from the air.
Does Coffee Age?
The answer is yes! The reason that Panama Mountain Grown Organic Coffee is often shipped to the USA for roasting is not because they cannot roast coffee in Panama (or Colombia, or Brazil, or Vietnam). It is because coffee starts to lose its flavor as soon as the roasting process is completed. Thus roasting takes place close to the market where coffee will be sold. You will want to store coffee and preserve freshness but you will also want to purchase small quantities of coffee, enjoy our coffee, and buy more when you run out. Coffee is not a fine wine. It does not improve with age.
If you purchase a large quantity of wholesale coffee put the larger amount in an air tight container and take your daily coffee out of a smaller container, replenishing as needed. Small and airtight containers can be store in the freezer but only until the first use. The same rules apply for regular coffee and healthy organic coffee. Coffee ages and it ages more if it is warm, wet, and exposed to the air. For more useful information about organic coffee feel free to browse through our articles at www.BuyOrganicCoffee.org.
Ways to Prepare Coffee
There are many ways to prepare coffee. Coffee prepared at home is typically brewed coffee. Coffee house coffee is espresso and espresso plus other ingredients. A tried and true means of making coffee for large family gatherings is to put coffee grounds, water, and maybe a cracked egg or two into a very large pot and boil. If you live in the coffee growing regions of Latin America you probably have a wire ring on a handle which holds a cotton bag in which you place ground coffee. Boil water; pour through the suspended ground coffee into a pot or right into the cup. Add sugar or milk to the cup and enjoy. Which of the various ways to prepare coffee is best? Is regular coffee better is USDA organic coffee what you should use?
Start with the Bean
If you purchase whole bean coffee you will need to grind it before using any of the various ways to prepare coffee. Coffee comes in two general varieties, robusta and Arabica. Both varieties can be grown under sustainable growing conditions to produce healthy organic coffee. The differences between organic coffee and regular coffee are two. Organic coffee has many fewer impurities as it is grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides. And organic coffee helps save the earth. The sustainable practices used in growing organic coffee preserve wildlife habitat, watersheds, and small coffee farming operations in the remote areas of the world. Now that you have decided on a type of coffee bean and have ground it what are the ways to prepare coffee?
Home Brewing
Filtered or bottled water is best if your tap water is not good or has too much chlorine. A good rule of thumb is to use one to two tablespoonsful of ground coffee for every six ounces of water which is a cup. You can adjust this to your own taste. Temperature is important. Usually the most effective brewing temperature is right around 200 degrees. The most effective brewing time is around 5 minutes of a drip system, two minutes for a French press or plunger system, and thirty seconds for making espresso with very finely ground coffee. No matter which of the way to prepare coffee you use make sure to drink your coffee right after it is made. The regular or organic coffee antioxidants provide a great flavor. Enjoy your coffee fresh.
If you like the idea of the cloth bag approach, make sure to grind your coffee very fine. Boil water and let it rest just for a minute at sea level. If you are in the mountains, the land of eternal spring, in Latin America your water will boil at less than 212 degrees so boil and pour.
Making good espresso really requires an espresso maker. You make espresso by forcing nearly boiling water through very finely ground coffee beans. This gives the coffee a stronger taste, thicker consistency, and higher caffeine concentration. It is served in one ounce quantities. If you want to jazz up your espresso add chocolate syrup to make mocha or steamed milk to make latte. By the way, if you want “Americano” it is just half espresso and half water. The GI’s in Europe after World War II remembered Mom’s coffee and asked the barista to water down their espresso to taste.
Coffee House Coffee
Still confused when you request coffee house coffee? Don’t know the differences between espresso and Americano, latte and cappuccino? Here is our primer for coffee house coffee. It starts with the fact that all coffee in a coffee house starts with espresso. Hopefully they use healthy organic coffee in making their espresso but you probably have to ask for it.
Espresso is very concentrated coffee that retains a lot of dissolved as well as suspended solids from the roasted coffee bean. It is made by forcing steam (boiling water) through fine ground coffee. It has a thicker feel because of the suspended solids and foam because of the pressurized steam. Espresso concentrates the flavors of coffee and is served in a small cup, usually an ounce (30 cc). A cup of espresso typically has between 40 and 75 milligrams of caffeine while a standard cup of percolated coffee contains about twice this much but in an 8 ounce cup. Thus coffee house coffee espresso is about four times more concentrated than the cup of coffee that you had a home for breakfast. Because espresso contains more coffee per ounce also contains more organic coffee antioxidants if you insist on organic for your espresso.
But there are more varieties of coffee house coffee than just espresso and you may find yourself confused looking at the list on the back wall above the barista working at the espresso machine. Here are the derivatives of espresso that you can typically find at your local coffee house:
- Americano
- Breve
- Cappucino
- Latte
- Mocha
Americano
Americano is a coffee house coffee made from espresso and diluted with water. This goes back to the World War II era and after when GI’s who were used to Mom’s home perked or boiled coffee asked the barista to add water to their espresso to make it less strong. Think “weak espresso.”
Breve and Latte
Both of these are made with espresso and foam. Latte is made with steamed milk and breve is made with half and half. For latte think “coffee with milk” or café au lait and for breve think “coffee with milk and cream.”
Cappuccino
Cappuccino is made with espresso plus hot milk plus lots of steamed foam.
Mocha
Mocha is for coffee and chocolate lovers. It is made with espresso plus chocolate syrup plus milk.
All coffee house coffee is made with espresso. If you want your espresso made with USDA organic coffee you probably have to ask for it. For those interested in strong flavor and aroma espresso is probably the ultimate. Likewise espresso and each other coffee house coffee made from espresso has a high concentration of the antioxidants that give coffee much of its flavor and many of its health benefits. But, if you want authentic organic coffee as the base for your espresso, cappuccino, or mocha make sure that you ask.
Hope that you are no longer confused about that list of coffee house coffee at the coffee shop. If you have not tried one or the other feel free to experiment, and enjoy.
Recession Drives Coffee Sales Down in Europe
Recession drives coffee sales down in Europe if figures from Starbucks are an indication. Not only did worldwide sales for the coffee shop giant fall, but sales in Europe fell by one percent. As recession drives coffee sales down in Europe it is same store sales that suffered for Starbucks. Considering that austerity measures are likely to cause a recession this year in the Euro Zone and countries like Spain have unemployment of a quarter of their work force it is not surprising that high end coffee sales are down. But, what is a lover of healthy organic coffee to do in such a situation?
First of all, in Europe or elsewhere, one does not need to go to Starbucks or any other high end coffee shop chain to buy good coffee. Wholesale coffee from Panama, for example, is available through Panamá Natural Organic Coffee by way of www.BuyOrganicCoffee.org. Panamá Natural Organic Coffee can vouch for organic coffee certification of products shipped anywhere on earth. While recession drives coffee sales down in Europe the lower prices of coffee this year may be damaging to small organic coffee operations. Organic coffee farmers need to premium typically paid for organic coffee to pay for their more intensive and sustainable coffee farming operations. A combination of lower prices and a reduced demand could be fatal for some coffee farmers. On the other hand, as recession drives coffee sales down in Europe, organic coffee lovers can go online to www.BuyOrganicCoffee.org for Panama Mountain Grow Organic Coffee shipped directly to their door.
While recession drives coffee sales down in Europe Starbucks and others are putting up more coffee shops in China. The point is that despite the risk of a Chinese real estate collapse and reduced exports from China, the economy there is less dicey than in Europe. Also the market for coffee is not saturated. Starbucks and others are having a fair degree of success selling coffee in a traditionally tea drinking culture. Also, China is right next door to the second largest coffee producer in the world, Vietnam. In fact, the highlands of all of Indochina are ideal for coffee growing. Laotian organic coffee is available through small farm cooperatives right next door to a rapidly expanding coffee market in China.
Despite a fall off in high end coffee sales in Europe there are lots of cheaper sources of good organic coffee. Organic coffee prices may not fall as much as regular coffee prices but organic coffee may become more attractive economically as well as esthetically. For information about selection and shipping please contact Panamá Natural Organic Coffee by way of www.BuyOrganicCoffee.org. Organic coffee cooperatives in Panama are looking for customers. Much of their organic coffee excess goes to local sales for lack of a wider market. Come and join the ranks of Panama Organic Coffee lovers. You will be glad that you did. We ship directly from Panama to you. In addition we offer a variety of non-Panama organic coffee brands via Amazon.com. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us today.
Coffee Shops in China
Who would have thought? There are coffee shops in China. The land of Chairman Mao, the little red book, the Great Cultural Revolution, is home to a growing number of Starbucks, Costa Coffee, Paris Baguette, Tous Les Jours, and Pacific Coffee establishments selling coffee. For anyone who has not been tuned in, China is a land of tea drinkers. However, the impressive economic success of China has put money into the hands of a growing middle class which has a taste for foreign products and flavors. Starbucks already has over five hundred shops in China and plans to triple this number in the next three years. As we wrote in Starbucks Organic Coffee in China, the company opened its first outlet in China in 1999 and now has coffee shops in China in 42 cities.
Coffee Shops in China and Throughout the Orient
Starbucks and other are not limiting their coffee shop expansion to China. Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and India are on the list. Of course the second biggest wholesale coffee producer in the world is Vietnam, second only to Brazil. Starbucks and others do not note how much of their coffee sold in the orient will be healthy organic coffee but Starbucks sells about a seventh of its coffee as certified organic coffee. The competition selling coffee in a tea drinking culture comes from around the world. Costa Coffee is British. The owners of Paris Baguette and Tous Les Jours are South Korean, and Pacific Coffee is from Hong Kong. In addition, MacDonald’s sells coffee in their restaurants as do Dunkin’ Donuts and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, all of which plan to expand their operations in this fast growing market.
Aiming to Change a Culture
The advent of coffee shops in China is part of another “cultural revolution” in China. However, this one is not dictated from on high and is not accompanied by bands of Mao suited individuals rounding up the educated elite and packing them off to farms in the hinter lands. China’s managed capitalism is succeeding in putting money in the pockets of entrepreneurs in China. This emerging middle class likes Western brand names and will pay more for products and services that imply their nation’s “arrival” as a major player on the world stage. A middle class with expendable income may be an excellent target for selling USDA organic coffee. As China comes to integrate its economy, and its culture, with the rest of the world we can expect to see more coffee shops in China. As this phenomenon spreads we can expect to see Chinese companies enter the battle for consumer attention and sales. However, at the current time, a large part of the attraction of Chinese coffee shops is that they are new. They sell great coffee. And, these outlets provide a level of service and visibility that the newly rich or well to do of China find attractive. The next wave may well be a preference for organic coffee as the culture becomes more environmentally aware.
Is It Really Colombian Coffee?
Colombian coffee buyers are purchasing coffee from Peru to make up for a weak harvest. It turns out that roughly a fifth of Peruvian coffee exports are going to Colombia this year. So, when you see a bag of Juan Valdez organic coffee you might wish to ask yourself, “Is it really Colombian coffee?” Colombia produces more Arabica coffee beans than any country outside of Brazil. But, historic rains damaged coffee plants as they flowered and continuing rains increased the incidence of plant diseases. Thus Colombia expects to see a fall in its harvest of 300,000 bags to 7.5 million. Last year the harvest was 7.8 million bags. This year will mark the lowest production of coffee in Colombia in a quarter of a century as a persistent El Niño has reduced harvests for years. Colombia produced 12.5 million bags of coffee in the 2007 to 2008 growing season. So, when you see the Juan Valdez label, is it really Colombian coffee?
What Does the Juan Valdez Label Mean for Colombian Coffee?
The Juan Valdez name was made up by the Colombian Coffee Growers Association years ago and gives the buyer assurance that what they are getting is 100% Colombian coffee. There is, in fact, a coffee house chain in Colombia called Juan Valdez as well. Regarding the question, is it really Colombian coffee or not, Peru is only selling just under 100,000 bags of coffee to buyers in Colombia. Colombia, even in a historically bad year will produce 7.5 million bags. This is seventy-five times the amount that they are buying from Peru. The Colombian cafetero is still a major coffee producer where growing organic coffee in the shade is tradition and healthy organic coffee is common. It would appear that there is little reason to fear a wholesale replacement of Colombian coffee found under the Juan Valdez label. So, is it really Colombian coffee? It probably is.
Getting Organic Coffee from Colombia
A sad fact is that Colombia has been dealing with a civil war for half a century. The government is winning and the rebellion has been driven out of the cities. However, large parts of the Cafetero are mountainous and jungle. Rebel groups that may have started out with a clear motive of improving the lives of Colombians have resorted to running drugs and kidnapping in order to survive. Thus, Colombia is not only a major producer of coffee but also a producer of cocaine. If you fly out of any airport in Colombia please expect to have the armed agents pin prick any bags of coffee that you are carrying and apply a “sniff” test for drugs. No other nation in the world will allow mailed bags of Colombian coffee to enter. So, if you yearn for organic coffee antioxidants from the land of Juan Valdez you need to find another route. And you still need to ask, is it really Colombian coffee, as Colombia strives to make up for production shortfalls caused by bad weather.
Reduce Skin Cancer Risk with Coffee and Exercise
It may be possible to reduce skin cancer risk with coffee and exercise. If recent research with mice can be applied to humans, a cup of coffee plus exercise each morning could reduce the risk of skin cancer. The research was done on mice. The animals were exposed to high levels of ultraviolet light which increases the incidence of melanoma. The researchers split the mice into four groups. One was given water to drink. Another group was given coffee with water. A third was given coffee with water and allowed to exercise on an exercise wheel. A forth group was allowed to exercise on their exercise wheel as well, but had no coffee. The results were recently reported to a Chicago meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. The report does not mention if the mice got organic whole bean coffee or regular coffee.
The fourteen week study produced a clear indication that one can reduce cancer risk with coffee and exercise, in the mice in the study. Mice that exercised and drank coffee had sixty-two percent fewer skin cancers than the water only group and skin cancers that occurred were nearly ninety percent smaller. By comparison, coffee drinking mice had a quarter fewer cancers and exercise-only mice had a third fewer cancers. Both of these groups also had smaller cancers than the “water only” group of mice. The researchers noted that the coffee and exercise group of mice lost weight and speculate that the reduction fat may be part of the answer to why these animals got fewer and smaller cancers. One might want to look at the beneficial effects of antioxidants in black organic coffee in this regard.
This study needs to be replicated in humans in order to be useful for you and me. However, there is already a large amount of evidence showing beneficial effects of coffee consumption. We know that more coffee or more organic coffee can lead to less diabetes . More organic coffee can lead to less colon cancer as well. The antioxidants in a cup of coffee are known to have a large number of useful effects on the human body. An antioxidant is a molecule that inhibits the cell damage and cell death in human cells. It does this by reducing oxidative breakdown of other molecules in the cell, a factor in sickness and aging. Antioxidants help prevent the damage caused by excessive oxidation and to a degree inhibit the aging process. Organic coffee antioxidants are in the same class of molecules that help reduce oxidation.
In the roasting process of organic coffee methylpyridium is created. This organic coffee antioxidant is a breakdown product of trigonelline. It has been found to increase activity of phase II enzymes. Doctors believe that these enzymes protect against colon cancer, which is the second leading cause of death from cancer in the USA. When comparing healthy organic coffee versus regular coffee remember that while regular coffee offers some of the same benefits regular coffee may have impurities that effectively cancel out the health effects of a good cup of organic coffee. Thus it is not surprising, at least in animal studies, that coffee helps reduce skin cancer in animals that are prone to the disease. The only problems that this writer can see is how I could get a human-sized exercise wheel with attached coffee holder in my home and how to keep the wheel from squeaking and annoying the neighbors!
Lose Weight with Coffee Bean Extract
It appears possible to lose weight with coffee bean extract! This little tidbit was in the news recently. A chemist in Pennsylvania reports that when sixteen volunteers lost weight when they took a gram of green coffee bean extract daily for five months. According to the study report the volunteers were in their twenties and all overweight. These folks did not change their diets or the amount of exercise that they did, or didn’t, engage in. According to researchers there were no ill effects on the volunteers’ blood pressure readings or heart rate. The average weight loss in this study was just over ten pounds. Researchers understand that antioxidants in black organic coffee potentially lessen cellular damage from aging, slow down atherosclerosis related inflammation, and even reduce the likelihood of a number of serious medical conditions such as diabetes and certain types of cancer. At this point no one knows just why you lose weight with coffee bean extract.
Some commentators have remarked that it is probably the caffeine that helps one lose weight with coffee bean extract. However, the study author believes that a chemical called chlorogenic acid in unroasted beans is what does the trick. A next logical step would be to take another group of overweight volunteers and give half of them caffeine pills and the other half coffee bean extract with the same amount of caffeine and compare the results. This author would rather be in a test group that drank healthy organic coffee with the same amount of caffeine. That way the question of caffeine as the reason that one can lose weight with coffee extract could be clarified and this coffee drinker would enjoy the benefits of his favorite cup of Panama organic coffee .
Although it would be nice to lose weight with coffee bean extract it would be nicer to keep the weight off with a proper diet and moderate exercise. Then we coffee drinkers could enjoy the benefits of modified organic coffee antioxidants created during the roasting process. While we are talking about the health benefits of coffee, let’s not forget that more organic coffee can lead to less diabetes and that more organic coffee can lead to less colon cancer . According to researchers it would appear that the natural antioxidants in organic coffee, modified and even created by roasting are responsible for a number of the health benefits.
Lose weight with coffee bean extract if you like, but I, for one, will continue to enjoy my morning cup of Panama mountain grown organic coffee . Drink organic coffee for your health and organic coffee for the environment is a good idea as well. Organic coffee is grown using sustainable agricultural techniques, offers a higher return per bag of coffee produced, and results in a purer product. If it turns out that I can watch my weight with a cup or two or three of organic coffee each day I will be totally satisfied and absolutel willing to forego the chance to lose weight with coffee bean extract.