Coffee and tea blog

Best coffee in the world

admin — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 12:13:11 +0000

Have a look. In this video BBtv Coffee Correspondent Kyle Glanville of Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea explores Brasil’s finest coffee plantations, looking for the best coffee in the world

What is Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee?

admin — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 09:03:45 +0000

Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee or Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee is grown in Blue Mauntans of Jamaica between 3000 and 5500 ft. Anything below that can not be concidered a Blue Mauntain Coffe and above 5000 ft there is a preserved forest and no coffee is grown there.

The conditions there are very humid, there are loads of rainfall and a very rich soil with good drainage. This makes Blue Mauntains a good region for growing coffee.

Jamaica produces only 0.005% of the total ammount of coffee production and 80% of it goes to China. So the rest of the world gets only 0.002%.

Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee is really a unique brand: the beans have floural smell, it has a really silky mouth feeling and smooth, jucy, clean (like a spiced orange and cinamon) taste.

Some History

Coffee didn’t grow in Jamaica originally. Beans were brought to the island in 1728 by the governor at that time, Sir Nicholas Lawes. The arabica beans flourished and now coffee is a major export.

How does a vacuum coffee maker work?

admin — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 14:17:00 +0000

Have you ever heard about vacuum coffee maker? Very interesting original device to make coffee. The taste of the coffee will be the same, but the method is interesting so you can impress your guests
Have a look on the video below to see the process.

Brewing Oolong Tea

admin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:09:47 +0000

We continue writing about Oolong tea. Today you will learn how to brew it.
Now, before that, I would like to give more information about Oolong tea. This tea is from China and it is partly oxidized. What this means is that the leaves have been slightly dried. They are bruised in order to start an oxidation process. This process must be precisely timed in order to get specific oolongs. They have a wide range of flavours. Oolong teas are typically oxidized between 20 and 70 percent. That means that an oolong that’s lightly oxidised will be more on a greener side, fresher tasting. And a tea that is on the 70% oxidation side will have a more woodsy, earthy flavor and will be darker. Almost like a black tea but without the astringent finish. Now, the Oolong teas are the champagne of teas. They are very smooth, have an exquisite floral bouquet and what’s best you can re-steep them 6-8 times with no problems.

Brewing Oolong Tea

You have to steep Oolong tea anywhere between two and for minutes. With a fourth-fifth stepping you should boil water for longer time. Use 185 between 195 degree water. That is right below the boiling tea. The tea is oxidized so the colour will be very pale. The aroma very floral and and the taste is absolutely fantastic.

Balanced Vacuum Expresso Coffee Machine

admin — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 14:44:44 +0000

This coffee brewing technique was invented over a century ago and presented in Austrian and French royal courts. There are still some manufacturers who produce these coffee brewers. Or a piece of art, really. Watch a video below.

Health Benefits of Green Tea

admin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 12:59:08 +0000

Recently I wrote about Oolong tea and weight loss where I compared Oolong tea to a normal green tea. Now it is time to talk about health benefits of green tea in more details.

So why green tea is so healthy?

Green tea is rich in catechin polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is very powerful anti-oxidant: besides inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, it kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. Nowadays, the problem of cancer is very serious and we should not ignore it. So why not to drink a cup of green tea every morning?

It is also very effective in lowering LDL cholesterol levels, and inhibiting the abnormal formation of blood clots (it is called thrombosis and it is the leading cause of heart attacks and stroke). By the way, the rate of heart disease among Japanese men is very low in comparison to Europeans, even though approximately seventy-five percent of them are smokers.

People often ask why don’t other Chinese teas have similar healthy properties?All of them come from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant.But green tea is processed in another way:leaves are steamed, which prevents the EGCG compound from being oxidized. All other teas are made from fermented leaves, which results in the EGCG being converted into other compounds that are far less effective in preventing cancer and other diseases.

Oolong Tea and Weigh Loss

admin — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:12:41 +0000

A lot of people want to know if Oolong tea helps to loose weight. Some people say it’s helpful, some people say it isn’t. So we’ve decided to make a research to find out the trough.
We’ve read some articles about this tea’s properties and found out that Oolong tea definitely helps to loose weight: it is very popular in China because of that ability. People there normally drink it with grease food.
Oolong tea helps lose weight by a) burning fat, b) increasing metabolism, c) blocking dietary fat absorption.

BUT

Some people think that Oolong tea is magical potion which helps to get slim faster than green tea. According to the information we’ve found, this is not true. Green tea has exactly the same property.
Also, Oolong tea burns less fat than Green tea.

Conclusion

Drinking Oolong tea can help you to loose weight, however, Green Tea is a bit more powerful for that purpose. Also there are many other factors that are more important if the loosing weight. For example having a more active lifestyle or switching to a healthier diet.

So don’t believe those who say that by drinking Oolong tea you will get slim in the next two weeks. This is not true.

Some facts about Gevalia coffee

admin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 10:19:04 +0000

Gevalia coffee is produced by Scandinavian company called Kraft Foods (which is the largest coffee roastery in Scandinavia). They have a subsidiary called Gevalia and it received its name from the place where it is located Gävle (Gevalia in Latin).

Most Gevalia Coffee is sold in Sweden and in the Baltic area, but some is exported to America.

Nowadays Gevalia offers over 40 types of coffee and teas. The majority of coffees are Arabica blends, and company use beans from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Kenya and Colombia.

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Kopi Luwak – A Rare Gourmet Coffee Treat

Mike Oliver — Mon, 31 May 2010 18:04:12 +0000

Kopi Luwak is a very highly-prized coffee originating from Indonesia, where its name comes from Kopi, the Indonesian word for coffee and Luwak, which is the name given to the Common Palm Civet, a type of weasel responsible for the production of these beans.

These civets eat a mixture of small mammals, insects and fruits, including the coffee ‘cherry’. These cherries grow high in the trees, and each contains two beans; civets eat the cherries but do not digest the beans, which pass through their systems and are excreted. It is believed that the stomach enzymes of the civet cause some kind of unique fermentation which results in the coffee beans’ exquisite flavour.

The beans are collected from the ground by local farmers, who thoroughly sanitize them then dry them in the sun, thus removing any remaining fruit from the beans. They are then sold to dealers to be distributed to manufacturers, who produce this wonderful Kopi Luwak coffee, known also as civet coffee or weasel coffee, for it to be savored by connoisseurs worldwide.

Kopi Luwak coffee is unique, with a rich hearty taste that has hints of chocolate or caramel: Often described as earthy, musty and exotic; it has a rather syrupy body and is extremely smooth. Because this coffee is so rare and unique, it carries a very high price tag, coffee aficionados anywhere will tell you it is an experience not to be missed.

Many stories circulate about how on earth this delicacy was discovered; did a native once decide it was easier to collect the beans among faeces on the ground than to climb the trees to pick fresh ones? Did someone do it first to play a prank, then discovered the delicious taste? Probably we will never know, but whoever discovered them, have to be thanked for bringing us this delicious, unique coffee.

If you feel you are a coffee expert, or aficionado, definitely take the time to try Kopi Luwak once at least. Pamper yourself with this special, exotic coffee, to discover the special, wonderful flavours unique to this brew. Doubtless, once you have experienced the taste, you won’t be able to resist repeating. As it is so rare and expensive, your local coffee shop will not sell this coffee, but it is available online and from certain suppliers dealing in specialist coffees

Interested to find out more about this incredible coffee ? Then visit http://www.vietnamese-coffee.com, the only website that carriers 3 varieties of Kopi Luwak.

What is Oolong Tea?

admin — Fri, 21 May 2010 19:11:15 +0000

Many of you are familiar with black, white and green tea. Now, Oolong tea is a category of tea in between these three sorts. All of them are made from the same product, but the process of making these teas is different.

The video below explains it in more details.