Coffee is a very popular caffeine-based drink prepared from roasted seeds, usually called coffee beans. It was first discovered in the 19th century in the Ethiopia highlands. It then spread to Yemen and Egypt. Soon enough, it became popular throughout the world.
Coffee plant is native to Southern Asia and subtropical Africa. It belongs to a genus of 10 species of flowering plants. Coffee is a small tree or evergreen shrub that can grow about 5 meters long and 6 centimeters wide. It produces a cluster of fragrant and white flowers that bloom simultaneously.
Coffee is commonly propagated by seeds. The usual method of planting coffee is to place 20 seeds in each hole at the beginning of the rainy season. Coffee is frequently intercropped with food harvests like beans, rice or corn during the first few years of cultivations.
There are two main cultivated species of coffee plants – Coffee Arabica and Coffee Canephora. Arabica coffee is more suitable than Robusta because Robusta coffee tends to taste more bitter. The cultivation of Arabica coffee accounts to about three quarters of coffee cultivations globally.
Most of the Arabica coffee beans originated from Eastern Africa, Latin America, Asia or Arabia. Robusta coffee beans, on the other hand, are grown in Central and Western Africa, all over Southeast Asia and in some parts of Brazil.
Coffee beans are brewed or grounded in making coffee. Roasting the grounded coffee beans can be done at home, in a roastery or in the grocery store. Coffee beans can be grounded in many ways. It can be steeped, pressured or boiled. The earliest method of brewing coffee was boiling. In fact, Turkish coffee uses this method.
Coffee grinders and coffee mills are two advanced means of making coffee nowadays. It comes in different models, and some of these are discussed below.
The Ascaso M.101 Anthracite Grinder Color Coffee provides commercial quality grinding with more than 9lbs of production per hour. It has a 700 rpm motor, optional electronic timer, built-in MRS or Micrometric Regulation System, and 250 watts of power. The large 600 gram hopper of this coffee grinder helps position the nozzle, for simple pouring of the grounded coffee.
The Black and Decker SmartGrind Deluxe Bean Burr Mill features removable beans and a coffee container. It crushes beans rather than grinding it to preserve the aroma and flavor of the coffee. The bean container can hold more than 20 cups of coffee. The settings can be adjusted to make espressos, medium drips and coarse percolators.
The Bosch Blade Coffee Grinder is easy to operate, even by left-handers. Its housing is made of durable shock-resistant plastic. It can also be used for grinding shelled nuts and certain types of spices. The slant basket and special beater blade system produce consistent and uniform grinding.
The Bodum C-Mill Blade Coffee Grinder has a very precise and strong motor. The C-Mill blade is not only used in grinding coffee, it can also be used in grinding shelled nuts and other types of spices. It has a convenient cord storage, and safety on and off switch.
