Coffee Beans: A Guide for The Aspiring Gourmet
There’s more to drinking coffee than just walking into a shop and asking for a small, medium, or large cup of whatever the house blend is. The amount of time and effort it takes to grow and harvest coffee beans around the world deserves a little more respect from the average consumer, especially since the delicate taste you get has nothing to do with the barista at Starbucks, and more to do with faraway volcanic slopes and mountain ridges.
Yes, what really makes coffee taste great are the beans themselves, or the special regions in countries around the world where the weather gets together to create the perfect growing environment. To learn a little bit more about the world’s different coffee producing regions, as well as the most popular beans, you needn’t look any further than this handy guide, which will teach you how to make the best possible pot of coffee around just by learning which brands to select.
What is a Coffee Service and Why are They Beneficial?
A coffee service is commonly touted as one of the best perks that you can offer your employees; and one of the best ways to add positively to the company experience for your customers and your clients. Why a coffee service? And precisely what IS a coffee service?
Coffee Services Come in Many Flavors
When working with a coffee service, run-of-the-mill flavors such as French Vanilla and Cinnamon Hazelnut coffee flavors are just the beginning. There are several different standard kinds of coffee services, and each coffee service provides different services and equipment to your office. Each of them also offers benefits, both in general and specifically for your office.
Full Office Coffee Service
Most coffee service companies provide a free coffee machine – or more than one machine, depending on the needs of your company, as part of their service contract. You pay nothing for the coffee machine as long as you purchase a minimum specified amount of coffee and other supplies from the coffee service company. The coffee machines supplied run the gamut from basic Bunn Coffee-matic pour-over Coffee pots to elaborate high-end espresso machines that make multiple kinds of hot drinks, usually dispensing one cup at a time.
Why a Senseo Gourmet Coffeemaker Makes the Best Single Cup of Coffee
It was not that long ago that coffee came out of a tin and required nothing but a pot of boiling water to activate its essential properties, but our world has changed and people these days value quality and complex flavors. Today’s consumers want to choose their own brand of coffee beans sourced from exotic places like The Bahamas or Kenya. More than that, today’s coffee enthusiasts want to experience the full measure of creating a perfect cup, from the grinding of our own beans to the heady aroma that comes from a freshly brewed cup of coffee.
There are literally thousands of coffee bars in the world, identifiable by their aroma and the types of coffees that are available. With many beverages such as the extravagant cappuccino or flavored coffees to the no frills, straight up filter coffee. What they all have in common is that each order is freshly brewed.
At Home
It may not be possible to recreate a fully stocked coffee bar in our home, but everyone may agree that a freshly brewed cup of coffee first thing in the morning is not a luxury anymore, for many of us it is essential. Most homes boast a coffee machine designed to brew freshly ground beans. These machines usually work by allowing a slow drip of hot water to pass through ground coffee beans into a pot below. It does not use pressure to force the water through and this often results in the coffee getting cold while we wait for the cycle to finish. Many people find that it is just too time consuming to make a cup of coffee in this manner.
Winter Beverages You Can Brew With a Senseo Machine
The Senseo coffee machine has not only gained an excellent reputation among coffee lovers worldwide but also has contributed to the increased consumption by occasional coffee drinkers. It takes less than a minute to brew an excellent cup of coffee and this feature has made it a popular choice for those purchasing a new coffee machine. The Senseo coffee-brewing machine uses coffee pods, which are prepackaged coffee designed for the Senseo.
The Sensational Senseo
One or two cups can be brewed at a time and as there are a variety of different flavors available. There is no problem selecting one for each cup. The machine does not only produce the perfect brew but a delicious creamy layer as well. Well-known appliance manufacturer Philips and Douwe Egberts have joined forces to produce the ultimate coffee experience.
The best part is that this can be experienced every time a cup of coffee is brewed. After years of development and market research, the perfect amount of water used for the brewing process maximizes the flavor from the coffee beans. The successful brew is also contributed to the fact that the water reaches the ideal temperature for the pod to bring out the desired flavor.
The Senseo is able to brew an outstanding cup of coffee in about 60 seconds. Another very appealing feature of the coffee machine is the easy cleaning operation. The bag is simply removed and discarded after the coffee has been brewed. There is no wonder why so many people love it.
How a Coffee Service Can Save You Money
An office coffee service can save you money in surprising ways. That may seem to go against the traditional wisdom that says doing something yourself is always cheaper than paying for a service, but providing coffee for your office staff and clients can add up in the accounting books in places where you don’t see it. Contracting with an office coffee service can increase productivity, increase staff and customer satisfaction with your company and reduce the unexpected overhead costs of coffee in your office.
Is coffee costing your company money?
If your company provides coffee for the staff and clients, then you probably think you have a pretty good idea of what your coffee costs are. Bankrate.com, one of the premier finance websites on the Internet, points out costs that few businesses consider when totaling the cost of providing coffee service for their employees. Among those “hidden” costs are the amount of time it takes to shop for break room coffee supplies and the time your accountant or bookkeeper spends tracking coffee expenses for your annual expense reports. Those may seem minor, but when you consider how much you are paying your accountant, it can add up surprisingly fast.
Believe it or not, even those businesses that do not have a break room on premises where they provide coffee for their staff and customers could be losing money by not employing a coffee service. When you provide coffee service on premises, none of your employees are leaving the building to pick up coffee at the local coffee shop; trips that add up in terms of lost productivity and time out of the office. By contracting with a coffee service to provide fine coffee for your employees, you can increase the amount of time that your employees are at work and focused on their jobs.
Can a coffee service increase your company’s profits?
Top Five Reasons You Should Drink Skinny Water
Skinny Water may just be the most fashionable new dietary aid on the market. Celebrity Kristen Bell calls Skinny Water her “weight loss secret” and Nicolette Sheridan credits Skinny Water with helping her stay fit and healthy. Skinny Water has been featured in Woman’s World, First for Women, Woman’s Day and Woman’s Health magazines, and various celebrities have been snapped toting a bottle of the 0 calorie “functional water” on their trips around town. But being fashionable is not the only or even the best reason to drink Skinny Water. Here are the top five reasons that people drink skinny water.
1. Skinny Water helps you lose weight
All five flavors of Skinny Water contain three tested ingredients that help you lose weight. Super Citri Max, the main weight loss supplement ingredient in Skinny Water, has been tested in clinical trials that show it helps people lose up to 365% more weight than dieting alone. Super Citri Max is specially formulated and includes both potassium, which maintains cellular hydration and calcium, which promotes bone density and fat burning. Skinny Water helps suppress your appetite by making you feel full and satisfied longer, while helping your body burn fat for energy.
2. Drinking Skinny Water promotes healthy metabolism while helping you lose weight
Each flavor of Skinny Water is made with ingredients that your body needs but that are often neglected by dieters. In addition to the trace minerals included in Super Citri Max, Skinny Water also includes Chromate, a patented formulation of chromium picolinate. Chromate is a natural appetite suppressant that also promotes healthy metabolism and helps your body regulate sugar. Chromate and Super Cirti Max combine to give your weight loss efforts a kick-start, but it’s only the start of the benefits that Skinny Water offers.
What is a Coffee Service and Why are They Beneficial?
A coffee service is commonly touted as one of the best perks that you can offer your employees; and one of the best ways to add positively to the company experience for your customers and your clients. Why a coffee service? And precisely what IS a coffee service?
Coffee Services Come in Many Flavors
When working with a coffee service, run-of-the-mill flavors such as French Vanilla and Cinnamon Hazelnut coffee flavors are just the beginning. There are several different standard kinds of coffee services, and each coffee service provides different services and equipment to your office. Each of them also offers benefits, both in general and specifically for your office.
Full Office Coffee Service
Most coffee service companies provide a free coffee machine – or more than one machine, depending on the needs of your company, as part of their service contract. You pay nothing for the coffee machine as long as you purchase a minimum specified amount of coffee and other supplies from the coffee service company. The coffee machines supplied run the gamut from basic Bunn Coffee-matic pour-over coffee pots to elaborate high-end espresso machines that make multiple kinds of hot drinks, usually dispensing one cup at a time.
The Story Behind Senseo and the Douwe Egberts Corporation
It was a match made in heaven, at least if your heaven includes wonderful coffee. When Douwe Egberts, the world’s second largest coffee roaster, teamed up with Royal Philips Electric, one of the world’s leading innovators in electronic devices, the result was bound to be sensational. The Senseo coffee pod system is the product of a partnership between two world leaders in their field with a common background.
Douwe Egberts
Egbert Douwes opened a small shop in Joure, The Netherlands back in 1753. De Witte Os sold coffee, tea and tobacco to the townspeople, and was more than moderately successful. In 1780, his son joined the family business and together, they expanded their holdings, adding more shops throughout the region.
The company prospered, and continued to grow throughout The Netherlands, but it was not until the mid-20th century that it expanded beyond the borders of its homeland. In 1948, Douwe Egberts began selling coffee, tea and tobacco in Belgium. Over the next twenty years, the company added sales in Belgium, France and Spain. In 1978, the company was acquired by international food corporation Sara Lee. Since then, Sara Lee and Douwe Egberts has become the second largest coffee roaster in the world. Familiarly known as Sara Lee/DE, the company is a subsidiary of Sara Lee and employs over 26,000 people around the world.
Tips to Brew the Perfect Cup of Espresso
Ah, espresso! It’s been called the nectar of the gods and the elixir of energy. Properly prepared, the perfect shot of espresso is an unparalleled sensory experience, encompassing four of the five senses – five, if you include the sound of this delicious drink as it is prepared and consumed. A perfectly turned out shot of espresso is an incredibly refreshing hot beverage and has been termed ‘the god shot’. There has been a great deal written about how to achieve a perfect shot/cup of espresso every time. Brewing the perfect cup of espresso consistently is a talent to which most baristas – both professional and at-home – aspire. What does it take to brew a perfect cup of espresso? Here are ten tips to help you make every shot of espresso a perfect shot.
1. Start with a clean machine. That should go without saying, but far too many people neglect the necessary maintenance needed to keep their espresso machines scrupulously clean. A film of coffee oils on your filter basket or group head can mar the flavor of your coffee, and mineral buildup in the various parts of the machine that hold and carry water can give your espresso a tinny or metallic flavor.
2. Choose the right coffee. It’s not necessary to choose an ‘espresso roast’; in fact, espresso roast is often darker than the roasts suggested for making espresso. Because espresso brewing extracts so much rich coffee flavor, you will get incredibly good results with coffee in the medium to medium-dark roast categories. Of course, you want to use GOOD coffee, but the variety is less important than the perfect grind.
What Makes the Starbucks Coffee Experience Special?
Starbucks. When you say the name, it automatically conjures up an image: an upscale coffee bar with light wood, glass and chrome. The invigorating and inviting aroma of brewed coffee and the café atmosphere has made Starbucks the best-known specialty coffee roaster and server in the world. Starbucks has done an excellent job of branding their company – it is the only coffee brand that is on the list of 100 most recognized brands in the world. What makes the Starbucks brand and the Starbucks coffee experience so ubiquitous that it ranks up there alongside Google, McDonalds and Coca Cola in name and brand recognition?
Sheer size and Starbuck’s number of locations has something to do with name recognition and popularity. With over 16,000 shops worldwide, Starbucks is certainly one of the most visible brands in the world. However, this is not a matter of the chicken or the egg – in order to become so visible, Starbucks had to start off with something special in the first place. It is that “something special” that defines the Starbucks coffee experience.
The Third Place
Since the opening of its first stores in Seattle, Starbucks has striven to be more than just a place where you buy coffee. Howard Schultz, company President and CEO, defined the atmosphere that Starbucks attempts to create when he said “We’re in the business of human connection and humanity, creating communities in a third place between home and work.”
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