Coffee Grinders: Grinding Coffee in a Jiffy!

A coffee grinder is an essential piece of coffee processing equipment. Grinding the coffee beans is an important step in coffee making. The perfect grind will enable you to enjoy the best cup of stimulating coffee. The ‘golden rule’ to coffee making is that grinding of coffee beans should be done just before brewing.

When you shop for your favorite coffee beans make sure that you shop for the right kind of coffee grinder too. You can choose from a wide variety of coffee grinders available in the market in all sorts of shapes and sizes. You’ve got to select the right kind to make yourself a perfect cup of invigorating coffee.

In the majority of American homes the coffee grinder has become a standard kitchen appliance! Most coffee grinders made for home use are simple and easy to operate grinding the coffee beans in a jiffy. To grind the coffee beans into extra fine, fine, medium or coarse, any of the above categories, you can use these electronic gadgets that are fast and give you the perfect coffee grind.

The coffee grinder runs on an electric motor. It is fitted with either one of the following two types of grinding tools - blades or burr plates. Coffee grinding machines fitted with burr plates are more expensive than blade grinders. However, for a better grind you must always opt for burr type coffee grinders.

By Randy Wilson

Warm Your Body and Your Soul With a Great Cup of Coffee

While a great cup of coffee is always a welcome treat, there are just some days that call out for coffee. You look out the window and see nothing but an expanse of white. Yes, it is snow and more is falling. The wind is howling and no matter what you do, you can't seem to get warm. The coffee maker is just calling your name. But you don't want just any cup of coffee, you want something really special.

What makes a coffee special? What sets certain coffees apart? Great flavor is not enough. You need to feel good about your coffee. After all, who could enjoy a cup of coffee knowing that kids were used harvesting it or that the growers were being taken advantage of by the company that was bringing the coffee to you. How do you make sure your coffee is great and was grown, harvested, and brought to you without exploiting the farmers that grew it?

First, look for coffee that is 100% organic. Just like other foods, coffee that is certified as 100% organic means the coffee is grown without fertilizers, pesticides or other chemical products. Be sure you look for the USDA symbol certifying that the coffee is organic.

Second, check to see if the coffee is Fair Trade Certified. Fair Trade Certified means that the product the farmers were paid a fair price and the workers were paid a fair wage. No child labor was used. These practices result in stronger communities with better education and health care. You can feel good about the coffee you are purchasing.

But flavor is still important. You can't feel good about saving the world when you are still freezing. There are two things that make a superior coffee. Coffee that is shade grown and infrared roasted.

Shade growing gives coffee a better taste and richer flavor. It is also a better environment for wildlife, providing a natural home for birds which help eliminate pests naturally. The shade is also a better environment for farmers and workers as they are protected from the sun.

Last, but not least, is infrared roasting. Most coffee is roasted at high temperatures and with either direct or indirect flame. The roasting is what gives coffee its flavor, but flame roasting can lead to acidity and bitterness in the coffee, which is why coffee causes stomach problems for some people. With infrared roasting, the beans absorb the heat and essentially roast themselves. This eliminates the bitterness and acidity, making a more flavorful cup of coffee that is easier on the stomach.

So go ahead and brew your 100% organic, shade grown, fair trade, infrared roasted coffee. Sit back, watch the snow, and enjoy!

By Robin Rushlo

Organic Coffee - Here's to Your Health and the Health of the Planet!

We often hear about organic-this and organic-that, but most people don't know what that term means or why is it important to our ever-changing world. In food related matters, organic refers to the way a product is grown. Organic agriculture utilizes conservation practices that protect water, air, and soil - all of which are certainly is an investment in the future of our planet. Additionally, organic products are grown without using chemically based pesticides and fertilizers. By choosing to purchase products such as organic coffee, you are essentially doing a good thing both for yourself and for the planet. Organic coffee growers go to great lengths to insure there are no synthetics, preservatives, or additives in their product. In doing so, they produce some of the best coffee in the world.

Organic coffee is the healthiest form of coffee available. The rich bodied, whole coffee bean is full of antioxidants, has no synthetics, preservatives, or additives, and contains natural enzymes. If that isn't enough, when the organic whole bean is ground and brewed properly, the taste transcends any other conventionally grown coffee bean. Organic coffee growers can be found around the globe, from Kenya, Africa, to Kona, Hawaii. The whole bean product comes to us from Mexico, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Columbia, and Ethiopia. Whole coffee beans can be blended with other flavors and can be caffeinated or not. An amazing product and certainly the best way to start the day!

Deciding how to go about getting the best cup of brewed organic coffee begins with an understanding of the equipment necessary to make the perfect cup. Most people know whether they are looking for a cup of black coffee or something a little more sophisticated, like a latte or espresso. No matter the outcome, it all starts with the bean and the coffee grinder. The grinder is used to turn the roasted coffee beans into a usable form and the consistency of the grinding needs to match the brewing method. A simple rule of thumb is to use a coarse grind for coffee exposed to heated water for a longer period of time. A fine grind is used for brewing espresso coffee. Essentially, when using a coffee grinder, a person can control the length of time and degree of grind, thus ensuring the best cup of coffee for their personal taste.

The next step to the perfect cup of organic coffee is deciding upon the coffee maker or espresso maker to best meet individual preferences. There are lots of great products on the market and it bears researching the top machines available to help produce the award-winning cup of latte, or espresso. There really aren't words to describe the aroma of the perfectly ground and brewed cup of organic coffee. The overwhelming satisfaction of treating yourself to the perfect roast and blend of organic beans is sublime. Experimenting with the different types of organic whole beans available is fun and rewarding as well!

Spend your time and money on the perfect whole beans, the right coffee grinder and a great coffee machine. You won't be sitting in the drive through line at the local coffee joint once you make this investment! Your organic coffee adventure awaits you.

By Chris Robertson

Just Coffee, Please

People in groups of two, three, or more stroll into coffee shops all across America and utter the phrase, "Just coffee, please" as they take their seats, open their newspapers, or converse with one another. The message that they are conveying is that they don't need a menu, and that they won't be ordering food of any kind. They simply want a cup of coffee.

These folks expect that they will be served a good cup of coffee, and that makes the coffee bean growers, those who harvest the coffee beans, those who transport the coffee beans, those who roast the coffee beans, and those who grind the coffee beans and package the coffee all smile with satisfaction at a job well done, and proves yet again that they all have job security. People drink coffee and they will keep right on drinking coffee.

The process of producing good coffee beans to getting those coffee beans made into coffee and into the cup of a coffee drinker is a long and arduous task that involves a great many people. Coffee is big business...very big business.

Coffee trees thrive only in sheltered, mountainous, subtropical climates. Coffee trees are temperamental -- they must be shaded by larger trees to protect them, and their tender fruit and coffee beans must be harvested by hand. Harvesting coffee beans is a back-breaking job that can only be done by people who can tell a ripe coffee bean from an unripe coffee bean. Ripe coffee beans must be picked, and green coffee beans must be left undisturbed so that they continue the ripening process and can be picked later.

Coffee beans must be carefully handled during transportation to avoid bruising the beans. Roasting must be done under very controlled conditions and grinding under conditions that are equally well controlled.

Think about that the next time that you say, "Just coffee, please."

By Miodrag Trajkovic

I Love the Cafe Belmondo Coffee Club

There aren't many things that I enjoy as much as that first cup of coffee in the morning. It's simply great to be able to wake up to the smell of coffee brewing and to hover over that first steaming cup and let the scent slowly open your eyes for you. It's like heaven on earth, and there aren't really many words that can describe it. If you feel similar to that wake up cup of coffee as I do then you will love what I am about to tell you. Because every month I get great coffee delivered right to my door. It not only keeps me in full supply of coffee, but when I have extra it's a great thing that I give to friends and family that share my love of coffee.

Many people buy their coffee grounds at the grocery store, and for years I did the same thing. But when you get the taste of some really great coffee and then you realize that the coffee that you have been waking up to in the mornings is less than appealing in comparison you start to wonder how you can fix that situation. I have been getting coffee from Belmondo for a while and all I can say is that I love the taste. The secret is really in how they prepare the beans, and how the roast them. They know their stuff when it comes to choosing the proper beans and then preparing them right. Of course you need the proper brewing equipment to have a superior cup of coffee.

By Tim Shank