Perfect Coffees.Com Newsletter Issue #32
September 1, 2006
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In This Issue
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=> Coffee Facts
=> Feature Article
=> Recipe Of The Month
=> Coffee Trivia
=> Looking For A Coffee Maker?
=> Contact Us
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Coffee Facts
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The best way to preserve coffee, whether it's ground or whole bean is to store it in an opaque, airtight container with minimal air at the top.
If you use a coffee maker with an "interrupt brewing" option that allows you to sneak a cup in the middle of the brewing cycle, try to ignore it. The strongest coffee brews first, so the rest of your pot will be weaker and unbalanced.
The ideal temperature for coffee brewing is between 195-205 degrees Fahrenheit.
Use metal filters instead of paper ones because metal filters allow more flavor-enhancing particles through.
If you run out of paper filters don't use paper towels because they are usually filled with bleaches, resins, and inks and will give your coffee a bitter taste.
Colloids, microscopic particles in coffee that are too big to fully dissolve, are what give coffee its texture.
Non-dairy creamer should be in the cup before the coffee, so coffee will not cool below 170 degrees, to allow the creamer to dissolve properly.
The strength of coffee refers to how much coffee there is in the brew, whereas the body is a measure of the richness or heaviness of the coffee taste.
Coffee is 98% water so using hard water will produce bitter tasting coffee. For best results use clean, filtered water.
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Feature Article
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Have you ever heard of Chiapas coffee? Chiapas is located in the southern moutain region of Mexico next to the Pacific Ocean.
With a land mass of nearly 46,000 sq. miles, the Chiapas climate ranges from tropical to sub-humid due to the vast changes in altitude.
Coffees from this region are sought after for their delicate aroma, medium body, natural chocolate flavor and bright acidity. These coffee beans produce a well balanced cup of coffee with an acidity reminiscent of dry white wines.
The best Chiapas coffees are grown in the southeast corner of the state near the border with Guatemala, and may bear the market name Tapachula after the town of that name.
At their best, Tapachula or Chiapas coffees display the brisk acidity, delicate flavor, and light to medium body of the better known Mexican coffees of Oaxaca and Vera Cruz States.
Coffee production is nothing new to the farmers of Chiapas. Since the arrival of the plantations in the early 1900s they worked as hired hands during the coffee harvest and learned about production and processing.
Soon, seeds began trickling back to the Highland communities of Chiapas. Once the farmers started their own coffee fields, they eventually organized into producer cooperatives in search of better markets.
Most coffee growers in Chiapas, Mexico, live in ejidos, which means, land held in common by the entire community, and worked by individual families.
The coffee fields are usually 2 to 10 acres each and are spread out high in the moutains. Farmers must walk two or more hours over extremely steep terrain just to get to their fields.
Entire families are involved in the coffee harvest requiring many trips to the coffee field and back. The 100 pound coffee fruit sacks of are carried on their shoulders. The women often carry a child on their backs as well.
But for the coffee farmers, the work is just beginning with the harvest. The fresh picked coffee must be processed with a hand cranked machine that is first used to depulp the beans.
Next, the beans are soaked and stirred in several changes of water over several days to begin fermentation. Then the coffee is spread out on a concrete patio to dry in the sun.
The beans must be raked and turned daily, and sometimes taken up and covered if rain comes. In the Chiapas highlands it's not uncommon to have rain ten months out of the year.
Finally the dried green coffee beans are selected, with only the best beans sacked for sale. The sacks of beans are again hauled on their backs, hoisted into trucks and taken to the cooperative's warehouse for further quality checking and weighing.
Then they are reloaded onto trucks to go to the beneficio or dry-processing facility, where the outer husk of the bean will be removed and the coffee will be roasted.
These farmers work unbelivably hard to offer you a coffee with truely amazing flavors. If you are looking for a unique taste experience, Chiapas coffee is a good choice.
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Recipe Of The Month
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INGREDIENTS:
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup peanut butter
1-1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2-2/3 cups rolled oats
1 10-ounce package miniature milk chocolate kisses
DIRECTIONS:
Beat butter and peanut butter in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.
Add granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and baking soda; beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.
Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Beat in flour.
Stir in rolled oats with a wooden spoon.
Stir in chocolate kisses.
Drop dough from a #50 or #60 scoop, or from a tablespoon, 3 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
Slightly flatten dough with your hand, if desired.
Bake in a 375 degree F oven about 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
Transfer to wire racks and cool.
Makes 60 to 72 cookies.
Make-Ahead Tip: Cool cookies completely. In an airtight or freezer container, arrange cookies in a single layer; cover with a sheet of waxed paper. Repeat layers, leaving enough air space to close container easily. Freeze up to 1 month.
This recipe courtesy of Chocolate Recipes For Chocolate Lovers Cookbook.
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Coffee Trivia
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Coffee is the world's most inexpensive luxury.
Before coffee was introduced as a stimulant, it had been a social custom in Aden to chew the fresh leaves of "qat", as it had a mild narcotic effect.
At one time the German government hired a special force known as Kaffee Schnufflers, to sniff out illicit coffee roasters and smugglers.
Beethoven was so particular about his coffee that he always counted 60 beans for each cup he brewed.
Turkish coffee is traditionally brewed in a circular brass pot known as an ibrik.
In 1530 the first coffeehouse was opened in Damascus, Syria.
Coffee replaced wine in many early religious ceremonies because it kept the Mohammedans awake and alert during their nightly prayers.
When coffee supplies became scarce during the American Civil War, soldiers used roasted sweet potato and Indian corn as a coffee substitute.
The Italians drink their espresso with sugar, the Germans and the Swiss with equal parts of hot chocolate, the Mexicans with cinnamon, the Belgians with chocolate. Moroccans drink their coffee with peppercorns, the Ethiopians with a pinch of salt. Coffee drinkers in the Middle East usually add cardamom and spices. Whipped cream is the favorite with Austrians.
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Looking For
A Coffee Maker?
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Our sister web site to Perfect Coffees.com Best-Coffee-Makers-Online.com allows you to easily shop by brand and compare coffee makers to purchase exactly what you're looking for at great values.
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