Coffee: Good to you Bad For You?

So a guy comes up to me while I'm selling coffee and says...."you have any tea"? I tell him no and he tells me that I should, because there is a seismic shift towards tea drinking, large enough to create entire continents and I need to get with it.  I was waiting for him to tell me 'all the cool kids are doing it'.  But he went one better (or worse).  He said  "People are switching to tea because it has less caffeine". It was time to dispel the tea myth.  Here it goes: Tea contains more caffeine than coffee by dry weight.  A typical serving contains much less caffeine than coffee because tea is normally brewed much weaker.   His muttered response - as he walked away - was the 'adult' equivalent of 'so what'. To me that's what you say when you have nothing to say but - you want the last word.  Whatever.

Caffeine in general is so ninja, the average person doesn't realize that it's in a lot of stuff  - coffee, tea, many cola drinks and over the counter medication.  Yet coffee always  gets accused of being villain because caffeine is most commonly ingested through coffee.

If you are one of those people who drink several cups of coffee daily, you probably wonder what all that coffee is doing to you. ROFL!  Yeah right! If you're one of THOSE people you  probably don't care!  But seriously, is coffee really bad for you, or is drinking coffee just a harmless vice?  Can it be possible that coffee is actually good for us?  Look at the results of some recent research:  .

• There are nutritional advisers who claim that coffee makes us age faster, wears out our adrenal glands, and wreaks unspeakable damage to our cells.

• In some older people, coffee or tea can improve memory and alertness enough to partly offset the effects of aging. 

• Other researchers claim that coffee, especially if it's freshly roasted and ground, is full of antioxidants, and therefore good for us.  Most doctors say that drinking one or two cups of coffee a day is probably not harmful.  And of course there are others who say we ought to avoid caffeine altogether.

•  Caffeine gives brain cells a temporary boost .  But the amount required to improve mental performance is not very high.  Even half a cup of coffee will be enough to give your brain a boost that lasts several hours.  Which is precisely why many of us drink coffee, especially the first thing in the morning.

For those that are wondering where I'm going with this, here it it is, the definitive response to the raging coffee vs. tea question: Drink the d@%n coffee!

Avoid excessive consumption of coffee ( or anything else for that matter). What's excessive? Depends on the individual.  If  four cups of coffee a day makes you  jittery, nauseous, suffer insomnia, kick the dog, cuss out your boss and walk of your job or demonstrate and other extreme behaviors, you should probably cut back on the caffeine. Seriously. You really should.

If you don't suffer from any of the above by your fourth cup....carry on!

 

www.shop.dreamcoastroast.com

Coffee as a Second Language

Coffee cafes have evolved into an entity separate and seemingly above a place to get a cup of coffee.  You just don't just order "  coffee".  Uh Uh.  You order  a "coffee drink". And there's an entire language you need to know in order to do it.

First you place your order with the person at the register who then tells another person - the barista what you want.  The barista is a person who makes and serves coffee drinks as a profession, hence why he doesn't take your order and ring you up. You also need to speak fluent coffee or the barista won't understand what kind of coffee drink you want.  Don't assume that ordering coffee in a coffee cafe is simple. Below is just a partial list of the how many different ways they can alter your cup of coffee:

• Espresso Con Panna: An espresso shot with whipped cream.
• Caffe Americano: Single shot of espresso with 6 to 8 ounces of hot water added.
• Cafe Breva: Cappuccino made with Half & Half instead of whole milk.
• Dry: Espresso with a small amount of foam and no steamed milk.
• Shot in the Dark: An espresso shot in coffee cup, then rest of cup filled with drip coffee.
• Latte: espresso and steamed milk.

Don't be scared.  You can have coffee if you 'don't know the lingo'.  It's like going to foreign countries where you don't speak the language.  Point to the board and say "uhmm" a lot.  Give brief descriptions like "the one with a lot of milk" (latte) or the one that's really strong but has whip cream on it(espresso con panna).  Most cafes are bi-lingual or at least have an interpreter on hand...someone who understands the layman's lame terms for fancy (and not so fancy) coffee drinks.

Here are a few more terms.  These are not really common on the average menu but using them will probably make you feel snobbish and elitist if you're into that sort of thing.

• Frappe: Coffee drink made with ice cream and milk.
• Ristretto: A restricted shot of espresso (called a short pull). During the brewing process, less water is allowed to pass through the coffee grounds. The makes for an especially intense flavor.
• Lungo: An extra long pull. During the brewing process, twice as much water is allowed to pass through the coffee grounds.
• Chairo: Espresso drink made "clear" by adding more milk.
• Caffe Mochaccino: Cappuccino with chocolate syrup.

Also you need to tell the barista the size of the coffee drink you want. If you look on the menu, small, medium, and large will probably not be there. Your size choices are usually short (8 oz), tall (12 oz), grande (16 oz) and venti (20 oz).

Ordering "Black, cream & sugar" is probably going to get a strange look from the friendly barista. Ordering a drip coffee drink is not the fashionable thing these days. You should probably pull the non-barista to the side and whisper your order .  If they have an ounce of decency they won't share your shame with the rest of the patrons and will be instrumental in helping the barista understand that it is important to treat the coffee challenged as equals.

Once you get your coffee drink, you just can't take a taste and say "Good coffee". One must first comment on the aroma (or bouquet), then the tone or appearance of the coffee drink. After the first taste, one can judge the body or weight consistency of the coffee drink. Next you need to describe how the coffee actually tasted. Was the coffee bitter, briny, buttery, spicy, sweet, stale, or even chocolaty? If all went well in the coffee preparation, and if you chose a good blend of coffee, this particular coffee drink could be considered mellow or full and well balanced.


 Me personally? I just go in and order my coffee however I want it, describing it however I want to and just look at them all like "what"?  Apparently the only thing coffee cafes want more than everyone using the proper lingo is everyone's money.  Just sayin.