So This Is Christmas

Merry Christmas is such an infectious feeling I like to feel that way all year around.

So if you are visiting just before Christmas, just after Christmas or even here on Christmas day I am sure you will find something of interest for you and in the spirit of Christmas.

It may be said that Christmas is no longer a celebration but this must be spoken by people that have never had trouble closing their eyes on Christmas Eve in an expectation of what maybe left for them on the carpet under the tree.

I continue to look forward to the surprise on my Grandchild's faces to this day at Christmas events.

Merry Christmas - Merry Christmas - Merry Christmas

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Coffee: Is It Getting Too Complicated?

By Alex Tesla


Plain coffee is fast becoming a thing of the past. It's now quite simple to whip up a gourmet hot drink for guest, family, or just for yourself. These days there are a variety of coffee clubs and circles in which coffee drinking has become somewhat of a social club. These social clubs meet in the community or on the web.

Where did the good old days go where you can get just a regular, great cup of coffee all throughout America.

It is all because there's a big craze over coffee these days. People are almost worshipping the coffee bean now. Individuals get a thrill out of ordering and buying unique coffees from specialty shops. They truly like grinding their own coffee beans. They enjoy going to places such as Costa Rica and bringing back their special blends. And "coffee tasting" seems to be about as popular as "wine tasting".

They even have furniture and home interior designs with a coffee theme. This could make great gifts for the coffee aficionado.

Coffee got its beginnings around 900 A.D. where it was at first used as a stimulant. It had been also sometimes used as a wine and a medicine. It does not look like anything is much different these days.

There are not numerous products such as coffee that have continued "as is" for hundreds of years. And yet people are still scrutinizing and getting inventive with it today and probably will be for many years to come.

What is also interesting is that coffee is second to oil in dollar volume as a world commodity.

Did you know that there is two times more caffeine in a pound of tea than in the same amount of roasted coffee? This will be good news for all those of you who hate the taste of decaffeinated coffee however wait just one moment. A pound of tea will make about 160 cups whereas a pound of coffee will usually make about forty cups. This means that a cup of tea has about 1/4th the caffeine of a cup of coffee.

The content of caffeine in coffee diminishes as it is grown at higher altitudes. If you want less caffeine in your coffee, grow it higher. Gourmet coffees are typically grown at higher altitudes therefore they have less caffeine than their grocery store counterparts.

There are many different types of coffee beans and way too many to describe in this article. Here are only a few of them:

You have Latte, Espresso, Low-Fat, Organic, Cal, Decaf, Half-Decaf, Black Forest, Cappuccino, Cafe au Lait, Alpine which has brown sugar, Arabian (lightly spiced and without filter), Cafe con Miel (Spanish for coffee with honey), and Cafe de Olla (a sweet coffee made with chocolate).

And you really ought to attend a coffee tasting at least once. You will get to experience how making and brewing gourmet coffee is gradually becoming a form of art. What's fun about the coffee tasting is the fact that you could get a chance to taste two dozen or more different blends. You may even leave to start your journey as a coffee connoisseur. Any way you look at it, the tasting experience will be enjoyable if you like coffee.




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