A Brief Overview of Gourmet Coffee

The word Gourmet is used to refer to the fancier grade, cut, or quality of many of the foods and beverages we consume. Gourmet foods and drinks have long been associated as the regular fare for the rich and famous who can afford the higher pricing that often accompanies many of these finer food and beverage versions.

Coffee is a beverage that has been available in cheap, regular and gourmet versions for a long time and the consumption rate of coffee among people from around the world continues to increase every year. Gourmet coffee may have once only been served in the finest dining establishments and found being served mostly in the homes of the upper class, but gourmet coffee is widely available and affordable to a variety of people and is found in a variety of settings today.

The Coffee Bean

Coffee is made from coffee beans which are found within the berries that develop and ripen on a number of smaller evergreen bush plant species known as the Coffea plant. After ripening, coffee berries are harvested, and then undergo a processing which also includes drying them. It is the coffee beans that remain after the processing and drying of the coffee berries.

The beans are then roasted to various degrees which cause them to change physically and in the tastes they produce. Finally, the coffee beans are grinded down into a fine consistency that is commonly known as coffee grounds, and packaged and shipped to destinations around the world where consumers can buy and brew coffee grounds to make coffee in commercial, hospitality, institutional, and residential settings.

Some people prefer to grind their own coffee beans before brewing them for coffee. Packaged coffee beans that have not been ground can be purchased in stores and ground using the grinding mills that are made available in most of the stores selling them, but also with grinding machines in the home.

Gourmet Coffee Beans

The two most commercially grown species of the coffea plant that produce the coffee beans used to make the coffee that the world's population consumes, are Robusta and Arabica. Gourmet coffee is made from the top tier coffee beans from the arabica coffea plant. These top tier arabica coffea plants are typically grown at very high altitudes (above 3000ft) with ideal soil and climate conditions.

The coffee beans produced have fuller flavors, are more aromatic, and have less caffeine in them than other varieties of coffee beans such as Robustas. The coffee beans of arabica coffea plants grown at lower altitudes are still noted among consumers as having richer flavors than the flavors produced by Robusta coffee beans, but it is only the top tier arabica coffee beans that are considered to be Gourmet, and thereby from which gourmet coffee is derived.

Storing Coffee

Coffee bean grounds and coffee beans that have not been grounded down need to be stored in air-tight containers and kept cool in order to protect them from losing their flavor. The containers that coffee is typically sold in are not the most ideal for storing coffee for a long period of time. When you arrive home after purchasing coffee grounds at the store, consider transferring the fresh coffee grounds to appropriate storage containers to extend its shelf life and full flavor.

Brewing Coffee

Coffee can be brewed in many ways such as boiling, pressuring, and steeping. Most of us brew our coffee using automatic coffee brewing machines and percolators which use gravity to pull hot water through coffee grounds where the hot water mixed with the oils and essences of the coffee grounds empties into a liquid holding container below.

Filters are used to keep coffee granules from being emptied into the carafe or liquid holding container from which the brewed coffee can then be served from because most people do not want to drink the coffee granules. Coffee granules can be very bitter once the flavorful oils and essences have been removed through the brewing process. Plants and flowers love coffee grounds though for anybody who is looking for a greener alternative of what to do with coffee grounds after brewing instead of just throwing them in the trash.

Gourmet Coffee

Of course, Gourmet coffee beans are only the beginning to creating a truly gourmet coffee experience for many gourmet coffee drinkers. Some people are quite content with drinking their gourmet coffee black, without adding anything like milk, creamer, sugar or other sweeteners or flavorings, to their coffee. While many others want to enhance their gourmet coffee and drinking experience with tasty additions like milk that is whipped into a froth, sweeteners, and mixing in other flavors like chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, and mint, to name just a few.

Big name coffee chains sell a wide variety of gourmet coffee with different tasty additions and flavors to appeal to gourmet coffee lovers. However, brewing gourmet coffee at home is usually much cheaper, and you can add what you want to your coffee to satisfy your refined, gourmet tastes.

What Is Gourmet Coffee - How Is It Different and How Is It Made? (video)

Uploaded on Oct 12, 2011
Have you ever wondered where 'Gourmet' coffee comes from? Let us tell you in this short video from http://www.frenchpressreviews.com

This video goes into the production and drying process of coffee beans to give you a clear idea of why 'Gourmet' coffee is more expensive and (usually) better tasting.

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I thank you for stopping by Coffee Beans and Machines and taking your time to read my post "A Brief Overview of Gourmet Coffee". Hope that you found the article informative. Feel free to comment or share. Being new at this I need all the help that I can get. Below I have my most recently published post and some related articles.
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Brewing A Perfect Cup Of Coffee

The purpose of this article is to help you understand how to match your coffee's grind to the type of brewing you are doing in order to make the best coffee possible.

Brewing a great cup of coffee depends on a number of things such as the quality of the coffee bean, the quality of the water being used, the type of brewing being done, and the grind of the coffee.

Now quality of bean and water is something you can easily take care. Just use good quality beans and pure water. However the relationship between the grind of the coffee and the type of brewing being done is more detailed and could use a little explanation.

We all know that we make coffee by passing hot water over crushed coffee beans. However for it to really work well we need to understand just how long the water should be passing over the beans.

The Importance of the Grind of the Coffee

10 Facts You Never Knew About Coffee

Here are ten facts you never knew about coffee so, the next time you are at your favorite coffee shop and someone catches your eye, you can use these ten interesting coffee facts to break the ice:

The Ten Fact You Never Knew About Coffee

1) Coffee is considered an aphrodisiac. Because it contains a high dose of caffeine and other various alkaloids, studies have shown that coffee can increase stamina and the overall length of intimate sessions.

2) Although coffee has been a part of the Arab culture for thousands of years, it did not become part of the western world until the 1500s. Before that time, priests believed that coffee was a drink of the devil. Pope Clement VIII finally ended this line of thinking by taking a sip of coffee and then giving it his blessing.

The Anatomy Of A Coffee Tree

Coffea, a member of the Rubiaceae family is responsible for the biological heritage of “coffee.” The Rubiaceae family includes more than 500 genera and 6,000 species of tropical trees and shrubs.

It is doubtful the average person would recognize an actual coffee tree. Most of us would recognize a roasted coffee bean. Just in case you stumble upon something you think might be a real coffee tree, here is a quick description of one:

Descriptions of a Coffee Tree

The Great Coffee Beverage - Some History And What Really Goes Into It.

Have you ever really thought about what goes into a good cup of coffee? If you are anything like me you probably haven’t, for the simply reason you are too engrossed unwinding and enjoying the rich aroma and taste to bother with any of the technical side of the brew.

The deepest I have ever gone when I have a cup of the rich umber beverage in my hand is to let my mind drift off with the floating steam.

The information on the wrapper might tell you a bit about the beans you’re drinking but believe me there is so much more to the story of how coffee drinking came to be so popular the world over.

Buying Coffee Beans Online - Your Three Step Guide

If you’re a newcomer to buying coffee beans, you may think it seems confusing as to what type to buy. But follow the three simple steps below and you’ll be an expert in no time!

Your Three Steps

The Coffee Bean Story

This is the story of how the humble coffee becomes a world celebrity. It's not about the Labrador named Coffee Beans attached to the Sheriff's Department sniffing drugs and bombs.

It's about "the" coffee beans we are familiar with. It's about the fragrant aroma that stimulates our senses in the morning. The tingling sensation we get when we take the first sip in the morning. How we manage to get an extra boost of energy whenever we feel tired and sleepy.

Let us take some time to ponder the processes the coffee beans have to go through before it can be marketed.

The Coffee Bean

Coffee is a beverage, served hot or with ice, with or without cream and sugar, prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant. These seeds are almost always called the coffee bean. Coffee is one of the most popular beverages in adults today.

The coffee bean, itself, contains chemicals which are mind-altering (in a way some find pleasing) to humans as a coincidental result of their defense mechanism; those chemicals are toxic in large doses, or even in their normal amount when consumed by many creatures which may otherwise have threatened the coffee beans in the wild.

A coffee bean from two different places usually have distinctive characteristics such as flavor (flavor criteria includes terms such as "citrus-like" or "earthy"), caffeine content, body or mouth feel, and acidity. These are dependent on the local environment where the coffee plants are grown, their method of process, and the genetic subspecies or varietal.