Grow Your Own Coffee Beans! The Coffee Tree
Note: I’ve activated commenting and am trying out the plug-in Spam Karma2 at the advice of Colin Thanks Colin!
Did you know that you can grow your own coffee beans? Well, you can! Be advised that it takes four ’4′ years before you’ll be able to harvest your first, very own, beans or cherries if you will. On the plus side of things, during that four years and there on, you will enjoy a very pretty evergreen type shrub that sports a very pretty white flowers that have a pleasant frangrance.
Your first pickins’ won’t be much as the tree does not bear a full yeild until it’s 6th year there or about. Unfortunately, the tree will only produce it’s full yeild for about ten ’10′ years but can actually live for around sixty ’60′ years. So, long after you enjoy it’s fruits or berries, you will enjoy it’s beauty.
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Sleepy? Drink a Cup of Coffee
Researchers have dicovered coffee helps clear your system of adenosine. Adenosine is a chemical which make you sleepy. Realizing this, they also found that when tired or sleepy, a simple cup of coffee followed immediately with a 15 minute nap would give you the best chance to feel alert for a longer period of time. You must however, take the nap right after having the coffee.
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Coffee, Use it to Boost Conversation!
Have you ever considered your coffee cup to be a topic starter or ice breaker? You should.
I’ve found that nothing quite relaxes me more than being able to sit and enjoy a cup of good coffee. I have also noticed that conversation seems to take on new meaning when sitting with someone else who also enjoys that cup of Joe.
Coffee, though it can make a person tense, can also even out an irritating mood or angry feelings. Say for instance you and your make are having a disagreement. Jump in the car and go to your local coffee shop or coffee bar, sit, relax, and talk things over with a good cup of java. It is truly an ice breaker.
Caffeine Conent in Select Coffee and Teas
Double espresso (2oz) 45-100 mg
Brewed coffee (8 oz) 60-120 mg
Instant coffee (8 oz) 70 mg
Decaf coffee (8 oz) 1-5 mg
Tea – black (8 oz) 45 mg
Tea – green (8 oz)20 mg
Tea – white (8 oz)15 mg
How to Use a Percolator for Making Coffee
Personally, I do not recommend you use a stove top or electric percolator. The quality of the coffee is significantly reduced when you do. But if that is what you have or if you are looking for tips on percolating coffee on a camping trip, here ya go!
Fill pot with water for the number of cups of coffee you want. Try not to over fill it as it will either boil over or seep out from the lid on an electrical percolator.
Place coffee grounds in the basket. 1 tbs per cup of water is recommended.
Fit basket into the urn and place on stovetop or plug into outlet.
(for stove percolator) Heat the water to boiling. With an electrical percolator, nothing more will need to be done as it has a constant heat source. You may however, wish to lower the heat somewhat on a stove top percolator so it will not boil over.
The boiling water will be forced up through the coffee grounds and the brewed coffee will accumulate in the pot which holds the water.
You’ll be able to see the coffee bubble up through the glass dome to see how strong (bold) it’s getting. With each perk, you’ll notice the coffee in the dome darkening.
Brewing should take about 5 minutes for a stove top percolator and about 7-10 minutes for an electrical percolator.
(Important) Remove the filter basket with the used grounds and pour. If you do not do this, you will end up with coffee grounds in your coffee cup. You may anyway depending on the grind you’ve used. The finer the grind, the more chance you’ll have for grounds to filter through the holes in the basket. Obviously, you would not want to use an espresso grind.
Bonus Tip: Stove or campfire percolators tend to leave coffee with a cloudly look. If you allow it to settle for a few minutes it will reduce if not eliminate the cloudiness.
Tea on the Go — A Revelation in My Own Mind
Don’t throw away those 12 ounce bottled water containers……. make hot tea to go in them!
A few minutes ago I was about to throw away a 12 ounce Dasani (or whatever brand you like), water bottle. Then it hit me… I want hot tea and this bottle is the perfect size for a one bag cup. Give or take. Depends on how strong you like it. Two bags if you like. So I put purified water in the bottle and popped it in the microwave for a minute and a half, added a tea bag ( genseng and honey green ) and screwed the lid back on. yay! Instant to go hot tea. It was perfect.
I really would not leave it in the microwave for more than two minutes if you still want to be able to hold it without burning yourself or if you want to avoid melting the bottle. Anyhoo…. it really worked well and the tea tasted just fine.
I am sure someone, somewhere, has already discovered this but it was my first time. I hope you like the idea.
How to Serve Your Fresh Coffee
When serving or keeping coffee you should never leave coffee on the warmer (coffee maker) more than 20 minutes! You know what scalded coffee tastes like. It’s really bitter and bites you with a nasty twang.
If you can not finish the fresh pot within 20 minutes ( and I can! ), you need to put it in a carafe or thermos to keep it warm. Most quality coffees do taste better as they cool. If you need to warm you coffee, try warming a cup with hot water first and pouring the coffee back into it. If that does not satisfy you, you may want to add a tad… just a touch, now, of hot water or you could place it in the microwave for no more than 15 seconds. Careful though, micro waved coffee takes on an unforgettable taste that only a zapped cup of java can have.
Should I Use a Special Kind of Water to Brew?
So, I was on a dummy for most of my coffee drinking life. I used tap water when it didn’t smell or taste bad (which is ok to do) . I have however, used distilled water on many occasion.
Distilled water tends to throw the fine taste of freshly ground coffee bean out of whack. You should only use clean tap water or a quality spring water if you want to reach peak flavor.
I can not be certain if purified water has the same effect that distilled will but I would be willing to bet it would. Personally, I’ve always enjoyed my cups brewed with distilled but that is what the experts recommend.
Since we got a water purification system on our rural well water, coffee has been simply heaven. I highly recommend going that route if you can afford it.
Fresh Roasted Coffee Storage
For years I thought that if I kept my fresh roasted/ground coffee in the freezer, it would keep it fresh. I could not have been more incorrect.
Contrary to popular belief, it is probably one of the worse places. Freezing or refrigerated grounds or beans will dry out and rob the natural moisture from the product quicker than if you simply put it in a sealed container and left it on the counter. This is expecially true for gound coffee.
Really, the best method is to keep all grounds or fresh roasted beans in an air tight container or a bag that has been vacuumed sealed. Place all unused coffee grounds or beans in an area that is cool and dark. You may also want to consider buying in a smaller package. Reasoning behind this is the fact it will get used quicker leaving little time for loss of quality.
Brewing Tip -01
Once brewed, coffee should not be allowed to cool or become cold. The thermostat of the maker controls the temperature and keeps the coffee hot. If brewed coffee becomes cold it should never be reheated, it should be stored in a sealed container such as a carafe, insulated decantor or thermos. You may also refrigerate and use to prepare an iced coffee beverage.
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