Storing Your Coffee - Should you freeze your coffee?

There are many different suggested ways to store coffee in order to maintain freshness. One of the suggested methods is to put your ground coffee or coffee beans in the freezer. Is storing coffee in the freezer a good way to maintain freshness? Let's look at the pros and cons.

Freezing has been used for centuries as a way to extend the life of many foods. A diverse selection of foods can be frozen. Bread, meat, fruits, vegetables and even butter can be successfully stored in your freezer. Freezing even maintains many of the vitamins and nutritional value of a wide variety of foods. Coffee, however, isn't as likely a candidate for storage in the freezer.

Coffee has four main enemies against freshness: air, heat, light and moisture. At first, freezing doesn't seem to contain many of the offending enemies. However, appearances can be deceiving.

Coffee beans have been roasted in order to enhance flavor. The beans are also porous. Unfortunately a freezer can contain many other foods which have odors. The porous beans can absorb the flavors of many other frozen foods. Flavored coffees can be pleasant, but no one wants to drink seafood or garlic flavored coffee.

Moisture can also be absorbed by the coffee beans. Moisture can cause deterioration and loss of flavor. The more often you take coffee out of the freezer and put it back in, the more moisture absorption takes place into the bean. If you absolutely need to freeze some coffee because you have a large excess you'd like to keep, only freeze it once. The more you take it in and out of the freezer, the more damage you do.

Freezing also breaks down the oils in the beans. The oils contribute to the flavor of the coffee. Breaking down the oils means taking away flavor, and let's face it, a large part of a good cup of coffee is the flavor.

When it comes down to it, freezing is not the best way to store your coffee. Keep coffee stored in a cool, dry, airtight container away from light. Freezing coffee is possible, and is best if you only freeze it once. The resulting loss of flavor and quality from repetitive freezing makes it a method of storage to stay away from. Your best bet is to purchase only enough beans or ground coffee to supply you for 1-2 weeks. Enjoy the coffee at its freshest!

How The Best Cappuccino Makers Work

Cappuccino makers are preferred over standard coffee makers among the most serious coffee lovers. With these products, you can brew your favourite café style coffee drink in the privacy of your own home. You may be unsure at first, but with practice, you will be making restaurant quality drinks at home.

These coffee machines work by heating the water and then forcing the heated water through the ground coffee. As the heated water moves through the grinds, the water extracts the flavor. The coffee used is ground finer than for regular coffee. Steam is also used to froth milk for cappuccino or lattes.

Types of Cappuccino Makers

There are two basic types of machines for brewing specialty coffee drinks: steam and pump models. Pump machines are the best rated for heating water to the optimal level quickly. The most expensive models all work with an electric pump. They make a great cup of espresso with good crema. Crema is the foamy layer on top of a cup of espresso and is considered an important feature that coffee lovers look for.

Steam models are less expensive and are capable of brewing a good cup of espresso. Steam models have less pressure and less power. They are more affordable and make a good first machine. These products are definitely a step up from standard drip coffee makers.

A variety of coffee types are available for making espresso at home. The grinds are finer than standard coffee. Individual pods are available to fit most models. Pods are pre filled filter packets with the ground coffee measured and sealed inside. Some people love the convenience of pods and swear by them. Other people feel the quality of the drink is much lower when pods are used. The finished drink can be weak or bitter, depending on the brand of coffee and how it is prepared.

Super automatics are the top of the line in home cappuccino making. Super automatics can make all specialty coffees including espresso, cappuccino, lattes and mochas. An automatic milk frothing system prepares the milk according to your taste.

Super automatics are grind and brew devices that do everything for you. They grind the beans, tamp the grinds, measure the water, brew the coffee and froth the milk. Used grinds are dumped into a waste box, which you empty to dispose of the used beans. You program it according to the strength, quantity, and temperature desired in the finished drink. You can brew two mugs at once with super automatics.

Burr grinders are used in most super automatics. You can set the grinder for the consistency you want in the ground beans. Super automatics measure the beans for you, depending on the number of cups you will be brewing.

Cleaning a Cappuccino Machine

Proper cleaning is important to keep your machine working well and making great tasting drinks. Follow the manufacturer's directions for proper cleaning. The components vary from product to product, so following the directions is important.

The machine should be cleaned inside and out to keep it working well. How you will clean it depends in part on the material used in construction. Stainless steel is the easiest to clean and maintain. Follow the directions included to keep it working well.

You will need to descale and decalcify the machine regularly. This is necessary to remove build up caused by particles in your drinking water. Over time, these particles can clog the machine and interfere with the operation. How often you will need to do this depends on the quality of your water and how often you use the coffee maker. One way to avoid this build up is to use distilled water.

The brew group will need to be cleaned about once each weak. A removable brew group is easier in terms of cleaning. You slide the brew group out through the service door and rinse it regularly. This removes coffee residue and grinds and results in a better tasting drink.

A non removable brew group should be cleaned with the automatic cleaning cycle. You program this feature and it cleans the brew group for you. Cleaning tablets are sold for non removable brew groups. Follow the directions on the package for proper use.

Gourmet Coffee and Coffee Buying Tips

Whilst you are hunting for gourmet coffee or an associated food and drink accessory it is essential that you make use of the large number of articles that are provided on a great many of the coffee related websites or directories, in other words if you are hunting for an italian coffee pot or a german coffee jug then locating some first hand guidance from a coffee professional is bound to supply you with an advantage over other shoppers.

You should be particularly wary if the so called "coffee expert" gives a product guide but also has a buying button on his or her own website, for example if you should find a really hot review on latte coffee and there just happens to be a "purchasing" link then the chances are the expert who wrote the review is clearly selling coffee products and such under a pretence. The trick is to look at coffee reviews from specialists who are genuinely interested in this specialist sector of coffee.

The ideal coffee review site will contain a varying variety of reviews on subjects including how to locate the highest quality coffee for your requirements or best coffee product comparisons, furthermore if the writer has many articles more on subjects like bunn easy pure coffee pots or bunn espresso machines but does not provide the reader any clear means in which to get these food and drink products then without a doubt this free coffee guidance is most likely compiled by somebody who just writes and reviews the subject of coffee out of sheer interest.<

The coffee manufactures might often contact reliable comparison directories the minute they launch a brand new model, say for a minute some new world coffee blend baskets have just been launched, it is certainly worth the manufacturers sending out a free coffee product for review simply because they can be certain that if the coffee reviewer gives their products the ok then sales of their product are bound to increase.

Sourcing advice on new coffee items is fairly easy however the typical food and drink buyer may need some assistance, depending on the coffee products you want enter these types of search terms into the search engines but ensure you use inverted comma's, for example "write ups on bunn coffee makers" or "gourmet coffee sampler bag kit reviews", this will ensure you locate the exact information you need and also this without wasting too much time.

Another interesting thing about coffee write ups is that if you find them in food and drink journals then most times the items will be offered for free in competitions, you have to remember that these sort of places are given a bundle of coffee focused merchandise to review, On one occasion myself once won a years supply of gourmet coffee which I subsequently auctioned so that I could buy a antique coffee table, this was possible because I was hunting for product guides on coffee table plans, product reviews are absolutely priceless.