Home Brewed Coffee 101

This recipe is based on an affogato, but with a few tweaks.  Take some ice cream (usually vanilla, but you could also go for a coffee-flavored one as well) and pour in some cold coffee (it doesn't matter if it is iced or cold brewed).  Optionally you can add in some Irish cream or Kahlua if you like it to be more of an adult dessert.

Understanding the basics of coffee grinders is essential for achieving the perfect cup of coffee. Learn about the different types of coffee grinders, their functions, and tips for selecting and using them effectively to enhance your coffee preparation.      Pre-ground coffee is great for some people because it is much more convenient.  For anyone who is drinking coffee made from canned ingredients, the single biggest jump you can take in quality is to change to a whole bean and invest in a coffee grinder.  The reason for this is that you can get a much fresh coffee, and it allows greater control over the results.  Coffee grinders fall into two main categories, burr and blade grinders.        A blade grinder is on average going to be the cheaper of the two options and typically start at around twenty dollars.  They work just like a blender with a pair of blades circling around chopping up bits of beans.  The drawbacks to...

     Roasting Coffee doesn't have to be some mysterious art form that is strictly reserved for professionals.  While it isn't practical to purchase an industrial machine capable of preparing batches of thirty kilograms at a time, you can easily roast enough for a week's worth of beverages for a reasonably small amount of money or even use items you already own.       Even though I am an individual coffee drinker I still have taken some opportunities to learn a little about professional coffee roasting to better understand how to improve the quality of my cup.  The simplest form of roasting is to put some beans on a baking sheet and set it in the oven or to use a pan over heat.  If you would like to try a little more elaborate you can always use a popcorn popper.  From there the price increases to just over $100 for a basic home roaster and can get to the point of ridiculous if you need more features or a bigger capacity.   ...

The modern coffee consumer has more ways to prepare coffee than ever before.  I intend to discuss each in further detail, but for now, these are: French Press Espresso Manual Pour Over Syphon Aeropress Single Serve Pods Percolator Cold Brew Standard Coffee Machine

Why Drink Coffee? One of the problems I have been noticing is a collection of studies that all seem to contradict each other.  I remember reading about how bad coffee is for you and then another one that discusses the health benefits.  So which is it?  Should I drink it or not?  Not being a scientist I really am not qualified to give a definitive answer, but being armed with some amount of common sense, I can tell you that most of the contradictions are based on flawed studies.  If we look at a population that drinks a pot of coffee to stay awake because they are up all night, then notice that they are on average less healthy than those that get a good night of rest.   It would be easy to conclude that coffee is contributing to this disparity if you fail to consider the difference in lifestyle.  Some of the studies that are more favorable to coffee take this into account for more of an apples-to-apples comparison. Benefits of Coffee 1....