Starbucks Coffee - the History and Background of Starbucks Coffee

Author: Jennifer Harris

While everyone recognizes the logo and knows of a local franchise, few people know where Starbucks Coffee got its name. The largest coffeehouse company in the world, Starbucks was named after the first mate in the book Moby Dick.

There are more than 13,100 Starbucks stores in the world, spanning 40 countries. The stores all sell drip coffee, espresso drinks, tea, blended drinks, coffee mugs and other coffee accessories. Interestingly enough, the prices found at Starbucks Coffee are significantly higher than the market average. The higher prices are a direct result of their ingenious marketing strategy.

Moving beyond beverages and coffee mugs and makers, Starbucks has started an entertainment division that features the Hear Music brand. Selling books, music and film, the brand is developing into something much larger than a Venti Frappucino.

Founded in Seattle, Washington in 1971, Starbucks Coffee began growing exponentially. During the 1990s, a new Starbucks store was opening somewhere in the world every single working day. This continued into the new millennium, however domestic growth has since slowed down quite a bit. Abroad, however, the brand is still expanding rapidly. Continue reading »

Baristas are trained in the art of making the perfect espresso. It requires a lot of patience and practice and is not easy to master. However, there is an easier way. An espresso machine. Espresso machines make espresso a much simpler beverage to create by controlling the temperature precisely.

There are several different types of espresso machines available, each functioning in a different manner. There are piston-driven espresso machines, semi-automatic machines, and automatic espresso machines.

In the Beginning

Espresso came into being when people were looking for a quicker way to make their coffee. In Italy, around 1901, Luigi Bezzera found a way to make hot pressurized water and its steam push through a bed of finely ground coffee. The result was a quick, individual cup of highly concentrated coffee that came to be known as espresso. Bezzera acquired a patent for his machine and in 1903 these first espresso machines were sold in Europe.

These machines were not easy to use. There was no consistency to the espresso produced because the temperature and steam were controlled by the operator, leaving room for a large amount of diversity in the resulting beverages.

In 19ȃ Illy invented a coffee maker that used compressed air instead of steam, thus solving the problem of exploding espresso makes. His machine gave a more favorable, stable result.

The lever action espresso machine was invented by Achille's Gaggia in 1945 and still today bears his name. Both the Illeta and Gaggia versions of espresso machines are available on the market today.
Illy continued to expand and simplify his espresso machine by combining the best parts of other makers. Continue reading »

Chinese Tea Lore

The Chinese tea lore is several hundred years and even thousands of years earlier than that of Japan. It can be said that the Chinese tea lore places an emphasis on spirit and makes light of form. It also has different representations at different historical stages. Teas are also different but all embody the tea spirit of "clearness, respect, joy and truthfulness".

Drinking tea - Tea is taken as a beverage to quench thirst.

Tasting tea - Emphasis is placed on the color, fragrance and flavor of tea, water quality and tea set. When taking tea, the taster should also be able to savor tea carefully.

Tea art - Attention is paid to environment, atmosphere, music, infusing techniques and interpersonal relationships.

The highest ambit—— tea lore - Philosophy, ethics and morality are blended into tea activity. People cultivate their morality and mind and savor the life through tasting tea, thereby attaining enjoyment of spirit.

Clearness - It is namely cleanness, incorruptness, quietness and loneliness. The essense of tea art not only seeks the cleanness of the appearance of things, but also pursues the loneliness, tranquility, incorruptness and shame awareness of the mind. In a still ambit, only through drinking clear and pure tea soup can one appreciate the profoundness of drinking tea.

respect - Respect is the root of everything on earth and the way of having no enemies. People should show respect for others and be cautious themselves.

Joy - The meaning of harmony lies in form and method and that of joy is in spirit and affection. Sipping bitterness and swallowing sweetness when drinking tea can enlighten the spice of life and cultivate a broad mind and a far sight so that the disputes between others and self disappear. The spirit of joy lies in that people is not pretentious and haughty, dwell in mildness and nurture courteous conduct. Continue reading »

An Introduction to the Tassimo Hot Beverage System

Author: Stephanie Larkin

When discussing the Tassimo hot beverage system, one thing should be made clear: Tassimo is not a single-serve coffee maker. There is a reason that they call it a 'hot beverage system' rather than a one-cup coffee machine. The Tassimo Hot Beverage System may just be one of the most versatile beverage makers on the market today.

The Tassimo hot beverage system is designed by Kraft, a multinational food and beverage company, and is manufactured by Saeco, which makes the highest quality coffee and espresso in the world. Distributed by Braun, the Tassimo uses a proprietary T-disc design to brew just about any type of beverage that uses hot water, and brews it perfectly every time.

The T-Disc and What Makes It Unique

Most one cup systems use little filter packets stuffed with pre-measured and firmly packed coffee called 'pods'. There's a wide range of espresso systems and coffee maker systems that use E.S.E. (Easy Serving Espresso) pods, which are standardized in size and volume to fit E.S.E. machines. Pods are essentially the same, no matter what their size - they consist of a pre-measured portion of coffee compressed into a puck and covered with a paper filter.

Tassimo's closest competitor, Keurig, uses a proprietary coffee filter and holder all in one called a K-cup. The K-cup is designed to be a mini-brewer, similar to Tassimo's T-disc, but there is one major difference.

• The bar code
• The true innovation behind the T-Disc, and the thing that makes every beverage brewed in the Tassimo consistently good - is the bar code technology. The Tassimo system is a smart machine. Each T-Disc is marked with a bar code that tells the machine how much water to use, what temperature to heat the water to and how long to brew the beverage before releasing it. The bar code reader gives the Tassimo system its major advantage over other one cup beverage makers - consistency. The tasters at Kraft work to find the perfect combination of water, heat and time for each new beverage - and once that's found, every single cup of that beverage brewed in the Tassimo will always be perfect. [GO TO TASSIMO STORE] Continue reading »

Image by Ewan-M via Flickr

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Brewing Great Coffee

Only a few can disagree that a great day starts with a cup of rich coffee. A great flavored cup of hot coffee is a perfect way to begin your day. And most of the readers interested in this article like it that way only. The most important part in getting close to the perfect cup of coffee is brewing. This part is quite crucial once you have selected and grinded the fine gourmet coffee beans. Of course, brewing only starts after you have grinded the coffee well. For those who know less about brewing let us make it clear that the basic principal which is common to all methods brewing coffee is to immerse ground coffee in hot water to extract the flavor and aroma of the coffee so that the drink you get is rich in both mentioned above. So lot many things are to be understood with absolute clarity if you are planning to brew the coffee all by yourself.

While brewing the coffee, the coffee maker also plays an important role. The most commonly used coffee maker is the one which uses drip method and so it is essential to understand how to brew the coffee using it. The least bothered about element while brewing coffee is water. But a bit consideration to this element can drastically change the flavor of your coffee. We suggest you to use fresh filtered water for brewing. Always add fresh and cold water to your coffee maker. It is a misconception that it is better to add hot water for brewing coffee. Adding hot water directly to your coffee make not only changes the overall flavor of the coffee but can also ruin the coffee maker. So better add cold water only. Another factor is cleaning the coffee maker. Always ensure that your coffee maker is absolutely clean as the unwanted elements like water sediments and coffee oil can add to the brewing process and will change the taste of the coffee for the worst of it. That is why it is very essential to clean your coffee maker regularly so that nothing gets mixed up with the process of brewing coffee. Continue reading »