Lunacy Tea? Coffee? Yes, Please!

[im not a robot]

Since we on coffee and tea what do u all think of this article?

my moka pot is making me much much happier than any filtered coffee ever did. happy is healthy. and coffee is a reason for me to get up in the morning. i will not risk sabotaging that.

 

[Marlon Rando]

my moka pot is making me much much happier than any filtered coffee ever did. happy is healthy. and coffee is a reason for me to get up in the morning. i will not risk sabotaging that

I like your style..

 

[Cuckfumbustion]

Since we on coffee and tea what do u all think of this article

It's all Heresy!
I guess the filter takes out the bad, the good and the bitter. I'd use an unbleached filter method, but filtered coffee gives me an upset stomach. Like strong coffee upsets normal people. The article does make me wonder if cold brewed coffee is safer than French Pressed coffee. It is less acidic.

 

[bulllee]

https://www.epicurious.com/expert-a...wn&utm_medium=Email&cid=118098&mid=1918586317
The Best Way to Make Iced Coffee (It Isn’t Cold Brew)
Plus, how to make iced coffee that's great, no matter what equipment you have at home.

All products featured on Epicurious are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Before we really hit iced coffee season, I want to register some complaints about cold brew. Yes, I know it has become ubiquitous, with the stubbies and the Ventis and the milkshake-sweet New Orleans style. But just because something has gotten popular doesn’t mean it’s good. And now that you’re in control of your coffee destiny, you have an opportunity to try better methods for making iced coffee, no matter what sort of coffee-making equipment you have.
Wait… Cold brew is bad? But that cute barista convinced me it was somehow more delicious!?! Sorry, you were duped. Or maybe we all were. Cold brew was new and intriguing in the early 2010s and soon, well-marketed, perhaps because it’s fairly easy for a café to produce, especially compared with individual espresso shots. But fundamentally, you’re not getting the most out of your coffee beans in cold brew, in terms of flavor or financial investment.


Let’s start with the flavor. Cold brew can be smooth and mellow, but it lacks what can be exciting about good coffee. Ryan Moser of Blanchard’s Coffee Company in Richmond, VA walked me through it: “What’s innately unique about really good coffee is the amount of volatile aromatic compounds that are developed during the roasting process,” he said. “These compounds are the reason why your coffee can have a hint of blueberry or remind you of pipe tobacco”—they’re what sets one coffee apart from another. To get these flavors and aromas into your cup, though, you need hot water, which has the power to coax all those flavors out of your coffee beans and into the liquid of your brew. Cold water simply doesn’t dissolve the good stuff. “With cold brew, you’re really missing most of this experience,” Moser says.

It looks good, but does it really taste good?
Photo by Chelsea Kyle
And let’s not get started about your steeping vessel. Is it truly airtight? If air is circulating in and out of the pour spout of your French press, or there’s a lot of space inside the vessel and the coffee’s unprotected, your drink is getting oxidized and stale. Think of a cut apple turning brown: that’s your cardboardy-tasting week-old cold brew.

What’s worse, Moser adds, is that all too often, cold brew is actually made at a tepid temperature (say, north of 41 degrees), “which truly just maximizes on the mildew-scummy flavors this style of brewing displays,” without actually being hot enough to help your coffee shine.

Finally—and this is what really turned me against steeping cold brew at home—there’s the cost. To make cold brew, you often start with a large measure of coarsely ground coffee—sometimes double what you’d use for other methods. Especially now, I want each pound of coffee I buy to go a little further.

So, what’s the best way to make refreshing iced coffee at home? Moser walked me through a better option for basically every sort of coffee brewer you might have, and I went on a highly caffeinated bender trying them all. I came out of that somewhat jittery weekend with two enthusiastic recommendations.
How to make the best iced coffee: shake your espresso

Shake it up, baby.
Photo by Alex Lau
Iced coffee brewed with cold water can be bland, but of course, there are problems with hot water, too. If you pour your regular steaming hot coffee over ice, that ice melts, adding too much water to the mix and making it weak.
A Japanese method that’s been around for a long, long time circumvents this problem: in Japanese-style flash-brewing, the brewing water is hot, but the recipe takes the ice in your serving vessel into account, so the total amount of water isn’t increased. Getting hot, concentrated—and aromatically rich—coffee immediately onto ice that melts to add only as much water as you wanted to add makes for much more flavorful, dynamic iced coffee.
You’ll see how that theory is applied below, but espresso is sort of the outlier. If you’re lucky enough to have an espresso machine at home, you’re probably pulling shots that are concentrated enough that they can handle a touch of dilution. It’s easy to let your shot drip directly into a cup of ice with a few ounces of water in it to make an iced Americano, but if you really want to treat yourself, a little extra effort makes the best iced coffee I’ve made at home.
Get out your cocktail shaker. (I said this method was extra, didn’t I?) Essentially, we’re making an Italian shakerato, though you can customize it to your taste. At its most basic, you’re going to pull your shot and dump it into a cocktail shaker that’s filled with ice. Seal and shake vigorously until the shaker is cold to the touch on the outside—this could take 15 seconds or even more. Strain into a glass that’s filled with fresh ice. The coffee will be frothy and flavorful, and very, very cold.

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Things can get fun from there: You could add a dash of simple syrup before shaking if you prefer a little sweetness, or even shake the drink with milk if that's your thing. (IMHO, it’s a good thing.) Sweetened condensed milk? Go for it. If you really want to go over the top, you can garnish your iced coffee with an orange peel or mint sprig, or add orange bitters when you’re shaking. If you can’t be bothered to strain, just dump the shaken drink and its ice into a glass; though I’ll warn you that it’s slightly more difficult to drink that way, given the glassful of ice chips bumping into your mouth.


No espresso machine? You can shake up the shots you make in a stovetop moka pot-type brewer. I don’t currently own one of these, but my highly caffeinated coworkers highly recommend trying it. (Kendra Vaculin likes hers with a drop of maple syrup.)

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Runner up: Flash-Brewed Aeropress
If you don’t have an espresso machine or stovetop moka pot, you’re not out of luck: this runner-up drink is also delicious. It starts with an Aeropress, which may be the best bang-for-your-buck piece of coffee equipment around, especially when outfitted with a metal filter gismo that increases the possible pressure (getting it closer to espresso-style coffee) and allows you to skip the paper filters.

For Aeropress iced coffee, there’s a lot of hubbub about a cold-water two-minute method that the Aeropress website recommends, but I preferred Moser’s flash-brewed recipe when I put them head-to-head. This method gives you iced coffee that’s vibrant and balanced.
Before you get started, if you’re using a paper filter, you may want to rinse it with hot water first and discard any water, and set up your Aeropress on a sturdy cup or mug. All you’re going to do is brew a hot coffee concentrate in the Aeropress, using a ratio of 1 part coffee to 10 parts hot water. So: you’ll use 17 grams of coffee (ground slightly finer than table salt) and 170 grams hot water, just off the boil (roughly 205°F, if you’re taking temperatures). Stir the mixture, place the plunger on top, and let sit for two minutes. Meanwhile, weigh out 102 grams of ice in your serving glass. (A big rocks glass is nice!) Now plunge, slow and steady, stopping when you hear the hiss. Immediately pour this concentrate over your ice, stir and enjoy.

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In coffee, there’s always some dialing in to do: if, on the first try, your coffee is too weak, then grind a bit finer. If it’s too bitter and strong, and a bit muddy, let the grind go a bit coarser on your next round.
You’ll notice that the measurements above are in grams—as annoying as it is, just as in baking, using a scale is really the only way to get accurate measurements in coffee. Different sized beans or coffee grounds or ice cubes will leave different gaps of space in a measuring cup—generally, large chunks will leave larger gaps, and smaller chunks will leave smaller gaps. Some people estimate that 17 grams of coffee will come out to about 2 ½ tablespoons, but again, it depends on your grind. You may be able to eyeball ice after you weigh it out a few times; it comes to about nine ice cubes (not quite a full cup) from my current fridge’s ice maker, but YCSMV (your cube size may vary).
No Aeropress? You can use the same measurements above for a French press, grinding a bit coarser and letting it steep about four minutes before plunging and pouring over the ice. The results are deep and bold, though not quite as bright and balanced as the Aeropress version. Be sure to really stir your concentrate with the ice after pouring—remember you want it to dilute a bit; that was a part of your whole calculation!
Other methods I tried

If you have the patience for pourover, try flash-brewing onto ice.
Photo and Food Styling by Joseph De Leo


The best iced coffee for you depends on what style of coffee brewing you prefer overall. I’m an espresso drinker, so it’s not shocking that I love the methods above. But if you’re passionate for pour-over, you may want to try Japanese-style iced coffee in your Chemex or other dripper. Moser recommends substituting about 40% of your water with ice, which means for 12 ounces of iced coffee (which is quite a bit!), you’re going to use 25 grams of medium-finely ground coffee, 250 grams of hot water (between 205°F and boiling), and 150 grams of ice in the decanter that you’re brewing into. He sets up the weighed ice in the vessel under the pourover filter, then starts with the first 65 grams of water and a quick stir, waiting 45 seconds to let the bed of coffee get saturated, then adds 80 grams more, then the last 115 grams. The ice that chills the brew will also dilute it to its proper strength. The whole process takes about 2 minutes and 30 seconds. To be honest, it’s more than I can handle early in the morning, though the flavor does a decent job of capturing coffee’s refreshing, fruity side.
The same flash-brewing concept works in your regular drip coffee pot, too: Substitute 40% of the water you’d usually use with ice in the carafe, grinding your coffee a bit finer than you usually might. For this and all other iced coffee methods, I recommend doing any water-related math the night before and leaving yourself a note. Your not-yet-caffeinated brain will thank you.

 

[Squiby]

I have an Aeropress with a metal disc filter. I very been using it just about every day for the last several years. Along the lines of my Vapcap, it works pefectly, doesn't take up space, is compact with a simple design and makes a very nice cup of coffee or in the case of the Vapcap, creates an enjoyable vapor. I highly recommend it. It's inexpensive and functional.

 

[Stevenski]

Since having to work from home my Nespresso has been getting a good workout. So easy with Republica biodegradable pods & 60% of the price of aluminium Nespresso pods.

I sometimes make a simple iced coffee. Two capsules in a schooner glass & a teaspoon of raw sugar. Stir & refrigerate for 30 minutes before adding ice & milk.

 

[bulllee]

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articl...-70392897&mc_cid=0cf7bc5d91&mc_eid=c6e43d0902


Inside Ethiopia’s Endangered Wild-Coffee Forests
The demise of Arabica’s birthplace would be a catastrophe for the industry.

Walking into the montane cloud forests with a small group of coffee collectors, ducking under mossy, low-hanging branches, ropey lianas, and slender wild coffee trees broken by baboons trying to reach their sweet fruit, is like returning to a time when rivers ran unimpeded and great forests ruled the land. Hazy sunlight pierces the dense canopy. Black-and-white colobus monkeys sit quietly observing from above, heavy silvery-cheeked hornbills lift off from treetops with the deep whooshing of wingbeats, and electric-green mambas slither unseen. The steady drip of water from the morning rain plops down on coffee trees that are merely one part of the rich, biodiverse understory.
These coffee forests, in Ethiopia’s Kafa region, some 300 miles southwest of Addis Ababa, are the heart of coffee’s birthplace, and one of the few places where it still exists in the wild. Growing spontaneously under the canopy of trees, forest coffee is neither cultivated nor maintained, and a complex system of ancestral entitlements regulates who can gather the coffee berries when they ripen in autumn.
While these fruits look similar to their cultivated cousins, the trees themselves appear different. Ferns, colorful epiphytic orchids, and leafy climbers wrap around the tall, slender trees that reach up towards the available light. Bearded festoons of silvery-green moss hang from their slender branches. Leaves are sparse, and coffee fruits few. With most of their energy going into simply surviving, they grow slow and produce just enough for the species to continue.

Once the collectors arrive at the part of the forest whose coffee they can gather, they reach up and double over nimble branches, spinning the berries between thumb and fingers to separate them from the short stem and dropping them into buckets that hang around their necks. They take perfect, deep-red coffee fruits, but also unripe green and yellow ones and the overripe purple ones, which might be claimed by baboons, birds, or rainstorms if left for later.
I first journeyed into these isolated forests when writing a book: Where the Wild Coffee Grows. I came to see coffee in its original home, to see wild Arabica trees which, I learned, are at risk of disappearing entirely within 60 years. That would be devastating to the communities that live in and around Ethiopia’s coffee forests. It also sends fear into the coffee-soaked hearts of aficionados, breeders, and farmers around the globe.

Every morning, clouds press down on the “cloud forests” of Kafa.
There are two commercial varieties of coffee, Arabica (Coffea arabica) and its more tropical cousin, Robusta (Coffea canephora). In 2019, the world produced some 22.6 billion pounds of coffee, 60 percent of that the higher-valued, more-nuanced Arabica. Most of the world has just a single way to farm it—in large, orderly fields of heavily-laden trees and often little shade.
In Ethiopia such plantations are rare. The most common method is “garden coffee” grown on small lots or family compounds. Yirgacheffe, Sidamo, and Harar—the country’s best-known producing areas—rely on this type of cultivation. In Kafa and around the southwest, people gather “forest coffee” deep in the woodlands where it grows undisturbed, or boost output from trees along the forest edges by cutting back surrounding vegetation, trimming trees, and thinning the canopy. This is known as “semi-forest coffee.” Locals make little distinction between the two types. Sellers in the sprawling Saturday market in Bonga, Kafa’s lowkey capital, say both are wof zerash, or sown by the birds.
While the wildness of these forest coffees is unique, another factor distinguishes them from much of the globe’s Arabica: the devastating fungus known as leaf rust is kept naturally in check.
Latin America produces almost 85 percent of the world’s Arabica, and its coffee is in trouble. Arabica coffee is self-pollinating, pollinating itself about 95 percent of the time, and it spread around the globe from a literal handful of seeds. As a result, cultivated Arabica is genetically weak and unable to withstand or adapt to the diseases and changing climate that are battering production. Coffee leaf rust, which has decimated coffee-growing regions before, wiping out the entire industry of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in the late-19 century, has sent Latin America’s industry into a tailspin.

The worst-case scenario showed a 99.7 percent reduction, with wild Arabica tree populations dropping by 40 to 99 percent.

The greater the genetic diversity of a plant species, the greater chances it has to adapt to such threats. Or even offer attractive traits for the market. For coffee that means higher yields, interesting new flavors, or—in something of a holy grail—naturally decaffeinated beans. The diversity in Ethiopia, especially deep in the forests, is richer than anywhere else—some have estimated that Ethiopia possesses 99.8 percent of the genetic diversity of Arabica. These cloud forests hold not just the origins of Arabica coffee, but a key to the industry’s future.
Ethiopia has one of the fastest growing populations in the world. In 2000 it had 66 million people; today there are 115 million. With such growth comes the need for more farmland and the continual threat of deforestation. In the early-20th century, forests covered about 35 percent of the country. Today it is around 4 percent.
For decades, deforestation looked ready to claim the coffee forests, along with the genetic diversity they safeguarded. While scientists are preserving wild varieties of other important crops in seed banks and gene reserves, coffee seeds do not store well using such conventional methods. The best place to safeguard their genetic resources is in their original home.

Hiking a load of dried coffee out from the isolated Mankira Forest to be milled in the forest-coffee cooperative in Bonga. The only way in or out is via this trail and across a river.
But around Kafa at least, says Mesfin Tekle, the leading local expert on Kafa’s coffee forests, deforestation has been brought under control. That is in part from Participatory Forest Management, a popular program that transfers the right to manage and exploit a forest’s renewable resources—wild coffee, honey, spices such as cardamom—from the government to a local community. In return, the community is responsible for its conservation.
More protection came in 2010 when UNESCO designated 3,000 square miles the Kafa Biosphere Reserve, covering two-thirds of Kafa in a trio of zones with distinctive rules on access and activities. Home to some 650,000 people, the Reserve is 55 percent forest, including one-quarter coffee forest. That same year, UNESCO added the Yayu Coffee Forest Biosphere Reserve to its protected list, and in 2012, the nearby Sheka Forest Biosphere Reserve, where coffee also grows naturally.
Today, wild Arabica’s greatest threat is climate change. Highly sensitive, it can only survive within a narrow band of conditions. Aaron Davis, a senior research leader at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the world’s foremost authority of coffee and climate change, has forecasted that the places where wild coffee can grow will decrease by 65 percent by 2080. That’s the best-case scenario. The worst-case showed a 99.7 percent reduction, with wild Arabica tree populations dropping by 40 to 99 percent.

Freshly picked coffee (the beans are inside these fruits) in the Mankira Forest, Kafa.
With the gathered coffee loaded into canvas sacks and balanced on their heads, the foragers walk back out of the forest, stepping through a bramble of twigs and under branches until they find a thin trail—marked in places by fresh buffalo tracks and baboon scat filled with pale coffee beans—that will lead them back to their hamlet.
Coffee is seemingly everywhere. Along with banana-like enset and staples such as potatoes and beans, most of the conical, wattle-and-daub huts have several coffee trees, often uprooted as saplings from the forest floor. Most homes have a rudimentary raised bamboo bed for drying their own coffee. The foragers place their newly picked fruits on these in a single layer. It takes a week or two for them to dry into leathery brown pods. (Each contains a pair of oval beans.) While some gets sold at market, much is kept to brew at home.

Freshly picked coffee is carried out of the Mankira Forest towards a hamlet, where it will be dried on raised bamboo beds (left), and a path through coffee trees in the Gela Forest, Kafa (right).
Coffee in Ethiopia is drunk seemingly all the time, nowhere more so than around Kafa’s coffee forests. Kids begin to sip it when they start walking and talking, and adults drink numerous cups a day. Locals also cook the fresh coffee fruits in butter, crunch on roasted beans like corn nuts, and prepare infusions with coffee leaves. Coffee-related activities are the livelihood for about one-quarter of Ethiopia’s population. In Kafa’s highland coffee forests, that number is nearly 100 percent.
Despite Ethiopia’s coffee heritage, its brews have only recently gained the recognition they deserve. Ethiopian coffees are now internationally celebrated for their bright fruity and floral flavors, from the juicy blueberries of a Guji to the lemony and jasmine flavors of a Yirgacheffe, and a handful of high-end roasters have begun to offer sublime wild-forest coffee. The German developmental agency GIZ works with nearly 60 cooperatives, including the Kafa Forest Coffee Cooperatives’ Union, while Union Hand-Roasted Coffee, in East London, partnered with Aaron Davis and Kew Gardens to offer Yayu forest coffee. These projects aim to increase Ethiopian farmers’ earnings while protecting coffee forests and giving more people a taste of these unique coffees. Brewing Union’s freshly-ground Yayu forest coffee with a Chemex or V60 filter is to sample hints of citruses, plums, and chocolates.

A cup of traditional coffee prepared in a jebana and served with butter and a sprig of fresh rue.
A cup of true wild coffee drunk on the edge of the forest, though, is different. It usually has more uneven flavors—a result of the fruits’ varying ripeness and the manner of drying.
Brewed in a bulbous, terracotta jebena coffeepot over coals and drunk from tiny, handleless cups, it combines notes of citrus and stone fruits from drying naturally in the pod, but also at times a fermented winey-ness from overripe fruits and grassy astringency from immature ones. There is something of the dusty, mossy aromas of the woodland that clings to it, too. It tastes—thrillingly—of the forest where it grows.

 

[bulllee]

https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/...-70392897&mc_cid=fdb9f41ad8&mc_eid=c6e43d0902


Kopi Joss
You put the charcoal in the coffee cup and drink it all up.

Drinking a strong cup of joe on an empty stomach can be a dangerous game. For those looking to avoid a bout of acid reflux, vendors in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta claim they can neutralize coffee’s acidity with a unique trick. They plunk a piece of red-hot charcoal straight into glasses of the sweetened, black brew.
This is charcoal coffee, known in Indonesia as kopi (“coffee”) joss. Its name comes from the sizzling sound a burning lump of charcoal makes upon hitting the liquid. Some say the bubbling beverage tastes like regular coffee, while others describe a distinct caramel-y, burnt sugar taste.
Yogyakarta (also called Jogja) is located on the island that gives coffee its nickname: Java. Dutch colonists introduced the coffee plant to the Indonesian territory in the 17th century, and it came to dominate global production. By the time the island became a popular tourist destination in the 20th century, Java had become synonymous with its signature export.
In the 1960s, a local coffee-stall owner differentiated his product by using lit charcoal. According to legend, his name was simply “Mr. Man.” Man added the charcoal to a cup of hot water, coffee grounds, and sugar, then left the drink to gurgle and hiss. Once he removed the cooled nugget, customers drank up. Initially, Man’s fans were relegated to young thrill-seekers, but after (medically unsubstantiated) praise for the charcoal coffee’s health benefits spread, kopi joss gained a wider audience.
Today, several copycat stands operate in the surrounding area. Sellers still tout the drink’s ability to alleviate gastrointestinal discomfort, but most customers are attracted to the sheer novelty of watching hot charcoal force a tall glass of coffee to boil over.
Need to Know
Vendors open around 4:00 pm, making kopi joss an evening beverage (and allegedly, the charcoal absorbs some of the caffeine). A cup will run you 20 to 40 cents in US dollars.

 

[bulllee]

https://joesgaragecoffee.com/blog/coffee-trends-to-watch-in-2020/

COFFEE TRENDS TO WATCH IN 2020

Coffee, it’s much more than just a drink. Whether you’re a casual coffee drinker or consider yourself a connoisseur, you know a good cup of java when you taste it. With so many great coffee options, it’s amazing to think that new varieties are being crafted and served each year.

As we move into 2020, the team at Joe’s Garage Coffee is looking ahead at what we believe will be the notable names on cafe menus across the country. Let’s look at the anticipated coffee trends of 2020 and see how they might be influenced by the popular coffee industry trends of 2019.

1. FLAT WHITE
Even the most devoted coffee drinkers have yet to try the flat white. An espresso-based drink, the flat white is made with steamed milk and a thin layer of foam. Don’t confuse it with a latte or cappuccino, though. The drink hails from Australia and New Zealand, where coffee drinkers wanted an espresso-based beverage like a cappuccino, minus a large amount of foam. The foam was reduced, or flattened, and the flat white was born.

Though many cafes will create their own take on a flat white, there are a few commonalities such as two shots of espresso and a thin layer of foam. The drink is served in a cup smaller than a latte cup. The flat white may have originated in the South Pacific but it’s made its way around the globe, so much so that it’s quickly becoming a popular drink in the US. Sales across thousands of cafes have skyrocketed as high as 41 percent compared to last year.

The flat white has cracked the top ten favorite drinks list in Canada as well. With so many people in North America ordering this new beverage, it’s no surprise that it’s going to be a major trend in 2020. Lattes still hold the number one spot in both countries, however, the flat white is providing coffee drinkers with an alternative espresso drink with a taste that doesn’t stray too far from their daily order.

2. BUTTERED COFFEE
How do you take your coffee? Cream? Sugar? Milk? Butter? No, we’re not joking! Buttered coffee is on the rise and you’d better be prepared for a 2020 coffee trend as smooth as, well, butter. Buttered coffee, also called Bulletproof coffee, is black coffee with a tablespoon of butter. Add in a tablespoon of medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil, usually coconut oil as it’s mostly MCT oil in composition, and voila — you’ve got yourself a cup of one of 2020’s burgeoning coffee trends.

At first glance, it may seem strange to stir a bit of butter into your morning cup of joe but there’s a good reason why buttered coffee is rising up the ranks. The butter and MCT oil are said to give coffee drinkers a longer energy boost without the usual caffeine crash. Some believe drinking buttered coffee increases their mental activity while others insist that it also has health benefits like reducing appetite or improving complexion.

While it may not become an overnight sensation, don’t be surprised if you start seeing buttered or Bulletproof coffee popping up on the menus of independent coffee shops in your area. The unusual mixture, combined with the claims that it gives you hours of crash-free energy and could help you manage your weight, is certainly going to raise a few eyebrows in the coming year. We’re willing to bet that it’s going to raise a few cups, too as courageous coffee drinkers sample buttery goodness.

3. READY-TO-DRINK COFFEE
Why is coffee such a popular beverage? Aside from the fact that so many roasts, blends and brews are absolutely delicious, we love our cup of morning coffee because it’s the perfect grab-and-go drink, always there when we need it. Ready-to-drink coffee is surging in popularity, especially with younger coffee drinkers who want a grab-and-go beverage without going to the cafe.

You’ve surely seen ready-to-drink coffee at your local convenience store or grocer. Its name says it all — it’s coffee that’s ready to go. Every bottle is pre-made and ready to drink. There are dozens of varieties spanning the coffee spectrum from cold brews and espressos to frappuccinos and more. A prepackaged bottle is convenient to carry around and the diverse flavor options provide a sweeter taste to those who love the effect of coffee but not the bitterness.

Ready-to-drink coffee is already on the rise with coffee fanatics in the United States. Although this beverage moves the lowest volume of units compared to other options in the beverage industry, ready-to-drink coffee is growing at a rate that outpaces nonalcoholic drinks like teas and sports drinks. Ready-to-drink coffee brands are also adapting to consumer desires by including various enhancements like healthier ingredients in these beverages. With brands like Pepsi and Coco-Cola distributing ready-to-drink coffee around the globe, it’s already positioned to take 2020 by storm.

4. CASCARA
Cascara — the name alone is alluring and grabs our attention. If someone ever saw a cascara option pop up on their local coffee shop’s menu, most would ask about the exotic-sounding item. Cascara is a Spanish term for the dried skins of coffee cherries. Translated to mean “husk” or “peel”, the cascara is quickly gaining attention in the specialty coffee market as more and more coffee connoisseurs experiment with these dried skins. What once was immediately discarded is now becoming a 2020 coffee trend.

Dried cascara is reminiscent of tea leaves, but not exactly tea. It houses the coffee bean but isn’t exactly coffee either. So what is it and why is it about to be a big trend? Cascara is a superfood that’s rich in antioxidants, protein, iron and fiber. It can be made into a tea or used in coffee, providing a sweet flavor in both drinks. It has low caffeine content. Some cultures make drinks featuring cascara and other roots, fruits or spices.

Because cascara is a relatively new phenomenon in the Western coffee world, there really isn’t a definitive way to prepare and drink cascara beverages just yet. The husks can be steeped in hot water or cold brewed. They can be prepared alone or mixed into other brews. With unlimited possibilities available, homebrewers and professional baristas alike will spend 2020 experimenting with this trend to create the best tasting cascara beverages imaginable — and we’re lucky enough to sit back and sip every successful batch.

5. COFFEE COCKTAIL
There are a lot of similarities between alcoholic beverages and coffee beverages. A mixologist and a barista are both masters of their craft, pushing the limits of flavor by experimenting with concoctions until they’ve prepared the perfect drink for their customer. Even the science behind brewing beer, fermenting liquor and getting coffee from the bean to the brew involve comparable levels of detail, knowledge and passion. Coffee and alcohol are also two globally popular beverages — should we be surprised to learn that they’ll come together for one of the biggest trends of 2020: the coffee cocktail?

Mixing coffee with alcohol is far from a groundbreaking idea. The White Russian, the Irish Coffee, the Espresso Martini are among some of the most popular beverages in bars. Head into any brewery and you’re sure to see at least one coffee stout on their draft or bottle list. While you may have trouble ordering a coffee cocktail from your favorite corner cafe, there’s a great chance that many bars and restaurants will be adding these drinks to their menus.

Everyone has their go-to coffee order, but for those who want a specialty mixed drink at a bar, they may not know which of the many cocktails is right for them. Coffee cocktails act as a fun twist on traditional alcoholic beverages. A coffee drinker may not know the difference between a Tom Collins and an Old Fashioned, but they may jump at the chance to try a cold brew gimlet, a black coffee lager or a flat white martini. Be prepared for coffee cocktail hour in 2020.

6. SWEET COFFEE DRINKS
Coffee is now a universal beverage. From recent high school graduates to retired men and women, people of all ages are drinking cup after cup of this delicious brew. It’s to be expected that coffee drinkers want a taste that’s as diverse and unique as they are. Younger generations of coffee drinkers are crowding the local cafes looking for something sweeter than the traditional black cup of coffee. Enter sweet coffee drinks — a coffee trend that will grow in 2019 and 2020.

Coffee can be quite bitter at times, even when a spot of milk or packet of sugar is stirred in. To get their coffee fix while satisfying their sweet tooth, younger coffee drinkers are pushing brewers to sweeten up their selection. You’ve surely seen plenty of these options on the major cafe menus. Coffee slushies and smoothies are joining coffee shakes and milkshakes. Cold brews and lattes can be ordered with pumps of sweet syrups like pumpkin spice, vanilla and mocha — a sweet treat that can’t be beat.

Sweet coffee drinks will continue to gain popularity in 2020 as coffee drinkers, particularly millennials, encourage brewers to experiment and expand their offerings. Specialty coffee drinks, in general, are growing in popularity across the board, from major chain down to mom-and-pop cafes. As more and more flavor combinations hit the menu, more and more coffee drinkers will happily sample sweet coffee drinks.

7. NITRO COFFEE
If putting butter into your cup of coffee felt out of the ordinary, you’d prepare yourself for a coffee trend that’s pouring a bit of the periodic table into your java. Nitro coffee is one of the coffee industry trends of 2019 that will skyrocket in popularity in 2020. Your morning fuel is now mixed with nitrogen and it’s a phenomenon that tastes great. While carbon dioxide is added to soda to create carbonation, nitrogen is added to coffee to create a thick and foamy texture.

What’s the best part about nitro coffee? You get a sweet-tasting drink without the sugar. Born from the craft brewing craze, nitro coffee delivers a similar frothy and creamy texture to a stout or porter beer. Like beer, nitro coffee is served out of a tap or by the individual bottle and can. Many major coffee brands have their own nitro cold brew coffees in their cafes and on the shelves of convenience stores and groceries.

What started in Austin and Portland as an experimental beverage has quickly become one of the most increasingly popular cold brew coffee trends. The addition of nitrogen makes a more familiar taste for those who appreciate craft beers while its strength and sweetness with a notable lack of sugar make it a great alternative for cold coffee drinkers. As one of the coffee trends of 2019 that will surely carry over into 2020, a nitro coffee might just become your new go-to coffee order.

8. COLD BREW
Even the most casual of coffee drinkers are familiar with the cold brew at least by name alone. Over the last four years, this beverage rose from relative obscurity to one of the most successful beverages in coffee shops today. Coffee fans know that cold brew is quite different than a traditional iced coffee. The cold brewing process steeps the coffee for at least half of a day. It’s smooth and rich, less acidic and less bitter — it’s familiar yet different.

North America is caught up in a cold brew craze. Between 2017 and 2018, cold brew sales eclipsed iced coffee sales by 85 percent. A similar scenario occurred in the United States — in 2016 iced coffee was more popular, in 2017 cold brew claimed victory and now cold brew orders are 42 percent higher than iced coffee sales. One reason for its boost in popularity is that coffee brewers are creating new and different cold brew flavors.

Cold brew has been a trend for some time now. It’s been popular long enough that might be a misnomer to call it a trend, though. Although it’s relatively new to the coffee scene, it’s made such a substantial impact that many coffee industry professionals believe that it’s here to stay. At the very least, no one seems to be tiring of it.

 

[Kellya86]

Am I a colonial heathen for liking simple tea like Twinings English breakfast or Lipton black?

best english tea is clipper tea. I get the one thats decaf but its done using c02 instead of aggressive chemical stripping, so doesnt afect flavour..

Then the honey, iv be buying lots of fancy expensive honey lately, gotta be cold filtered and raw to preserve all the good enzymes.. at the moment i have some fir tree honey which is really nice in tea...

Then i add coconut oil... it jus makes tea nicer.. you know how tea is better after fried food, it kinda makes it like that..

Then i add ghee butter, a good quality ghee butter but just a tiny amount...

Then finally i add hemp milk... no cow juice for me...

And thats my healthy paleo tea... at least 3 a day...

 

[bulllee]

https://hypebeast.com/2020/7/dunkin-post-caffeinated-coffee-flavored-cereal

Coffee and cereal lovers rejoice — Dunkin’ has partnered up with Post to create two different caffeinated coffee-flavored cereals. The two options include a Dunkin’ Caramel Macchiato flavor and a Dunkin’ Mocha Latte flavor, both infused with roughly a tenth of a cup of caffeine per serving. Both use chocolate cereal as a base, mixed with accordingly flavored marshmallows.


“We love delighting customers with surprising new ways to enjoy the great taste of Dunkin’,” wrote Dunkin’ vice president Brian Gilbert in a press release. “For our fans who already start their days with Dunkin’, this gives them another way to experience their favorite flavors. The Post Cereals team has done an excellent job of paying homage to the Caramel Macchiato and Mocha Latte with these new cereals. We can’t wait to see how customers enjoy them.”

Post’s brand manager Josh Jans also commented: “Coffee and cereal are the ultimate breakfast go-tos, ranking as the top two most consumed items to help people start their day. Dunkin’ coffee is a daily ritual for Americans, and we’re excited to be partnering with them to indulge their fans’ coffee cravings. Getting the flavor right on our new cereals was a top priority, and we think we’ve nailed the rich, smooth and creamy taste.”

Both flavors of Dunkin’ and Post’s caffeinated cereal will be available in the coming weeks.

 

[bulllee]

https://www.delish.com/food-news/a33473560/coca-cola-with-coffee-2020/

Coke Is Launching Coca-Cola With Coffee In 3 Different Flavors In The U.S., All Full Of Caffeine
Never choose between coffee and soda again!!

by KRISTIN SALAKY
JUL 31, 2020

COCA-COLA
About once a day, you probably wonder whether it's time to switch from coffee to your daily fizzy drink like Diet Coke (me!), seltzer, or maybe even an ice-cold beer. But if you're a coffee fan, it can be tempting to continue to fill up that French Press or coffeemaker and keep coffee time going for just a little bit longer. Now, thanks to Coke's newest U.S. launch, we can have the best of both worlds.
The brand announced today that it would be launching "Coca-Cola With Coffee" in the United States. Coke has previously dipped its toes into coffee-type drinks before and currently sells "Coca-Cola Plus Coffee" in 25 countries. We first heard rumblings of this bev coming to the U.S. back in 2019 and, honestly, we have been dreaming of it ever since. If you can imagine Coca-Cola with a hint of coffee, well, that's pretty much what this is! It's two of your favorite drinks in one convenient package.
The drink comes in three different flavors so far: Dark Blend, Vanilla, and Caramel, which is sure to make those of us who love flavored iced coffee VERY happy. I know what you're thinking: WHAT ABOUT THE CAFFEINE? OK, deep breaths, because I have good news. Each can contains 69 milligrams of caffeine in a 12-ounce can, which is roughly double what's in a normal can of Coke (34 mg) and a bit less than a standard cup of coffee (95 mg for eight ounces). They're all also 70 calories, just in case you wanted to know.
I got to give the Dark Blend a try and really loved it! It smells and tastes like the deep, dark coffee you'll find in a cafe and the flavor really is a perfect blend of that and classic Coke. Even if you don't love coffee, to me the nuttiness is really what stands out, so if you love flavors like hazelnut, give this a try. I gave my boyfriend—a coffee fiend—a blind taste test and he refused to give me back the glass, so there you have it.
For now, these flavors are only available in the U.S. via the very fancy Coca-Cola Insiders Club. The rest of the U.S. will just have to wait until 2021 to give it a try. Beginning in January 2021, Coca-Cola with Coffee Dark Blend and Coca-Cola with Coffee Vanilla will be offered in 12-oz. singles or 12-oz. four-packs while Coca-Cola with Coffee Caramel will be only offered in 12-oz. single cans nationwide. You can also go to Coke.com/Coffee to be notified when it comes out next year. Ah, 2021. Can't wait!

 

[momofthegoons]

 

[momofthegoons]

 

[Marlon Rando]

I'll have the Booty latte.

 

[Thedev]

Big o’ 32oz Yeti of Macho Mud( Fresh ground Ruta Maya (coarse), coconut based creamer, brain octane from bulletproof, pink Himalayan salt, no-salt , cinnamon powder from frontier co-op, 2 scoops of collagen powder and finally good purified water) .
This is pretty much all I eat every day before 6 pm…….and a bit of GSC to make this endless and “could have been a email “ meetings a little more tolerable.

 

[EveryDayAmnesiac]

So, technically I "brewed" the basil so I guess it qualifies for this thread.

Anyway, so I made myself some Watermelon Basil Lemonade today to try and beat the horrid heat wave. They say to avoid sugary drinks during intense heat, but ... if I die because I drank lemonade during a heat wave, then there's something wrong with the foundation of this universe.

I don't even have it that bad as I live in the mountains / woods and my "a-deranged-lunatic-or-psychopath-or-disastrously-depressed-guy-must-live-here-or-died-here-years-ago" cabin is in the shade pretty much the entire day. But even so, it's about 85 degrees with about 75% humidity and that's bloody bad enough for me. My apologies to anyone who has it worse.

But some WBL with a shit ton of ice makes me feel a little less shitty about the stank smell of crusty ass sweat upon my body - especially the connective points.

If you've never had it, I would say put it at the top of your list. And either way, you'll have plenty of watermelon left over. Hell, process it down and strain it into liquid form and make watermelon ice cubes for your ice water. Or as it's called in my household, ice vodka.

It must be good because one of my cats started drinking from my cup when my back was turned. Bad kitty was put out on the porch immediately.

Tomorrow's mission? Strawberry and raspberry limeade ...

 

[bulllee]

Amaro, Meet the Moka Pot​

The stovetop coffee maker is the shortcut to an extra-Italian digestivo.​

SEPTEMBER 23, 2021

story: KARA NEWMAN

photo: LIZZIE MUNRO

“We do not have any tea in my restaurant,” says Davide Oldani, chef at Milan’s D’O.
Instead, he offers “Café di Riflessione”—reflection coffee—a tableside infusion for guests to close out a meal. Fresh herbs, citrus peels and coffee beans are steeped in hot water, then strained out; the infused water is then combined with Amaro Nonino for a bracingly aromatic nightcap.


The drink—and aversion to dried tea leaves—stems from Oldani’s insistence on working with fresh ingredients as much as possible. This is part of his culinary philosophy, which he terms “Cucina Pop,” a catchy abbreviation of “cucina populare” (popular cuisine), a more affordable version of haute cuisine, with a strong emphasis on seasonality.

MOKA POT AMARO AT HOME​

1. Add freshly ground espresso to the appropriate compartment of a moka pot.
2. Add equal parts water and amaro to the base of the moka pot, up to the designated fill line. Feel free to experiment by splitting the amaro quotient between two expressions, such as Braulio and Averna.
3. If desired, add any combination of fresh herbs and botanicals, such as orange peel and cinnamon, to the amaro-water mixture.
4. Heat over medium heat until the mixture percolates.
5. Pour into a tempered glass or mug, garnished with fresh herbs of your choosing.

“Everything has to be fresh,” he says. “The flavor, when you use the freshest thing, is the top.” For this drink, that means freshly roasted whole coffee beans as well as fresh herbs and citrus peels.
Oldani keeps a small cart inside the restaurant stockpiled with seasonal herbs and spices. In the fall, sage and rosemary might be displayed alongside spices like black pepper, cinnamon or star anise. Whole coffee beans, specifically Lavazza Kafa beans sourced from the Kaffa Forest in Ethiopia, also are kept on the cart.
At the end of the meal, the coffee beans and hot water—held below the point of boiling, at 70 to 75 degrees Celsius (158 to 167 degrees Fahrenheit), “not higher,” Oldani specifies—are brought to the table in a moka pot. Herbs and botanicals, ranging from small chile peppers to bergamot or orange peel, are selected, snipped and placed in a small mesh bag. After infusing in the moka pot for 3 1/2 to 4 minutes, the spice bag is removed. The liquid is poured into a double-walled glass through a small tea strainer, yielding a fragrant brew with a mild, almost nutty flavor. This is then combined with about 2 ounces of Amaro Nonino. The nuanced coffee flavor plus amaro is “really, really Italian,” says Oldani.
For the home bartender, Punch Partnerships Manager Allison Hamlin has found a streamlined way to translate D’O’s sophisticated tableside service into a user-friendly version that stays true to the extra-Italian nature of the original. As in cooking a one-pot dinner, Hamlin adds all her ingredients to the stovetop coffee maker at once—ground espresso in the prescribed compartment, then equal parts amaro and water in the bottom, turning up the heat to allow the elements to integrate and infuse. “Medium heat prevents the sugars from scorching,” she advises. The result is a coffee-amaro blend that can be customized with infinite combinations of herbal flavorings—both in the moka pot and in the glass—just as with chef Oldani’s formula, though it’s inherently more coffee-forward thanks to the amaro-water combination percolating through the espresso grounds.
While Oldani serves the drink in thick, double-walled glassware he designed—“a kind of glassware you can keep in your hand,” he says—a teacup, coffee mug or small Irish Coffee glass works, too.
No additional garnish is needed: When guests remove fresh herbs from the glass, the lingering aroma from essential oils helps perfume the drink. “At the end, you have the smell of the herbs left on your hands,” Oldani says. “It’s very elegant, delicate, as we are. This is the only natural garnish we put on top of the glasses.”

 

[EveryDayAmnesiac]

If you like "Coffee Talk," there is plenty of it in this video.





Plus the woman in the video is jaw dropping gorgeous - that never hurts. I was watching it with lady friend and making sure to not mention it so she pauses it and says, "Will you just say it already? I know you think she's hot so just say it."

Nope. Not taking that bait. Although she proceeded to mention for the rest of the video how attractive Conan is.

At least she's having crushes on guys I respect.

Lady friend is a coffee freak and spent a ridiculous amount of money on her coffee maker and her espresso machine. They're like industrial grade. Coffee doesn't much register to my taste buds ... it all tastes the same to me.

I also don't like the smell - I know that's not an opinion most people share. I just hate how it will permeate an entire room so everybody has to smell it. It's like when somebody brings fast food into a room and then everyone has to smell it.

 

[Vitolo]

The video was actually educating.
I liked it very much, and am glad you posted it.