coffee

Top 5 Coffee Brands All the Experts Adore

February 24, 2017 By Theresa Carrion Leave a Comment

Starbucks or Lavazza? Nescafe or Don Pablo? Which do you consider to be the best coffee in the world? And, most importantly, do you drink coffee to enjoy an unforgetable taste, texture and flavor experience, or you’d drink just about anything just to get up early every morning? When it comes to ranking the best coffee brands in the world, the choice is very hard to make. Coffee experts, ust like wine ones, don’t select the brews on bestselling rankings alone. In order to properly evaluate a brand of coffee, experts factor in the beans’ origin, the tree variety, the processing methods, the value factor of the coffee, the costs and, of course, the taste – among others. Today we will take a look at the top 5 coffee brands all the experts adore. Be warned, you may have not heard of any of them, as they are not your regular store-bought packs blends and brews!

1. Kenya Guama Peaberry by Bird Rock Coffee Roasters

Deemed “lively and intense”, this coffee scored 97 points out of 100 at the end of 2016, making it the best coffee in the world in the eyes (and taste buds) of coffee experts. This particular brand of medium roasted single-origin coffee comes with finishing touches of cranberry, coconut oil, and grapefruit blossom flavors. Add the sustainability factor and the unforgetable taste and you will soon understand why this unusual Kenyan coffee made it to the number one spot on the top 5 coffee brands adored by experts.

2. Deri Kochoha Espresso by JBC Coffee Roasters

While the location of the company is in Wisconsin, U.S.A, the origin of the coffee is in Sudamo, southern Ethiopia. Evaluated as an expresso, this coffee is a dreamy experience for all coffee lovers out there looking for emotion and satisfaction in just one small cup. Imagine a flavor mix combining jasmine, tamarind, saffron and bittersweet orange blossom, all enveloped in a dark chocolate finish to warm up your palate and your soul.

3. Laura’s Reserve SL-28 by Hula Daddy

This coffee is produced in its entirety from the exquisite SL-28 variety of Arabica growing in the Mount Hualalai volcano region of the Big Island Hawaii. Sweet, lush and savory, this coffee comes together with a blend of fruity and floral notes in a mix of black currant, hops, coriander, and kola undertones for the coffee experience of a lifetime. Keep in mind that this is a limited edition coffee brand sold only on the Hula Daddy website. A dream came true, this coffee is recommended to coinesseurs and people looking for art in a cup of coffee rather than a blood pressure boost.

Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Reko by Temple Coffee and Tea

If you ever visit Sacramento, California, go to Temple Coffee and Tea and ask for a cup of Yirgacheffe Reko to get lost in a dream of scent, flavor and richness. Silky in texture and sweet in finish (with spicy undertones offered by the lychee and pink peppercorn flavors), this coffee is so delicate, it was labeled as “lyrical”. A veritable poem in a cup, Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Reko is produced in southern Ethiopia by villagers in organic small farms in garden plots interplanted with other substinence crops, flowers and vegetables. You will probably fall in love with its distinctive flower and citrus notes and the unmistakable texture of Ethiopian Arabica varieties, just like all experts did, or you will be forever seduced by the candied ginseng and intriguing coconut notes that turn your coffee drinking experience into an exotic vacation.

5. Brazil Fazenda Passeio Natural by Willoughby’s Coffee & Tea

You may be surprised to see that this coffee brands top doesn’t include some of best coffee brands in Europe, but we have to admit that there are few things more pleasurable in this world than high-end Brazilian coffee. Fazenda Passeio Natural is made of Yellow Catuai, Mundo Novo and Acaia varieties of Arabica and Willoughby’s Coffee & Tea is a distinguished roaster famous for its excellent choices of single-origin delights. This coffee has a very sweet and layered complexity, with a creamy rich texture and flowery and fruity notes combining papaya, gardenia, chocolate, musk, and almond finishing. A vertitable nectar of all coffees, a cup of Brazil Fazenda Passeio is a bucket-list item if you ever visit Branford, Connecticut.

These are the most appraised coffee brands selected by experts. Have you ever tried one of these? Do you favor other more commercially famous brands?

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The Best Latte Art You Ever Saw

June 24, 2014 By This Blog Rules Guest Leave a Comment

So, we can add the Best Latte Art you ever saw to the list of things I never knew existed. All this time, I have only been using the foam to form hilarious mustaches on my upper lip when I could have been creating these masterpieces:

The Elephant Latte

This is one of my favorite Latte Art. It is quite simply a stunning image of an elephant. I don’t think I could ever bring myself to drink such an intricate and beautiful piece of art. Well, that is, unless I was really thirsty.

The Melting Clock Art

This next cup of Latte exemplifies the style known as 3D Latte Art. We have Dali’s famous melting clock in a cup. And, it’s literally melting. Actually, I wonder how long this sort of work of art would last before really melting. In the place I go for my drinks, the staff is so slow that the foam or cream (or whatever is on top of my drink) usually melts before it arrives. Thinking about it now, they probably just skim off it the top foam and slurp it down all because they hate me.

The Wolf Latte

Am I the only person to feel a little creeped out by this piece of coffee art? I would probably freak and run out of the place screaming if my waiter served me a cup with that face in it.

The Dali Latte

If you’re going to put someone’s face in your Latte Art, it might as well be Dali…I guess.

The Hello Kitty Art

That creepy little cat pops up everywhere these days. It’s even in our drinks. My daughter is a big fan of Hello Kitty but hates latte. On the other hand, I could live solely off lattes and biscotti. I could do without Hello Kitty.

The Sorry Latte

The idea of saying sorry with a latte is pretty clever. If your actions were really bad, then you might want to buy your partner something a bit more impressive. Perhaps something like flowers or some cookies. Unless you’re not really that sorry after all. In which case, I would suggest waiting until your local coffee store has a 2 for 1 offer and ordering the smallest size they have.

The Planetary Latte

I really like this one even though it’s pretty simple. In fact, I’m not even sure it’s a latte to start with.

The Snoopy Latte

This is snoopy, isn’t it? It’s been a while since I’ve seen the old fellow. But, I’m sure that’s him just floating on top of a latte.

The Mushroom Cloud Latte

This is pretty good looking pattern, but what is it? I think it’s a mushroom cloud, like the explosion from a nuclear bomb.

The Snowman Latte Art

For a cheerful cup of latte during the winter, you can’t beat this chipper little snowman.

The Cat and Fish Latte

This is the final piece of Latte Art for today. It is probably my favourite. The 3D foam cat looks hungrily on at a couple of swimming fish. It’s cute, it’s artistic and it’s making me thirsty.

5 Strange Coffees You Should Try

June 18, 2014 By Fred Mitchell Leave a Comment

As you’re probably aware by now, some of us have some pretty strange hobbies, from collecting airplane sick bags to toy travelling (yes, it’s about as dull as you can imagine – no offense intended if you’re a fan of this activity!). Well, you knowledge of strange interests is about to get enriched with something related to the oh-so-common cup of joe of our mornings: some people seem to spend time and creative energy trying to discover or concoct the strangest coffees ever! Some of them are a tradition of a remote or exotic area in the world, while some are purely recent inventions, but what they all have in common is the element of strangeness itself. Perhaps some of the strange coffees on our list may not sound so exotic to some of you, depending on the area where you’re from, but I think all of you must admit it’s still a pretty weird list. Here goes.

1. The Bulletproof Coffee

The list of strange coffees must start with the most recent craze of the western world: the so-called Bulletproof Coffee. It’s basically a cup of the best quality organic coffee you can brew, mixed with two tablespoons of butter (which must be organic and from grass-fed cows, non-negotiable) and two tablespoons of MCT oil. The latter ingredient is a natural fat very rich in MCTs (medium chain triglycerids), like high-quality coconut oil or palm oil. Anyway, if you plan on making it you’re supposed to buy a bottle which specifically says “MCT oil”, and the total cost of brewing this coffee can run pretty high. Its fans claim that it’s almost a universal health remedy and that it can almost make you “bulletproof”, provided you drink it every morning.

2. The Swedish Egg Coffee

The Swedes make some of the strangest coffees, brewed with beaten egg in them. If you’re wondering why they do it, it was initially meant to filter away some of the bitterness and acidity which come with poorer blends of coffee, and then it became tradition and that was that. If you’re further wondering if you can still feel an egg aftertaste in the coffee when you sip it, the answer is yes, but it’s part of the charm. Instructions on how to brew your own can be found here.

3. The Wild Civet Excrement Coffee (Kopi Luwak)

No, you haven’t read it wrong: the locally called Kopi Luwak coffee is made from coffee beans which have been ingested by Asian wild civets (some animals resembling wild cats) and then excreted by them. The beans are then picked up from the, uhm, remains, and then dried, ground, and brewed normally. Although it may sound quite unappealing, this is not only one of the strangest coffees out there, but also the most expensive in the world. Coffee connoisseurs claim the taste is so much refined and improved by the wild cats’ digestive enzymes that it makes the drink unforgettable.

4. Bacon Coffee

The Bacon Coffee is a variety you can order if you happen to pass through Seattle. Seek it out from the Seattle’s Best coffee place, a subsidiary of Starbucks. Since bacon is such a loved ingredient throughout the Western world, I guess the bacon coffee was pretty unavoidable, right?

5. Durian Cappuccino

For those who don’t know, the durian fruit, native to Asia, is a delicious but very smelly (actually you could call it downright stinky) fruit. The reason you can’t find it in the Western supermarkets is because it doesn’t keep well when transported, but it’s a must try for any tourist visiting an Asian country. Besides being used raw or in various dishes, this smelly fruit contributes now to another one of the strangest coffees in the world. The Durian Cappuccino can be found in the Blugre coffee shop from Davao City in the Philippines. Don’t miss it if you visit and if you feel brave enough.

Ctrl+Alt+Del Drinking Cups

September 12, 2011 By Anne Burwell 1 Comment

This cup set is for all the people out there who have to work long hours at the office. It’s also for all you computer geeks out there. You know who you are! 🙂 The ingenious set consists of 3 cups which look like over-sized versions of those Ctrl, Alt and Del tabs you should see positioned at the top and bottom of your computer keyboard, plus a tray designed to look like a circuit board. How very nerdy (yet cool).

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