Another post that gives Reasons to Drink Coffee

This is an extract from:

Greenliving's Reasons to drink coffee

"According to research, the potential benefits of caffeine for maintenance of proper brain functioning has only recently begun to be appreciated....".

"In a study published in a special supplement to the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, researchers explored the potential benefits of caffeine and found substantial evidence that it may be protective against the cognitive decline seen in dementia and Alzheimer’s disease."

For the study (“Therapeutic Opportunities for Caffeine in Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Neurodegenerative Diseases”) a group of international experts looked into the effects of caffeine on the brain. The result was a collection of original studies exploring  a number of  topics ranging from molecular targets of caffeine, neurophysiological modifications and adaptations, to the potential mechanisms underlying the behavioral and protective actions of caffeine in distinct brain pathologies. Here’s a brief summary of what they found:

• Caffeine has a positive effect on cognition, memory performance, and the ability to complete complex tasks.
• An inverse association between regular caffeine consumption and the incidence of Parkinson’s disease was found–in other words, caffeine looks to be protective against Parkinson’s disease.
• The consumption of moderate amounts of caffeine was seen to decrease the cognitive decline associated with aging, as well as the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease.
• Caffeine prevented motor deficits, normalized brain function, and prevented brain degeneration.
• Caffeine improves a sense of well-being, happiness, energy, alertness and sociability.
• Caffeine  enhances aerobic endurance.
• Consumption of coffee can lead to a decreased risk of Type 2 diabetes.
• Coffee has a whopping amount of antioxidants–on average, Americans receive 1,299 milligrams of antioxidants  from their 1.64 cups of daily coffee. The closest competitor was tea at 294 milligrams. Rounding out the top five sources were bananas, 76 milligrams; dry beans, 72 milligrams; and corn, 48 milligrams.

Espresso machine?

I have found it strange what people define as an espresso machine. A machine that uses the espresso concept does not necessarily make an espresso in my book. But here is how is what I have found:

• mocha pot or stove pot, this is probably the original espresso device, but in todays term I would not consider in an espresso, the pressure is good, but the grinds are not very fine, and there is normally no crema
• Aeropress coffee maker - once again not an espresso, it produces the best coffee using course grinds
• Domestic espresso machines - I do not class these as espresso but rather espresso like. The grind is fine but not as fine as it could get, the machines do not have enough punch, perhaps I can be proved wrong
• Automatic espresso machines - Also an espresso like machine, with the Jura, probably the pick of the lot

So what is an espresso maker then. Well to me it has to have the following:

• The grind can be so fine that it clumps, i.e. it start to attach itself to other fine grinds
• The filter head MUST be metal, with out that it cannot produce enough backward pressure
• The tamp has to be manual, unless a tamp of 25kgs is guarnateed
• The machine must have accurate temperature control, so that the water is never hotter than 95 degrees.

So that is why I have found the definition espresso machine is too vague.

Brewing guides I found

Michaele Weissman mentioned Duane from Stump Town, so I took a look at their site, it is quite inspiring, here is really a person driven to make the coffee world better, no wonder they call it the 3rd wave of coffee. Specialty Coffee is the 3rd wave, and it is slowly undoing the wrongs of the past that are part and parcel of the traditional coffee industry.

Here are their brewing guides:

• Preparing the perfect plunge / press pot of coffee
• Excellent Coffee at Home Using a Moka Pot
• How to prepare Espresso at Home

Take a look, I may publish them one at a time.....

Office coffee and its importance in the coffee industry

Although I am sure that Michaele Weissman's initial article on Coffee in the Workplace, Something's Brewing in Office Coffee - washingtonpost.com, it inspired her to document her quest and eventually write: God in a Cup.

I recently came across her video taken at Google talking about her book, and spoke about many things but I liked her summary of specialty coffee.

She said that like the movie industry had been turned in it head in the 70's by a demand for better quality, this is what is happening to the coffee industry. The a select few driving the upper echelons of the coffee industry, through there own personal quest to find the best for themselves, and sharing it.

Her summary of what is specialty coffee, is as follows:

• Coffee that grows high up in the equatorial regions of the world, which includes about 60 countries
• When the coffee is cupped it scores at least 80 out of a possible 100
• Specialty coffee is not release to the commodities market only the specialty coffee market
• It is mostly entrepreneurial driven who are keen to buy high and seller higher, so the whole chain makes a good enough profit. This means that the grower benefits, since quality is the the primary driver

This is a more journalistic point of view, but I like that summary so I am posting it here