The beneficial effect of the brown beans has been known for a long time
Coffee - the word alone saves all of us from a variety of fantasies and musings. Coffee is the first thing we see in the morning. The record with regard to coffee consumption show that there Europeans consume no less than 6 kg of coffee per head per year. The Scandinavians, for instance, consume about 10 kg per capita every year. The British consume 2 kg per head, but that is no surprise because everyone knows they prefer tea.
However, few people know that coffee was used as a drug at the very beginning of its ascent. For instance, in Arabia, coffee has been known as a drug for 1000 years now. The Arab medical literature contains evidence that the so-called brown gold was used as a drug in the 10th century AD.
People only started to use the ground beans of the coffee plant as a stimulating drink much later. Europeans, for instance, have also been doing this for 200 years. The well-known Goethe gave his friend, the chemist Friedrich Ferdinand Runge, a box of beans in 1820 and it was he who discovered caffeine.
People who value only the taste of coffee and not the stimulating effect of caffeine should drink decaffeinated coffee. Caffeine is extracted with organic solvents, which are often suspected to be carcinogenic.
However, those who believe that scientists have found out everything about this stimulant are wrong. In fact, today they are analyzing the extent to which this hot drink slows down the occurrence of various diseases or even prevents it. Regular coffee consumption may protect against disease.
Blending
The harmony or the interaction of various components of coffee in a coffee or espresso blend is similar to a perfume or an orchestra. The top, base and middle notes make up a complex and pleasant fragrance. An orchestra sounds best if the different instruments play in harmony. An espresso or coffee blend also follows this principle. A perfect coffee blend is thus a harmonious blend of acidity, bitterness, sweetness and “body”. In the coffee world, the word "body" defines the taste of an espresso. The higher the viscosity or creaminess of the espresso, the richer is the body. Of course, there are many ways of achieving a perfect blend. In the end, it is up to each individual to decide what taste they like best. However, it is up to the roast maestro to tell if such a mixture is possible or not. Everyone develops different flavor characteristics of a particular coffee roast. Moreover, different coffee beans from different countries have different sizes, so the roast master may have to roast each bean individually or leave them in the roasting drum longer. Thus, the homogeneity of the coffee roast depends on the experience and philosophy of the roast maestro. The coffee is mixed either before or after the roasting. Individual roasting is a guarantee that the properties of every bean are fully exploited and that no bean remains raw.
The coffee roast degrees
Light roast = pale or cinnamon-roasted
Average roast = American roast, breakfast roast
Strong roast = French roast, Viennese roast
Double roast = continental roast, French roast
Espresso roast = Italian roast
Torrefacto (Spanish for roasted) = with added sugar, especially common in Spain.
The beans must be cooled immediately after roasting. Otherwise, the hot beans can burn or lose their optimal roast degree.
