Flavored Coffee Syrup Adds A New Dimension To Beans

Flavored coffee syrup is a popular addition to any coffee beverage and a welcome change for any regular coffee drinker. Whether you are looking to satisfy a sweet tooth or just want something different, flavored coffee syrups put a great kick into any drink. If you own a coffee business, these syrups are another great way to attract customers, allowing them to customize their own drinks so they can enjoy exactly the flavors that their taste buds desire.

Coffee, of course, has a wonderful taste itself, but it also acts as a catalyst for many other flavors. The growth in popularity of flavored coffee is testament to coffee's versatility and strength. People today have come to expect variety and certainly flavored coffee offers them a choice. Flavored syrups means that coffee drinkers can enjoy their beverage all day in a host of different ways.

The best flavored coffee syrups are made from all natural ingredients. The chemical additives and preservatives found in some syrups can distort or hide the flavor of the coffee, while all natural flavors will simply enhance a beverage. Although all natural syrups are more expensive, they are worth the investment as your customers will surely taste the difference and come back time after time for more.

There are four different groups of syrups. The most popular syrups are the vanilla based, which include nut and creme flavors like Irish creme and hazelnut. These flavors go well with just about any type of coffee, and can even be used to sweeten a cappuccino or latte. Chocolate is the next most popular flavoring group, followed by the fruit and spice flavors. It is always a good idea to have an offering from each group so your customers can experience different flavors (and spend more!)

Today, more than 100 different and delicious flavorings lace the coffees, espressos, cappuccinos, and frappes. To say the least, flavored coffee has become an interesting and fast growing area of the coffee market. Blends such as Irish Creme, French Vanilla, Hazelnut and even Macadamia Nut grace the shelves of both coffee specialty shops and home kitchens alike.

The concept of adding flavors to enhance the taste of coffee is, by no means, a new craze. Arabs began flavoring their coffee with cardamom hundreds of years ago, Africans experimented with citrus flavors, and South Americans enjoyed a hint of cinnamon in their cups.

Flavored coffee syrups are highly concentrated, so a little goes quite a long way – this makes it very cost effective for the café owner. One half-ounce shot of syrup is usually adequate to flavor an entire coffee drink. These syrups are available from most coffee suppliers; if you are a new retail or business customer, they will often send you samples to allow you to taste them for yourself; this way you can choose the best tasting syrup product for your customers. This is the fun part – then you have to sell them!

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Is Coffee The Most Popular Drink In History?

As far back as 850 A.D it is said that a lonely sheep herder and hischarge stumbled across a strange and mysterious berrygrowing on a secluded and forgotten hillside. Before hecould stop them, some of his sheep had already began tosample this strange fruit. After about ten minutes or so theshepherd began to notice something unusual about his sheep.

They no longer looked tired after their long trek that day.In fact they appeared to be wide awake and very alert. Theshepherd had never seen them behave this way and he wascurious. Now being a little tired and weary himself theshepherd decided to try the berries for himself. Just as hadhappened with his flock he too became wide awake and pardonthe pun, extremely "full of beans". Just then a monkhappened by and after hearing what had happened proceeded toscold the poor shepherd and lecture him on his foolishindulgence. Having had his say the monk continued on hisjourney but before he set off he made absolutely sure that aplant was secured amongst his belongings.

Back at the abbey the monks decided to try this new magicalstimulant. Soon the endless hours of praying became easy toendure. Coffee the beverage had been unleashed. Itswidespread use first took hold in the Ethiopian regionsbefore then moving on to the Arabian empire. Here it was tobe held for many years as a sacred substance until it wasillegally exported to the outside world by an Arab calledBaba Budan. Word of its effects then began to spread and ina short while coffee was to become one of the most treasuredcommodities in our history. Today we drink a staggering 4billion cups each and every year and there are many among uswho would simply refuse to start our day without it.

Although coffee is well known for keeping us awake there arealso health benefits associated with the drinking of coffee.It is said that those who suffer from asthma and partake ofthe drink have 25% less symptoms due to a substance calledtheophylline. This is what is known as a bronchodilator andquite simply it is claimed to help those who suffer from thedisease to breathe a little easier. Drinking Coffee on aregular basis is also meant to help lower your risk of coloncancer by a figure also in the region of around 25%. It isthought to do this simply by helping to keep you regularwhich in turn helps fend off disease and illness.

Apart from the benefits that have just been mentioned it hasto be said that simply drinking coffee as a beverage is adelight that cannot easily be surpassed. The amazing thingis that the average person has no idea of the varied tastesthat this hallowed bean has to offer. One of the growingtrends of recent years has to be the rising popularity ofordering coffee via the wonder we call the internet. Neverbefore have we been able to sample such a wide variety oftastes, blends and aromas without having to endure thetedious trials of hiking around the city. I myself tend toplace small orders but I always make a point to record thename, blend and of course exactly from whom I purchased.

Now you know the story of the magic beans I hope that nexttimeyou are considering popping into the local coffee shopyou recall the story of the wandering sheep herder andconsider just what you might be drinking were he not to havewandered with his flock onto that lonely hillside. Take thetime to try the many different varieties available and Ipromise you the joys of coffee will be sure to tantalizeyour senses,tease your tastebuds and delight your friendsand associates.

Cappuccino or mocha?

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Mary Chambers is a regular contributor to the Fuzzy Coffee Directory

Home Espresso Machine - Choosing The Best One For Your Needs

Choosing the right espresso coffee machine for your needs

Espresso coffee is a highly popuar choice of beverage for the large majority of us. This is partly because it contains caffeine which fires up our brain every morning. Many people also make coffee at home as one of the first things they do when they get up.

Consumers into coffee will concur that a coffee espresso machine is a piece of equipment that will make a top quality cup of espresso. However, quite a few of these people don't actually own a home espresso machine which is quite surprising really. There are a number of different fundamental types of espresso machine, ranging from fully automatic right through to manual machines.

Semi Automatic Espresso Machine

A semi automatic espresso machine is ideal for use in the home. It produces a single cup of coffee each time and you choose the level of coffee grounds that go into each cup, so you have control over how strong each cup of coffee you are making is.

Fully Automatic Espresso Machine

If you are making a lot of cups of coffee on a daily basis, you might look to buy something faster. Something like a fully automatic espresso machine will do the job perfectly. Simply pour the espresso coffee beans in and then press a button to produce the cup of coffee as and when required.

Traditional Espresso Stovetop Machine

A traditional way to make espresso coffee is to use a stovetop home machine with a pot that has compartments. You put water into the bottom compartment and coffee into the upper compartment. Once the water reaches boiling point, steam rises up into the coffee. You can find out more about espresso coffee at http://www.bestespressocoffeemachines.com

Conclusion

As you can see, there are a large typpe of home espresso machine on the market. All you need to do is choose the one type that best suits your needs. Also it is worth considering how much space you have available in your kitchen prior to purchase. It's worth taking some time to consider what home espresso machine to buy as it is something you will probably use every day.

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Dean Forster is the owner and editor of http://www.bestespressocoffeemachines.com a website resource dedicated to consumer information on espresso machines and accesories. Espresso Coffee Machines

Coffee in the Office - The Traditional Vending Machine

A look at the pros and cons of the traditional office vending machine

With the choice and variety of office drinks machine available today, choosing the most suitable one for your office can be difficult. I have already posted several articles discussing the pros and cons of different types of machines and in this article we discuss another ' the traditional office vending machine.

Many years ago the basic office vending machine consisted of a table top unit containing several canisters of loose dried drinks ingredients, push buttons to select the drink and a simple coin mechanism to enable money to be collected.

A typical arrangement for the machine of ingredient canisters or hoppers would comprise of freeze dried coffee, powdered milk, drinking chocolate, sugar and one other ingredient usually soup. Tea was not really an option as the taste of instant tea was not of sufficient quality and despite improvement this still remains the case today.

A plastic cup was taken from a column, money inserted in the mechanism and the cup put underneath the various selections and a button pressed to select the ingredient required. A white coffee for example would require a 6 stage process to produce a drink that still had to be stirred. Coin inserted, cup taken, coffee pressed, milk pressed, sugar pressed and lastly hot water added by pressing the final button.

This format still forms the basis of many smaller budget office drinks machines today. The technology has improved, the taste and choice of the drinks is vastly superior but the concept remains the same.

Larger automatic machines still use different ingredient hoppers, but have incorporated the whole process into a single one button operation that dispenses the chosen beverage into the cup at a fixed position so there is no need for manual operation.

Generally these types of machines offer instant drinks only, so that tea drinkers are often forced to choice an alternative. This sort of machine is easy to restock as it is a simple matter of refilling the various canisters inside the machine with the appropriate product. However spillages do occur and it is important that a daily cleaning and hygiene process is undertaken.

Modern and more expensive office vending machines can offer fresh brew coffee and leaf tea options and serve fabulous tasting drinks. However the complicated brew process means that cleaning and maintenance is more involved and your service engineer will need to call more often. Machine, drink and service costs are all higher for fresh brew machines, so this needs to be taken into account.

It is always best to discuss your requirements with a reputable supplier who will advise the best solution to your office drinks needs and suggest the most appropriate style of machine to suit your particular office layout, taste and budget.

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For more information about office coffee and drinks solutions visit http://www.cafebar.co.uk

Top Tips on How to Froth Milk on Your Espresso Machine

Top tips on how to froth milk on your espresso coffee machine.

How to turn cold milk into a delicious velvety milk foam, the perfect topping to your espresso based drinks.

Only use stainless steel jugs when attempting to foam milk. Never use plastic, glass or china jugs. Stainless steel offers good heat transfer which is an essential part of the process.

Always use chilled fresh milk - milk will take in air easier if it is cold. Full fat milk produces a denser, longer lasting foam than low fat milk, but this is personal preference.

Make sure the jug is half full or less, as the volume of milk will double during the frothing process.

The first thing to do is to purge the steam wand of any water residue, making sure that none of the steam jets are blocked and position the wand so that it will allow the jug to easily pass under the tip.

The tip of the steam wand should be placed about 1 cm below the surface of the milk and in the centre.

Turn the steam valve fully on.

Holding the jug in both hands, gently adjust the depth of the wand tip until you hear a distinct "tssss tssss" sound which indicates that air is being drawn into the milk. As the milk is 'stretched' or expanded the milk level in the jug will rise swiftly. As this happens, lower the jug slowly, keeping the tip just below the surface at all times.

If the milk bubbles too fiercely and spits then the tip is too high and you should raise the jug slightly, however if you hear a screech then there is insufficient volume of steam so you should lower the jug slightly.

During this process try to avoid breaking the surface of the milk with the tip as this can introduce large bubbles into the mixture and spoil its texture.

To complete the process, lower the tip of the steam wand (by raising the jug) towards the bottom of the jug and at the same time move the wand to one side of the jug. The milk should start to swirl and you should here a high pitched growl. This adds texture to the mixture as many tiny bubbles are formed.

Continue to swirl the milk in this way until the side of the jug is too hot to touch comfortably and the growl becomes a low purr. Turn off the steam quickly with the wand tip still submerged.

The wand should be removed from the mixture and cleaned.

Tap the jug on the counter and swirl the jug around gently. You should have a jug of firm, velvety foam over hot steamed milk.

Pour the mixture over an espresso by gently rocking the jug from side to side to ensure the right combination of hot milk and foam is delivered into the cup.

Enjoy.

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Visit our Coffee School section of our new web site for more information about coffee and operating espresso coffee machines.