Never Underestimate Radical Vision

Being motivated by one of David’s lastest posts. I commented on how to make a good cup of coffee. Here is the comment that I posted for those who do not read David’s blog.

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Coffee is the nectar of the gods! I drink coffee because it is a very pleasant beverage. I am not affected by caffeine like most people. I can have a cup of coffee in the morning as a boost and drink a nice espresso at night for relaxation. I love coffee!

You definitely need to brew coffee yourself. Buy a bean grinder (or for the adventurous, buy a bur grinder to get even sized pieces). If you use a normal grinder make sure you shake it like a martini when grinding to get as even pieces as possible.

Here are some simple steps to follow to make your own coffee taste better than anything that Dunkin Donuts, etc. can put together:

1. Buy good beans from a reliable roaster. You can find many online like http://www.greatcoffee.com, http://www.gmcr.com, http://www.hawthornecoffee.com, etc. Most of these places use a medium to light roast. If you like it darker make sure you request it. I would recommend buying an East African coffee. These are very easy on the palette.
2. Use clean water. DO NOT USE TAP WATER. Get some good reversed osmosis produced water.
3. Grind the beans right before you brew them. Make sure to try to make them as evenly sliced as possible. The finer the grind, the stronger the coffee. To start you off use about 1 scoop of beans (2 tablespoons) per 12 ounces of water.
4. After the coffee is done brewing take it off the burner. This most critical! Leaving it on the burner will leave a terrible taste to the coffee. Use a nice thermal carafe to hold your freshly brewed coffee.
5. Finally, let is cool a bit. How can you taste anything if you scorch your taste buds? The coffee will not lose flavor if let set a little bit to cool.

These are a few simple steps to making a great cup of coffee at home and truly enjoying one of God’s little pleasures. For reviews of certain coffees by roasters go to http://www.coffeereview.com. That is all for now. Some day I will blog my entire coffee theory of a great cup.

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Today’s coffee is a fine Kenyan from IntelligentsiA coffee roaster
out of Chicago, IL. This coffee is rated a 94 buy http://www.coffeereview.com.

Here is what they had to say about the coffee:

Overall Rating: 94 points

Aroma: 9
Acidity: 8
Body: 8
Flavor: 8
Aftertaste: 7
Roast (Agtron): Dark/Medium-Dark (42/47)

Blind Assessment: High-toned, complex aroma: sweet citrus, cherry, apple.
In the cup gently acidy, while the fruit maintains its complex, elegant trajectory:
Meyer lemon, grapefruit, tart berry. The initial, almost shocking rush of
sweetness is balanced by a crisply bitter finish.

I like this coffee very much. The African coffees are always of high quality.
If you are coffee drinker put down the swill known as Folgers, Cains, etc. and do
yourself a favor and order some arabica coffee from a good roster. If you are not
sure where to start go to coffeeroasters.com and click on Highest Rated. Pick
anything from there to get you started. Fine coffee is very much like fine wine
and takes practice to develop a love for it.

I need to give a shoutout to Pele Plantations in Hawaii for sending me a free pound
of the Wood Captain Cook Estate Kona coffee. That was very cool. I ordered one pound
and got the free pound a day later. Good customer service! Look for a review of the
Kona coffee soon.

later

as you may know, i have strange (or rather, more developed) tastes than most people in southwest missouri. i like my coffees from africa or central america, not good ole’ folders, and i like my tea from africa, china or japan, not lipton. i like my beer imported, etc. call me strange but i just don’t believe in drinking crap. anyway, i am very tempted to try japanese matcha. it is the green tea that is the ceremonial tea that you see used in movies (insert Karate Kid II flashback here). it looks very inviting and extremely GREEN (which is my favorite color). I would recommend anyone to drink green tea for the health benefits alone. if you drink green tea, you might start with chinese green tea as it is prepared a little different and might be easier on the palette on first try, yet japanese green tea is prepared in such a way to preserve most of the health benefits of the tea. these benefits include:

The health benefits of green tea have been confirmed in numerous scientific studies.

There are four primary polyphenols in green tea and they are often collectively referred to as catechins.

Powerful antioxidants, catechins have been shown in numerous studies to fight viruses, slow aging, and have a beneficial effect on health. Clinical tests have shown that catechins destroy free radicals and have far-reaching positive effects on the entire body.

Free radicals are highly reactive molecules and fragments of molecules that can damage the body at the cellular level leaving the body susceptible to cancer, heart disease, and many other degenerative diseases.

EGCG, potent antioxidant.

Recent studies have shown that epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) an antioxidant found in green tea, is at least 100 more times more effective than vitamin C and 25 times more effective than vitamin E at protecting cells and DNA from damage believed to be linked to cancer, heart disease and other serious illnesses. The antioxidant has twice the antioxidant benefit of resveratrol, found in red wine.

green tea can even help you lose weight:

Numerous scientific tests have shown that green tea catechins can lower cholesterol and increase energy expenditure.

Green Tea, Weight Loss, and Cholesterol Levels

One recent double-blind study analyzed 3 groups- one with green tea, one with a placebo, and one with just caffeine. The green tea group showed a small but statistically significant 4 percent increase in energy expenditure, compared with no change for those taking either a placebo or caffeine alone.

The scientists surmised that green tea catechins may alter the body’s use of norepinephrine, a chemical transmitter in the nervous system, to increase the rate of calorie burning.

Green tea also causes carbohydrates to be released slowly, preventing sharp increases in blood-insulin levels. This promotes the burning of fat.

In a study of more than 2000 Japanese men aged 49 to 55, green tea consumption was found to significantly lower serum levels of total cholesterol.

The men in the study group drank 10 Japanese-size green tea cups a day (about 4 to 5 western-sized cups).

Scientists monitoring this group found that drinking green tea improves the ratio of LDL (’bad”) cholesterol to HDL (”good”) cholesterol. LDL cholesterol was reduced and HDL cholesterol was increased slightly in the Japanese study.

so drink up, you know I will. to purchase fine quality green tea go to http://www.japanesegreenteaonline.com. i am tempted to even buy the traditional chasen and matcha-chawan for my matcha experience.

anyways, later