Kratom Extract

Taken literally, making Kratom extract is like boiling a pot of coffee down into a single shot of espresso. You and I probably don’t have the same grinding tools the shops do, so in a way they have every right to charge us for that service. But just know that the “extract” you recieve for your precious dollar is being marked up by obscene amounts. 112 grams of extremely fine powdered leaf could be sold fairly for about 100-110 bucks. But the prices in most commercial ethno-venders are much, much higher. Probably about triple that. You could powder your own cheap leaf with a mortar and pestle, and I’m sure you would be quite content with its performance.

The other thing Kratom users need to know is that shops will tell you, “Active at just one gram!” This is also an inflation of the truth. Think of coffee, or caffeine. If you were tired and I give you a shot glass full of coffee you would probably say, “Jeez man! That’s not going to do anything! I need to wake up!” Well the fact is, that a shot glass full of coffee is active, isn’t it? That little bit of caffeine does something, right? But the fact that I can say regular coffee is active at a shot isn’t the point, is it? You wanted a full cup–maybe even two–to help you really wake up. That was your whole reason for drinking the somewhat vile bean water in the …

Capresso Coffee Machines

Capresso coffee machines are available in several different lines. They offer standard coffee brewing machines, espresso machines, and high-end automated versions of each. Capresso also offers a line of high quality coffee beans and bean grinders–basically they offer everything you need to make a great cup of coffee except water!

Varieties of Capresso Coffee Machines

Standard Capresso coffee machines are some of the best coffee brewers on the market. They feature charcoal filtering systems, removable water tanks, and high quality metal boiling elements. Since making good coffee is such a delicate process, choosing a machine with high-quality components truly results in better tasting coffee.

Several varieties of Capresso coffee machines are able to fully automate the process of making coffee. All you have to do is put beans into the machine, and it can take care of the roasting, grinding, and brewing. Some of these machines even have automated cleaning and decalcifying systems–all you have to do is buy the beans and enjoy the coffee!

Capresso also offers a line of espresso makers. These range from an affordable one-cup manual press machine to more complex (and expensive) automated espresso makers. If you can afford them, their top-of-the-line espresso makers not only simplify the espresso-making process, but they consistently produce a level of quality that's hard to find outside of a European cafe.…

Kosher Coffee

Kosher coffee can be enjoyed in Jewish household and can make a great gift for certain occasions. For coffee to be Kosher, it has to be prepared in a Kosher environment, inspected by a Rabbi or Kosher organization, and certified. You will be able to tell if coffee is certified Kosher if it has Kosher certification symbols on the label.

Purchasing Kosher Coffee

Kosher coffee can be purchased from a variety of locations. You can find it in Kosher markets, coffee shops, and in some grocery stores. You can also order coffee beans, grounds, or other coffee products online. Coffee can be purchased in individual packages, bulk packages, or compiled into gift baskets.

When creating a gift basket of Kosher coffee products, you have various choices of items that will compliment coffee. Some items that may be included in a coffee gift basket include coffee beans, a coffee tin, biscotti, pre-mixed coffee drinks, wafer rolls, stirring sticks, special flavorings, or chocolate bars. Coffee gift baskets are appropriate for most occasions. Make sure that all the products in the basket are labeled Kosher for Passover if you are giving the basket at the time of Passover.

Many people are uncertain of which items are considered Kosher in coffee shops. You can basically order any unflavored, roasted coffee, whether it is regular or decaf. You can add sugar or milk, but do not add creamer to your coffee. Creamers or additional flavorings should only be added to coffee if these products are …

South American Coffees

American coffees are grown in the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. To a large extent, the crops from this region share certain qualities. For one, they are without exception Arabica beans rather than Robusta. These two, Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora robusta, make up the vast majority of the coffees consumed today worldwide. On an annual basis, that amounts to about 400 cups. That’s a lot of coffee. Most of it is Arabica.

Comparing South American Coffees to their Nearby Cousins

While all the American coffees are characterized as well balanced, smooth, and medium to light weight in body, there are differences within the region. South America’s varietals tend to be somewhat milder than Central America’s. They are also sharper and softer.

Generally accepted flavor profiles, to put this into context, are broken into three categories–body, acidity, and balance characteristics. Each of these are scaled from one to five. This grading is not a matter of better or worse. It is instead descriptive. For body, to take one example, number one is light and number five heavy. For acidity, number one is soft and number five is assertive or sharp. For balance (which you can also think of as flavor harmony), number one is delicate or lean and number five is complete.

Central American coffees as a group are rated four-three-four. Caribbean coffees are rated four-four-five. South American coffees are rated three-four-four. That is, their body (or mouthfeel, as it’s called in wine tasting) is average rather …

Specialty Coffees

What is meant by specialty coffees? Generally speaking, let's work with the term meaning any coffee that isn't mass manufactured by a retail conglomerate offering more than one product line. In other words, the coffee you find in cans in the grocery store aisle isn't specialty coffee. Nor is 99.9 percent of the instant coffee usually found on the other side of the same aisle, sometimes the same side.

What Defines Specialty Coffees?

There is one exception to this generalization (rules being made to be broken, after all). The chicory and coffee blend that New Orleans, Louisiana is renowned for qualifies as a specialty coffee. Anyone who has ever visited New Orleans, and sat outside in the sun–whether near Mardi Grass time or otherwise–with a cafe au lait and a beignet at the old French Market, knows exactly what I mean here. But Cafe du Monde is the exception.

Specialty coffee for the connoisseur is generally pure coffee, whether whole bean or blend. It is not adulterated during the roasting process with any flavoring. Flavoring, if you insist, can be added after brewing, to your cup and only your cup. This is the purist speaking.

A broader interpretation embraces both flavored and unflavored beans. The distinguishing qualification is the individual approach–the single varietal crop, the careful attention paid it, the roasting process, the grinding, the nuanced approach to blending coffees. The art of specialty coffees–that is, the growing and tasting and enjoying–is remarkably similar to that of wine. Even the …