There is a news story which has been reported a lot recently and it will put a smile on the face of coffee lovers.
After all, it feels good to know that something that we are eating or drinking and that we actually enjoy is doing us good, right?
According to research from the US, if you sup four European cups of joe every day, then you could be helping your heart a little.
Did you celebrate St Patrick’s day?
The world over, the Irish donned their green attire and made merry to commemorate their special day. In Chicago, which has a healthy and vibrant Irish community, they are committed to the St Patrick’s Day cause.
What do they do?
In brief, many things: There is a parade through the city of Chicago and, according to local reports, the crowds who came out to watch the performers and dancers in the parade amounted to some 350,000.
Temperatures in the city helped the ambiance too – amazingly for March, they reached some 80 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas. The parks were filled with participants in their traditional, green t-shirts, beads and hats. Even the Chicago River was dyed a lively green colour to punctuate the celebrations. Green beer can be bought and there were parties aplenty all across the city.
No matter if you didn’t join in the celebrations – you could still catch up with another celebrated Irish tradition – the Irish coffee, which can be drunk and enjoyed all year round. How do you make the drink? There are several variations but it is still a relatively easy drink to make and is always a pleasure to enjoy. Here is a classic recipe.
Combine 6 ounces of hot coffee with 1.5 ounces of Irish whiskey and also a couple of teaspoons of sugar. Whisk up some cream and add it to the top of the drink.
Sip and enjoy!
As reported online recently, there have been some findings about the effects of caffeine on our memories. Although many of us will be familiar with the way that our morning cup of coffee can kick start the day, we were perhaps not aware that it may also have a positive effect our memories.
A study by Nature Neuroscience has suggested that caffeine may affect the hippocampus. What is this? It is part of our brain and it has been said that, at present, humans are not using this element as efficiently as they could. What does it do? It is the part of our brain which deals with special memory and also the conversion of short term recollections into long term memories.
Scientists have experimented on rodents (not humans, yet) and it was noticed that the electrical currents to the hippocampus were boosted after caffeine consumption by the animals.
What does this mean? Some have reported that there may be the potential for this observation to help treatment of certain brain disorders. At a less optimistic level, perhaps it could also give an appropriate kick to our hippocampus to help improve memories too.
Of course, further research needs to be done, but it is always encouraging, isn’t it, when something that is delicious to eat and which gives pleasure to the senses, may actually be doing us some good? If caffeine is a memory boosting substance then our daily fix and trip to the local coffee house can be more and more justified.
Photo: Dixons Electrical
The declassification of certain documents has revealed some unexpected information about Hitler. What diabolical plans did the Nazis think up? It transpires that as the Second World War drew to its close, the dictator hatched up ever-frantic strategies to overcome the Allied forces. Adolf Hitler and his henchmen considered several plans including poisoning the leaders of their enemies. The intention was to put this poison into favourite edible treats and drinks of the Nazi enemy, such as chocolate, coffee and whisky.
Why has this information suddenly come to light? A national newspaper has revealed that the MI5 files have been published at the National Archives. The MI5 is the UK defensive security intelligence agency. The documents were originally created to record information which was disclosed by Nazi agents after they had been caught by the Brits.
The newly released papers also tell us how the Nazis planned to poison the food and drink product. It seems that at the 1944 Berlin conference, those carrying out Nazi orders were told they were allowed to contaminate alcoholic drinks whisky, schnapps and wine with a poison. Foodstuffs could be injected to give a similar effect, such as sausages.
It seems that the Allied leaders were suspicious and as a precaution, did not ingest any of the German offerings. Instead, samples were returned to London for testing.
Of course, as all history students know, these plans were not successful, but were rather the desperate attempts of the Nazis towards the end of the war.
How often are we in the happy position of knowing that something we enjoy eating or drinking is actually good for us? We are usually told by nutritionists and the medical profession to cut down on our favourite tipple or the foods we find delicious, but which are high in fat or sugar, such as cakes, sweets and fried goods.
However, coffee drinkers will be delighted to hear that in a recent article in the journal ‘Stroke,’ the results of case studies show that if women consume more than one cup of coffee every day, they are less likely to have a stroke. The results of the search indicate that drinking larger quantities of coffee was not proportionate in lowering the risk further, however.
How much does drinking these moderate amounts of coffee affect the likelihood of having a stroke? The study monitored a sample of 34,670 women within an age range from 49-83 and the results showed that the moderate coffee-drinkers were 23-25 per cent less likely to have a stroke, when compared to non-coffee (or low coffee) drinkers.
The leader of the study, Dr Susanna Larsson, commented that it is worth looking into the effects of coffee consumption on cardiovascular risk factors too. Other experts are still deliberating on the impact of the results of the findings and have stressed that one of the main factors influencing the likelihood of a stroke is high blood pressure.
However, it is rather good to think that your morning brew of roasted coffee may also, inadvertently, be giving you a helping hand, isn’t it?
After a heavy, alcohol-fuelled night out, people often turn to common treatments such as caffeine and over-the-counter medication, in the hope of easing their headache. And now, according to a study published at the end of 2010 in the online, peer-reviewed PLoS One, a science journal, there is proof that such remedies may have a genuine effect.
This is, according to researchers, due to caffeine and regular anti-inflammatory drugs’ ability to block the impact of acetate, the chemical blamed for triggering headaches following alcohol consumption. The same study pointed out that acetate levels are at their highest around four hours following drinking, so turning to coffee and other such remedies at this point, is the ideal time to nip any potential hangover in the bud.
Unfortunately, hangovers can bring additional symptoms over and above the usual headache, such as nausea, dehydration and low sugar levels. Coffee and caffeine are also touted for their ability to curb nausea in such situations, with chocolate milk, bananas, honey, peanut butter and Vegemite also joining the list.
Alongside the growing wave of energy drinks and energy shots in the ready-to-drink beverage world, hangover solutions such as Gtox, Resurrection and Hangover Gone in the US, Outox from the Netherlands and Revamp for the Irish market, are gaining popularity. Incorporating coffee caffeine, such drinks also contain ingredients such as glucose, inositol, L-carnitine, B vitamins, Echinacea, zinc, milk thistle, ginger root and dandelion, to help combat the effects of the alcohol over-indulgence.
Filter coffee is arguably the purest form of this internationally popular hot beverage, with water being allowed to work its way through freshly ground coffee beans and draw out all of the excellent flavour before falling into a receptacle below ready for serving. Some people choose to take the resultant coffee black, while others like to add milk, cream, sugar or a combination of the three to enjoy morning, noon or night.
Filter coffee is typically prepared using one of three main technologies. Paper filters have been around since the early 20th century when they were invented by a German and machines which use paper filters are arguably the easiest to maintain as you can put both the filter and its exhausted contents into the bin in one fell swoop. This does result in a slightly increased impact on the environment and paper filters are not universally available, so in some countries metallic perforated filters are used. Modern coffee machines intended to produce filter coffee will use plastic meshes as permanent filters. Like the metal filters these require more maintenance than those which have disposable paper inserts, but they are greener on the whole because nothing is being consumed other than the beans with each brew.
The paper filter method has one other slight problem in that purists believe that it traps a little too much of the flavour and essence of the bean. On the positive side you will find that your coffee is free from sedimentary deposits which might otherwise be allowed through by the more porous permanent filters.
For those hot beverage outlets looking to cater beyond the tea and coffee requirements of their frequenters, hot chocolate beverage machines offer a great way of achieving a consistent standard of hot drink cup after cup, something that can often be tricky to achieve, especially in venues of particularly high throughput where time is of the essence.
In line with the growing ‘trend to vend’, especially in the UK where we have been relatively slow off the mark when compared to say the Japanese, hot chocolate machines are increasingly sought after and indeed with more of a premium appeal than might have previously been the case.
In the UK’s trendy capital, London, even designers and fashionistas are looking towards vending machines – albeit perhaps as one-off placements – to supply anything from candles, fragrances and cosmetics, to clothing and even vases.
Yet in the hot beverage world, the rapidly growing café culture makes it tricky for coffee shop patrons to keep up, with automated models to perform at least one or two tasks a great asset.
With regards to the models we supply, the low maintenance, user-friendly Bravilor Bonomat Bolero claims to perfect crème layer to your beverage and has the ability to produce up to 240 cups per hour. Meanwhile the Bonamat Solo Chocolate Machine is the perfect solution to complete any outlet’s serving area. Producing an equally impressive 220 cups per hour, this unit is a fast, simple and hygienic proposition for any environment with self-service hot chocolate requirements.
An Australian online news provider has talked of the Cup of Excellence as being the best way of ensuring award-winning coffee.
Known as the ‘Oscars’ of the coffee world, Cup of Excellence has been making headway in Sydney as a means of guaranteeing both the taste of coffee and high prices for coffee growers.
Ten years old, the programme hails from the US and is an international method of ranking and selling the most superior beans from contributing or participating coffee-producing countries.
Drawing reference to Paul Geshos, one of the two Australian judges on a 26-strong member panel who has not long returned from his recent trip to Colombia to grade coffee beans, the judge is also lauded for the Cup of Excellence coffee available through his Mecca Espresso outlet in King Street, City.
During the recent Colombian-hosted event, over 50 types of quality coffees made it to the table, selected by a panel of judges choosing from between 875 lots entered by coffee growers from across the country.
There is clearly strong competition among these producers to have their beans score highest, with bids being taken from all corners of the world, including Japan and Australia. At last week’s event, 21 top Colombian coffees fetched record prices at auction, average at US$12 per pound in weight of the commodity. Farmers received 80 per cent of this figure, therefore doubling their earnings on last year, according to Geshos, who feels he is “getting a quality coffee and paying a fair price.”
Hot Chocolate is a treat to be enjoyed by people of all ages and is also a great option for kids who are not enamoured with the bitter bite of coffee. It also possesses origins that stretch back over two millennia to the ancient Mayan civilisation of South America, which should elevate its status.
Hot Chocolate is sold in a number of different forms and intensities. There are many Fair Trade varieties available from firms such as Zuma. It is also worth looking out for the Rainforest Alliance certification if you want to make sure that the product has been ethically sourced.
You can buy hot chocolate powder in bulk tins or containers which can then be prepared on a large scale. You can also pick up sachets from firms like Suchard which will make sure that you are always using precisely the right amount. Kenco has its own range of In Cup hot chocolate products which contain the powder within the cup itself. Requiring that for preparation you just add water, which will cut down on the time it takes to create great cups of hot chocolate.
If you want hot chocolate with a kick then opting for the darker varieties is a good idea. There are even specific hot chocolate making machines which use sachets or liquid mixes to produce a variety of different forms and flavours. Adding whipped cream and marshmallows to hot chocolate will allow you to create an indulgent beverage that mixes sweet and sumptuous bitterness.
