Great Ways To Use Coffee Grounds
You know that you love to drink coffee every day. You’ve probably also realized that nothing wakes you up like the fresh brewed aroma of coffee as it percolates first thing in the morning. However, did you realize that in addition to being your favorite drink, and start to your morning routine, that there are a number of household uses that you can use coffee for? Well, not exactly your fresh brewed pot, but the coffee grounds.
Many people simply discard grounds after they are through brewing and drinking a fresh pot, however there are a number of different uses that you can find for coffee grounds.
First, coffee grounds make great mulch and are a wonderful addition to the garden. You can simply sprinkle used grounds around your favorite plants and shrubs. They are especially excellent for use on rose bushes and azaleas. Also, if you have a compost pile, you should make an effort to add your coffee grounds to the pile. Coffee grounds are rich in nutrients and will help add value to your compost pile.
Next, you’ll find that grounds are a natural insect repellent. They are very effective on reducing the amount of ants in a location, and if you have ant mounds or hills, you can simply sprinkle coffee grounds on the anthill to deter them.
You can re steep coffee grounds by adding boiling water to them and straining them. With the liquid, you can dye things as well as use the liquid for furniture scratches. Simply brush or apply the coffee liquid to the scratched surface area. Once you have created a coffee dye, there are many things that you can use the dye for. If you like you can create parchment paper by dipping paper in they dye, you can dye Easter eggs, or even clothing.
Finally, you may find it hard to believe but the most effective use for grounds, may be the least well known. Coffee grounds remove cellulite! It’s true! If you look at expensive cellulite remover creams for women, you’ll find that coffee is an ingredient. Celebrities have known this secret for many years. Just mix some used warm coffee grounds with olive oil or your favorite lotion and apply it to problem areas. The coffee actually penetrates the skin and causes cellulite to break up. Rinse off, and your skin will be smooth, soft, and cellulite free.
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The Coffee Grinder: An Investment For Your Morning Ritual
Coffee lovers will tell you that the best coffee comes from beans grounded immediately before the coffee is brewed. Old Time coffee drinkers know this by heart. That’s why No kitchen is complete without a coffee grinder. Waking up in the morning and grinding up a fresh batch of coffee beans and throwing it into the coffee maker and then anticipating that first sip of fresh hot coffee! Now that is the good life!
What Makes a Great Coffee Grinder?
When it comes to coffee grinders, there to basic types. One is called burr grinders and the other is called blade grinders. The difference between these two is basically how the beans are processed. Blade coffee grinders use a spinning blade to grind up the coffee beans. Burr grinders use burrs to grind up coffee beans. Burrs resemble plates with gears on them. One of the burrs is stationary, while the other one spins and grinds up the coffee beans.
When trying to make a great cup of coffee, one has to keep a couple things in mind. The taste of coffee will be affected by heat and uniformity. What this means is, heat is undesirable in a coffee grinder because it damages the coffee beans. The process of grinding coffee is relatively violent, because both blade and burr grinders in produce some heat. And of course, the faster the grinding mechanism runs; the more heat is being generated. Even finer grinds generate heat because of the extra time it takes to grind the coffee beans.
For those who are concerned about the quality of their coffee, one can purchase a low- speed burr grinder. A low speed burr will be more expensive. As well it will take longer to grind the coffee beans. But coffee purists will swear by these coffee grinders as the only way to go for a perfect cup of coffee.
Another very important factor is the uniformity of the grind. With the brewing process, the water spends a certain amount of time passing over the grinds. The uniform grinds are much more efficient at imparting flavor to the water. At first glance, the average coffee drinker may not be able to distinguish coffee that was grinded from a blade grinder vs. a burr grinder. But, to a coffee purist, they will notice the difference. The blade grinder is not very good at creating a uniform grind. However, with burr grinders, they produce an exceptional uniform grind resulting in a much tastier cup of coffee.
Quite frankly, it’s a no brainer when it comes to selecting a coffee grinder. The burr grinder s really the only way to go. However, some of the higher end models can cost several hundred dollars, thus putting them out of reach for some of the coffee lovers. However, this doesn’t mean that a small budget will always get a poor coffee grinder. Best to do a search online for burr coffee grinders. One can pick up a very nice coffee grinder for under hundred dollars. The selection is almost endless. Most coffee lovers consider a coffee grinder to be an investment and not an expense. After all, who can put the dollar value on a fantastic cup of coffee each and every morning? Yes, it is the good life!
Kerry Ng is a successful Webmaster and publisher of The Coffee Blog. For more great helpful information about coffee visit:
http://www.coffeeinfoblog.com/coffee-or-tea-time-is-all-about-me-time
Are Coffee Filters Important In The Overall Taste Test?
Remember those sharp bursts of music so familiar in horror flicks. Short, sharp piercing sounds enough to scare the living daylights out of you. I recently experienced those unwelcome sounds when I went to my cupboard to grab a coffee filter and to my horror, there were none there! My life flashed before my eyes and I started having all sorts of horrible thoughts…like having an instant coffee or trying some of my wife’s decaffeinated!
So, this article is dedicated to that wonderful piece of technology… the coffee filter and I guarantee you will not give it a passing glance ever again!
The History Of The Coffee Filter
It must have been a “Newton” moment for filters back in the 1700’s when a sock was used to make the first cup of filtered coffee. The story goes something like this… a person couldn’t stand the sight of grounds in his cup so used a smelly sock to filter it out. The idea must have had some merit because it caught on and the coffee filter was born. Metal filters followed and of course, present day, it’s the paper filters which adourn the cupboards of most households who indulge in the little “black stuff.”
Which Type Of Coffee Filter Do You Prefer?
Paper, gold or cloth filters? It’s your choice. Paper filters are obviously the most popular and most widely used and given their cheaper nature, the most affordable. Melitta coffee filters are just about the most recognized brand and are adaptable to either automatic or manual coffee makers. Do paper filters give off a paper taste? You know, I haven’t really recognized it but then again, I’m not looking for it. More discerning tastes would probably pick it up.
Apart from Melitta, there are a variety of other coffee filters on the market including Bunn, Krupps and the more specialist versions from Chemex and Cuisanart. Believe it or not, filters really are an important part of the brewing process because without them, you’d end up with a horrible mess of grounds at the bottom of your cup and would be better off drinking instant… perish the thought!
It depends how technical you want to get when selecting a coffee filter. Do you have issues of whether there may be chemical contamination within the paper, whether it’s high quality, whether the filter is lightweight or heavyweight or how evenly the water will flow through the coffee. I don’t know about you but I tend to forget all those issues when the aroma starts to filter up my nostrils!
How about a gold filter? Yes, they will be a lot more expensive and the question of practicality will be raised. But they do last a long time and those devoted users of the gold filter will swear by them.
Cloth Coffee Filters
The environmentalists choice no doubt but they are an excellent alternative to paper and of course, they last a lot longer. In fact, with proper care, a cloth filter can service your needs for several months. Cloth devotees will tell you there is extra flavor through a cloth filter and they are probably right.
Whatever method you choose to filter coffee, you need to remember one thing, make sure your filter is suitable for whatever type of machine you are using.
Dean Caporella is a professional broadcaster who has a passion for all things coffee. Find out why coffee filters play such an important part in producing great coffee. Plus, get all the latest coffee related news and information at:http://www.coffeemakerheaven.com
Enjoy Your Cup Of Coffee With Essential Coffee Accessories
Many people love a good cup of coffee first thing in the morning. There is a real sense of satisfaction when you can start your day off with a great cup of coffee or espresso. There is more to the coffee experience than just drinking the beverage. You need some well thought out accessories to complete the experience.
With the proper accessories you can make coffee at home that you may enjoy as much as the coffee shop brands. You will need a coffee pot that will do what you want it to do for starters. Add a really nice scoop so you can measure with accuracy the amount of coffee you need each and every time. Once you find the perfect coffee cup you will know it and getting a good travel mug to take your home brew with you on the road is a nice touch. This article will look at a few things to make your coffee drinking more enjoyable.
One of the first things you need to decide on is a coffee pot. There are so many varieties of coffee pots it can be hard to choose which one is right for you. The price range goes from a few bucks to several hundred dollars. You will need to do your research carefully and decide what options you need before you start shopping. The coffee pot you choose does not have to be the most expensive or have the most features. It only needs the features you desire.
A good coffee scoop is an essential item in my thinking. Coffee making is a very personal thing. Some folks like to drink strong coffee and others prefer a different strength drink. Get a good quality scoop and learn to use it so your coffee making will come out the same way every single time.
Most coffee lovers have a favorite coffee cup they prefer over all other cups. There is something about drinking coffee out of the same cup all the time. With all of the new Internet web sites it is now possible to buy a cup from across the world without a lot of trouble. Once you have that perfect coffee mug picked out you need to think about one more item.
A coffee travel mug is a must have for the coffee lover. Most people like to take a drink with them wherever they go. Picking out a quality travel mug is time well spent. Like your favorite coffee cup there is a certain amount of comfort in drinking coffee out of your very own travel mug.
Accessories make the coffee experience a little easier. Take your time and pick out the perfect coffee accessories for you.
For more information on learning how to make a good coffee at home try visiting http://www.coffeebean101.com, a website that specializes in providing espresso and coffee tips, advice and resources.