Froth Coffee Bar is a craft coffee bar featuring espresso drinks such as lattes, cappuccinos, and specialty drinks. We have a huge selection of desserts and bakery items made fresh just for Froth daily.

Below are the top three things I think create a coffee shop's character and make it what it is.

Music

To me, music can impact anything. Your mood, your energy, and well, your coffee shop. Music can greatly enhance or totally destroy the vibe of a cafe. I feel like a coffee shop should be consistent in the type of music it plays to its customers. If it plays calming acoustic music one day, but dance music the next, customers may not know what to expect. While variety can be a great thing, attracting a consistent type of customer base might not work out so well if a shop's music is too diverse. A perfect example of not being consistent is when one of my favorite coffee shops played electronic music consistently and then one day blared vulgar rap music. I had to leave so I could get my work done.

Staff

A friendly staff is super important. My everyday shop is about 50% related to the fact that I know the staff and feel comfortable at the shop. They know my name, what I drink and all about me.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere of a shop is everything. It's created by the people in it, the music, the shop's design and the art on the wall. All of these things work together create an energy and a vibe. Personally, I like consistency. Also, I like a combination of coziness with an eclectic feel. Pictures, paintings, and displays of collectibles are some of my favorites. Also, here's one that's important, temperature. One of the most popular coffee chains I can think of seems to want to freeze their customers out by jacking up the air conditioner. That's a great way to ruin everything.

The study didn't mention any statistics for men though!

2. Consumption of Coffee May Lower Suicide Levels

A study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health discovered that drinking between two and four cups of coffee each day reduces the incidents of suicide among both men and women by nearly 50 percent. One of the reasons put forward to explain this is that coffee has been shown to act as an antidepressant by aiding in the production of the body's neurotransmitters such as noradrenaline and serotonin. A number of other studies appear to concur with these findings.

5. Coffee Makes People Happy

Another study, this time carried out by the National Institute of Health concluded that people drinking a minimum of four cups of coffee each day were 10 percent less likely to show signs of depression than those who drink no coffee at all. This has been put down to the levels of antioxidants present in coffee rather than a caffeine high (cocaine consumption can also give a caffeine high but actually increases the chances of depression).

6. Coffee Can Increase Your Brainpower

Really? Well think about it, you normally go for a cup of coffee when you're short of sleep or need to stay alert. That jolt not only helps to keep you from falling asleep, it really does mentally sharpen you up and improve your reactions. CNN reported that drinking coffee can allow the brain to function more efficiently. No matter what measure is used - reaction times, observation, attention span, logic, reasoning skills - all show an improvement after consuming coffee. So if you're in need of something to keep you alert on a long journey, it really is true that there's little that can beat a good cup of coffee.

7. Coffee Keeps Your Liver Healthy (Especially If You Drink Alcohol)

A huge study involving over 120,000 people published in 2006 concluded that people drinking at least one cup of coffee daily were up to 20 percent less likely to develop cirrhosis of the liver - a serious disease caused by the excessive drinking of alcohol that can result in liver failure or the development of cancer. The head author of the study, Arthur Klatsky, reported that the consumption of coffee has a protective effect on the liver, particularly against alcoholic cirrhosis, and the higher the daily coffee consumption, the lower the risk appears to be of developing fatal cirrhosis of the liver.

Further studies carried out elsewhere have concluded that drinking coffee can assist in preventing people from developing NAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease). An international team of scientists discovered that drinking at least four cups of coffee a day can be beneficial in preventing the development of NAFLD.

8. Coffee Can Improve Your Sporting Performance.

An article in New York Times reported that "Scientists and athletes alike have known for years that a cup of coffee prior to a workout jolts athletic performance, especially in endurance sports like distance running and cycling." The caffeine present in coffee can increase the levels of fatty acids in the bloodstream, which in turn allows athletes' muscles to absorb and burn fats for fuel, and therefore saving small reserves of carbohydrates for later on in the exercise. This is particularly useful for endurance athletes such as marathon runners and long distance cyclists.

9. Coffee Can Lower The Risk of Type 2 Diabetes.

As we mentioned in one of our coffee articles a few weeks ago, coffee reduces the risk of Type 2 diabetes. A study carried out by researchers at the American Chemical Society concluded that cases of type 2 diabetes are around 50 percent lower among people drinking a minimum of four cups of coffee a day. Subsequently, the risk drops by a further 7 percent for every additional daily cup of coffee consumed, though of course there are other health implications in doing this.

10. Coffee Can Keep Your Brain Healthy.

Studies carried out by the University of South Florida concluded that both men and women over 65 years of age with higher blood levels of caffeine developed Alzheimer's disease between two and four years later than those with lower levels of caffeine in their blood. They pointed out that coffee consumption cannot be shown to completely protect people from Alzheimer's, but that moderate coffee consumption can appreciably reduce the risk of Alzheimer's or at least delay its onset.

Starting the day with a cup of coffee is an American tradition. Few can deny the power and appeal of a delicious coffee drink, regardless of whether it came from the kitchen or the cafe. Follow the tips provided in this article, and learn now to make the best-tasting coffee.

When you are ready to purchase a new coffee machine, choose wisely in order to get the perfect cup of coffee. Consider that glass carafes may not keep brewed coffee fresh for that long, and French presses produce strong brews. If you constitute the entire coffee drinking portion of your household, think about getting a single-cup machine.

Make sure you try out your coffee maker after buying it to make sure it performs right. Simply run water through the machine just like when you actually make coffee. This will also remove any dust or lint that may have accumulated inside the machine while it was in the box.

Buy a good coffee grinder. When you grind your coffee beans right before you brew, it will help retain the flavorful oils that result in a fresher tasting cup. The majority of machines permit adjustments to the grind. If you would rather not have yet another appliance, try to find a coffee maker that has a grinder included.

Do you want your coffee to taste sweet but you are not able to use sugar? Consider adding warm milk to your coffee. Warm milk has natural sweetness, and it takes the place of the cream as well. You can entirely replace cream and sugar with milk and have a healthier cup of coffee.

Don't pour extra coffee down the drain; freeze it into cubes instead. Drop a few of these cubes in your next iced coffee to keep the drink both cold and flavorful. You can also use them to flavor cocktails, or in hot coffee so you can drink it sooner.

Stir the coffee in the pot after brewing if you make your own. Stirring helps you maximize the aroma and flavor of your coffee. You'll notice how much better the coffee tastes when it's time to drink.

You don't have to stop consuming caffeine in one day. Try combining equal parts caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee. If you prefer ground coffee, just mix equal parts regular and decaf for use in the coffee maker.

Cold water should always be utilized when making coffee in a drip brewer. Hot water should never go into these kinds of brewers. As the coffee brews, the water is heated. Hot water for your coffee will likely scald coffee grounds. Your coffee simply won't taste good.

To get the purest brew from your preferred beans, use the purest water. The coffee that you brew has so many different factors. Therefore, bottled, distilled, or filtered water that comes from the tap can give you incredible cups of coffee.

If you want to make a good cup of coffee, you have to use good quality water. Bottled water is one option, and though you might balk at the expense of the water, your coffee will taste much better. If you don't want to go the bottled route, think about buying a purifier for your faucet. It's not going to be exactly the same as using bottled water, but it will be much better than tap water.

By using the tips found here, you should be equipped to make a quality cup of coffee yourself without resorting to expensive shops. These tips will prevent you from wasting money on pricey ones at cafes, and will help you achieve a sense of satisfaction that only home brewers know.

If you are like most coffee drinkers, you probably think you are already getting an awesome cup of coffee. However odds are that you can probably still improve the quality by following these eleven steps:

1. Use Quality Coffee Beans

Stay out of the grocery stores! OK that is a serious statement, but seriously do not buy coffee beans at the grocery store. No one knows when it was roasted and that is a critical, key point in coffee freshness. These beans are known for being stale, whether they are in the gravity bins (especially stale!) or bagged (usually stale!). No one really knows how long the beans have been in the bins or bags. Buy your coffee from an area independent coffee shop or artisan coffee roaster that can verify the roasting date. This is the only way to know you are buying freshly roasted coffee beans of gourmet quality. Their reputation is on the line so they strive for the best quality coffee freshly roasted.

2. Store Properly Remove your beans from the original bag and put in an airtight container like Tupperware or Glad Ware. The more opaque the container, the better to keep harmful light out. Extreme light like keeping coffee in a glass jar on the sink can cause deterioration of your beans, allowing your final cup of coffee to taste flat or stale.

Do not store in the freezer or refrigerator. Keep them in an airtight container in a cool, dry and dark place like a cupboard or pantry. Refrigerators harbor many odors and coffee is very porous. It will act like a sponge to odors whether it's ground or whole bean. Freezers can cause freezer burn, and the flavor oils to crack and lose flavor. These oils are where the flavor is. Storing in the freezer freezes the surface condensation each time the coffee is taken out of the freezer.

Excess moisture will cause your beans to stale faster and shorten the life span of your coffee so a cool, dry and dark place it recommended for storage.

3. Proper Grind and Grind Just Before Using

The grind of the coffee matters. Your coffee should be ground for the type of brewing method you are using. Coarse for French press and single serve, fine for espresso. The in between matter but for most auto-drip makers your grind should be just finer than coarse meaning that when you rub it between your fingers the grinds should feel similar to typical bread crumbs. Espresso grinds should feel like somewhere between sugar and powdered sugar. Also, by using a burr grinder your coffee will receive less friction than a typical blade grinder giving your grinds less chance to get scorched during grinding.

Coffee is very porous and will absorb odors and air (oxygen) very fast. Oxygen will make your coffee taste really bad! So, the longer your coffee is ground and not used the longer it has to stale and make a bad cup.

4. Measure Properly

Weigh your coffee before you grind it. To make a good, well-rounded cup of coffee you should use approximately.75oz (22g) of coffee beans to every 8oz of cold water. You can +/- to taste but this is a good starting point.

5. Purified Water at Precise Temperature

Fresh, clean tap water (purified is best) or quality spring water is recommended. Do not use mineral water, distilled water or tap water with any type of odor. It will make your coffee taste bad. The water should be between 195-205 degrees when ready to brew. At this temperature, the coffee will get proper extraction to optimize the flavor oils and caramelized sugars inside the coffee bean. This is hard to accomplish with most home brewers as the heating elements are not heat adjustable nor are they reliable to heat to the proper temperature at all. Good home coffee brewers will cost about $200 but are well worth it and last a lot longer. If you can, try the single cup pour over methods available or other brewing methods such as French press or siphon. The taste difference is remarkable. Google search each method for more information.

6. Brew Just Enough to Drink

Letting your brewed coffee sit waiting is not a good idea. And more so please do not let it sit on the hot plate! This is a good way to cook your coffee. Constant 'keep warm' mode like this will make it taste bitter. If you have to brew more than one cup and are not going to finish is right away, get an airpot of air tight hot container to keep it in. Still drink it within an hour or so but it will buy your more time.

7. Let it Cool

By letting your coffee cool to about 170 degrees (for black coffee) you will not only avoid burning your mouth, you will also get a more enjoyable coffee experience because you will taste the true essence of what coffee is all about: the brightness, the chocolaty notes, the citrus notes, the spices. It's all there, get a little geeky! If you insist on pouring cream and sugar in your coffee, forget #7 and for #8 respectively!

8. Drink it Black

This is the coffee geek purist in me coming out! I used to drink my coffee with cream and sugar all the time until I got into the coffee business years ago. Society decided cream and sugar was the norm because of bad tasting coffee, not because coffee tastes bad. Coffee used to be bitter as a rule, but that was your father's cup! Most likely the canned stuff from the grocery store. Ick! That is the old-school coffee made from Robusta beans, a low-grade coffee. Today the high quality coffee beans are called Arabica and you get them from coffee houses and artisan coffee roasters. When beans are blended and roasted properly black coffee is not bitter. It may take some getting used to but I assure you that you are missing a lot of great tasting coffee by adding cream and sugar!

9. Throw Out Any Leftover Brewed Coffee

This is part of #6 above, but deserves its own number. If you have brewed coffee left over past an hour in an airpot or air-tight container, throw it out. Brewed coffee has a life span as well and letting it cook itself in a container is not part of it.

10. Throw Out Any Leftover Coffee Beans

OK let me clarify! By this I mean the coffee that is left over after 21 days. Coffee beans have a life span of approximately 21 days from the day it is roasted. I prefer to drink mine within 10 days but that is just the coffee geek again. If you can span your coffee for use within 21 days of the day it's roasted you will get a better tasting and far more superior cup. I know, you are asking "how do I know when my Seattle's Best or Newman's Own coffee beans were actually roasted?" Well, see #1 above for your answer.

11. Rinse and Repeat

That says it all! If you follow these steps I promise you will notice a more flavorful and tasty cup of brew!

Coffee lovers have two options regular or specialty. What is different in specialty coffee that regular one does not have and why do people care?

The journey of a coffee bean is a long and complicated one. The coffee bean goes through a number of stages during which it is ruined our tuned into a flavourful coffee. The ruined bean could turn a whole coffee container taste like bitter urine. Yes, you read it right.

Let's make it clear, in the present world; the regular coffee is just a bad quality produced coffee which lacks transparency and sustainability. As a result it gives you an unpleasant coffee experience with its bad taste and not so out-of -this-world-feeling. On the other hand, specialty coffee guarantees the quality throughout the stages of production from bean to cup.

Moreover, the specialty coffee is good for you in many ways besides its taste. You have possibly gone through studies regarding health benefits of coffee from reduced risk of various cancers, Alzheimer's, dementia to diabetes. On the other hand, drinking regular coffee can lead to worst side effects which affect your body from head to toe.

So how would you choose your coffee now? How would you know if you are having a regular or the specialty coffee? There is only one way to understand this and that is the comprehension of the production details of the coffee from its seeding to brewing.

Growth and Processing

It starts with a coffee bean, the same seed that your coffee is brewed from. Initially an unprocessed coffee bean is planted which has to be of supreme quality which has to be planted in the right time at the right place for the production of supreme quality coffee. There are two groups of coffee Robusta and Softer Arabica, but they are easy to grow. Generally, all the types of specialty coffee are produced by top quality seeds of Arabica.

After three to four years, the coffee tree gives its first fruit i.e. coffee beans which can be harvested. Generally, coffee beans are picked by hands through selective pick or strip pick. Strip picking is done quickly but it involves picking all the berries of the trees simultaneously. Selective pick is more time consuming but results are better as only the beans that are near ripeness are picked and raw beans are left.

After the stage of picking comes the stage of processing. This has to be done as quickly as possible to avoid spoilage. There are three ways to process the coffee beans, Wet, Semi & Dry

In the dry method, we spread coffee beans to dry them out into a larger surface under the sun. In the wet method, the coffee beans pulp is removed and we keep the beans to ferment in the tanks. After that we wash them with water. This is the most crucial stage of processing where most of the mistakes are made. Bad fermenting and washing can result in bad bitter taste of the coffee which cannot be removed later.

After drying the coffee beans, we separate them by weight and size. In this process, we remove all the bad colour and damaged seeds. It is important to remove the bad quality bean as it can ruin your whole coffee with adding sour vinegar like taste. After separation, the green coffee beans are kept ion sisal or jute bags to be shipped for roasting.

Roasting

When the coffee beans arrive for roasting, we test them for the colour. The taster also known as the cupper details the quality. Right after visual approvals the roasting, smelling, brewing, slurping and quality test is done which is again approved by cupper to start the roasting of the rest of the beans.

We roast bean at around 230-260 degrees celsius. We keep the beans moving while they are roasted. When the inner temperature is reached to 230 Degrees, the beans' oil emerges. The beans change the colour from green to brown and the coffee beans reaches to the highest level of aroma. After the completion of the process, the beans are set to cool down through air or water. Now the beans are ready to be brewed for 2-30 days as the aroma begins to fade after that. Higher quality specialty coffee is most of the time gives excellent tastes even after the given time but the regular coffee is hopeless.

Grinding And Brewing

The beans can be bought in whole shape or we can get them grinded. Although grinded beans make a huge difference while extracting all the flavor within no time for a perfect cup of coffee. We grind the beans finer for espresso and keep them coarse for filtered brewing.

When considering the best coffees in the world, I went to the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) for research. They are the organization that sets the quality standards for specialty coffee, which the public calls "gourmet" coffee. All specialty coffees use arabica beans. The other category of is the robusta bean, which is of inferior taste quality to arabica. Within these categories, there are several varieties of bean. Arabica beans are grown at a higher altitude than robusta.

Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world and is graded in a similar manner as wine. This event is called a "cupping" and has a set of strict standards. Winning a cupping is very prestigious and has a direct effect on the prices a coffee grower can get for his crop.

History of these "cupping" winners has shown that three areas of the world produce the most winners. Interestingly, these regions have a very similar latitude when looking at the world map. The three regions are Ethiopia, Sumatra and Panama.

Ethiopian/Kenyan Coffee (Africa)

Ethiopian coffee is aromatic, highly flavorful, and also known to be some of the best coffees in the world. It is also the origin of all coffee. The Ethiopian people have a legend that says that a goat herder discovered Ethiopian coffee around 850 AD. This legend claims that the goat herder noticed that his sheep were very excited and nearly dancing after eating red berries from a tree. The legend of the founder goes on to say that the herder sampled the red berries for himself and took some of the berries home to his wife who insisted that he take them to the monks. The monks supposedly threw the berries into a fire and noticed the delicious smell that the berries produced. The monks are said to have removed the berries from the fire and boiled the berries in water to create the beverage that we now know as Ethiopian coffee.

Whether this legend is true, or in fact just a legend is forever a mystery. Regardless, Ethiopian coffee has been used for religious ceremonies. These ceremonies are still held today and if a guest is invited to participate in the ceremony, it is well known to be a very beautiful experience.

Locally, Ethiopian coffee is served with either sugar, or in some parts of Ethiopia, salt. Milk or any type of creamer is never used in traditionally brewing. The process of making the coffee varies by region. In some regions it is dry processed and in some other regions it is washed. The Ethiopian coffee found in stores today is dry processed.

The process is often grueling and coupled with with importing adds to the reason of why Ethiopian coffee can be expensive.

When consumers purchase Ethiopian coffee to be brewed at home, it is wise to consider fair trade Ethiopian coffee. The obvious reason to consider fair trade is so that the producers of this wonderful product can reap the benefits of their hard work. Ethiopian coffee has a rich, bold, and exciting history and a taste that has been favored by many people for a long time.

Sumatran Coffee (Indonesia)

Sumatran coffee comes from the island in Indonesia called Sumatra. The taste of Sumatran coffee is spicy, herbal, and very distinct. It is considered to be one of the best coffees in the world and was first introduced by the Dutch around 1699 when the Dutch wanted to keep up with the demand of coffee to Europe. The Dutch traders knew the difference between Sumatran coffee beans and other coffee beans by the appearance, which are irregularly shaped and bright green.

Sumatran coffee is one of the best coffees in the world and has a low acidity which makes it highly favored among other types of coffee. The beans are usually grown in full sunlight and with no chemicals. A highly popular type of Sumatran coffee, yet thoroughly disgusting in many peoples opinion, is the kopi luwak Sumatran coffee. The kopi luwak coffee is coffee beans that have been eaten by the small animal known as a luwak. After the luwak digests and excretes the coffee beans, local villagers collect the excreted beans and roast them. These excreted and roasted beans are said to cost about $300 a pound. Of course, not all of Sumatran coffee comes from the excrement of the luwak. There are many other varieties of Sumatran coffee as well.

Most of the Sumatran coffee beans are processed using the wet and dry processing method. This processing method is another reason why Sumatran coffee is so popular. Most other types of coffee beans are processed by using either a wet method or a dry method, hardly ever both.

When purchasing Sumatran coffee for use at home, a person should try to purchase fair trade Sumatran coffee. Fair trade beans can be found at various online retailers and also at gourmet coffee retailers. This insures that the growers benefit from all of the hard work that they put into growing this delicious coffee.

Sumatran coffee has a taste unlike any other and once you try it for yourself, you may find that it will quickly replace your current brand or at least be a coffee that becomes one of your favorites.

Panamanian Coffee (Central America)

Although Panama is the smallest of all coffee producing countries, they grow most of the best rated coffees every year. The coffee region surrounds the town of Boquete in the western province of Chiriqui close to the Costa Rican border. Some say Panama has the ideal micro climate to grow coffee receiving winds from the north along with a light mist and cool breeze. Most of the coffee is grown on farms and is called an Estate coffee which signifies the farm it is from.

The process includes hand picking, washing and sun drying. The farms work closely with the indigenous people enhancing the community with social, medical and educational services. Because of this, fair trade is not a concern. It is a harmonious relationship between farm and worker.

For years, coffee from Panama was not well known amongst the public but the quality was apparent to the traders. So much so, that one trader was caught selling the lower cost Panamanian coffee beans as Hawaiian Kona beans, a much well known high end arabica bean.

Currently, Panamanian coffee has come of age winning numerous cuppings to the point in 2003 when the competition was changed. Previously, each entry was individual and Panamanian entrants would win up to five of ten awards. Now, they have groupings and each group can produce up to two winners that move up to the next level.

It should be noted that although Panamanian coffee has been established as the best in the region, wonderful coffees do come from Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Columbia.

Even though most of the world favors the western coffees, a true coffee lover should be adventurous and taste the best coffees of the world. Try Ethiopian and Sumatran coffees along with those that are in close proximity to those regions. You may be surprised at what you have been missing.

Is coffee good or bad for you? The following summarizes the latest findings on coffee and how it may actually benefits your health. Further, if you are a regular coffee drinker, there are certain things about coffee that you should also be aware of. Lastly, know that coffee may not be appropriate for everyone, if you have certain conditions, you should not be drinking coffee at all.

Latest Research On The Health Perks Of Coffee

Although not every single study shows coffee to have health-promoting properties, the majority is rather positive.

Apart from caffeine, coffee contains a natural blend of polyphenol antioxidants, bioflavonoids, B vitamins, and minerals such as magnesium, potassium, and chromium. Research shows that not only are the non-caffeine components of coffee anti-inflammatory, they work together synergistically to help neutralize the harsher effects of the caffeine. In addition, coffee may actually activate beneficial pathways in our bodies at the DNA level.

These studies show that moderate coffee consumption on a regular basis reverses cognitive impairment, cuts cancer risk, stabilizes blood sugar, and benefits the heart. In other words, coffee helps reduce the risk of many diseases:

Alzheimer's disease

Cancer (including breast, colon, endometrial, kidney, liver, and oral)

Diabetes (type 2)

Heart disease (including heart rhythm problems and stroke)

Parkinson's disease

Prostate cancer

Coffee began to get more attention when the Arabs began cultivating it in their peninsulas around eleven hundred AD. It is speculated that trade ships brought the coffee their way. The Arabs started making a drink that became quite popular called gahwa--- meaning to prevent sleep. Roasting and boiling the bean was how they made this drink. It became so popular among the Arabs that they made it their signature Arabian wine and it was used a lot during rituals.

After the coffee bean was found to be a great wine and a medicine, someone discovered in Arabia that you could also make a different dark, delicious drink out of the beans, this happened somewhere around twelve hundred AD. After that it didn't take long and everyone in Arabia was drinking coffee. Everywhere these people traveled the coffee went with them. It made its way around to India, North Africa, the eastern Mediterranean, and was then cultivated to a great extent in Yemen around fourteen hundred AD.

Other countries would have gladly welcomed these beans if only the Arabs had let them. The Arabs killed the seed-germ making sure no one else could grow the coffee if taken elsewhere. Heavily guarding their plants, Yemen is where the main source of coffee stayed for several hundred years. Even with their efforts, the beans were eventually smuggled out by pilgrims and travelers.

Coffee Shops Appear

Around 1475 the first coffee shop opens in Constantinople called Kiv Han two years after coffee was introduced to Turkey, in 1554 two coffee houses open there. People came pouring in to socialize, listen to music, play games and of course drink coffee. Some often called these places in Turkey the "school of the wise", because you could learn so much by just visiting the coffee house and listening to conversations.

In the sixteen hundreds coffee enters Europe through the port of Venice. The Turkish warriors also brought the drink to Balkans, Spain, and North Africa. Not too much later the first coffee house opens in Italy.

There were plenty of people also trying to ban coffee. Such as Khair Beg a governor of Mecca who was executed and Grand Vizir of the Ottoman Empire who successfully closed down many coffee houses in Turkey. Thankfully not everyone thought this way.

There are so many takes on how to brew coffee - from decorative foam to French presses. In this article we present our top ten tips and tricks for brewing coffee.

1. Decorating your own lattes

With some practice it's possible for anyone at home to decorate their coffee in a way they probably thought only baristas could pull off. Baristas make it look simple, and if you do it then you can also get great and positive results - especially since you are not a barista who's being rushed to perform four jobs at once.

The trick is to work with the milk and make it frothy without any big bubbles and then pour it into the coffee cup at an angle.

2. Buy fresh whole bean coffee

Don't buy the pre-ground coffee. Buy fresh beans. Most coffee companies don't bother with dates for when the beans were packaged - it's likely the beans were left there for months after picking. Fresh coffee goes off pretty quickly. To find fresh beans, it's best to check coffee shops, and some coffee shops will roast them right there, and that means fresher coffee for a great brew.

Pre-roasted coffee beans also mean the beans are discharging more carbon dioxide, meaning that the escaping gases remove more flavor from the coffee than freshly grounded and roasted beans.

3. Use good quality water

The quality of your water matters when it gets to the time for you to brew coffee. Hard water, which is full of extra minerals, won't bond as well to the coffee that's brewing, which leads to a weak coffee and not what you were hoping for. Worse, using this high content mineral water could result in limescale build up in your coffee maker. If you use this type of water then you will need to descale your coffee machine regularly, something you do not want.

Heavily filtered water can also lead to other problems when you brew coffee, but lightly filtered water will be perfect. Also, the best temperature for water for brewing coffee is 88 to 94 degrees centigrade.

4. How to cold-brew for a different flavor to your coffee

Cold brewing your coffee is a great option if you love iced-coffee and want to avoid buying pricey iced-coffee.

There are many ways to brew coffee that can be iced, but there are also machines that make this possible. A benefit is that this method eliminates the acids that coffee produces. This method also brings out different ranges of flavor for the coffee lover to indulge in, however some dislike it because there is no acidity.

Alternatively, you can use a special jar, called a mason jar. It's really easy - you just take your ground coffee, pour it into the jar, and then pour in cold water before placing the water into your fridge for 12 to 24 hours. When it's ready, just strain the grounds out and serve with ice. Give it a try!

Coffee blooms are common in coffee shops. It's created by the roasting procedure, and the heart causes carbon dioxide to be captured by the bean and trapped. When the roasting is completed the gases are discharged slowly. This is called "degassing." Ideally, if you use freshly roasted beans, the coffee will have more flavor than roasted and ground beans that have been left untouched for days.

7. Brewing and diluting for weaker coffee

If you want to brew coffee, that's great, don't brew it for too long, just increase how much ground coffee you have already. If, however, you prefer it weaker, then simply don't brew it for a shorter time but rather brew it correctly and then you dilute it to drink afterwards.

8. Tips for using filter paper

If you prefer to use filter paper to brew the coffee grounds then gently pour hot water over the filter paper so that it is wet before use. This will remove the likelihood of getting that papery/cardboard like taste in your mouth that you'd likely get if you just pour the water over the coffee grounds if the paper is dry before you start. If you pre-wet the paper, then you'll clean it and get rid of that papery taste, meaning you'll still have a great tasting cup of coffee.

When you're brewing a cup of coffee with this method, pour the hot water over the coffee grounds in a circular motion so that the water from the coffee slowly appears in the pot. This is called the bloom. Keep pouring more water slowly over the grounds, let it take its time to seep, and then wait for the coffee to collect at the bottom of the pot.

9. Flavored coffees

If you prefer your coffee to have different tastes, for instance a bit of cinnamon, nutmeg, or vanilla or almond extracts, then pour some of those extracts into the cream or milk. Sprinkle some cinnamon or nutmeg over the coffee, or you could even sprinkle some other ground spices like cardamom for a coffee which is more spiced and different than the type you know.

10. Maple syrup drizzle

Another option for flavored and sweetened coffee is to swap sugar with maple syrup.

Why is Coffee So Popular Worldwide?

There are a number of scientifically proven reasons to explain its effects. The drink has little direct nutritional value. One cup of coffee without cream or sugar contains about 75 milligrams of caffeine but only has two calories. Like both chocolate and tea, coffee is an anti-oxidant but adding milk does not diminish coffee's properties in any way. Its main ingredient is caffeine, a nervous system stimulant which aids in concentration, permits clearer and faster thinking and even relieves headaches since it is also a vaso-constrictor. In some regions of Brazil, a ration of coffee is included in school children breakfasts to improve concentration, memory and learning. Studies have indicated that drinking three to four cups of coffee per day for periods of ten years or more can reduce risk of chronic degenerative diseases including Diabetes by forty to fifty percent. So what else does coffee contain which gives it such distinctive properties?

What Does Coffee Contain?

Coffee contains the minerals Potassium, Magnesium, Calcium, Chromium and vitamins like Niacin. Organic acids, such as Clorogenic acid, in coffee enhance flavor and give it its pleasant aroma and taste but also cause its acidity. Caffeine, Cafestol and Kahweol among other polyphenols combine to give coffee its unique and anti-oxidant properties.

How Much Coffee is Okay to Drink Daily?

According to reports issued by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), drinking up to four or five cups of coffee daily (350 ml) is safe. Daily recommended dosages of caffeine, reported by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) include the following for children; less than 200 mg, for pregnant women, 200 mg (two cups) and for adults, up to 300 mg (three cups). Due to the possibility of over-stimulation and causing of sleeplessness, coffee is not recommended for children under three years of age.