Coffee for dummies...

Normally, you will notice that these blogs to be more reflective in nature. However, in this particular installment, I thought I'd take a little sabbatical from that type of post to provide a bit of an education.

It occurs to me that many of you may not be versed in the finer points of coffee, which happens to be a passion of mine. For this reason, I am offering up a short course to the novices out there who may be confused over the wide array of drinks available at your local coffee shop.

Coffee 101

Let us start with coffee. Most of us know that coffee comes from beans that are harvested and roasted to varying degrees. It used to be that you only had to choose between regular and decaffeinated. However, today there are also choices dealing with roast - such as dark roast or light roast, and region - such as Sumatra or Columbian. In many ways, a coffee bean is to coffee as a grape is to wine. Even the descriptions of some coffee flavors (a smokey, robust flavor with hints of cherry) almost sound like something you would find on a wine list. Suffice it to say, if you're a coffee drinker and you've only tried Folgers, you need to expand your horizons. One last little note on coffee. Contrary to what many believe, if you are looking for a stronger "pick-me-up" in the morning - get the light roast. Light roast coffee contains more caffeine than dark roast coffee. This is due to the fact that the roasting process actually extracts the caffeine out of the bean. Thus, the lighter the roast - the more caffeine (in most cases).

Espresso 101

Espresso is the term given to a "highly concentrated" coffee. It is produced by expressing (or quickly passing) water through a finer grind of coffee bean. Espresso is also the base to many of the other popular coffee drinks available today. When I started serving as a barista in the cafe' at our church, an explanation of the espresso drinks was given to me that I think is very helpful. Basically, all of the specialty drinks start with 1/3 espresso. Its what you add to the espresso that determines the drink. I've outlined a few of the most popular ones below:

• Espresso - Nothing added
• Latte - 1/3 espresso, 2/3 steamed milk
• Cappuccino - 1/3 espresso, 1/3 steamed milk, 1/3 frothed milk
• Breve - 1/3 espresso, 2/3 steamed half-and-half
• Americano - 1/3 espresso, 2/3 water

There are obviously many variations on these drinks including mochas, macchiatos, flavored lattes, etc., but this is probably enough information for Espresso 101.

I hope this little foray into one of my passions provided a bit of knowledge and fun facts. However, if this post has managed to bore you to sleep - may I suggest a large mug of coffee (light roast, of course).