Coffee Machine

The coffee bean is the seed inside of a coffee cherry, the red or purple fruit of the coffee plant.
Each coffee cherry usually contains two coffee beans with their flat sides nestling against each other.
The coffee beans inside the cherry are green in colour, their natural state as a seed.
Some coffee cherries, around 5%, contain [...]

A coffee grinder is an essential part of the coffee equipment, producing fine ground coffee ready to be pressured through an espresso machine or dripped through a coffee filter.
There are four main ways of grinding coffee beans, pounding, rolling, chopping and burr grinding.
Pounding is used for Turkish coffee where the grounds need to be very [...]

Coffee tamping is an essential part of producing the perfect espresso.
When done correctly the espresso will have a dark thick crema, carrying all the subtle flavours of the espresso into the cup.
Tamped incorrectly however leaves a bitter overpowering taste which is unfortunately usually covered up with sugar, syrup and milk.
The first point to note is [...]

The coffee plant is actually a small tree or shrub, that is indigenous to south Asia and Africa.
There are more than 90 species of coffee plant but only a portion of these are used to make the coffee drink.

Coffee Plants
Coffee plants used to make the coffee drink are usually grown in tropical and sub-tropical countries [...]

Roasting is performed in a large special made roasting machine, which look like an extra large tumble dryer.
The green coffee beans are poured into the roasters cylindrical container which is preheated to an exact temperature.
The beans are then spun around in the cylinder to ensure they are heated evenly.
Through out the process the person roasting [...]

Coffee Growing
To grow coffee you need three main things.

Moderate rainfall, too much or too little will ruin the crop.
A frost free climate.
Lots of sunshine.

Though the conditions can vary, producing different types of coffee, these main requirement need to be met.
Coffee is produced in various regions across the world, these can be grouped as the Americas, [...]

The earliest records of coffee in history use were between 575 and 850 A.D. when it was used as a food.
The coffee beans were crushed into balls with animal fat and eaten as quick high energy snacks for long marches and during warfare.
The fat, protein and caffeine in the balls provided energy and alertness, making [...]