If you find a day without a single drop of caffeine in your system simply intolerable, then you’ll probably want to make sure that your old breakfast buddy works every time. We’re talking about that commercial coffee maker that always seems to have a place in your kitchen counter so that every morning, you can scoop in the coffee, add water, and turn it on and god forbid if it would suddenly stop working because there would be hell to pay.

So you can’t live without your commercial coffee maker. But have you ever wondered how the whole thing even works? What happens when you press that tiny little button? And how does the water get from the little compartment to the top of the commercial coffee maker?

Well, good news. Any questions you may have about your commercial coffee maker have been answered. Here, you will learn all the itsy-bitsy bits about your commercial coffee maker that you may have wondered about but never bothered to find out (because you’re too busy enjoying your cup of brew). For purposes of this article, focus will be on the typical drip coffee maker, which is the most common type of commercial coffee maker available.

First, let us examine the parts. The most obvious, of course, is the coffee pot (where you pour your coffee from). Now, take the top off of the contraption and you will see three important parts: the bucket that holds the water, the black tube that carries the hot water to the drip area, and the drip area where water from the black hot-water tube falls through tiny holes onto the coffee grounds.

The drip commercial coffee maker is not a high tech device but its straightforward design is to the advantage of those who just want their morning coffee on a regular basis without having to constantly figure out how to make the device work.

Now, how does your commercial coffee maker make hot coffee? Well, it all comes down to simple physics and two small contraptions: resistive heating element and an aluminum tube. The resistive heating element is just a coiled wire not unlike the filament of a light bulb. When electricity runs through the wire, it increases in temperature.

The resistive heating element actually does two jobs:

• When you first put the water in the commercial coffee maker, the heating element boils it.

• Once the coffee is made, the heating element keeps the coffee warm. (The wire connects with the heating pad to make sure of this.)

And that is pretty much what happens inside your commercial coffee maker. It’s not rocket science, but the kind of coffee it can make certainly makes you think that it’s probably one of the best things man ever invented.

Coffee is one of the world’s most popular beverages and is also one of the most diverse. There are actually a lot of coffee drinks that differ in presentation, such as black coffee, white coffee, lattes, espressos, and many others. In addition, there are different coffee drinks that differ in terms of recipe and flavor that are perfect for different moods and different situations. If you think you have tried all kinds of coffee drinks, thing again. Because of its wide varieties, there are some names that you have never heard before.

Coffee shops are making more money in coffee industry due to many reasons. For one, more and more people prefer to have coffee than any other drinks. Since coffee drinks cover a lot of different choices, coffee lovers never get tired drinking one coffee drink to another. As a coffee lover myself, I never thought there’s much more about coffee than just the classics, which most people including me knew of.

I conducted some research about coffee drinks, and guess what? I was in awe to find out the many ways a coffee can be presented. To give you an idea what I am talking about, I’ll give some of the recipes of coffee drinks that interest me.

Coffee Drinks

After Eight Coffee

Ingredients: Equal amounts of cocoa, creme de Menthe and Whiskey Espresso or hot, strong coffee Warm milk

Preparation: Stir the cocoa with the mint liqueur and the whiskey. Put a spoon in the glass and add espresso and warm milk. If you prefer sweet taste, just add a little more sugar.

American Coffee

Ingredients: 40-60 ml bourbon, Brown sugar (loosely shaken), whipped cream

Preparation: Build as an Irish Coffee in a coffee glass or wine glass.

Cafe Parisienne

Ingredients: 2 oz. Grand Marnier Rouge, Hot coffee, Cream

Preparation: Pour Grand Marnier into a coffee glass or a wine glass with extra thick walls. Fill up with coffee and top with loosely shaken cream. Sprinkle with a freshly ground coffee on top.

Bailey’s Coffee

Ingredients: 40-60 ml Bailey’s,  Hot coffee, Loosely whipped cream

Preparation: Pour in a coffee glass or wine glass with extra think walls. Put a spoon in the glass and first add Bailey’s, followed by coffee, and last loosely whipped or shaken cream.

As you may have noticed, these coffee drinks are very easy to make and can be done at home. Actually, most of the coffee drink recipes that I’ve researched are easy to prepare, so don’t just limit your knowledge with the samples above.  Imagine, most coffee drinks that are sold in coffee shops which are highly priced, don’t take a lot of sweat to make. Just make your own coffee drink and you will save money; that I can assure you.

Heard about organic coffee? Want to know what an organic coffee is? Well, according to several researches, the concept of organic coffee has long been considered in the coffee industry as a special practice. The concept actually holds the idea of protecting the environment from harmful chemicals and pesticides that may pollute and destroy the groundwater and may cause erosion in coffee farms when the farms are cleared. Also, it goes beyond protecting the environment as the organic method may help protect the coffee farmers from degenerative diseases like cancer.

With such reasons, many of the coffee farms these days highly prefer the organic method of coffee farming. They cultivate their coffee plants by organic means – producing coffee without the use of pesticides and other chemicals. The coffee is grown and cultivated purely and naturally and this practice is deemed by many as beneficial to coffee producers and to its consumers as well.

In the organic coffee industry, much emphasis is given to the way the coffee is produced. The emphasis may extend to the recycling process, composting, health of the soil where the coffee is grown, and even to the biological activity that takes place in the coffee farm. All of these are maintained for the long term protection of the coffee farm and the environment. It’s no wonder then that in this kind of environment, synthetic chemicals are highly avoided.

For the farmers knowledge, to market a highly organic coffee is to pass certain laws maintained by the Department of Agriculture. In the United States, for a coffee company to be able to market a certified organic, the farm from which the coffee is taken must be inspected first to receive the so-called certification. What usually happens during this practice is that in every step of the processing chain, the inspectors work to track the coffee beans as they are transferred from the source to the cup.

In addition to that, it is maintained that to protect the integrity of the process, the organic coffee must be sold to the certified importers and roasters. Well, the advantage of this process on the part of the consumers is that people who love coffee will then be guaranteed for the purity of the coffees they buy. And, to make the organic coffee obvious to the consumers, the USDA has announced that 95% of the organic products must bear the label “organic”.

With certain laws and rules passed, several organic coffee products are now marketed free from pesticides and herbicides. They are now marketed anywhere in the world and it was noted that about 50% of the products bear the organic label with the organic ingredients. So if you want to help protect the environment and yourself from synthetic chemicals, the organic coffee products will surely fit your needs.

Choosing good coffee beans has a lot more to do with art than with science. And those who know how to, will spare nothing just to find the best coffee beans that money can buy. But why should you care? Coffee beans are just coffee beans, right? And coffee is just…coffee. What’s the big deal?

Well, if you’re fond of the common supermarket variety of coffee beans, then chances are that you’re right. It isn’t such a big deal. But once you have tried the real good coffee beans you will understand why so many people go to such lengths just to find the perfect beans for the perfect cup of coffee.

So where do you start?

When it comes to good coffee, there’s no better place to start than what the experts say is a good place to start. But make no mistake. Their words are no bible. However, they do give you some idea on how to go about taking your first tentative step towards genuinely good coffee.

First, you need to learn that freshly roasted and ground coffee beans are what make a superior cup of coffee. You can never go wrong with fresh beans. In fact, the underlying philosophy is: the fresher the beans, the better. Just try it and you’ll be surprised to find how a few fresh coffee beans can transform your favorite cup of java into a fantastic gastronomic experience.

Next, where do you find fresh coffee beans? You may get lucky and stumble upon a few bags in the supermarket. But if you want to be certain that you are getting fresh, good quality beans, then start at your local specialty or gourmet stores. The salespeople at these stores are usually very knowledgeable about coffee and helpful to the extent that they may allow you to taste before buying anything.

But how do you know if they’re good?

Well, for one thing good coffee beans are never splintered or broken. They should be whole and well-shaped. If you encounter a bin or bag of splintered or broken beans, then put it right back where you found it and look for another.

It’s quite possible that you won’t find any helpful salesperson around, especially if you’re in a large shop. If that’s the case, then you have to learn to trust your own eyes and nose.

Okay, so now you know that good coffee beans are whole and well-shaped, but what about the smell? They smell good, period. That’s all you need to know. It has to do with gut instinct, similar to how you’d know right away that the milk has gone sour when you smell it.

Coffee beans that have gone bad will smell just a bit off and you’ll recognize that smell, even if you’re a novice.

Gevalia has partnered with coffee producers in Colombia, working with international development agencies and the national coffee federation on a multiyear program to upgrade coffee handling and processing, strengthen water quality and enhance living conditions for small coffee farmers.

Gevalia also been working with Peruvian coffee farmers, government institutions and development organizations to establish internationally recognized quality standards for Peruvian coffee exports. This program is now being extended to educate farmers on how to best achieve these standards and gain the market benefit that flows from higher-quality products. This partnership also resulted in the introduction of their Peruvian Organic Coffee in 2002.

Gevalia supports small farmers and cooperatives that are working to demonstrate sustainable growing practices. For example, Gevalia’s Karoma Estate coffee is sourced from a single estate in the Dominican Republic. Karoma not only produces a high-quality coffee which is grown at 4,000 feet, but does so while protecting the environment: The farmers have set aside 25% of their land for ecological reserves and for the protection of sources of both water and wildlife.

Other programs supported by Gevalia include:

• Sponsoring education programs to provide general educational opportunities, as well as education on specific sustainable agricultural and environmental techniques in technical colleges
• Direct feeding programs for rural communities
• Provision of food staples and medical aid to needy families

The history of coffee is ridden with many interesting stories and fantastic legends of chance occurrences, political intrigues, and the pursuit of wealth and power. Who knew that a simple cup of brew could offer so much adventure?

To learn the history of coffee is to learn how civilization came to be. One sip from a steaming cup brings you back to a time when the effect of coffee beans was first noticed.

According to the story, a sheep herder from Caffa Ethiopia named Kaldi was tending his sheep one day when he noticed something odd about his sheep. The animals became hyperactive after eating the red ‘cherries’ from a certain plant. Curious as to why they would display such strange behavior, he tried a few of these cherries himself and discovered that he too felt as overactive as his herd.

As the story went, a monk passed by and saw how the sheep herder was acting. After hearing the boy’s story about the cherries, he disapproved and scolded him for partaking of the ‘devil’s fruit.’ However, after trying some himself, he soon realized that the fruit of this shiny green plant could help his brother monks stay awake for their prayers.

But that isn’t all that the history of coffee has to offer. Another story (more like a legend really) gives us the name for coffee or ‘mocha.’ It was said that an Arabian, Omar, and his friends were banished to the desert. Without food or water for days, it was very likely that they would die of starvation.

Finally, in desperation, Omar had his friends boil and eat the fruit from an unknown plant. It turned out that not only did this broth save their lives but it was also seen as a religious sign by the people of the nearest town, Mocha. In honor of the occasion, the plant and its beverage was named Mocha, after the town.

However, stories and legends aside, the history of coffee could trace its origin back to Ethiopia where the coffee plant grew naturally. However, with the coming of the Arabs, it was transplanted in Arab soil. From then onwards, the history of coffee was monopolized by Arab tales and the coffee bean itself became a precious commodity.

According to the history of coffee, coffee wasn’t always a drink. In Ethiopia, tribes would wrap the beans in animal fat and used it as their only source of nutrition when they went out on raiding parties. With the coming of the Turks, the history of coffee experienced a revolution for they were the first people to ever use coffee as a drink. They even added spices like cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, and anise to add flavor to the brew, not unlike what we add to our own flavored coffees today.