Think back just a few years to recognize how gourmet coffee has changed our lives.
Growing up in the midwest, my parents regularly served coffee. There was coffee in the morning (perked on the stove top, of course) and coffee when eating at a restaurant. Coffee was also something that was served at home, for friends either around the kitchen table or in the living room or den. I remember lots of fun times sitting around the kitchen table with grandparents, uncles and aunts drinking coffee and telling stories while drinking coffee. Of course, none of the children drank coffee...it would "stunt our growth" so we were told.
Oh, and there were exactly four ways coffee was prepared: black, with sugar, with cream, for for the real sweet tooth...with sugar and cream. You knew you were drinking coffee, too, because it was brewed to a deep black color in the percolator. In fact, the coffee always tasted the same regardless of who made the ground coffee that was spooned out the metal can bought at the grocery store.
What's so different about that picture for people accross America today? Well, coffee is still brewed and enjoyed as a favorite morning beverage. And serving a cup of coffee for friends and family, or ordering at the restaurant is still popular. What is different is all the other ways we enjoy coffee and build it into our lives.
So how has gourmet coffee changed our lives?
Selecting the right gourmet coffee beans
Well, for starters, you no longer just look for the three pound can of coffee that is on sale. You spend time in the coffee isle looking over the bags of gourmet coffee or reach for your favorite Arabica bean coffee. Or you explore the web to find some of the best coffee in the world available online from top coffee merchants and roasters. And your weekly routine probably includes a stop by the local coffee roaster.
We spend a lot more time thinking about coffee and selecting the right coffee beans, from a larger selection than ever before. As a result, we know the difference between good coffee and bad coffee, and why quality gourmet coffee beans are important for your coffee experience.
Now we can grind our own beans, try coffees from different countries and regions and make a cup of coffee that tastes just as good as what we buy in a coffee shop or restaurant.
Companies like Green Mountain Coffee search the world for just the right coffees to fit nearly every possible taste. The Keurig single-serve coffee makers have changed how we make coffee at home.
Buying from coffee shops and on the run
When I grew up, if you wanted a cup of coffee away from home, you stopped by a restaurant and sat at a table (or sat at the counter) and ordered a cup of coffee, probably with a piece of pie. The waitress wouldn't ask what you wanted in it...all coffee came black and the cream and sugar was at the table.
Today, coffee is served fast and hot at any number of convenience stores and gas stations and even fast food places. Some fast food restaurants (McDonalds is the best example) offer lattes and other coffee beverages. All of these places pay attention to the quality of beans they use. That's because they all want your repeat business and cheap beans make bad coffee...and we have all become much more demanind (and discerning) in our cofffee tastes.
Socializing at the coffee house
Today, a favorite gathering place is going to the local coffee house. In nearly every city there are multiple Starbucks to visit, where you are encouraged to drink your coffee and hang around with friends, or use the wi-fi service and stick around to hopefullfy run into someone you know. Getting together may be going the the coffee house, instead of going to eat a meal out. Dates that were dinner and a movie, now might be a movie and coffee, or just skip the movie and go to just the coffee house where you can enjoy each other's company over your favorite hot beverage.
Some churches even have a separate coffee house on premises, to attend church in a coffee house setting...or they encourage you to bring your coffee with you into the sanctuary.
For many people they have always expected to find a gourmet coffee house around the corner. But just a few decades ago, there were no places that you could just hang out to enjoy coffee, from your choice of countries around the world, surrounded by the smell and sound of fine coffee beans being ground and brewed, and espresso machines and steam wands.
Vastly improved choice of coffee makers and coffee options
No longer do we equate a coffee maker to the stove top percolator. Mr. Coffee moved us to drip brewers and brought paper filters and improved flavors.
Today you can choose from a wide variety of the best coffee makers, for your own preferences, lifestyle and budget.
Single serve coffee makers let you brew a cup and go. Or enjoy an ever changing variety of coffee since you don't have to worry about drinking a whole pot of one flavor. You can also expand to French presses and vacuum brewers, for a fuller coffee experience that takes a bit more time but lets you hand craft your coffee while you see it brew.
If you want to help peasant coffee growers in impoverished countries, and benefit our environment, you can buy fair trade organic coffee beans at the store or online. For more about fair trade organic coffees click here...
Gourmet coffee in your life...and mine
Gourmet coffee has alerted people to a world of coffee they never knew existed. Far away places in Columbia, Kenya and Indonesia are now every day names because of the coffee you enjoy. People spend an entire lifetime learning and enjoying coffee...like you are now.
Whether you enjoy drinking gourmet coffee at home or in coffee shops (or both), you have joined the millions of coffee lovers who participate in the new coffee society and knowledge.
Gourmet coffee is a wonderful hobby...your appreciation for gourmet coffee increases as you learn more and improve your coffee skills.
Plus, enjoying fine coffee is a taste treat every cup you brew...for a lifetime of coffee pleasure.
For more about the coffee lifesyle we enjoy today:
Discover more about how organic coffee benefits our environment...
Make your guests marvel at your after dinner coffee...
Fascinating recent gourmet coffee history...
What's the best way to enjoy gourmet coffee on the go...
Choosing the best coffee maker for a college dorm room...
Need coffee gift ideas? Gift baskets and more suggestions for the coffee lover on your gift list...
Hand craft your coffee for added enjoyment...
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