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Learning to Enjoy Leisure: The Way Different Countries Drink Their Coffee

Wednesday, 21. October 2009

Clueless about the best way to meet people and get to know a new city? There’s a simple way to figure out where the best spot to go later in the evening is, or better yet, to understand how things work. Just head to a local cafe, and get the best insight on how the country you’re in operates. Learn if people are leisurely or rushed just by watching them drink some coffee.

In fact, it’s easy to learn about a place by studying the caf? lifestyle. For example, if you’re in the United States, in most any city that’s not a New York or a San Francisco, you’re going to find that the way that most people do coffee is as fast as they possibly can. From driving through the window at the local Starbucks to a number of to-go options in malls and shopping centers, coffee isn’t so much an experience to be savored, but a substance to be consumed as quickly as possible. It seems that Starbucks has been responsible for introducing concepts like flavors and soy milk to suburban areas, though, and even Dunkin Donuts has had to step up their game and finally offer espresso.

One spot in the United States where the caf? lifestyle is slightly more thriving that isn’t New York or San Francisco is Portland, where the rain and dreary weather make it pretty much essential to cuddle up with a warm, caffeinated beverage. A lot of places in the world have coffee as a major part of keeping warm, including in The United Kingdom, where a cup of tea might be preferred, but coffee, especially Italian espresso, is finding its stronghold.

Of course, hop across the pond to The United States, and you’re going to find that things are a little different. People actually go to drive-through windows at Starbucks because they don’t have the extra couple of minutes to get out of the car on the way to work, and even places like McDonald’s have taken to serving Newman’s Organic coffee because somehow Americans have learned that they like the taste of better coffee, but they don’t really understand that the taste is only half of the experience. So while you can get a decent cup of coffee even at a rest stop in New Jersey now, it doesn’t mean it comes with remotely the same ambiance as a country where the caf? lifestyle actually matters.

Probably the biggest difference from country to country is what comes with your beverage. In the States, there’s not going to be any free snacks coming with your cappuccino or latte, but elsewhere in the world, a cafe wouldn’t think of serving you just a coffee. You see, the caf? lifestyle in places like Buenos Aires, Argentina, will practically give you an afternoon snack. Order a coffee–any coffee–and not only will a nice Italian-style espresso-based beverage come out, it will be accompanied by a glass of sparking water, at least three packets of sugar, a couple of tasty cookies, and sometimes a variety of chips or crackers. Likewise, if you’re in Paris, it’s sometimes cheaper to just go with their special, which means that your coffee always comes with a croissant or cookies.

The thing about the snacks in these other countries where the caf? lifestyle is important is that it’s pretty much permission to stay as long as you want. There’s no one trying to turn the tables over fast in the afternoon, and every extra item that comes with that coffee buys you at least ten more minutes to sit, relax, and hang out.

Perhaps some of that culture will rub off the places that it doesn’t exist already. Starbucks, after all, has made it acceptable to want something with espresso, and maybe the slow food movement in The States will carry over to beverages in public. A number of bloggers and internet fiends are making it slightly more acceptable to sit in a public place and still be a responsible adult, so long as there’s a computer in front of you and you look busy.

But wherever you are in the world, get to know a little bit more about the city you’re visiting by heading over to a well-worn looking spot. It might have waiters in bow ties, it might have beat-up looking wooden tables, but all that matters is it has a nice view of the street, and a few customers. You now have the best seat in the whole city to learning how things work. Just don’t rush off now, you hear?

Damian Papworth loves coffee. As such he launched the One Cup Coffee Makers website. On this sitee you can read up about your 1 cup coffee maker

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Are Coffee Pods Right For Me?

Sunday, 20. September 2009

Before you can begin making coffee with coffee pods, and before you should even think about purchasing your coffee pods, you’ll want to acquire a coffee pod brewer. Some research on your part will be necessary as not all coffee pods are exactly the same. There are various different sizes of pods, and some brewers allow more than one pod to be used at once. The best way to determine the correct pod for your brewer, or brewer for your coffee pods, is to check your brewer’s capacity against the coffee pods grams per pod.

Different Sized Coffee Pods

Most coffee pods brewers can hold pods between four and nine grams, though there are many that can hold pods that contain up to twelve grams of coffee. In some cases, it is required to pre-infuse the larger coffee pods. Although pre-infusing sounds very technical, it’s really nothing more than wetting the pod before placing it in the brewer. It is generally impossible to tell just by looking whether your pod will fit your machine. This is because all coffee pods currently on the market are between 55 and 61 mm, which is not easily discerned by the human eye.

The T-Disc and K-Cup

Very different than coffee pods, T-Discs and K-Cups are also floating around on the market. There are not an “open format” like the coffee pods; not just anyone can make them. Producers need permission and a license, which means selection of T-Discs and K-Cups is very limited in comparison to coffee pods. Strangely, T-Discs are also not Kosher.

Tassimo T-Discs

T-Discs only work in the Tassimo Hot Beverage Machines, and the Tassimo Hot Beverage Machines only use T-Discs. There are some marked advantage to T-Discs over coffee pods or K-Cups, however. When one buys T-Discs to make cappuccino, for instance, they’ll receive a package with separate groups of discs; some discs for milk, and containing coffee. While this may seem like a less convenient method, it does give the Tassimo system the flexibility to offer not only coffee, but latte, cappuccino, and even hot chocolate, complete with a frothy topping.

Should You Coffee Pods, T-Discs, Or K-Cups?

Consider the differences between T-Discs, K-Cups and coffee pods before you pick your medium and do some research on exactly what you plan to brew so that you know your new machine will match up. Remember that T-Discs are available only from Tassimo, and K-Cups can be used only in a select group of machines. Also, although you can make your own coffee pods, it’s not so easy with T-Discs and K-Cups.

Courtney likes to write articles about pod coffee maker and ese coffee pods.

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