Citysearch Loves Coffee

Coffee… a global delight, all day long.  Coffee is that one beverage which is the most consumed around the world, after water.  There are numerous brewing techniques.  Coffee can taste different because of the difference in brewing methods and the way the coffee beans are ground

I learned a lot about coffee over the past twenty years when my sister owned and operated many Tim Hortons franchises in Calgary, AB.  Most of us think about different types of coffee such as a latte or an Americano…  My sister taught me to think about the type of bean….

The darker the beans, the longer they have been roasted. While a stronger dark roast might seemingly have a higher caffeine content, this is not true based on the roasting process. The longer coffee beans are roasted, the more caffeine is burned off. Light roasts aren't as strong, but they pack the most caffeine.

There are two types of coffee beans that are used to make coffee: arabica and Robusta beans.

The preferred bean by most is the Arabica coffee bean which are typically grown in places with higher altitude such as Costa Rica, Colombia, Kenya and Brazil hence there flavour is of high quality. These coffee beans are dense and are considered of extremely fine quality which is why they are really popular with most coffee lovers. On the other hand, Robusta coffee beans are grown in places with lower altitude and they level of caffeine in them is quite high which is why they are less popular among the masses. They are also bitter in taste and the beans are softer compared to arabica coffee beans and is preferred by those who like strong coffee. The taste in your coffee will entirely depend on the coffee beans you use and how finely or coarse you ground them.

Tim Hortons uses a blend of coffee beans, from Brazil, Guatemala, Colombia, Kenya, El Salvador and other south and central American countries.  McDonald’s use coffee supplied by Gavina which is a blend of arabica coffee beans grown in Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala and Costa Rica.  Most cups of coffee sold in the US use the less costly Robusta bean.

In my view, nothing beats the taste of plain coffee. It is basic compared to all the other coffee drinks in the above list but is the most widely consumed all over the world. It does not take more than 5 minutes to prepare coffee but brewing good old plain coffee is an art of its own. All you need is freshly and finely grounded coffee and water and mix them well in steam. 

There is no ideal time, season or hour of the day to consume coffee – it can be enjoyed at any point of time. Some people cannot even start their day without having coffee. Plain coffee has a place of its own and no matter how fancy you try to make an espresso or coffee drink – it is unbeatable compared to a cup of plain and simple coffee.

The latest trend in coffee is ‘cold brew’ coffee.  Cold brew is made from coffee beans that have been steeped in cold water for 12 to 24 hours, rather like you would when using oversized tea bag, but using coffee.  It’s time, rather than heat that extracts the flavor, caffeine, and sugars from the coffee beans.