Basic Coffee Concotions

Espresso

The literal meaning of the word "espresso" is "made on the spur of the moment". In Italy, it is chiefly used to describe coffee. It is the fresh extract of coffee. Espresso coffee should be served withing 20 seconds after it has poured.

Cappuccino

A standard Cappuccino is one part espresso with about three part of frothed milk. Cappuccino is more coffee and less milk using foam milk. The foam milk on top of the cappuccino acts as an insulator to help retain the heat of the liquid, allowing it to stay hotter longer.

Cafe Latte

Consistency is milkier than Cappuccino. One part espresso with at least five parts steamed milk and only a small amount of froth on top. Latte is less coffee and more milk and has latte art by the skills of the Barista.

Cafe Mocha

One part espresso with one part chocolate syrup and two to three parts of frothed milk. Optionally topped with whipped cream and chocolate drizzle.

Types of Espresso

Different Types of Espresso

• Ristretto Italian for "shortened". 

Espresso coffee drink extracted using less water, yielding a stronger taste. In some countries, referred to as a "short black".

• Lungo Italian for "long".

Espresso made by running about double the amount of water through the ground coffee. In some countries, referred as a "long black".

• Doppio Italian for "double".

Two measures of ground beans. In most English speaking countries, referred to as "double shot".

• Americano

Espresso coffee with additional hot water added to the extracted coffee.

• Corretto "corrected"

In which liquor, particularly "grappa" is added to the extracted espresso coffee.

Other Variations

• Espresso Con Panna

Espresso with a dollop of whipped cream

Con Panna means "with cream" in Italian

• Espresso Macchiato

Espresso with a dollop of milk foam. 

Macchiato means "marked" in Italian.

Espresso Extraction

Three things that affect extraction time

1. Dose - How much coffee you put in the portafilter
2. Tamp - How hard you pack the coffee in the portafilter
3. Grind - How fine or coarse the coffee is ground

Parts of Espresso

Espresso

The literal meaning of the word "Espresso" is "made on the spur of the moment". In Italy, it is chiefly used to describe coffee. When you ask for the "espresso" in a bar or restaurant, it always meant coffee. It is the fresh extract of coffee. Espresso should be served withing 20 seconds after it has poured.

Three Parts of an Espresso

1. Crema (Emulsion)- Produced when the oil gets emulsified by the pressure of the Espresso Machine.
2. Body (Suspension)- Particles and gas bubbles that are suspended in an espresso, helps inhibit the bitter flavor of the coffee.
3. Heart (Solution)- Water soluble elements.

Processing of Coffee

Dry Method

• The oldest, most natural and cheapest method.
• The fruits either dry on the tree or the tree is shaken or stripped.
• The ripe and unripe fruits are spread out, dried and shriveled under the sun.
• The beans are raked several times to make sure they dry evenly.
• The beans passes through a hulling machine to separate the skin from the beans.

Wet Method

• The beans are handpicked; fully ripened, quality beans.
• The beans are washed and water is gently sprayed over them to remove the pulp and any debris.
• Then they are dried in the sun and finally a hulling machine removes the protective silver skin that adheres to the beans surface.

History of Tea

Most of the greatest discoveries of the world happened unexpectedly, just like with the history of one of the world’s well loved beverage- TEA. 2737 BC, Sheng Nung, a Chinese Emperor, was boiling the water he was about to drink, when suddenly, a tea leaf fell into his water. The tea then was boiled together, when the Emperor, who happened to be a scientist too, noticed that the water became so tempting, exhilarating and refreshing. From that time on, he never drank a cup of water without boiling it with the tea leaf. And that accidental falling of a tea leaf gave way for the birth of traditional drinking of tea.

Camellia Sinensis

Tea is a beverage using dried leaves from a tree called Camellia Sinensis. People often thought that each type of tea came from different plants, but in reality, it all rooted to the plant of Camellia Sinensis.

Teas made from herbs, flowers or fruits are not actually teas. They do not contain Camellia Sinensis at all, and the caffeine content and the health benefits are not as same as with the real tea that came from the plant of Camellia Sinensis. These are called as “Tisanes”, often associated or called as tea simply because the method of steeping is also involved in its preparation.

Types of Tea

Generally, all kinds of tea originated from a single plant called Camellia Sinensis, these type of tea were differentiated after the processes it had undergone. The three basic types of tea are as follows:

Green Tea

It is steamed, rolled out on mats and heated

Oolong Tea

This type is the hybrid of green and black tea. To produce this type, leaves are wilted, withered, rolled out and semi-fermented.

Black Tea

 This type of tea has the highest caffeine content. Its leaves are fully fermented. Fermentation refers to the breaking down of chlorophyll which makes the leaves black (science calls this enzymatic oxidation).

Green Tea

Black Tea

Oolong Tea

Wine Storage

How Wines should be stored?

• In a horizontal position
• In a cool, still, dark and ventilated room
• Away from strong odors to ensure the wine does not become contaminated

Type of Wines

Wines - An alcoholic beverage that is produced from partial an/ or complete fermentation of the juice of fresh ripe grapes. Wine is usually fermented from grapes.

General Types of Wine

Table Wine

Appropriate with the main course. Includes still white, red, rose, blush or light white. They are called natural or still wines because they are produced out of natural fermentation.

Appetizer (Aromatized) Wine

Made at the same way as natural wines but during fermentation, aromatics are added. These types of wine have no production and no vintage. They are usually served as aperitif. Appetizer wine is usually served before meal to stimulate appetite.

Dessert or Fortified Wine

Appropriate after dinner or to complement a dessert. Includes sweet white table wines and fortified wines, examples are port wine and ice wine.

Sparkling Wine

Considered as "King of all Beverages". Its quality is perfected by a secondary fermentation in the bottle. It can be served any time. Example - Champagne.

History of Chocolate

History says that chocolate before started out as an alcoholic beverage, fit only for a king. The process used was same with the process of making wine. Anthropologists discovered a cacao residue on a pottery which appears that the sweet pulp of cacao fruit was fermented into an alcoholic beverage date back as far as 1400 AD. It was also believed that chocolates were served before as a spicy drink, flavored with chili powder. Ancient tribes in Central America serve this drink only to the most high rank officials and important visitors of their tribe.

The etymology of the term “chocolate” came from the Aztec word “xocoatl”, which refers to the frothy and bitter drink made from the cacao beans. The Latin name of the Cacao tree has a scientific name of Theobroma Cacao, which means "food for the Gods”.

Chocolate in the ancient period was also used as a monetary unit. 1000 AD, cocoa beans are used as a form of payment. Taxes are paid using these beans. Over the centuries, only the Kings and Queens can afford to drink this and the poor cannot. Cocoa beans are also used as a unit of calculation. Like for example, 100 cocoa beans can bought a slave, 10 cocoa beans can bought the services of a prostitute and four cocoa beans got you a rabbit for dinner. After 30 years, the price of rabbit was equal to 100 cocoa beans, and one single cocoa bean could buy a ripe avocado or tomato.

When chocolate reached Spain, it was first called “the bitter drink for the pigs”. Spaniards did not like it spicy, until the Spanish Princess Anna tried drinking it with sugar. Chocolate then became a famous drink to them, and again, only the elite and royalties could enjoy.