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When you enter a coffee house, you have a multitude of drink choices like latté, cappuccino, straight shot and caffé mocha just to name a few.

Sometimes knowing what to order can be overwhelming unless you know what you are getting. After all, who wants to pay an outrageous amount of money for a mystery drink that you may not even like?

So http://www.perfectcoffees.com has come to the rescue, and after you read this, you’ll have a basic understanding of how the most popular coffee drinks are made and what they are made of.

Most coffee drinks start with espresso and espresso is just coffee that is brewed a certain way. It is finely ground to almost a powder then very hot water is forced through the grounds under intense pressure.

The brewing process is timed so that the flavorful and aromatic oils are extracted from the coffee and not the bitter components. This produces a strong flavored, but not bitter, concentrated shot of coffee.

Straight Shot

The straight shot refers to espresso coffee and the secret to good espresso is the extraction time, volume, and golden crema which is a thick light brown layer of frothed coffee oils that float on top of a properly extracted espresso.

The short shot or ristretto is extracted to a volume of three-quarters of an ounce. The shorter restricted pour magnifies the essence of the coffee and the chance of any bitter elements being extracted is minimized. If you have ever ordered an espresso shot in Europe they usually serve the ristretto.

The long shot or lungo is extracted to a volume of one and one-half ounces.

The double shot is a 2 ounce shot using twice as much coffee in the portafilter.

The correct way to serve a straight shot is to extract it directly into a warmed demitasse cup. The warm demitasse cup will keep the straight shot warm and prolong the crema. A straight shot is best enjoyed immediately after brewing.

It is rare to see people drinking straight shots of espresso in the US. Most people here drink variations using steamed milk mixed with the shots to make the different coffee drinks listed here.

Espresso Macchiato

The Espresso Macchiato starts with a shot of espresso and then a small amount of foamed milk is spooned over the shot. Macchiato in Italian means “marked,” as the espresso is marked with foam.

Espresso Con Panna

This is an Espresso Macchiato using whipped cream in place of the foamed milk. The drink gets its name Con Panna which means “with cream.”

Caffé Americano

The Caffé Americano is a drink similar to American brewed coffee. It is made with a single or double shot of espresso combined with 6 to 8 ounces of hot water out of an espresso machine. The result is a very smooth cup of coffee that is much hotter than brewed coffee.

Cappuccino

Cappuccino is made with a fluffy, wet foam, mixed with espresso coffee upon the pour to create a blend of the two flavors. Cold milk is essential, as is expertise in the foaming process. Cappuccino has a large volume of foam making it a light weight drink and less filling.

Caffé Latté

Caffé Latté is similar to the cappuccino but with much less foam and more steamed milk. A latté is made by holding back the foam with a spoon while pouring the frothed milk from the steaming pitcher. The caffé latté is completed by being topped with a small amount of the held back foam.

Caffé latté gets its name from the addition of coffee to milk. For an iced latté, cold milk is combined with the espresso and then the ice is added.

Caffé Mocha

A caffé mocha is made by adding powdered or chocolate syrup to a hot shot of espresso and blended. Steamed milk is then be added to the espresso-chocolate mixture and usually it is topped with whipped cream.

Iced mochas are made with cold milk and the ice added after the coffee and chocolate have been blended.

Flavored Coffee Drinks

Some popular coffee flavors are: vanilla, Irish creme, almond, hazelnut, caramel and fruit flavors such as orange and raspberry. These drinks usually start with a flavored syrup that is mixed with hot espresso and stirred. Then steamed milk is stirred in like in a latté.

An iced version of these flavored coffees made with cold milk instead of steamed makes a delicious cold drink in the summer months.

So now that you know what’s in the basic coffee drinks, try one you haven’t tasted yet. Who knows, you might find a new favorite.

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There are many types of gourmet coffee which include Colombian coffee, French Vanilla, Toasted Almond, Cookies and Hazelnut among others. They come in different tastes and flavors. Coffee drinkers worldwide are getting to love gourmet coffee and teas because of the variety of aroma and tastes available to choose from. There are gourmet coffee types that are rare and therefore come with higher prices. These include the Jamaican Blue Mountain.

Gourmet coffee is believed to have some health benefits such as preventing the occurrence of certain diseases. This is made possible by the antioxidants in the gourmet coffee. Gourmet teas also come in different styles and flavors and have good tastes too. Gourmet specialist teas such as green teas have health benefits having been known to help in the fight of such diseases as cancer.

Green tea is good in weight loss and helps to lose fats that have been known to increase your chances of getting heart diseases. Green tea generally improves the rate of fat oxidation in the body. The antioxidants in green too help in reducing the rate of aging in people as well as helping to fight diseases.

The different types of gourmet coffee and teas come at different prices depending on your type of order too. The coffee drink is something most UK citizens cannot go without supporting the rise of coffee shops such as Starbucks, Costa and Caffe Nero.

Starbucks is one of the coffee sellers in the UK that is a favorite to many coffee lovers. The company uses the best coffee beans for their gourmet coffee because they realized this is the way to make perfect coffee. They have dedicated a lot of time in researching for gourmet coffee information and their collection increases and becomes better each day. The place has plenty of customers everyday for both coffee and tea drinks. Starbucks offers basic drinks such as coffee and tea, espresso bar drinks, non-espresso bar drinks, coffee based blended drinks, and crème based blended drinks.

Costa is another favorite coffee shop serving drinks such as Espresso, Espresso Doppio, Ristretto, macchiato, Americano and Cappuccino among others. The place allows customers to customize their coffee drinks and choose from the variety of available coffee and other ingredients such as fair-trade certified coffee, decaffeinated coffee, skimmed and Soya milk.

Gourmet coffee and teas generally are beneficial to your body and the wide selection of tastes and aromas makes it possible to get something that suits you quite easily.

Italians Love Their Coffee. Have you seen the Italian version of ‘Survivor”? Just like in any other franchise of the series, the famished contestants are left stranded on a deserted island equipped only with the most basic of necessities. But have you noticed that the contestants were provided with implements to be able to make a perfect espresso? What happened to the ‘basic of necessities’?

Well, for an Italian, coffee is an utter necessity. It is considered essential and without its presence all aspect of civilization will fall to pieces. Being stuck in a forsaken land mass situated across the Pacific does not change that fact. You may take away their mobile phones, you may take away their pasta or pizza, even their privacy, but not their coffee. No, not their coffee.

The sheer number of caf? bars in Italy only shows how serious the locals are with regards to their coffee. Want to start a state war? Ask two locals (originating from different regions) on how to make the perfect cup of espresso. Kidding aside, the fact is, Italians have painstakingly devised quite a variety of ways on how to serve coffee. From the roast to the service and everything in between, this is an art to be perfected.

In Italy, you need not go to an exclusive caf? to have a sip of good quality cappuccino or espresso. In truth, one can even opt to enter the most modest looking establishment and still get a hot drink of high quality. In almost every caf?, there sits a top of the line coffee machine polished more gingerly than the scooters parked outside.

Good Coffee & Great Coffee

With all this hype, one can easily forget that coffee beans are neither grown nor harvested in any part of Italy (for real!) Individuals around the world might say that the best coffee is grown in Italy, wrong! The more appropriate statement is, the best coffee is roasted and blended in Italy. A good cup of coffee stems from good coffee beans, however, only a master roaster can transform these beans into a drink worthy of being called great.

Coffee Beans

Italian coffee chiefly uses Arabica beans for its full-bodied flavor and its low caffeine content. But for those who want a taste of a much stronger drink, like those situated on the southern part of the nation, Arabica is blended with Robusta. The latter possesses stronger taste and higher caffeine content.

Roasting the Beans

In Italy coffee tastes a tad bit different in any given region because each and every state and even province, has their own technique in brewing the perfect cup. Of course, they blend the beans according to their own palate.

French versus Italian Coffee

An Italian roast results to a coffee that displays a rich shade of brown with little or no oil on the beans. This is far different from the roast coffee of its neighboring country, France. French coffee tends to have a deep dark color and is very oily. The roasting time? Well, this would depend on the kind of beans that will be roasted. But with the Robusta and the Arabica, the former posts a longer roasting time.

The Tourist, The Italian Coffee and The Locals

Leave your tall, grande, and venti at Starbucks. These coffee sizes are non-existent in Italy. Also, bear in mind that Italians drink their coffee as it is, and is being ordered after finishing a meal. It is only during breakfast that they consume coffee with a meal.

If you want an espresso, simply say ‘caffe’ and your drink will be given in a non-disposable cup. Espresso is intended to be finished promptly. The term ‘to go’ is non-existent as well. As with the price, drinking at the bar (while standing) and leisurely sipping your coffee at the table will make an impact in your wallet. The latter costs much (sometimes reaching four times higher) as measured against drinking at the bar. And last piece of advice; do not order cappuccino after eleven in the morning. The drink is supposed to be consumed in the morning, asking for one would be a blunder.