Espresso is still a coffee. But the way it is blended, roasted, and pproduced makes it into something so very much more. Espresso is normally made in small shot-sized glasses, holding a small amount of very strong coffee. The drink is made when hot water is forced through tightly packed, finely ground coffee at high temperature. Any type of coffee bean can be used to make great shot of espresso. The beans are roasted until they are oily-looking and dark. Many people mistakenly spell or pronounce espresso as "expresso" which is incorrect. Espresso has its origins in Italy and now the drink is favored by many throughout the world. There are many different types of espresso drinks like cafe mocha, cafe latte and cappuccino. All are made with one or more shots of espresso.
Lighter roasts are more desirable on the east coast while a darker roasts are preferred in the western part of the United States, and Europeans typically use a medium roast for their espresso. In the early 1900s, Luigi Bezzera created the very first espresso machine. If you are an espresso lover, you might want to buy or get yourself an espresso machine so that you can make the beverage at home. Coffee is placed into the machine and hot water is forced through the coffee extracting all the flavor possible at very high temperature. The coffee then have to be dumped out after each cup made. There are many different methods used on how to make a shot of espresso. The fineness of the ground coffee, the pressure of the water, the temperature of the water and how tightly the coffee is packed are just a few.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Little known facts about coffee
Coffee is the 2nd most traded product in the world (oil is the first). This coffee industry employs more than 25 million people worldwide. It takes about 5 years for a coffee tree to reach maturity. Robusta (which considered as a lower grade) and Arabica (considered to be the best quality) is the only two of the various botanical species of coffee trees in the world that are extensively cultivated commercially. A coffee tree has a lifespan of about 50 to 70 years. They can only be grown where there is no winter frost.
Seventy-five percent of the world’s c0ffee comes from the Coffea Arabica plant. The most controversial part of coffee is its caffeine content (a powerful stimulant). Coffee can have a stimulating effect in humans due to its caffeine content, it affects the nervous system of the body. Robusta coffee has more caffeine than Arabica coffee. Espresso Coffee has just 1/3 of the caffeine content of ordinary coffee. It takes 40 coffee beans to make an espresso. However, not all charges against caffeine have proven true. Until now, whether the overall effects of coffee are ultimately negative or positive has been widely disputed. The caffeine found in coffee is believed can increase the effect of some painkillers, especially paracetamol and aspirin. Caffeine also found in tea, cocoa and soda drinks.
The benefits of coffee (according to studies):
Coffee can reduce risk of liver damage and gallstones, increase the rate of metabolism, discourage colon cancer, and improve endurance and cognitive function.
The risks of Coffee (according to studies):
It can cause increased your blood pressure, make your heart beat pump faster and developing an irregular heartbeat. If we consume caffeine, it will work on our cardiac cells and will increase our pulse rate as a result. The condition greatly increases the risk of having a stroke, heart disease, heart attack or other cardiac problems.
Listen to your body's response, every person has different body response after drinking coffee. Sipping a cup of coffee is a pleasure as many of you would agree, my favorite moments to enjoy a cup of coffee is during working or spending my time with my laptop (blogging or the like) especially after i wake up or at bedtime. However, as for me after drinking coffee or tea, i would feel hungry faster (this is believed due to its caffeine content which will increase your metabolism) and at the end i ended up seeking for food. For me, coffee has an addictive property if consumed continuesly and some people have additional effect such as feeling anxiety, dizziness and fast heart beat (this one happen for me too, sometimes i can feel that my body is shaking), can’t get to sleep and get angry easily (inbalance mood). Thus if these negative effects are getting too much, it is better to stop consuming coffee and consult to the doctor if necessary.
Brazil is the largest coffee-producing nation, responsible for 30 – 40% of total world output. Vietnam ranks number two followed by Colombia as the third. Finland is the world’s largest coffee consumers, followed by West Germany and then Japan (October 1st is official “Coffee Day” in Japan). There are 65 countries in the world grow coffee and all of them are found along the equator, within the tropics (between the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn). Coffee cherries usually contain two beans, except for the single peaberry anomaly.
Seventy-five percent of the world’s c0ffee comes from the Coffea Arabica plant. The most controversial part of coffee is its caffeine content (a powerful stimulant). Coffee can have a stimulating effect in humans due to its caffeine content, it affects the nervous system of the body. Robusta coffee has more caffeine than Arabica coffee. Espresso Coffee has just 1/3 of the caffeine content of ordinary coffee. It takes 40 coffee beans to make an espresso. However, not all charges against caffeine have proven true. Until now, whether the overall effects of coffee are ultimately negative or positive has been widely disputed. The caffeine found in coffee is believed can increase the effect of some painkillers, especially paracetamol and aspirin. Caffeine also found in tea, cocoa and soda drinks.The benefits of coffee (according to studies):
Coffee can reduce risk of liver damage and gallstones, increase the rate of metabolism, discourage colon cancer, and improve endurance and cognitive function.
The risks of Coffee (according to studies):
It can cause increased your blood pressure, make your heart beat pump faster and developing an irregular heartbeat. If we consume caffeine, it will work on our cardiac cells and will increase our pulse rate as a result. The condition greatly increases the risk of having a stroke, heart disease, heart attack or other cardiac problems.
Listen to your body's response, every person has different body response after drinking coffee. Sipping a cup of coffee is a pleasure as many of you would agree, my favorite moments to enjoy a cup of coffee is during working or spending my time with my laptop (blogging or the like) especially after i wake up or at bedtime. However, as for me after drinking coffee or tea, i would feel hungry faster (this is believed due to its caffeine content which will increase your metabolism) and at the end i ended up seeking for food. For me, coffee has an addictive property if consumed continuesly and some people have additional effect such as feeling anxiety, dizziness and fast heart beat (this one happen for me too, sometimes i can feel that my body is shaking), can’t get to sleep and get angry easily (inbalance mood). Thus if these negative effects are getting too much, it is better to stop consuming coffee and consult to the doctor if necessary.Brazil is the largest coffee-producing nation, responsible for 30 – 40% of total world output. Vietnam ranks number two followed by Colombia as the third. Finland is the world’s largest coffee consumers, followed by West Germany and then Japan (October 1st is official “Coffee Day” in Japan). There are 65 countries in the world grow coffee and all of them are found along the equator, within the tropics (between the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn). Coffee cherries usually contain two beans, except for the single peaberry anomaly.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
All about tea facts
Tea is the 2nd most widely-consumed beverage in the world – second only to plain water. It is also the cheapest and most popular beverage, next to water, in the world. Tea has a cooling, slightly bitter, astringent flavour which many people enjoy. The most commonly types of tea found on the market are white tea, green tea, black tea and oolong tea, all which are born from the same species of plant but processed differently. All true teas originate from the same evergreen plant: the Camellia Sinensis.
Camellia sinensis is an evergreen plant that grows mainly in sub-tropical and tropical climates. China is the birthplace of tea, but surprisingly it is not the world’s largest overall producer of tea. India is the world’s largest tea producer (approximately 850,000 tons of tea being processed every year), and Indian tea is also the world’s most consumed tea. Most Indian teas are black. Interestingly, it is said that Indians did not drink tea until Britain colonized India and intrroduces wide-scale tea cultivation.
Tea contains half the amount of caffeine found in coffee, making it a great alternative for those who are sensitive to caffeine intake. You can get rid most of the caffeine by “rinsing” the tea leaves, begin brewing tea as usual and then remove the leaves after about 20 seconds, discard the initial brew and start again with boiling water and the now-decaffeinated tea leaves.
The common health facts about tea is that it is rich in antioxidant, can stop infection, shield our immune systems and even help us shed some pounds. Catechins (a type of antioxidant) is contained in tea. Green tea and white tea has the highest concentration of catechins. Tea has no carbohydrates, fat, or protein. Tea is also a natural source of fluoride which can help protect against gum disease and tooth decay. It also has potential health maintainance benefits in cancer prevention and cardiovascular disease. Other benefits are helping people avoid heart attacks, removing bad smells and warts especially from your skin. Tea also believed to have a cleansing properties and can remove poison from stomach. I spent my time drinking tea and coffee a lot especially during my work in my room with my laptop, its such a pleasure and i love doing it. Without coffee, tea or any good beverage beside the computer can make me feel there is something lack of. Like coffee, drinking tea can also makes you feel hungry faster because of the caffeine content which will increase your metabolism.
Camellia sinensis is an evergreen plant that grows mainly in sub-tropical and tropical climates. China is the birthplace of tea, but surprisingly it is not the world’s largest overall producer of tea. India is the world’s largest tea producer (approximately 850,000 tons of tea being processed every year), and Indian tea is also the world’s most consumed tea. Most Indian teas are black. Interestingly, it is said that Indians did not drink tea until Britain colonized India and intrroduces wide-scale tea cultivation.
Tea contains half the amount of caffeine found in coffee, making it a great alternative for those who are sensitive to caffeine intake. You can get rid most of the caffeine by “rinsing” the tea leaves, begin brewing tea as usual and then remove the leaves after about 20 seconds, discard the initial brew and start again with boiling water and the now-decaffeinated tea leaves.The common health facts about tea is that it is rich in antioxidant, can stop infection, shield our immune systems and even help us shed some pounds. Catechins (a type of antioxidant) is contained in tea. Green tea and white tea has the highest concentration of catechins. Tea has no carbohydrates, fat, or protein. Tea is also a natural source of fluoride which can help protect against gum disease and tooth decay. It also has potential health maintainance benefits in cancer prevention and cardiovascular disease. Other benefits are helping people avoid heart attacks, removing bad smells and warts especially from your skin. Tea also believed to have a cleansing properties and can remove poison from stomach. I spent my time drinking tea and coffee a lot especially during my work in my room with my laptop, its such a pleasure and i love doing it. Without coffee, tea or any good beverage beside the computer can make me feel there is something lack of. Like coffee, drinking tea can also makes you feel hungry faster because of the caffeine content which will increase your metabolism.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Incest, Inbreeding Genetic Effects
Human beings have cells with 46 chromosomes --2 sex chrmosomes and 22 pairs of autosomal (non-sex) chromosomes. Females are "46, XX" and males are "46, XY". These chromosomes are made up of very very long DNA molecules in combination with chromosomal proteins.
The pairs of autosomal chromosomes, one from the father and one from the mother, carry basically the similar information. That is, each of them has the same genes, but there are slight variations in DNA sequence of nucleotide bases in each gene. These slight variations appear in less than one percent of the DNA sequence and produce different variants of a particular gene that are called alleles.
The primary concern witth incest is that the family members are too genetically linked. Breeding between siblings can lead to genetic disorders. It can have ill effects like mortalities and slow growth rate. Inbreeding increases the frequency of homozygotes, that is, the same allele at the same locus on both meembers of a chromosome pair (the location of the gene is called the locus). This means that they carry two copies (alleles) of the same gene (if both alleles are different, the organism is called heterozygous). This happens because close relatives are more likely to share alleles more than nonrelated individuals. This is especially important for deleterious recessive genes, that are inactive and harmless in a heterozygous pairing, but when homozygous can cause developmental defects. Such offspring have much higher chance of death before reaching at the reproduction age, leading to what biologists call inbreeding depression. Recessive genes which may contain various genetic problems have a tendency to appear more frequently if joined with someone who has the same gene. Genetic traits can be influenced by more than one gene, sometimes interactions between multiple genes are involved, which makes the process of inheritance rather complicated.
First-generation inbred individuals will more likely to show physical and health defects, including:
• Increased genetic disorders
• Reduced fertility both in litter size and sperm viability
• Fluctuating facial asymmetry
• Lower birth rate
• Higher infant mortality
• Smaller adult size
• Slower growth rate
• Loss of immune system function
The pairs of autosomal chromosomes, one from the father and one from the mother, carry basically the similar information. That is, each of them has the same genes, but there are slight variations in DNA sequence of nucleotide bases in each gene. These slight variations appear in less than one percent of the DNA sequence and produce different variants of a particular gene that are called alleles.
The primary concern witth incest is that the family members are too genetically linked. Breeding between siblings can lead to genetic disorders. It can have ill effects like mortalities and slow growth rate. Inbreeding increases the frequency of homozygotes, that is, the same allele at the same locus on both meembers of a chromosome pair (the location of the gene is called the locus). This means that they carry two copies (alleles) of the same gene (if both alleles are different, the organism is called heterozygous). This happens because close relatives are more likely to share alleles more than nonrelated individuals. This is especially important for deleterious recessive genes, that are inactive and harmless in a heterozygous pairing, but when homozygous can cause developmental defects. Such offspring have much higher chance of death before reaching at the reproduction age, leading to what biologists call inbreeding depression. Recessive genes which may contain various genetic problems have a tendency to appear more frequently if joined with someone who has the same gene. Genetic traits can be influenced by more than one gene, sometimes interactions between multiple genes are involved, which makes the process of inheritance rather complicated.First-generation inbred individuals will more likely to show physical and health defects, including:
• Increased genetic disorders
• Reduced fertility both in litter size and sperm viability
• Fluctuating facial asymmetry
• Lower birth rate
• Higher infant mortality
• Smaller adult size
• Slower growth rate
• Loss of immune system function