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Brew Guide: Aeropress

Brew Guide: Aeropress

Aerobie, the company that invented the Aeropress, is not a coffee company by origin. Their first product was actually the Aerobie Pro – A flying disk. Alan Adler, the founder of the company, had invented many disk-like toys before he invented the Aeropress. Today, Aeropress is Aerobie’s #1 product and an extremely popular method of one cup brewing. The Aeropress produces an espresso strength coffee and as a result, has become known as the “poor man’s” espresso.

Aeropress is a pretty easy brew and only takes around 10 minutes.

WHAT YOU NEED:

  • Aeropress
  • Tools Included
  • Water
  • Coffee
  • Circular Filter
  • Gooseneck Kettle
  • Grinder

AMOUNTS

1 scoop coffee & 12 oz water (16 grams coffee & 355 grams water)

GROUNDS

You’ll want one heaping Aeropress scoop of finely ground coffee to start – a #4 grind on industrial machines.

WATER

Bring your water to a boil and then remove from heat. Never pour boiling water straight onto coffee grounds – it will scorch them and give your coffee a burnt flavor. Allow the water to cool for 30 seconds (the temperature should be between 195-205) before you proceed to the next step.

FILTER

Place the paper filter into the plastic filter, screw it onto the Aeropress and set it over your mug. From here, you can wet the filter with your hot water, to remove the papery taste and heat your press and mug. Dump out the water before proceeding.

ADDING GROUNDS/BLOOM

Drop the grounds into the vessel, and add just enough water to cover them. Let them bloom for 30 seconds before continuing.

POURING

After the bloom, pour more hot water into the Aeropress, until the water level is just above the blue number 3.

STIRRING AND PRESS

Use the paddle that comes with your press to give the grounds a stir for about 5 seconds, then place the plunger into the tube. From here, slowly press the coffee through the filter until you hear a hissing noise.

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Bringing The Gospel To Troubled Youth

Bringing The Gospel To Troubled Youth: an update from a Living Hope Team in the field.

Recently we saw great gains with ministering to troubled youth at the Bosasa Youth Development Center. These kids come from rough backgrounds and they have themselves committed crimes. We were unsure of their reception to God’s Word, but as we had prepared we felt led to be bold and intentional about sharing the gospel with these youth. We met with two groups. The first group was large, rowdy and easily distracted amongst themselves. Something amazing happened, however. As our team leader announced he was going to start reading from the Word, the youth immediately began to pay attention and the distractions stopped. Our team was reminded that God’s Word has ultimate authority.

The second group was smaller and more responsive. After we presented the Word, we invited this group to stay behind to discuss and pray over whatever challenges they felt led to share. Two men stayed behind. They both shared that they had case hearings the next day. We prayed with them and felt the Holy Spirit moving as we prayed.

We ask that you too continue to pray for these youth at Bosasa. Thank you also for making a difference with your daily cup of coffee. Because of you, the Gospel is being shared with people across the globe.

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Brew Guide: Moka Pot

Brew Guide: Moka Pot

Moka Pot was invented in 1933 when Italy’s economy wasn’t doing so swell. It was marketed as an affordable way to enjoy daily espresso at home, and thereby avoiding cafe prices. Today, many people still use the Moka Pot, and it’s known as one of the best ways to get ‘Stovetop Espresso’.

Moka Pot is a simple brew that takes about 15 minutes.

WHAT YOU NEED

  • Moka Pot
  • Coffee
  • Kettle
  • Grinder

AMOUNTS

The amount of coffee you need depends on the size of your Moka Pot. You’ll want enough to fill the funnel filter of your pot without packing down the grounds.

Moka Pots come in all shapes and sizes, so measure how much water fills the bottom half of your pot before beginning.

GROUNDS

Grind your beans on a medium grind, which is a #6 or Drip Flat on an industrial grinder.

WATER

It’s not recommended that you boil your water directly in the Moka pot, because it might give it a metallic taste, so heat it in a separate kettle before beginning. Carefully pour the boiling water right into the bottom of the Moka Pot, filling it until the water line is even with the screw on the side.

ASSEMBLY/ADDING GROUNDS

Put the grounds in the funnel filter, using your finger to even it out and remove excess coffee. Place the filter on the base, and screw the top half on. Caution: the base will be hot from the hot water, you might want to use a towel or hot mit while you do this step.

BEGIN BREW

Open the lid and set the Moka Pot onto your stovetop on a medium setting. To avoid burning your pot, don’t turn the burner any hotter than medium. Also be careful not to have the handle directly over the flame, as it could melt if it gets too hot.

CONTINUE BREWING

After a couple minutes, steam will start to push the water up through the grounds and into the top chamber. As soon as this starts, place the lid onto the pot. (Note: Sometimes if the grounds are too coarse, the water will shoot up out of the pot. If this happens, be careful that you don’t get burned and try a finer grind the next time you brew).

FINISHING BREW

Once the lid is on, wait nearby and listen. When you hear a gurgling noise, remove the pot from heat – your brew is finished!

ENJOY

Pour into a separate mug and enjoy. If you find stovetop espresso too strong, dilute with a bit of hot water or cream. Lastly, be cautious when handling and cleaning your moka pot, as the metal will be extremely hot.

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4 Ways to Improve Brain Health with Organic Coffee

4 Ways to Improve Brain Health with Organic Coffee

“Coffee’s bad for you! Don’t drink that stuff!” We all know that one person who insists coffee will cause you health issues further down the road. Next time that ‘friend’ harasses you about your love for coffee, tell them about the 4 Ways Organic Coffee Improves Brain Health .

1. Organic Coffee Improves Brain Health By Increasing Your Memory

If you’re anything like me, you forget things all the time. But recent research reports that you might be in luck – coffee can help your memory!

Michael Yassa, an assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at Johns Hopkins comments on a recent study, “We’ve always known that caffeine has cognitive-enhancing effects, but its particular effects on strengthening memories and making them resistant to forgetting has never been examined in detail . . . We report for the first time a specific effect of caffeine on reducing forgetting over 24 hours.”1

So how did the John Hopkins researchers come to this conclusion? First, they asked their participants to study a series of images. Then they gave some of the participants caffeine and others a placebo. They then sat through a boring 24 hours. Many yawns later they tested the participants memory of the images. They found the participants who took caffeine could remember more images than the participants who took just the placebo.2

For the next round of testing the researchers made it trickier. As if looking at pictures and trying to remember them wasn’t hard enough. For the next round of testing they used a variety of images — some the same, some new, and some similar but not the same. Those sneaky researchers.

Dr. Yassa gives us his take, “If we used a standard recognition memory task without these tricky similar items, we would have found no effect of caffeine. However, using these items requires the brain to make a more difficult discrimination – what we call pattern separation, which seems to be the process that is enhanced by caffeine in our case.”3

Of course, while these studies do promote the benefit of caffeine, you always want to be careful that you don’t consume too much of it. To prevent caffeine overload, we recommend always drinking Arabica, shade-grown coffee beans. When beans are grown in the shade they grow slower — developing less acidity. This results in a smoother, less bitter cup of coffee. 

Additionally arabica beans contain half of the caffeine content of other beans. Shade-Grown coffee is the best way to enjoy a safe & healthy dose of caffeine while still finding a way to improve your brain health with coffee.

2. Organic Coffee Improves Brain Health by Preventing Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s Disease is a debilitating neurodegenerative disorder that affects 1.2 million people in Europe alone with an estimated 75,000 new cases diagnosed each year.4 But there is hope. In addition to new drug therapies, caffeine has been shown to have a noticeable effect on treatment and prevention of Parkinson’s.

Research from as far back as 1968 points to caffeine in coffee having a positive impact on preventing and reversing some of the symptoms of Parkinson’s.5 In fact, a study conducted in 2000 found that men who drink 4 or more cups of coffee per day have a five-fold reduced risk for developing Parkinson’s Disease.6 Another study found the risk reduced from 24% – 32% for every 3 extra cups of coffee consumed per day.7

There’s a lot of research out there that gives us hope, but how exactly does coffee help prevent or reverse Parkinson’s disease? Caffeine reverses Parkinson’s disease by inhibiting the damaged receptors in the brain. These are the same receptors that control motor function. When damaged they create the tremors most associated with the disease. So basically the caffeine in coffee works to increase motor activity while at the same time reducing motor deficits like tremors caused by Parkinson’s Disease.8

In short, you’re doing your future self a favor by drinking that cuppa joe every morning! But one more thing to keep in mind: organic coffee. Coffee is one of the most absorbent crops on the planet. It’s also sprayed with more pesticides than any other crop on the planet outside of Tobacco. Make sure to choose organic and after one sip you’ll see why.

3. Organic Coffee Improves Brain Health by Helping You Avoid Stroke

There are many good practices and lifestyle choices you can make that keep you at a minimal risk for stroke, and coffee is one of them! There haven’t yet been many in depth studies done on the connection between coffee and stroke prevention, but the research & statistics currently available on the matter are quite impressive, particularly among women:

“A research study out of Sweden revealed that women who consumed more than a cup of caffeinated coffee daily reduced their risk of stroke by 22 to 25 percent.9

Scientists have yet to pinpoint what exactly it is about coffee that has such a strong effect, but I suspect we’ll see more studies on that in the coming years. I don’t know about you, but until then, I’m content drinking my organic coffee knowing that something about it is reducing my risk of a stroke.

4. Organic Coffee Improves Brain Health By Helping You Slow Down Alzheimers

Last but not least, caffeine in coffee seems to be helping to prevent Alzheimer’s disease too. A study conducted over a 21 year period showed a 65% decrease in onset of Alzheimer’s Disease for people who started drinking 3 – 5 cups of coffee per day.10

Some reports are even showing that caffeine in coffee can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease in patients who already have some form of mild dementia. 11

So the next time your friend looks at your hot cup o’ joe and says “You’re going to regret that!”, tell them they’re missing out on an easy and tasty way to improve brain health with coffee.

I mean, really, If preventing memory loss, Parkinson’s, strokes, and Alzheimer’s is as simple as a few cups a day – why wouldn’t you want to drink delicious organic coffee?!

Sources

1.http://hub.jhu.edu/2014/01/12/caffeine-enhances-memory

2.IBID.

3.IBID.

4.European Parkinson’s Disease Association (2011) ‘EPDA Annual report 2010-2011.’ Available at: http://www.epda.eu.com/welcome/

5.Nefzger M.D. et al. (1968) A retrospective study of smoking in Parkinson’s disease. Am J Epidemiol, 88:149-158.

6.Webster Ross G. et al. (2000) Association of coffee and caffeine intake with the risk of Parkinson disease. JAMA, 283:2674-2679.

7. Costa J. et al. (2010) Caffeine exposure and the risk of Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. J Alzheimers Dis, 20 Suppl 1:S221-38.

8.<>a href=”http://coffeeandhealth.org/topic-overview/coffee-and-parkinsons-disease/”>http://coffeeandhealth.org/topic-overview/coffee-and-parkinsons-disease/

9.http://www.caffeineinformer.com/prevent-a-stroke-by-drinking-caffeine

10. Eskelinen M.H. et al. (2009) Midlife coffee and tea drinking and the risk of late-life dementia: a population-based CAIDE study. J Alzheimers Dis, 16:85-91.

11.Cao C. et al. (2012) High blood caffeine levels in MCI linked to lack of progression to dementia. J Alzheimers Dis, 30:559-572.

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3 Ways to Avoid Heartburn with Coffee

3 Ways to Avoid Heartburn with Coffee

Introductions

All too often, I hear people say “I can’t drink coffee because it gives me heartburn!” Yes, acid reflux is a real problem that many people experience after drinking coffee. However, not all coffee is created equal!  Many people associate their heartburn problem with coffee as a whole, not realizing that there are very specific reasons that a particular brand of coffee causes it.

In fact, by following these three criteria, it’s quite possible to drink coffee and be worry-free about heartburn and acid reflux.

1. Get the right amount of caffeine

A big player in the cause of acid reflux is overcaffeination. When your caffeine intake is too high, the muscle that connects the stomach to the esophagus is relaxed.1 When this happens, an opening is created for stomach acid to come up into your esophagus, which causes acid reflux. Ew! That’s pretty gross.

So how do we make sure we have a safe amount of caffeine? Most experts agree 600mg per day(4-7 cups) is overcaffeination.2 For some such as pregnant mothers it’s advised to be 200mg(about 2 cups).3 According to Health Canada — the federal health department in Canada — 400mg (just over 4 cups) is a safe daily caffeine consumption rate.

By making sure the coffee you drink has safe caffeine levels, you can prevent acid reflux and enjoy your nice hot cup of coffee without the dreaded consequence of heartburn. Keep reading to learn the best ways to avoid hyper-caffeinated coffee.

2. Only Drink Shade-Grown Coffee

Did you know there is a difference between Shade-Grown coffee and Sun-Grown coffee? It’s not surprising if you don’t – it’s not something you hear a lot about. Why? Because Sun-Grown coffee is poorer quality, and much cheaper to produce!

Many grocery-store coffee blends use sun-grown beans to reduce costs. But, coffee isn’t supposed to grow in direct sunlight. By being exposed to the strong rays of the sun, it grows faster — hence being much cheaper — but it then contains more acidity, and a higher caffeine content. When coffee is grown in the shade, it develops at a slower, healthier pace. It develops lower caffeine content, and lower acidity giving you a much smoother cup of coffee.

Because they are low in caffeine and acidity, Shade-Grown beans are much less likely to cause problems with acid reflux. You should always look for coffee that is labeled as Shade-Grown, to ensure you’re getting the smoothest cup without the jitters.

3. Only Drink 100% Arabica Coffee

In addition to drinking shade-grown coffee, you should also consider only drinking 100% Arabica beans. So what’s the difference between Arabica and regular coffee? Well, there are two types of coffee beans: Arabica and Robusta. (Again, it’s not surprising that you may not know this, because it isn’t advertised by the masses.) Robusta beans are cheaper because they grow at lower altitudes, and they’re more hardy making them resilient to pests. But, the tradeoff is Robusta beans are more bitter and contain twice the caffeine content of Arabica beans.

What does this have to do with acid reflux? The extra caffeine in Robusta beans makes you more susceptible to acid reflux and heartburn.

So what’s the solution? Drink 100% Arabica coffee – you’ll taste and feel the difference, and won’t ever want to go back to Robusta beans.

Conclusion

Many people give up coffee because of acid reflux and heartburn. But you don’t have to! Just remember to avoid hyper-caffenation by only drinking 100% Arabica, Shade-Grown coffee.

And if you don’t believe me, check out these testimonials from our customers below. They’ve discovered that Shade-Grown and Arabica beans are the solution to their struggles with heartburn. Try our 100% Arabica and Shade Grown coffee and see if it works for you. You’ll be glad you did!

Sources

1. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/08/13/158097387/got-heartburn-maybe-you-should-rethink-your-drink

2.http://www.fda.gov/downloads/UCM200805.pdf

3.March of Dimes (2012) Caffiene in Pregnancy http://www.marchofdimes.com/pregnancy/caffeine-in-pregnancy.aspx

4.Health Canada. (2013) Health Canada Reminds Canadians to Manage Their Caffeine Consumptionhttp://healthycanadians.gc.ca/recall-alert-rappel-avis/hc-sc/2013/34021a-eng.php