4 Ways to Beat Bad Coffee and Cigarettes

We’ve all seen movies where two bad guys face off in a diner. They’re drinking bad diner coffee and smoking cheap cigarettes. This type of a scene makes for great cinema but not so great health. Why? Because low-quality coffee has many of the same health risks as tobacco. It’s actually a little scary how many similarities there are. Let’s take a closer look at the side effects and how to beat them.

1. How To Beat Pesticides in Coffee and Cigarettes.

Tobacco is the most chemically treated plant in the world. And, second place goes to – you guessed it! – coffee. Strict USDA regulations prevent farmers in America from putting many harsh pesticides – like DDT – on their crops. However, in foreign countries, the regulations are much more relaxed, so they can put many nasty chemicals on their crops. To make matters worse, coffee is highly absorbent, so the chemicals soak up into the beans and stay there for good. These crops are then imported to the United States.

Here’s what you should do.

Only buy USDA Certified Organic coffee. The USDA performs regular checks — traveling directly to the farms — to ensure certified organic coffees remain chemical free and safe. The USDA also performs regular checks of coffee roasters here in the US. This ensures USDA Certified Organic beans are in fact USDA Certified Organic.

Oh yeah, and to avoid the pesticides in your smokes just flush them down the toilet. No, really, we love you. Please don’t smoke.

2. How To Beat Heartburn From Coffee and Cigarettes.

Heartburn and acid reflux are known side effects of smoking cigarettes and drinking bad coffee.

But, why? It’s all about where the coffee grows — in the sun, or in the shade. When coffee is sun-grown, it grows faster, and unfortunately overdevelops acidity. Most coffee companies buy these cheaper, sun-grown beans and therefore produce a highly acidic coffee.

Here’s what you should do.

Only drink shade-grown coffee. Coffee grows slower in the shade. This allows the beans to grow over time — developing a smoother flavor and giving you much less acidity.

And for cigarettes, just toss them in a campfire. No, really, we love you. Please don’t smoke.

3. How to Beat Jitters From Coffee and Cigarettes.

Caffeine and Nicotine are addictive, cause jitters, and can both lead to dangerous health problems if overdosed.

Just like with acidity, sun-grown coffee develops more caffeine too. With too much caffeine from sun-grown coffee you suffer from ‘coffee jitters.’ Also, much like nicotine, too much caffeine can also cause depression, insomnia, headaches, and many other health hazards.

Here’s what you should do.

Again, I say: shade-grown beans! If you only drink shade-grown coffee you’ll be one step closer to safer caffeine levels. Now for those energy drinks, that’s a different story.

To avoid nicotine addiction and its side effects, avoid smoking by burying those coffin nails in the ground. No, really, we love you. Please don’t smoke.

4. How To Beat Smoke From Coffee and Cigarettes.

Cigarette smoke contains a chemical called Acrylamide. Studies have shown that extensive exposure to Acrylamide can cause nerve damage, paralysis, and other frightening health problems.

Acrylamide also forms when foods are cooked over 250 degrees Fahrenheit (which is why it’s commonly found in potato chips, french fries, and other fried foods).

So what’s this got to do with coffee? Well, many of the coffees you can pick up off of the shelf are stale. The reason for this is the logistics of transporting coffee across the country. Most off the shelf coffees are at a minimum of 3 months old before you even buy them.

To combat this many coffee companies will over-roast or burn their coffees to create a consistent ‘burnt’ taste. And, by over-roasting their coffee – aka burning it! – these companies produce higher than safe amounts of Acrylamide in their coffee.

Here’s what you should do.

Only buy coffee that is super fresh. Look for a roast on date not a best by date. Know how fresh your coffee is. A coffee company with a roast on date has nothing to hide.

The only way to avoid the Acrylamide in cigarette smoke is to avoid smoking these cowboy killers in the first place! No, really, we love you. Please don’t smoke.

Want to try Coffee That’s Actually Good For You?

At Buzzbox Coffee we only roast coffees that are USDA Certified Organic and Shade Grown. And add that to the fact that we roast and ship our coffee directly to you within 48 hours and you’re giving yourself the safest and healthiest coffee around.

Put Your Grounds In The Ground!

Let’s face it…as soon as you smell your Buzzbox Coffee at your doorstep you can’t wait to drink it, right?! You rip the bags open and start drinking it as soon as possible. But what happens after you’ve enjoyed every cup? Do you throw the grounds out without a care in the world? You may not know this, but you’re throwing away the worlds best fertilizer!

Make Your Neighbors Envious Of Your Coffee Garden!

Naturally, coffee grounds are packed with nutrients and minerals making them the perfect soil enhancer to boost your garden’s beauty. With essential minerals such as potassium, phosphorus, magnesium and copper, your hungry garden can get lots of what it needs from coffee! Whether they’re indoor or outdoor – your flowers, shrubs or evergreens will love your coffee with all its nutrients.

Don’t Forget The Nitrogen

Mineral enrichment is essential to a flourishing garden. However, did you know nitrogen is also important? Nitrogen in the soil will lead to brilliant and healthy plants. Fertilizer at the store is a great source of nitrogen, but why buy more fertilizer when coffee already arrives to your door? After brewing, coffee grounds contain up to 2% nitrogen in volume. This makes your coffee the perfect nitrogen soil enhancer!

Grow Them In The Shade

To get the maximum nutrients in your coffee beans they must be grown in the shade. When grown in direct sunlight, the roots soak up less nutrients from the soil. You don’t have to worry because your Buzzbox Coffee only grows in the shade. With our commitment to shade grown, your grounds will help your flowers to flourish – causing envy in the neighborhood!

Why Using Organic Beans Is Critical

Who wants to add harmful pesticides to their beautiful flowers? We know you don’t! USDA Certified Organic guarantees no pesticide contamination on our coffee trees. This coffee is chemical free! Not only will your plants love this organic fertilizer, but your farmer’s health is protected too. You can rest assured, your Buzzbox Coffee grounds will be safe around your family, kids and pets.

How Should I Place My Grounds In The Ground?

To use the coffee grounds, take your rototiller and till the coffee grounds 6-8 into the ground. Mixing the grounds deep in the earth will trap the nutrients in the soil and reach your plant’s roots. Don’t have a tiller? Take handfuls of coffee grounds and thoroughly mix them with your compost. Then, sprinkle your new coffee enhanced soil around the roots of your plants.

It’s up to you how much coffee you add to your soil mixture. Your plants will absorb the nutrients whether you add a handful or a whole pound. Don’t forget – only add the grounds after they are brewed. Adding them before they’re brewed can affect the pH balance in your soil. Without the proper pH balance, your plants may wilt.

Make A Difference With Each Cup

You can do more than grow a beautiful garden with Buzzbox Coffee. Not only do your plants benefit but your coffee farmers benefit as well. Your coffee is pesticide free. This means, your coffee farmer did not risk their health growing your coffee. Another reason you’re making a difference is through the environment. By not adding to your waste bin, you can enjoy your coffee through your beautiful plants and reduce your impact on the environment.

Now that you’ve gained this exciting coffee gardening knowledge, feel free to share it with your friends and family! We thank you for making a real difference for our farmers and environment by drinking the world’s top 1% grade beans!

3 Shocking Facts About Artificially Flavored Coffee

Mmmmm . . . . ! Mocha, caramel, and hazelnut flavored coffees fly off the shelf daily. Unfortunately, many coffee drinkers remain in the dark about artificially flavored coffee. Learn the 3 Shocking Facts About Artificially Flavored Coffee and keep reading to the end to learn the 4 Keys to Mind-Blowing Natural Coffee Flavor.

A Smorgasbord of Chemicals: Cream, Sugar, or Antifreeze?

That’s right, you read that correctly, a smorgasbord. The popular coffee flavoring chemical compound propylene glycol, also exists in antifreeze! Do you love Irish Cream? That’s made with ethyl alcohol, dimethylamine-D1, and formamidine acetate. Does that sound delicious? If you’re a fan of peanut flavor, you’re drinking 2,4-dimethyl-5-acetylthiazole. Yum! There’s got to be a better way to enjoy coffee.

HAZMAT Is The New Black!

Naturally, using strong solvents and chemicals to flavor coffee can have an adverse effect on employees. Hazmat suits — this is the dark side of flavored coffee. Without these suits, workers risk terrible long term health effects such as bronchiolitis obliterans, a type of incurable lung cancer. Now just think you drink these flavored beans. Do you really know what’s going into those beans? When you think of employees working at a coffee company, do you picture them wearing HAZMAT suits? Neither do we. That’s why we never flavor our beans. We don’t have to. Read to the end to find out why.

Bitter Beans, Better Taste?

Speaking of brewing flavored coffee beans, what kind of coffee needs to be flavored anyway? The cheap stuff. The stuff that’s left over. The stuff that you couldn’t drink without strong chemicals tricking your taste buds. Most flavored coffee is cheap robusta beans: the highly acidic, bitter coffee beans most big coffee companies use as filler. These beans are simply the carriers of the chemical flavors. You’re not really drinking coffee.

4 Keys to Mind-Blowing Natural Coffee Flavor

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Coffee Has More Flavor Potential Than Wine

If your coffee is fresh, organic, and free of imperfections it will blow your taste buds away. How? Because if coffee is taken care of, it will release the power of 800 naturally occurring chemical compounds. To give you some perspective, wine has only 200 flavor compounds. Coffee is packed with flavor — you just have to treat it right.

Freshness Is Key

Protect your coffee experience with fresh coffee. Coffee loses its flavor within the first few weeks after roasting. To give you some perspective, grocery store coffee is on average 3 months old due to the logistics of transportation and distribution. Protect your coffee flavor by only buying coffee that’s been roasted fresh within the past few days.

The Soil Must Be Nutrient Rich

A little known fact about coffee is how it gets its flavor. Coffee draws its flavor from the minerals and nutrients stored in the soil. The soil replenishes its nutrients and minerals naturally when a variety of plant life is grown together. That’s one reason why we only roast coffee that is shade-grown. It simply improves the soil quality and therefore the flavor.

Country of Origin Also Plays a Role

The coffee tree is affected by the climate and elevation of the coffee’s country of origin. The higher the elevation the better. The more tropical the climate the better. The combination of soil type, climate, and elevation all combine to give you 800 chemical compounds that make up coffee’s complex flavor.

Adding it all together . . .

When you add together the soil type, the high elevation, and the tropical climate you find there are only a handful of places in the world that can grow truly phenomenal coffee.

It’s Your Lucky Day!

If you love artificially flavored mocha, then you’ll love our organically grown Papua New Guinea with its naturally strong cocoa tones. If hazelnut is your flavor of choice, then our Brazil Dark roast with its strong nutty flavors will knock your socks off.  And right now, when you join Buzzbox you can have either of these coffees for free. Give them a shot and let us know what you think.

Here at Buzzbox, we like to give credit where credit is due. So, Vive la France! Thank you France for giving us the best coffee extraction method known to man – the French Press. Here are 5 Tips to Make the Best French Press Coffee.

1. The First Step to Make The Best Coffee For French Press – The Right Water

Using tap water will handicap your flavor. You must use filtered or spring water. Nope, distilled water won’t work either; you need minerals to aid in the extraction process. So, only use cold filtered, or spring water.

2. The Second Step to Make The Best Coffee For French Press – The Coffee

Yes the coffee beans make a difference in your cup of coffee. You need the best coffee in the world. Of course this means you need certified organic, shade-grown and freshly roasted coffee. But how do you grind it? Coarse! The beans must be ground coarse to prevent the sludgy post-brew grounds from ending in your cup. You need 2 tablespoons per 6 ounces. 

3. The Third Step to Make The Best Coffee for French Press – The Equipment

You need a good filter. The best filter will keep the coffee grounds in the press – not in your cup. Bodum makes some of the best french presses. Their filters come in three pieces that you can take apart and clean. 

4. The Fourth Step to Make The Best Coffee for French Press – Don’t Boil The Water

Never pour boiling water on your freshly ground beans. Boiling water will scorch the beans and alter the taste. You need hot water that is just off of the boil. The ideal temperature is between 195 and 205?F.

5. The Fifth Step to Make The Best Coffee for French Press – Bust the Crust!

Once you have doused all of the grounds in water wait for the ‘crust’ to form. The ‘crust’ is the grounds that will rise to the top. To aid in the extraction process you must stir the grounds and break up this ‘crust’. If you have a glass french press, only stir using a wooden stirrer or chop stick. Over time a metal stirrer or spoon can cause the glass to crack and break due to the high temperature of the water. 

6. The Sixth Step to Make The Best Coffee for French Press – Let It Sit!

 Let your coffee sit for 3 to 5 minutes, depending on how strong you want your brew. Then, finally, press and pour.

7. The Seventh Step to Make The Best Coffee for French Press – Enjoy

The dark brew falls, splashing and swirling til it comes to its resting place – in your warm mug. Warm your mug prior to pouring to maintain the heat and flavor of your coffee. Lastly drink your beautiful french press coffee within 10 minutes of pouring. The flavors of the coffee will change as the temperature cools. This provides you with the widest range of flavors.

So there you have it: the 7 tips to make the best coffee for french press. The best coffee extraction method: French Press, running the length and breadth of coffee’s vast variety of flavors.