Philadelphia Recipe, Espresso and vanilla panna cotta

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Ingredients for 6

• 60 ml strong black coffee
• 25 g caster sugar
• 200 ml whipping cream
• 25 g caster sugar
• 0.5 vanilla pod, split or 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 225 g Philadelphia Lightest
• 1 tsp powdered gelatine dissolved in 1 Tbsp boiling water

Instructions

1. Combine the coffee and sugar in a small saucepan and stir until the sugar is dissolved, simmer for 1-2 minutes until syrupy. Pour into small glasses and allow to cool.
2. Heat the cream, sugar and vanilla pod in a pan until almost boiling but do not allow to boil. Discard the vanilla pod and cool the mixture.
3. Beat the Philadelphia until smooth and then gradually add the cream mixture and gelatine. Spoon into the glasses and chill for 2-3 hours until set.

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A Flowchart to Help You Choose the Right Coffee Brewing Method

There are a lot of brew methods out there, so how do you know which one's right for you? It all depends on what you're looking for, which is why we put together this flowchart. Choosing a brew method has never been easier.

Click here for a larger version of the flowchart

Aeropress

Remember playing with an Aerobie when you were a kid? That crazy round disc that looked kind of like a UFO? Well that same company makes a coffee brewing device that has become the wunderkind of the coffee world. It gets an entire championship devoted to it. Aeropress lovers will cite its flexibility; the fact that you can get creative with recipes. In fact, you can try any of the World Championship recipes at home.

How to Make Aeropress Coffee

Bialetti

The Bialetti is an iconic piece of Italian design — an aluminum stovetop espresso maker that's been in use since 1933.

History of the Bialetti: How the Bialetti Coffee Maker Brought Coffee Into the Home

Chemex

In my personal opinion, the Chemex is one of the most beautiful brew methods, which makes it a nice kitchen display when it's not in use. It's also a classic; it was invented all the way back in 1941. For Chemex you can use paper filters, or even invest in a stainless steel one.

How to Brew Coffee with a Chemex

French Press

It doesn't get much simpler than a French press: grounds, water, go. But just because it's simple doesn't mean things can't go wrong. Make sure you avoid these three common mistakes people make when brewing French press and you'll be good to go.

How to Make French Press Coffee

Siphon

The siphon brew system, also called the vacuum coffee maker, is certainly the most dramatic, so if you're looking to wow your dinner guests, this one is for you. Probably not your best option for your regular morning cup, however.

What Is Siphon Coffee and How Is It Made?

Clever Dripper

The Clever Dripper is one of several pour-over methods. Similar to a Melitta or other ceramic drippers, what makes the Clever Dripper different is that it combines the principles of a pour-over filter and a French press. The best of both worlds, so to say.

How to Brew Great Coffee: The Pour-Over Method

Espresso Drinks

Espresso is a hard thing to master, but for those who have espresso machines at home, a variety of drink options are available; which one you make mostly depends on how much milk you want. (And you can also sort of cheat with strong coffee and foamed milk from the microwave!)

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Are You Consuming Your Coffee Correctly?

 by Morenike Adebayo

 

Photo credit: 9387388673 on shutterstock/Looks like someone's finally spilled the beans

For many of us, just the mere thought of that first cup of coffee is enough to warrant crawling out of bed in the morning. The nascent aroma of a good blend alone can blast the sleepiness away for many.

But, according to a new video (below) from YouTube channel ASAPScience, you’ve been drinking your coffee all wrong.

Bitter Coffee Today? Try Changing The Color Of Your Cup

by George Van Doorn

Photo credit: We know different coloured plates can affect how food ‘tastes’ … and now we know that the same applies to coffee. Esti Alvarez/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

In Australia, around a billion cups of coffee a year are consumed in cafés, restaurants and other outlets. Even Britain, a nation famous for its fondness for tea, has in recent years seen a dramatic rise in its coffee consumption, with an estimated 70 million cups drunk each day.

Given the economic incentive to keep consumers drinking coffee, café owners, restaurateurs, crockery designers and manufacturers will, presumably, be interested in anything that can help to enhance the multisensory coffee-drinking experience for their clientele.

And, in research published last week in the journal Flavour by my colleagues and I, it appears that cup colour plays a big part in the way coffee drinkers perceive the taste of their morning cuppa.

One Day, At My Local Cafe …

The idea behind this study came about serendipitously. A barista once told me that when coffee is consumed from a white, ceramic mug, it tastes more bitter than when drunk from a clear, glass mug. Note that these two mug types are among the most commonly used vessels to serve coffee in Australian cafés and restaurants.

My colleagues and I, then, sought to establish the validity of this claim which, to our knowledge, had not been tested before.

Although many studies have been published on color-flavor interactions over the years, there is a lack of research on the psychological impact of the cups from which we drink. This paucity is surprising given, as we saw above, how many cups of coffee are drunk every day.

The notion that the color of the receptacle could impact taste/flavour perception might relate to work by consumer studies researcher Betina Piqueras-Fiszman and colleagues, which showed that a red, strawberry-flavored mousse presented on a white plate was rated as 10% sweeter and 15% more flavorful than when exactly the same food was presented on a black plate.

Coffee And Contrast

Taking the principal one stage further, and given the conversation with the barista, we proposed that brown may be associated with bitterness (or, perhaps, negatively associated with sweetness) and that coffee from a white mug should be rated as somewhat more bitter than exactly the same coffee when consumed from a transparent mug.

It is possible that another mechanism might affect the perception of taste.

Here, if light, opaque, milky brown coffee were to be associated with bitterness, then a light blue mug should intensify the brown of the coffee as it is brown’s complementary color; as such the brown of the coffee will “pop out”.

Aayesha Siddiqui/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

This, in turn, would be expected to elevate ratings of bitterness relative to the same coffee when served in a transparent mug.

Some famous examples of the use of this “simultaneous contrast” mechanism are Heinz’s use of a greenish-blue can to set off the red-orange color of its beans and sauce, and Cadbury’s use of purple packaging to enhance the colour of its chocolate.

In one experiment, the white mug enhanced the rated “intensity” of the coffee flavor relative to the transparent mug – but given slight physical differences in the mugs used, a second experiment was conducted using identical glass mugs with colored sleeves.

Once again, the color of the mug was shown to influence participants’ rating of the coffee. In particular, the coffee was rated as less sweet in the white mug as compared to the transparent and blue mugs.

The Takeaway Message

Our study clearly shows that the color of a mug does influence the perceived taste/ flavor of coffee.

Interestingly, Dutch psychologist Ap Dijksterhuis suggested that because of the use of the word “strong” in advertising, consumers often confuse a coffee’s strength or intensity with its “bitterness”. In our research we found a trend in bitterness ratings that mirrored intensity ratings.

We also found that any reduction in the “sweetness” of the coffee when presented from a white mug might also be expected to increase perceived bitterness (or strength). This supports research (mentioned above) which shows brown, among other colors, is negatively associated with sweetness.

The cross modal effect of the color of the mug on the flavour of the coffee reported here suggests that café owners, baristas, as well as crockery manufacturers should carefully consider the colour of their mugs.

The potential effects may spell the difference between a one-time purchase and a return customer.


George Van Doorn does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Six Coffee Questions you are too afraid to ask

Regular Coffee Consumption May Help Protect Against A Form Of Skin Cancer

by Justine Alford 

Photo credit: Aggie 11, via Shutterstock.

Coffee worshippers of the world will be pleased to learn that a new study has found that regularly gulping this rich, aromatic beverage could help protect against a deadly type of cancer. Individuals in the study who consumed four or more cups of caffeinated coffee were around 20% less likely to develop malignant melanoma than those who don’t drink coffee. While the work backs up lab observations, people shouldn’t use these results to guide their coffee intake, and most importantly shouldn’t swap sunscreen for the drink.

Cutaneous melanoma, a form of skin cancer, is among the most common types of cancer and is the leading cause of skin cancer death in the US. Exposure to UV radiation is a well-established risk factor for the disease, although other factors also likely play a role. Various lab and animal based investigations have hinted that consuming coffee may help protect against UV-induced skin cancer, and human studies have previously identified associations between drinking coffee and lower rates of nonmelanoma skin cancers. Studies that looked into melanomas, however, produced a mixed bag of results, prompting scientists to initiate the current study.

For the investigation, scientists looked at almost half a million retirees who were cancer-free at the start of the study. The researchers tracked the participants for an average of 10.5 years and asked them to report their coffee consumption, alongside various other factors which could also influence their risk of developing cancer, such as alcohol consumption, smoking, BMI and exercise. To assess how much UV radiation participants were likely exposed to, they used NASA data on the amount of sunlight that their hometowns received.

During the course of the study, 2,904 cases of malignant melanoma were recorded, alongside 1,874 cases of melanoma in situ, which is the very earliest stage of melanoma. After taking all of the variables into consideration, they found that as compared with non-coffee drinkers, those who drank at least four cups of coffee a day had a 20% lower risk of developing malignant melanoma. Interestingly, they saw no association between coffee consumption and the risk of developing melanoma in situ, which could suggest the diseases have different etiologies.

They also found that the association only applied to caffeinated coffee, as a lower risk was not identified in those who drank decaf coffee. This could indicate that caffeine is responsible for the possible protective effect, which would support lab-based studies. However, it’s also possible that decaf coffee contains different amounts of other molecules which could be playing a role.

Although the study can’t prove that coffee truly does protect against skin cancer, the researchers have proposed a few potential mechanisms which could explain the associations observed. It could be that coffee prevents the development of cancer because it prevents DNA damage, or detoxifies carcinogens, which has been observed in cell culture. Furthermore, coffee roasting generates vitamins which have been demonstrated to protect against UV-induced skin cancer in mice.

While the study is certainly interesting, further research is warranted as the investigation was limited. It’s unclear at this stage which ingredient could be exerting these apparent effects. Furthermore, as pointed out by Live Science, the study relied on self-reporting, and participants may have differed in their use of sunscreen.

[Via Journal of the National Cancer Institute and Live Science]

Drinking Coffee Is Good For Your Heart

Photo credit: ketmanee / Shutterstock

Its intense aroma and strong, bittersweet taste are not the only reasons that coffee is rich; it’s known to be loaded with active compounds and vitamins that have a variety of health-promoting characteristics. Indeed, slurping coffee regularly is thought to be associated with numerous benefits, such as a lower incidence of Parkinson’s and certain types of cancers, and even reduced rates of DNA damage.  Now, to add to this ever-growing list, it seems that drinking coffee could reduce the risk of clogged arteries, which can lead to heart attacks.

According to the study, those who drank several cups of coffee a day were less likely to have buildups of calcium in the arteries that supply the heart. Although these deposits are considered early warning signs of heart disease, the results do not mean that if you start drinking coffee you will be protected against this condition. However, they do add to the ongoing debate over whether coffee is “heart healthy.”

Hidden amongst the headlines reporting coffee’s supposed benefits, some studies have actually shown that there could also be some negatives associated with its consumption. For example, drinking lots of unfiltered coffee was found to be associated with increased “bad” cholesterol. In addition, some studies found that coffee could increase the risk of heart disease in some. On the other hand, research indicated that regular coffee drinkers may have a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, which makes people prone to heart disease. Furthermore, drinking more than two cups a day was found to bestow a 20% lower risk of stroke compared with those who drank less.

It’s clear that the literature is confusing, so in an attempt to offer some clarity, researchers in Korea decided to look at the risk of developing heart problems in a different way. They enrolled 25,138 men and women who underwent routine health screening examinations. Their average age was 41 and none of them had any signs of heart disease at the onset.

After reporting lifestyle habits, such as smoking status, alcohol, food and coffee consumption, the participants were given CT scans to determine how much calcium was present in the coronary arteries that bring blood to the heart. Calcium is not normally found here and its presence is usually regarded as an early sign of coronary heart disease (CHD), a condition in which calcium-containing deposits begin to build up in the arteries. Over time, these can harden or break open, which can reduce blood flow to the heart or cause clots that can lead to heart attacks.

The scans revealed that while none of them had any symptoms of CHD, more than 13% had calcium in their coronary arteries. But after taking into account heart risk factors, such as smoking or exercise, they found that those who drank 3-5 cups a day had 40% less calcium in their arteries than non-coffee drinkers. This was reduced to 35% for those who drank 1-3, and 23% for those who drank just one.

Although there is a clear association, the study cannot prove whether it was the coffee that is the cause of the reduced calcium. Furthermore, it is not clear how coffee could be causing this possible effect, although it may be related to its high antioxidant content.

It Saturday - Coffee Time