Thursday, May 28, 2015

When is the Best Time to Drink Coffee in the Morning?

Many coffee drinkers consume their life-giving coffee first thing after waking up. It sounds like a good idea. Coffee wakes you up and right after getting out of bed is when you seemingly need it most. Although, science has been telling us that the best time to drink coffee is around 10 AM.

If you are indeed the type of person who NEEDS their coffee as soon as they get up, this might not be wonderful news for you. So why is 10 AM the best time? Well, according to research from AsapScience, our cortisol levels peak between 8 and 9 AM; cortisol is the "stress hormone" which is how our bodies naturally wake themselves up.
If you are sipping your coffee during this time, the effect of the caffeine is not helpful.

Aside from 8-9 AM, our peak cortisol times are 12-1 PM (during most of our lunch times), and then at 5:30-6:30 PM.

We should mention that if you are waking up very early or much later than the average person (who wakes up between 7-8 AM), then your peak cortisol times are going to be different. If you are one of these people, just know your peak cortisol time is about an hour after waking up.

So there is another health benefit of drinking fresh ground coffee at home! Or even if you go out and buy your Starbucks coffee or another brand, as long as it's coffee!

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Where's the Best Place to Store Bagged Coffee?

Buying coffee is the easy, fun part. Finding the right place to store it is not so easy. You read all these things about "don't keep your coffee here!" or "Don't keep your coffee there!" And it seems like you basically have to have a vault in your basement with a 9-digit code to keep your coffee fresh.

Bottom line, keep your coffee light, air, heat, and moisture. A simple shelf in a cupboard that is not near your stove is a great spot. The cupboard door will shield it from the light, so you just need an airtight container. To shield it from moisture, keep your coffee away from your sink, fridge, and freezer.

For bagged coffee, make sure to keep the top of the bag closed tightly; this can be done with a bag clip,  office clip, or a rubber band. Just make sure that the top of the bag is rolled a couple times and held tightly with one of those options.

Why does it matter to keep it away from light, heat, moisture, and air? All of these things change the cell structure of the coffee. That cell structure change causes a reduced quality in flavor and aroma. Light and heat create higher temperatures in the delicate coffee grounds, which break down the cell structures that hold the great flavor and aroma together. Think of it like a building, if there is a fire (which creates lots of heat), then the structure is broken down and ruined. Specifically for moisture in the coffee, when the moisture from a fridge or freezer gets into the coffee, which it will, it soaks into the grounds and beans. It then absorbs the coffee's flavor and aroma and takes it away when the water evaporates out (when thawed). Think about anything else that you've had when it's watered down; the flavor is reduced, right? That's how it is with coffee.

It would be a real shame to buy great fresh ground coffee and then have it ruined by something like keeping coffee in the wrong place. Especially when that coffee is Starbucks bagged coffee or Marley bagged coffee.

Thursday, May 21, 2015

What Your Coffee Order Says About You

Coffee is a very popular, and healthy, beverage. Millions and millions of people around the world drink the stuff every morning, afternoon, evening, and night. With so many people around the world drinking coffee, people with varying interests and tastes (pun intended), there is certainly a wide variety of coffee options. 

Our fresh coffee team decided to put a little article together to talk about how your particular coffee order just might describe the type of person you are. Yes, the article is somewhat facetious, although you might find some truth in here, too. 





  • The latte lover: Latte drinkers tend to seek out comfort, be chill, and reflect on things. They like to add in some cream and sugar to their coffee, which reminds of them of how there's always a little sweetness in a dark, bitter world. Their mug is often playful and they like to have shirts sporting an interest from their childhood. Like Thundercats. Their ideal way to drink coffee is to lay on the couch or comfy recliner, while wearing moccasins and comfortable jeans. 




  • The espresso enthusiast: Always on the move and taking charge. Is that their fourth shot of espresso since the morning status meeting? I've lost count. They like abbreviated words in emails and texts to save time. Of course, they have a loyal personal assistant who is like a gatekeeper at Fort Knox. 







  • The cappuccino consumer: The extroverted socialite (to any degree) who is creative and looks on the bright side of life (cue Monty Python). They are attached to multiple screens and conversations at once (whether the conversations are on devices or live will vary). They like to doodle and do other artsy things like paint, make origami, or build Pinterest crafts. They live at coffee shops.




  • The black coffee bud: The serious one. Straight-laced. Quiet, dedicated, and often a purist. Sometimes enigmatic. Presentation is as it should be: perfectly parted, professional hair, pressed suits (often black but other mute colors are welcome), either has a mustache or clean-shaven, sometimes sports fun socks. 









  • The artisan coffee aficionado. The fashionable one, often wearing plaid, a beard or solid stubble, and either glasses or a scarf. If not wearing plaid, then a tight sweater will do. They live outside the mainstream lifestyle, never enters the big chain coffee shops, and they prefer to drink the expensive coffee that was extracted from some animal's fecal matter. Don't be shocked if their Instagram is full of overhead shots of art drawn in the foam (if they get a drink with foam). 


  • The frappuccino fanatic. Blogger. Instagrammer. Pinterest poet. They do it all. Their eyes on their smartphone posting a tweet about the latest fashion guides and trends. Of course, they are always on the move and moving quickly. They stay ahead of the trends. 



So which coffee drinker are you? Or do you prefer a simple cup of K-Cup coffee or a cup of fresh ground coffee at home? Whichever you are, we love that you love coffee and express yourself genuinely! 

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Gluten Free Diet But Still Want Coffee?

It can be a little difficult to find products that you love and actually want to eat and drink while on a gluten-free diet. Yes, there are many "gluten-free" items on store shelves these days but many companies are still trying to figure out how to make their products tasty.

Green Mountain coffee has made their coffee a certain way and they've done it that way for a long time. You can count on Green Mountain Half-Caff coffee K-Cups being both delicious and gluten-free.

People who need to be on a gluten-free diet understand the frustration of giving up favorite foods and drinks or at least the quality they used to love. With coffee from Coffeevines and Green Mountain, coffee doesn't have to be something that you "used to drink" before going gluten-free.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

What is Water Processed Decaf Coffee?

Have you ever been curious about how coffee is decaffeinated? Don't fret, my friend! Today, we explain how some coffee beans get stripped of their caffeine using the world's most abundant resource, water. A natural process that allows you to have your late night coffee and your sleep, too.

Caffeine is water soluble. This is exactly why water goes into the coffee grounds clear and comes up all brown, delicious, and buzzing. See, the soluble material breaks down and dissolves into the coffee at a wonderful rate; the extraction rate of the caffeine is determined by the size of the coffee grounds and the temperature of the water.

As we stated, caffeine can be removed by water, which is the more natural process vs. using chemicals. In this method of removal, the green coffee beans are submerged in heated filtered water. The cleanliness of the filtered water and the heat facilitates the caffeine removal. The water is cycled through carbon, which will separates caffeine from the beans. The beans are then placed in a caffeine-free solution, which allows the beans to reabsorb all the goodness of coffee, minus the caffeine.

Many standards require 99.9% of the caffeine to be removed for the coffee to be labeled as decaf coffee. Other standards allow 97% of the caffeine to be removed. Even at three percent, the remaining caffeine is pretty negligible.

Many brands of decaf K-Cup coffee taste just as good as caffeinated coffee. Coffeevines.com has some delicious tasting water processed decaf coffee available.