coffee : Java Glossary

coffee

Java, the language, is named after the Indonesian island where coffee is grown. Coffee is known as the addictive drug of choice of computer programmers. Java product names typically play on both the Indonesian and coffee themes. Here is the best way I have discovered to prepare coffee.

Coffee Makers

Melitta filter coffee maker

Bodum aka French Press

Paper filter coffee (Melitta style) makes the best tasting coffee, though other techniques such as percolating create better room aroma. Percolators fill the air with wonderful coffee smell, but leave little flavour in the coffee, and tend to be bitter. A Bodum (aka French Press) tends to create a cloudy rich peasant coffee. The instructions that come with a Bodom tell you to stir in with a long thin plastic spoon, not metal, to avoid scratching the glass. I have scoured stores. I could not find one. Instead I used a wooden chopstick, then replaced it with a thin Trudeau seamless silicone spatula.

Trudeau silcone spatula

Recipe

Add a pinch of salt to the dry coffee grounds. The trick is to make concentrated coffee then water it down, rather than filtering all the water through the coffee grinds. This avoids leaching out the bitterer components of the coffee. Of course, you must grind the beans freshly. The odour of the beans is far more intoxicating than the final beverage.

I find the milder, cheaper beans such as Mocha Java, Brazilian, Guatemalan, Kenyan and Kona make a mellower coffee. Add a little Dark French if you want to give it a Starbucks bite.

To make the perfect cup of coffee, make sure you wipe out the grinder with a Kleenex after use so you will have no coffee grounds going stale to spoil the next batch.

Adding a subliminal pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove or ginger or a drop of organic vanilla or orange juice can add a little interest. Be subtle. People should just barely be able to tell the coffee is different, not how.

Wipe a touch of orange essence around the rim of the cup, and watch eyes pop with delight.

Of course you want to use fair trade coffee, both because you get the higher quality beans that way, and to play fair with the people who grow the beans for you.

Preserving Flavour

Thermos carafe

If you don’t serve the coffee right away, put it in a Thermos carafe. If you leave the coffee exposed to the air it will rapidly oxidise and get that all-night diner taste. It will keep a remarkably long time in a sealed Thermos. Coffee makers with warming trays under a glass pot turn out horrible coffee by oxidising it.

Personal

When I was young, my rebellion into the drug world consisted of learning to recognise the various types of coffee, much like a wine connoisseur. I would buy 100 grams of beans at a time to try out all the possibilities. I hid coffee making equipment in the back of my closet. I did manage to pull off a Wire Paladin/James Bond thing a few times, surprising people by telling them what was in their personal blend. Age has taken away my unusually keen sense of smell, so I doubt I could do it now.

Starbucks Coffee Sizes

Starbucks Coffee Sizes
Metric Capacity	Imperial Capacity	Name	Notes
710 mls	1½ US pints	venti	applies to cold drinks.
592 mls	1¼ US pints	venti	applies to hot drinks. Italian for twenty.
473 mls	2 US cups	grande	pronounced grawnday, Italian for big.
355 mls	1½ US cups	tall	What you get if you ask for a small or regular.
237 mls	8.01 fl oz	short	To get it you must ask for short, not small.

Cutting Back

If you claim you can’t afford fair trade coffee, just cut back on your consumption. The easiest way to do that is to scale back on the size of your cup:

Cup Sizes
Name	Metric Capacity	Imperial Capacity
venti	710 mls	1½ US pints
grande	473 mls	2 US cups
tall	355 mls	1½ US cups
mug	250 mls	8.45 fl oz
short	237 mls	8.01 fl oz
cup	177 mls	5.99 fl oz
small cup	150 mls	5.07 fl oz
demitasse	75 mls	2.54 fl oz

You don’t know how big you cup is? Fill it with water and pour it into a kitchen measuring cup.

coffee cup logo
fair trade chocolate laser talk
fair trade chocolate soapbox
fair trade coffee
fair trade coffee soapbox
Global Exchange
Java
Kicking Horse Coffee (a Canadian source)
Salt Spring Coffee: certified organic and fair trade
Student Programming Project: fair trade webstore

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