Banana Coffee Smoothie.. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Good!

The dog days of summer are here and I live on ice cold smoothies.  I will admit that I am not a big fan of soy milk but it seems to make the best smoothies.   I have tried whole milk and vanilla yogurt and they are fine but there is something about soy milk that brings out the richness of a smoothie.    Here is one of my favorite smoothie recipes, banana coffee smoothie.  You will need to plan ahead ( 1 day) because of the frozen coffee cubes and bananas but it worth the wait.


1 cup of plain soy milk, vanilla yogurt or whole milk.
7 frozen ice cubes of french roast coffee ( we used Kenya AA or Brazil Santos)
2 frozen ripe bananas ( Sliced)

You will need strong espresso coffee.  I  used Kenya AA french roast coffee beans ground  for espresso.  The ratio of water to coffee grounds is 50-50 in a French press.  This allows the coffee to brew slow and strong. Brew the coffee for 5 minutes, cool to room temperature, fill an ice tray and freeze it for 24 hours. A good indication that the coffee is good and strong is the ring of crema around ice cube. Freeze 2 ripe, pealed bananas. 

Crema around the coffee cube

smoothie ingredients

Enjoy!

Add 7 frozen coffee cubes, 1 cup of cold soy milk, whole milk or vanilla yogurt and 2 sliced frozen bananas into the blender.  Blend until the smoothie has a smooth texture. Pour the smoothie in a glass.

Refrigerate the smoothie for a few hours to bring out a richer coffee taste and a thicker texture.

Enjoy your smoothie and remember BlackGold Coffee Company offers fresh roasted coffee and green coffee beans for the home roaster. Visit our store at www.blackgoldcoffeecompany.com


Enjoy your life.. Enjoy our coffee..

Deanna M. Helie, Morning Cupper
www.blackgoldcoffeecompany.com

Summer Treats - Cold Coffee

Cold Coffee has been around since the beginning of time, so I don't get it when I see and hear that there is a new drink on the market called 'cold press coffee'.  Does this coffee get pressed in the container when you open it, like an automatic french press?  Is the coffee brewed in a french press and the coffee is stored in the container and chilled.  I think not.  It is just market branding of an old idea for the summer.  Hey, guys and gals in the marketing department; think of something that is 'really new' for the fall.

We think of  ice, cold drinks during the hot summer days of July and August that give us a chill down our backs and makes us squeal with delight.   Cold coffee straight from the refrigerator with sugar and milk is wonderful.  To start off the summer blog of the dog days of summer, we will be sharing our favorite coffee drinks and icebox treats.   If you have a recipe that you wish to share, sent it us: sales@blackgoldcoffeecompany.com and place in the subject area "recipe".

Cold Coffee: This recipe is so simple and easy to do, my dogs can do it!

    8-12 cup pitcher

    1cup(packed) of ground coffee (bold or french roast)

   

    Measure 1 cup of packed ground coffee and pour it into the pitcher. 

    Fill the pitcher will cold water and mix the coffee grounds alittle.

    Place the pitcher in the refrigerator for 24 hours or more.  The coffee will keep for a week or more.

   

   This will give the coffee grounds time to absorb the water and  create coffee at a slow pace.  

   When the coffee is dark in color ( if you can see the coffee from the outside), it is ready to drink 

   Now here is the secret to good tasting cold coffee...

   Pour the coffee through a cup strainer into a ceramic cup.  The strainer will catch the coffee grounds.  The cold coffee will make the cup cold.  The coffee will not have much of a taste at this time because it needs to adjust to room temperature for the coffee to start pushing out taste.  

  

Pour some milk and sugar, mix thoroughly and wait for 5-7 minutes.  During this time period, the coffee will absorb the milk and sugar and the coffee taste will start to come out!   The coffee and cup will still be cold.

 

cold coffee  enjoy!

I make a small pitcher of cold coffee for myself during the summer months and love it.  I recommend Brazil Santos or Colombia Supreme 17/18 for a rich coffee taste without the bitterness (bold or french roast).

Visit our website store for a great selection of coffees; green beans for the home roasters and freshly roasted coffee from around the world.  The best quality coffee comes from BlackGold Coffee Company in Chamblee, GA.  We roasted our coffee to order, so the customer receives fresh roasted coffee and not months or week old coffee.  Delivery is free to metro Atlanta customers.

 Enjoy your life.. Enjoy your coffee..

 Deanna M. Helie,  Morning Cupper

  www.blackgoldcoffeecompany.com

 

 

The whole truth about coffee... It is REALLY GOOD FOR YOU!!!!

The facts and fiction about the health benefits of coffee changes as fast as you can blink.  We all know that coffee is good for you and most of us are coffee drinkers, so hold your cup high in the air and toast to the health benefits of this golden gem of a drink. Here is what we know about coffee today.



Long live your life
   A 2012 study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that people from 50 to 71 who drank at least one cup of coffee per day lowered their risk of dying from diabetes, heart disease and other health problems.  Coffee has beneficial compounds such as antioxidants that ward off disease.

I am so happy!
   Coffee is not only a great 'pick me up' drink; it also has been linked to a lower risk of depression.  A 10 year Harvard study that tracked 50,000 women, found that those who drank 4 or more cups of coffee a day were
                                            20% less likely to develop depression and those who drank two or more
                                            cups of coffee were half as likely to attempt suicide as decaf or non coffee
                                            drinkers.  Long term coffee drinking may boost the production of
                                            "feel-good" hormones such as dopamine.

                                            Type 2 Diabetes
                                                Coffee drinkers are 11% less likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than
                                             those who do not drink coffee.  But just because you are a coffee drinker
                                             does not give you a open door to eating sugar base food, like doughnuts!

                                             Coffee brewing does make a difference
                                                Cafestol, a compound in coffee grounds have been found to increase
                                              levels of LDL (bad cholesterol).  Brewing coffee with a paper filter
                                              removes some of this compound.  Coffee make in a French press or
                                              espresso have a higher level of cafestol.  The jury is out on how much
                                              this compound remains in the coffee.  If you make your coffee in a
                                              French press or you love your espresso, I would like lose any sleep over
                                              this. 
                                        
                                             Coffee is not for everyone
                                                 Too much coffee can cause effects including insomnia, irritability and
                                              restlessness.  How many nights do you watch the clock, not able to fall
                                              asleep because of the cup of coffee with the cake you had after dinner.
                                              People with acid reflux should avoid coffee because the acidity could
                                              exacerbate it.

        Well, there you have it.  Today's facts for today's coffee drinkers.  As the research continues, the conclusions and finding will change. Some good, some bad; so enjoy your morning with a good cup of coffee. 
Visit our website for a selection of fresh roasted coffee.  We roast our coffee per order to guarantee high quality, fresh coffee at a fair price. What better way to start the day but with a cup of fresh roasted coffee from BlackGoldCoffee Company    www.blackgoldcoffeecompany.com
Locally own and operated in Chamblee, Georgia.

 Enjoy your Life.. Enjoy your coffee..
Deanna M. Helie, Morning Cupper

Poop Coffee???

You probably have heard of regular coffee, decaf. coffee, flavored coffee and even chocolate coffee beans but  do you know about  poop coffee?

The most expensive coffee in the world is produced with the help of the Asian Palm Civet.  This animal  looks like an overgrown cat and is native to Indonesia, Mayasia and other surrounding countries.  It selects and swallows the highest quality coffee beans and only digests the outer coating, leaving the seed to be collected from its droppings or its daily releases.   think you know what I mean!
Digestive enzymes in the Palm Civet alters the flavor to  produce a very rich and chocolaty taste coffee.  This coffee is highly prized in this area but you will not find this type of coffee in your local food market.

The Formosan rock monkey also creates poop coffee!  The monkey eats the ripe coffee beans off the trees and spits out the seeds.  The seeds are collected and roasted to produce coffee that is brewed in Taiwan. 

Kopi Muncak is another poop coffee and is collected in the wild forest of Malaysia and Indonesia from the Muntjac ( barkiing deer).

You may say that poop coffee is 100% organic!

For quality coffee, roasted and green beans( home roasters) visit:
http://www.blackgoldcoffeecompany.com/

Enjoy your life..  Enjoy your coffee..
Deanna M. Helie, Morning Cupper

Feel Great and cut your cancer risk by...

Feel great and cut your cancer risk by drinking coffee.  Research suggests that coffee can lower your risk of certain types of skin cancer, breast cancer and uterine cancer.  Listening up ladies!!  Drinking coffee can help you live longer and reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke.  Dr. Robert J. Davis PhD. states in his new book, "Coffee is Good for You: From Vitamin C and Organic Foods to Low-Carb and Detox Diets, the Truth about Diet and Nutrition Claims [Paperback]  ", that coffee is good for you.   

Packed with useful-and surprising-information, Coffee Is Good for You cuts through the clutter to reveal what's believable and what's not in a fun and easily digestible way.  Good book and interesting reading.

Now that summer is coming fast into our lives, think about ice coffee and how it taste on a hot summer day and with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Brazil Santos is a must coffee for this type of drink and roasted Bold or French Roast! 

Visit www.blackgoldcoffeecompany.com for the quality coffee at fair prices.

Enjoy your life.. Enjoy your coffee..

Deanna M. Helie, Morning Cupper

Coffee Car Hits The Road!

First there was the gas car and then the electric car, but now the latest invention of transportation coming from the UK and it is the coffee car.  Yes, the coffee car.

Martin Bacon and his team of Teesdale Conservation Vounteers from Durham, England  have invented a car that runs on coffee grounds.  The car broke the world land speed record for cars powered by organic waste that was held by a group of Americans called "Beaver Energy", who developed a vehicle powered by wood pellets, the Beaver XR7 which achieved 47mph.
The coffee car averaged 66.5 mph and won its place in the Guinness book of World Records. The car was an old Rover SD1 and used coffee grounds salvaged from local shops was used to power the car.

This is just another way to recycle your coffee grounds from pot to gardens to cars.  

To read more about this story, link to   http://www.gizmag.com/coffee-car-speed-record/20003/

    Quality selection of fresh roasted coffees and green beans for the home roasters: 

          www.blackgoldcoffeecompany.com 

Woman + Coffee = Less Depression

Another study concerning depression and coffee was released and it is no surprise that coffee helps people with depression or those who are likely to become depressed.  This is not new news but it reinforces that idea of something in coffee makes you a happy person, jut like chocolate.  Now there's a great mixture, chocolate coffee.

Albert Ascherio of Harvard School of Public Health  headed the research team that studied a group of women for 14 years dating back to 1976 and measured their coffee consumption during that period.  They classified the women according to how much coffee they drank and followed them for an additional 10 years.  That is a very long time and I really have to hand it to the team for do this for  24 years.
The  team studied more than 50,000 women enrolled in a health study of nurses. The women had an average age of 63, and none were depressed when they enrolled in the study. 

The conclusion of the studies are as followed

1.Women who drink four cups of coffee a day are 20% less likely to become depressed               than women who rarely drink coffee.

2. Women who were in the top fifth of the overall caffeine consumption, chocolate and soft drinks also had a 20%  lower risk of depression that the bottom fifth.

Known Facts

Caffeine is the most popular central nervous system stimulant in the world, and coffee consumption accounts for about 80 percent of caffeine use. Drinking coffee offers a boost of energy for a short time, so in order to maintain the natural 'HIGH' more coffee must be drunken.  Maybe that is why most coffee drinkers  love their coffee first thing in the morning and one in mid morning.  It is cheaper that the energy boost drinks!

Ascherio said there have been very few studies that look at the long-term effects of coffee consumption. One smaller study in Finland showed men who drank a lot of coffee were less likely to commit suicide.
And Ascherio's own team has shown that drinking a lot of coffee may be protective against Parkinson's disease in both men and women.  He said it is not yet clear how coffee might protect against depression, but there are some hints.

Animal studies have shown that caffeine protects against certain neurotoxins and brain receptors that respond to caffeine are concentrated in the basal ganglia, an area that is important for both depression and Parkinson's disease. 

Final Conclusion

      Drink coffee..........Eat chocolate..................enjoy your day!
But remember to eat and drink in moderation or the pounds will show and you will be bouncing off the walls!

Visit  http://www.blackgoldcoffeecompany.com/  for the quality coffee(roasted and green) at quality prices.

Enjoy your day and your coffee!

Deanna,  Morning Cupper