The TV show “Test Purchase” began broadcasting in 2006. To this day, she never ceases to delight TV viewers with new examinations of all kinds of products. The quality of all products is checked by both experienced experts and ordinary supermarket visitors. As a result, the best product from the selected category is selected. If you are interested, what is the best instant coffee test purchase will help you understand this issue. In this article, you will learn the results of testing instant freeze-dried and natural roasted ground coffee.
The benefits of black coffee
The beneficial substances contained in coffee have the ability to prevent the development of gallstones, asthma, Parkinson's disease, diabetes, breast cancer and cirrhosis of the liver. Serotonin (the hormone of happiness), improves mood and fights symptoms of depression. The drink increases blood circulation in the brain, thereby making it work better.
Caffeine stimulates the nervous system, which leads to improved memory, thinking (creative and associative) and attention, and also increases blood pulsation and dilates blood vessels. Coffee speeds up metabolic processes in the body, promoting weight loss.
If you have hypotension (low blood pressure), it is recommended to drink a couple of cups of coffee a day, this will bring your blood pressure back to normal. In limited quantities, the drink is useful for dystonia, as it has a vasodilating effect.
Brand advantages
The product under the above brand name has been produced since the beginning of this century. And rest assured that this brand offers only the highest quality products. Don't believe me? Then ask the members of the National Federation of Farmers who produce coffee in Colombia itself. They will confirm this to you, and as proof they will show you the awarded “Black Card” coffee, the price of which in Russia does not exceed 200 rubles, a special mark of quality. This award indicates that the product meets all the most stringent criteria.
“Black Card Arabica” is a blend of elite Arabica varieties from the African and South American continents. Arabica grown in these places is known all over the world for its exceptional nutritional properties. Thanks to the presence of caffeine, “Black Card” is so popular among lovers of an invigorating and aromatic morning drink of energy and positivity.
Uses of black coffee
In cooking, there are many recipes for making coffee: Irish, Arabic, Viennese, Italian and French coffee, mocha, glace and latte. Based on it, you can prepare coffee mousse, ice cream and cream, coffee porridge and rice, punch, liqueur and grog, desserts, cakes and pastries, cookies and tiramisu.
In cosmetology, black coffee is used as a scrub or peeling; it is added to face masks that eliminate wrinkles. To add shine and shine to dark hair, you can use freshly brewed coffee by rinsing your hair along the entire length. Coffee helps fight cellulite. This product has a tonic effect on the skin, increases its elasticity, and protects against ultraviolet radiation and inflammation. For the preparation of cosmetic products, only a natural product is suitable; a soluble product will not have the desired effect.
A common habit for most of us is a cup of black coffee for breakfast, some supplement it with cream or milk, some with lemon juice, and some with something sweet. Everyone has their own taste, but despite this, the question of how to brew coffee correctly is relevant for each of us. Nowadays, preparing this aromatic drink in a coffee machine or coffee maker is not a problem. However, there are people who prefer to prepare coffee in the most ancient Turkish way. How to brew coffee correctly in this case? It turns out that the main task is to choose the right Turkish coffee, only then can you taste real oriental coffee.
How to brew coffee correctly
The main task is to choose the right Turkish coffee, only then can you taste real oriental coffee.
First of all, it should be taken into account that the Turk must have a narrow neck so that the aroma of coffee does not evaporate, and a strong foam is created on its surface, which does not allow the unique aroma of the drink to leave this invigorating liquid. The Turk should be small in size and made of copper or ceramics. There is no point in purchasing a metal pot; the aroma of coffee in it will not be different from what it would be if a regular saucepan was used to brew coffee.
A clay or ceramic pot is only suitable for brewing one type of coffee; its handle should not conduct heat - ideally, it should be wooden.
Having selected the necessary pot, you can finally start the most important thing: brewing coffee. To prepare one cup of aromatic drink, take a teaspoon of coffee and the same amount of sugar, then pour water into the cup from which you are going to drink and pour it (water) into the Turk. You can add various spices to oriental coffee: cinnamon, nutmeg, anise and other oriental seasonings to suit your taste.
After completing this step, you can safely send the Turk with all its contents to the stove over low heat. After a couple of minutes, a light foam should form on the surface, gradually it will increase and, as soon as you notice that it is about to run away, remove the Turk from the heat and stir the drink with a teaspoon - the foam will fall. Then put the Turk on the fire a second time and repeat the procedure, however, this time without stirring at the end.
And the third, final stage of cooking - the Turk is again placed on low heat, again brought to a boil and foam forms.
Now you can finally remove the coffee from the heat, pour the coffee into the prepared cups, trying, however, to do this in such a way that the foam is on the surface of each cup of coffee.
Water and coffee
A cup of coffee consists of more than 98% water, the quality and taste of which determine the properties of the drink no less than the beans and variety themselves. According to experts, the best coffee comes from slightly hard water, as some mineral salts enhance the taste of the substances contained in the beans. This explains the old tradition of adding a pinch of salt to water.
But if the water is too hard, calcium and magnesium ions can interfere with the extraction of flavors and aromas from ground coffee particles. Therefore, the finished drink will become almost tasteless.
To understand what kind of coffee you will get if you use soft water, try its most extreme option - distilled or deionized water. Such water is completely devoid of taste, and no one would think of brewing coffee with it. Still, it's worth a try.
The fact is that there are almost no inclusions in such water and nothing interferes with the intensive extraction of substances from the coffee powder. Coffee prepared with distilled water has a distinct taste and remarkable strength.
When using very soft water, less ground coffee is required. You can even use a coarser grind and shorten the brewing time - either of these actions will protect the coffee from over-extraction.
Chlorinated, chemically treated water, or water with impurities, including rust, will change the taste of coffee. To improve its quality, you should use various filters.
The best coffee is obtained by using fresh, cold, oxygenated water. There is no scientific explanation for this, but it is a fact. If you try coffee brewed with settled warm water and compare it with a drink brewed with fresh cold water, the differences will be obvious.
Preparing the coffee mixture
There is absolutely nothing difficult about making your own coffee blends. To do this you need:
- learn to distinguish the flavors, body and acidity of coffee;
- know what flavor and aroma qualities you like in coffee;
- know the rules of mixing and characteristics of coffee varieties.
The last point is the most difficult: only after testing the best coffee varieties can you understand what flavor and aroma potential lies in each of them. Knowing the characteristics of coffee will also allow you to avoid possible mistakes: mixing, for example, varieties with completely opposite characteristics that will mutually neutralize each other. On the other hand, it is absurd to mix coffee varieties with exactly the same characteristics - this will not yield anything.
You should use varieties that complement each other, mix components taken in different proportions and, moreover, different degrees of roasting. For example, the Ethiopian variety Jima goes well with Javanese coffee, Guatemalan coffee with Costa Rican coffee, deep roast with medium roast, etc.
At the same time, if something is missing in the coffee and you know exactly what flavor and aroma shade needs to be enhanced, then you should add up to one third of the weight of beans of other varieties to the coffee beans.
To enhance the sweet taste:
- Venezuelan,
- Haitian coffee,
- Indian Mussor.
To enhance the wine taste:
- Kenyan,
- Ethiopian.
To achieve softness in the taste of the drink:
- Colombian,
- Brazilian,
- Costa Rican
The last two varieties of beans can be roasted heavily - they will not become bitter.
To improve color and acidity:
- Costa Rican,
- Guatemalan,
- Venezuelan.
The mixtures may include several varieties of coffee, for example four, some mixtures may consist of twelve varieties.
How to choose instant coffee
There is an opinion that instant coffee is much worse than natural coffee. And then, what is high-quality instant coffee made from, if not coffee beans? It's all about the raw materials and the technologies that were applied to coffee. To choose the right coffee, you need to know the technology of its production.
How your coffee tastes depends on how it was made. Depending on the method of production, coffee comes in three types: granules, powder and freeze-dried mixture. Powdered coffee turned out to be the lowest in quality. When making it, the grains are crushed, then the mixture is mixed with water, and after some time the water is evaporated, and a powder is obtained.
If you add water to the powder again and then compress it, you get granulated coffee, which costs an order of magnitude more. And this is strange, because in essence it is the same coffee, only in granules. Coffee connoisseurs claim that the taste is better in granules. This is due to the fact that it is better preserved in granules.
From the instant coffee family, freeze-dried coffee is the best. It is prepared as follows: the brewed coffee mass is frozen to forty degrees with a minus sign, then in a vacuum it is completely freed from liquid, after which it is pressed and crushed to the state of irregular granules. If coffee was made using this technology, then it retains all the beneficial properties of coffee, its aroma and taste. Therefore, this coffee costs an order of magnitude more than coffee powder and granulated coffee.
You come to the store to buy coffee and are faced with a dilemma about which drink to choose. First of all, you need to start with packaging. You should definitely read how exactly the coffee was made. Next, pay attention to the composition. If the coffee is natural, then it cannot contain any additives. Whatever is in the coffee mixture - dyes, fillers, preservatives, etc. – with these additives it cannot be called natural. And lastly, high-quality coffee cannot be stored for more than one and a half years. The container, in principle, does not affect the taste, but the cheapest and lowest-quality coffee is always packaged in foil packs. And the best one is made into glass. In such a container, coffee is preserved better, and you can look at it to at least have an external idea of what’s inside. If the coffee is packaged in metal, then, if its composition is poor, the coffee may have a metallic taste.
Choose the best drink for yourself
Today the market offers simply a huge assortment of coffee, produced by various brands. But how to choose the best product from all the variety? Our short review will help you with this.
Jardin – coffee is represented by numerous varieties. They all differ in taste, strength and aroma. Only Arabica beans are used to make the drink. Jardin will be the coffee you can drink every day.
Lavazza is a legendary drink, known for its delicate aroma and exquisite taste. This is the best coffee among all ground products.
Kimbo is coffee of high quality and impeccable taste. The classic aroma of the varieties included in this brand does not have any extraneous notes.
How to store ground coffee
Depending on many factors, the quality of coffee can vary greatly. These factors primarily depend on the manufacturer. However, if stored incorrectly, there is a high chance that you will be disappointed with the taste of the coffee, even if it is the highest quality drink.
For proper storage, you will first of all need multi-layer bags with valves, vacuum packaging and, finally, a jar with a sufficiently tight lid.
To preserve the full aroma and taste of the drink, the grains must be ground before use. This is explained simply - all the taste qualities of ground coffee are very quickly lost.
If you really want to enjoy the taste of natural coffee, then you do not need to grind the beans every time, but simply knowing how to store such coffee correctly will be enough. Ground coffee should be purchased only in small portions and only grind the amount you expect to consume in about 4-6 hours. The main thing to remember is the “fierce” and main enemy of coffee – air. It is he who has such an effect on coffee, in which its essential oils oxidize and the coffee gradually ages. Usually, no more than five days pass from the moment of roasting and directly consuming the grains.
In order to reliably preserve the aroma, coffee should be stored in the vacuum packaging mentioned above and the lid should be tightly closed. Nowadays you can easily find in some stores special multilayer bags with valves that perfectly protect coffee from air penetration and also facilitate the unhindered release of essential oils, which has a positive effect on the taste properties of the drink and their preservation. Airtight foil packaging can also be a great help in preserving the aroma of your coffee. Being closed all the time, the aroma of coffee can last a whole year, but, again, only when closed. After opening the package, coffee should be consumed as soon as possible.
If you store coffee in soft packaging, then you need to roll it up as tightly as possible so that there is minimal air left in it. The edge of the package should be secured with tape or a clamp. This way, you will be better able to retain all the freshness and flavor.
When preparing coffee, it is better not to use a wet spoon, and in general it should be protected from any moisture in every possible way. It's best to keep the coffee dry.
SibHolod
Laboratory studies have shown that SibHolod ice cream meets all safety requirements for microbiological and physicochemical indicators. At the same time, Roskontrol blacklisted him due to violations of labeling rules and technical regulations. The sucrose content in the sample does not meet accepted quality standards. The amount of protein here is significantly less (by 73%) than the maximum permissible value prescribed in the rules.
Harm of black coffee
Black coffee should be consumed in moderation, since in large doses the drink can provoke the development of insomnia, dizziness and headaches. Coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, kidney disease, glaucoma and increased emotionality - these diseases are contraindications for drinking coffee. It is harmful for chronic gastritis during exacerbation and ulcers.
In order not to expose the gastric mucosa to drying out by tannins, coffee should not be drunk on an empty stomach. It is capable of leaching calcium and other beneficial substances from the body, which leads to tooth decay, fragility and brittleness of bones and nails. To prevent this from happening, you can add cream or milk to the drink, or take vitamin complexes. Elderly people should exclude the drink from their diet; it is contraindicated for children.
Constant use of this drink can lead to addiction, as a result of which a person becomes apathetic, depressed, drowsy and tired. Coffee has a diuretic effect, which can lead to dehydration. To replenish fluid, you should drink the same amount of plain drinking water along with coffee.
Nestle 48 kopecks
Microbiological indicators here are within normal limits, no preservatives were detected. With its high performance, the ice cream could have become one of the best existing on the market, but the manufacturer made a serious mistake. The discrepancy between the actual amount of sugar and that declared on the packaging is 39%, which violates the established requirements. For this violation, Nestle 48 kopeck ice cream was blacklisted by Roscontrol.
See also:
6 brands of green peas produced with gross violations of technology
Varieties
Do not confuse the two concepts - species and variety. Species include varieties of plants, varieties include coffee crops and hybrids bred by breeders with unique characteristics inherent exclusively to them.
Which grain is considered the best? Of course, Arabica and Robusta. Among coffee industry professionals, Liberica and Excelsa are known, which are used rarely and to add special undertones in blends.
Arabica has a complex bouquet of flavor with piquant sourness and rich aroma. This is why it is often used in single varieties. Robusta has a high caffeine content. As a rule, beans are a component of strong coffee mixtures with a characteristic bitterness. What is better to buy – 100% Arabica or a blend of two types of coffee? It's up to you to decide based on your own preferences.
