Coffee brings to mind time spent with friends, lingering after a meal, enjoying each others company. And gifts, well, they speak for themselves. Who doesn’t enjoy receiving a gift? So why not combine the two and show others how much you love spending time with them.

For a simple gift, take a beautiful coffee cup, wrap it, and tie it in a bow. If simple isn’t your thing, you can center your gift on an elaborate gift basket filled with rich coffees from all over the world. Add a few creamers and spices for flavor to remind them of you ever time they take a sip.

To let your friends know just how much you love and appreciate them, you can take the time to find some unusual coffee cake or bread recipes. Try to find recipes with ingredients that your friend loves to eat, such as strawberry-rhubarb. Make a batch, wrap each loaf in a beautiful tea towel, and tie it up with a ribbon that has a personalized charm attached and the recipe attached. Include a set of coffee cups and a pretty little butter knife so your friend can share.

Every gourmet cook loves to receive new gadgets, so check the kitchen department at your favorite shop to see what might be fun and exciting. A friend that enjoys gourmet cooking might not necessarily be a coffee aficionado, so gifting them with a coffee grinder and a variety of whole beans may be a whole new adventure for them.

If you fancy yourself as a gourmet cook, why not throw a coffee tasting party on a cold winter day? Decide if you want your guests to know what coffee they are drinking, or if you will have “blind” taste tests to introduce them to new blends and roasts. Make some wonderful treats that go well with coffee; maybe something with cinnamon, allspice or nutmeg. Try tea cakes, coffee cakes or breads cut into tiny shapes. Gather a variety of coffee, from mild to robust and remember to include some exotic flavors. Have different sweeteners on hand such as sugar, honey, and non-sugar alternatives.

Enjoying coffee isn’t just about tasting it; other senses are involved, too. Make coffee tasting an enjoyable experience. Cover the table with a soft table cloth. Use whole coffee beans for their texture and aroma. Play music to match the theme of the coffee. Carefully construct an atmosphere fit for friendship and relaxation so they’ll know that you want them to stay for a long time and enjoy themselves.

Put together parting gifts in little bags. Inside, you can include coffee samples in small ribbon-tied bags. Chocolate-coated spoons would make a great addition to be tied to the outside of the bag. The spoons can be found at any gourmet coffee store. Add a handwritten note with your words of appreciation.

Coffee, gifts and friends, what a wonderful combination! Enjoy the little things in life with those that you love, share your thoughts and feelings over a cup of coffee and you will find that the world may not be so overwhelming after all. It’s all in how you approach life, and a good cup of coffee is a great place to start!

Coffee is the most popular drink in the entire world. It is traded more than any commodity except for oil. The coffee market is rapidly changing as the world becomes more conscious of the environment and of many of the farming practices used in the past hundred years. Organic coffee is quickly gaining ground in the competitive coffee market.

Coffee has been used for over a thousand years. Ethiopia appears to be one of the first areas to identify the miraculous qualities of coffee. It didn’t take long before coffee spread throughout Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. Back then the growing methods weren’t as well thought out as they are now and the idea of organic ceased to exist (perhaps because crops weren’t yet doused with chemicals).

Today people are considered by the environmental and health effect of many twentieth century growing practices. For the health conscious consumer, organic coffee is the only choice. Organic coffee is grown without toxic insecticides and herbicides. The fertilizers used are all natural and consumers don’t have to worry about being slowly poisoned.

Companies that want to grow organic coffee must gain certification according to the regulations of the Organic Food Production Act. This Act lays out the guidelines that growers must follow to become certified and it also explains the method by which growers will be tested to ensure they follow these guidelines.

Organic Coffee Can Only Be Grown In Certified Fields

The fields for organic coffee production must pass stringent guidelines. It isn’t enough that farmers forego the use of chemicals but they must also grow on land that has been chemical free for at least three years in a row. This is to make sure that any coffee displaying an organic coffee label is truly chemical free.

It isn’t easy for coffee to become certified organic. Growers have to take great pains and invest much time and money into the transition process. For this reason organic coffee is almost always more expensive than non organic coffee. Luckily many consumers believe the extra cost is well worth it and more growers are willing to take the plunge into organic certification.

To grow coffee without using industrial fertilizers, the crops are often planted in the shade. This protects delicate soil nutrients from being eradicated by the sun’s UV radiation. Creating shade can also add to farming cost.

Many a coffee expert will agree than even without regard to the health and environmental benefits, organic coffee is still a superior product. Its flavor isn’t corrupted by the impact of unnatural chemicals and so organic coffee offers the highest quality taste.

It can be said that coffee definitely hits the spot. In fact coffee hits a lot of spots! People all over the world enjoy a daily cup of coffee. Japan, for example, ranks number 3 in the world for coffee consumption. There are over 10,000 coffee shops and kiosks to cater to the needs of Tokyo alone. The Japanese even use coffee to get rid of spots! For reducing wrinkles and improving their skin, the Japanese have been known to bathe in coffee grounds fermented with pineapple pulp.

No matter how you like your coffee, whether it be black, frothy cappuccino, latte, espresso, hot or on ice, the selections available to tempt your taste buds is enormous. The average annual coffee consumption of the American adult is 67 gallons, over 600 cups. In fact, specialty coffee sales are increasing by 20% per year and account for almost 8% of the 18 billion dollar U.S. coffee market. Statistics show that among coffee drinkers, the average consumption in the US is around 2.3 cups of coffee per day. Also, studies find that over one-half of the population, equivalent to approximately 150 million Americans, now drink specialty coffees on a daily basis.

There are currently around 38,000 independent coffee shops around the United States, with an average $27 billion a year in sales. Based on market research, there will be approximately 50,000 or more independently owned coffee shops in the US by the year 2011. An aspiring entrepreneur might consider the specialty coffee business as a golden opportunity.

Gourmet coffees, also known as premium or specialty coffees have an attractive gross profit margin, compared to traditional brewed coffee sales. For example an espresso based drink may retail in a coffee shop for an average price of $2.85, while the average price for brewed coffee is $1.38. Your gross profit margin is approximately 77% on each, thus you would make $2.20 on a frothy creation and only $1.06 on a brewed cup. Your espresso machines and other equipment may run a little more; however, the additional profits are well worth the added capital expenditures.

Coffee is grown commercially in over forty-five countries throughout the world. Brazil accounts for almost 1/3 of the world’s coffee production, producing over 3-1/3 billion pounds of coffee each year. Over 5 million people in Brazil are employed by the coffee trade. Most of those are involved with the cultivation and harvesting of more than 3 billion coffee plants.

A bit of coffee trivia: Independent coffee shops manage to sell 38% of espresso-based drinks, while the rest is brewed coffee. 65% of all coffee is consumed during breakfast hours, 30% between meals, and the remaining 5% with other meals. Women say that drinking coffee is a great way to relax. Men say that coffee helps them get the job done. (Men are from Mars, women are from Venus.)

More than half of all Americans, 18 or older, drink coffee every day. This equates to approximately 150 million daily java drinkers. 30 million American adults drink specialty coffee beverages daily; such as mocha, latte, espresso, cafe mocha, cappuccino, frozen/iced coffee beverages, and so on.

Coffee sales are continually rising year after year. And so are the pricing modules! Coffee is the second largest commodity traded, next to oil. If you are looking for a business to get into, coffee is probably the best business for you to consider. Can you think of any other product that has such universal appeal, is easy to get into, and is relatively simple to operate?

Coffee has become a necessity especially for people who constantly need a pick me up of extra energy during the day. The best way to have coffee is having it fresh every day, thus the creation of coffee makers for do it yourself coffee has become a huge success.

Arabica and Robusta beans are the two most common blends known to coffee lovers; while there are other flavors offered by countries throughout the world to fit one’s exquisite palate for their regular caffeine fix.

Coffee maker accessories are as vital as the actual coffee maker itself. These days, one will find it odd not to be able to see a coffee maker inside an office or one’s household. It is the best way to have coffee as it is able to provide fresh, savory brews with every pot.

Most people are not aware that there is a difference in the taste of coffee with the water used to brew each pot. Regular tap water is also known as hard water which is filled with monumental amounts of minerals which can alter the taste of coffee and shorten the lives of their coffee makers. This is why water filters, though not necessarily coffee maker accessories play a key role in creating the perfect brew. It produces soft water which is free from any unnecessary mineral deposits for better tasting coffee.

Another of the coffee maker accessories are the coffee filters. These filter the ground coffee which one needs to be able to produce a pot. These are used especially in drip coffee machines; these prevent the ground coffee from getting in the rest of the brew thus making sure one does not accidentally sip any coffee residue in their cups.

There are paper coffee filters which are easy to use and are disposable; they may be cheap though when accumulated can also be costly, plus the fact that it is made from paper poses a factual risk that the brew may have some paper taste in it. There are also cloth coffee filters which are said to be Earth friendly; one does not need to constantly purchase one as it is reusable and only needs to be rinsed in between each use. Also, there is a less common filter which is lined with real gold; the gold coffee filter is reliable and durable; though for some it is rather impractical to purchase due to its initial cost, though it does not leave the brewed coffee with any odd tastes.

Another accessory is the coffee grinder or the mill; it allows a person to freshly grind coffee beans to produce fresh pots of coffee as they please. Each grinder is equipped with high powered blades to ensure fine grinding.

However one wishes to have their coffee, they can guarantee a fresh and satisfying cup with the aide of their trusty coffee maker and all the other accessories which make every cup more satisfying.