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Coffee
Geography Is a Flavor

Caffé Diable
Hot Coffee Cocoa
Spiced Coffee

Bright red coffee cherries are ready to be hand-picked from the tree.

(Family Features) - Between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, a "coffee belt" encircles the globe. Here, abundant sunshine, moderate rainfall and year-round warm temperatures nurture coffee trees. At harvest time, those trees are laden with bright red coffee cherries. Encased in a thin layer of fruit is a coffee bean — the seed of the coffee cherry.

Coffee is harvested primarily in three areas: Latin America, the Pacific region and Africa. The soil, climate, altitude and surrounding plants that a coffee tree is exposed to, as well as the method by which the bean is extracted from the fruit, all affect the flavor of the coffee. In the tasting room at Starbucks Coffee Company, coffee experts often experience and describe "the taste of the place."

To evaluate coffees, Starbucks tasters use a technique called "cupping." Small batches of coffee are roasted, ground and brewed without a filter. Each coffee's aroma, body, acidity and flavor are at a peak, and the tasters pick out nuances in each coffee's character and discuss them.

The tasters expect certain characteristics from each coffee, depending on their respective growing regions. Coffees from Latin America are generally light- to medium-bodied, with clean, lively flavors. Pacific coffees — such as those from Indonesia — are on the opposite end of the taste spectrum. They are typically full- bodied, smooth and earthy, with very low acidity and occasionally herbal flavor notes. Finally, coffees of East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula often combine the crisp, clean acidity found in Latin American coffees with intense floral aroma and enticing fruit or wine flavors.

The next time you pick up a bag of coffee, take a look at where it was grown. When you drink it, see if you too can recognize the taste of the place.

Starbucks coffee tasters Anthony Carroll, Dub Hay and Andrew Linnemann experience the taste of the place by cupping coffee.

Tasting Terminology

Starbucks coffee tasters use a specific glossary of terms to describe coffees. The critical components of any coffee are as follows:

Aroma
The scent of a coffee is a very important component of its flavor. Much of our sense of taste is created through the nose and its olfactory glands, which add the thousands of subtleties that are tasted in food and drink every day.

Acidity
This term refers to the lively, palate-cleansing characteristic of all coffees grown at high elevation, which is experienced primarily on the sides of the tongue. Acidity is not the same as bitterness, but is rather a sensation reminiscent of fresh- squeezed juice.

Body
The tactile impression of brewed coffee in your mouth can be described as light, medium or full. Some coffees naturally have more body than others. The brewing method also affects the perception of body. Coffees made in a coffee press or an espresso machine seem fuller in body than those brewed by other methods.

Flavor
The most important tasting term describes the total impression of aroma, acidity and body. It can be used generally — "this coffee is flavorful" — or with specific attributes in mind — "this coffee has a chocolaty flavor."

For more information on coffee, visit www.starbucks.com.

Caffè Diable
Great coffee with dramatic presentation
Serves 4

1/2 cup Starbucks Colombia coffee
2 1/2 cups cold, filtered water
8 sugar cubes
2 teaspoons orange extract
4 lemon peel twists
4 cinnamon sticks

Brew coffee according to appropriate proportions and brewing instructions. While brewing, drop 2 sugar cubes into each of four 10-ounce mugs. Saturate each set of sugar cubes with 1/2 teaspoon orange extract. Remove coffee pot from brewer and arrange mugs around it. Dim room lights and light sugar cubes. When the cubes are burning brightly, top with fresh, hot coffee. Garnish with lemon peels and cinnamon sticks.

Hot Coffee Cocoa
Coffee and chocolate blended together
Serves 6 to 8

For the coffee:
1/2 cup ground Starbucks French Roast coffee
4 cups water

For the cocoa:
1 cup water
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
3 cups milk or half-and-half
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

To make coffee, brew measured amounts of coffee and water, using customary method. Keep coffee hot.
To make cocoa, in saucepan over medium heat, stir together water, cocoa powder, sugar and salt. Cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is smooth, then bring just to boil. Add milk and return to simmer. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
Combine hot coffee and hot cocoa. Serve in mugs or heat- resistant glasses.

Spiced Coffee
Elegant spices paired with heavy-bodied Sumatra coffee
Serves 8

2/3 cup ground Starbucks Sumatra coffee
4 cinnamon sticks, crushed or broken into small pieces
6 cups water
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
2/3 cup honey
Half-and-half or milk

Mix together coffee and cinnamon sticks. Using coffee-cinnamon mixture and water, brew coffee by customary method.
Add cardamom and honey to hot coffee and stir until honey dissolves.
Serve warm. Pour about 2/3 cup coffee into each cup. Pass half- and-half or milk.

SOURCE: Starbucks Coffee Company