2023-05-08 09:43:47
Coffee is a favorite drink of Germans. How best to prepare it and how many cups a day are just healthy.
Coffee is a cult and the variety of different coffee drinks is just as great as the options for preparing it. In addition to classic filter coffee and specialties such as espresso, cappuccino or latte macchiato, cold coffee is also popular in Germany, for example as cold brew, iced coffee or caffe freddo. In 2022, per capita consumption was around 167 liters.
But how does the coffee get into the cup? Whether with or without milk, with milk substitute, sugar or other sweeteners: To prepare it, you simply need ground coffee and hot water.
Type, roast, degree of grinding, dosage and water influence the taste
The taste of the coffee is influenced by many factors: the type of coffee, the roasting, the degree of grinding, whether freshly ground or instant powder, the dosage, the water temperature or the water quality and last but not least the type of preparation.
When it comes to coffee powder, you have the choice between single-origin coffees from a wide variety of growing areas. After the Arabica bean, the Robusta variety is the second most common. Arabica coffees tend to be more expensive and are considered to be of higher quality. They grow more slowly at higher altitudes and are milder and more digestible. The higher-yielding Robusta coffees also grow at lower altitudes, taste slightly chocolaty and somewhat bitter. They also contain regarding twice as much caffeine as Arabica beans. Robusta is often used in espresso blends because it forms a nice crema and, in combination with sugar, develops a caramel-like flavor. If you choose fair trade coffee and coffee from organic farming, you help improve the situation of coffee farmers in the countries of origin and make coffee cultivation more sustainable.
Fully automatic coffee machines are trendy
Preparing coffee from freshly ground beans with fully automatic coffee machines is trendy at home. According to the German Coffee Association, there is a corresponding device in every third household. Other preparation methods are, for example, brewing coffee with a filter in the coffee machine or by hand, direct brewing of the coffee powder in a press jug (“French Press”) or in a cup as a mocha, as well as with an espresso maker directly on the stove.
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The desired degree of grinding of the powder can be set in fully automatic machines. Ground coffee from the trade is usually medium-fine for preparation with a hand filter or in the coffee machine. However, the powder should be coarsely ground for preparation in stampers and finer for espresso or mocha. Coffee powder can be ground as desired in a coffee shop, in supermarkets with a coffee grinder or with your own device.
Up to five cups of filter coffee are safe
Ideally, fresh tap water of medium hardness (8.4-14 degrees German hardness) should be used. Anyone who is bothered by the taste of the coffee with harder water can also switch to mineral water with a low mineral content. Boil the water briefly and then let it cool down to around 86 to 89 degrees Celsius. The temperature should definitely be below 96 degrees, otherwise the aroma of the coffee will suffer. If you use water that has stood for a long time or boiled too long, the coffee will taste stale.
Coffee tastes best freshly brewed. If you keep it warm, it has already lost a lot of its flavor following half an hour. Thermos flasks ensure good taste for longer than keeping them warm on the coffee machine.
And how much coffee can it be? Around four to five cups of filter coffee a day are considered safe for healthy adults. Filter coffee contains an average of 90 milligrams of caffeine per 200 milliliters. This keeps you within the limits of the caffeine intake of up to 400 milligrams per day, which is considered harmless. However, according to the “Gesund ins Leben” network, pregnant women should drink a maximum of three 150 milliliter cups of coffee.
To person: Anja Schwengel-Exner is a consultant for food and nutrition at the Bavarian Consumer Advice Centre.
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