Issue #08 January 2008

Dear Coffee Lover,

The simple coffee bean never ceases to amaze me. It really is just that...a bean. To make coffee all you need do is roast and then grind or crush the bean, add hot water and find a way to filter the brew. You can filter it with a paper kitchen towel if you want.

Making coffee really is that simple.

On the other hand, enjoying coffee can become surprisingly complex.

Do you like plain coffee? Or do you prefer espresso? Or maybe an espresso-based drink like a Cappuccino?

And once you get into the origins of particular coffee beans, the best ways to roast them, the different ways to grind them and the multitude of ways to brew them...the humble coffee bean can stimulate hours of discussion and even strong disagreements.

In fact, coffee has probably stimulated more conversations over the last few hundred years than any other beverage.

If you want to ask questions about coffee, join coffee-related groups online, or get into discussions with other enthusiasts, there are a variety of choices.

If you have questions about any aspect of making coffee, you can ask them through the Questions about Coffee page at Coffee Detective.

If you just want to make contact with other people who love coffee, join the Coffee Questions Group we just created on Facebook.

And if you want to join a forum and discuss coffee with other fans of the bean, we can recommend CoffeeForums.com.

As I said, coffee has always stimulated conversation and now, with the Web, it's easier than ever to find other people who share the same interest.

That's it for this issue.

Until next time.

Nick

Nick "The Coffee Detective" Usborne