What's Makes A Perfect Gift for a Coffee Lover? Coffee of course.

I love it when people send me gifts of various coffees and such. Coffee makes the perfect gift if your intended recipient is a coffee lover. There are so many varieties out there that we'll take a minute to explore your options.

As you probably already know, when you give a gift it helps to know a little something about the person your giving your gift to. If they are a coffee drinker, that's awesome, but what else do you know about them? Do they own an instant coffee machine like the Keurig coffee maker? If they do, your off to a great start, you could get them a gift basket that’s filled with an array of various flavored coffee cartridges in them. How about things that go with coffee? I know there are many different things I enjoy eating with my coffee. Here are some suggestions: biscotti, chocolate, cookies, biscuits and of course, coffee cake and doughnuts. Your gifts presentation is very important as well. Nothing cane ruin a nice surprise like a poorly presented gift. If you plan on purchasing your coffee related gifts online, make sure they have plenty of pictures of the final product so you can be assured that what your buying is up to snuff. If chocolate is going to be included with your coffee related gift, then I would highly suggest you buy dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is very high in antioxidants and has actually been proven to be good for your health. Plus, chocolate doesn't expire quickly so you should not have to worry about spoilage.

Coffee gifts are the perfect seasonal gifts. It's a pretty safe bet to give the gift of coffee during the holidays. A little fruit basket or cheese basket to round things off and you will have a gift that most anyone is sure to love. Fortunately, coffee lasts longer than cheese or fruit so keep this in mind if your gifts' intended recipient is out of town a lot and/or doesn't eat at home much. Come to think of it, Valentine's Day is the perfect holiday to give chocolate and coffee gifts. Women love chocolate so what better accompaniment is there than coffee? Need I say more?

Buy Coffee In Bulk and Save Yourself Some Cash In The Process

Did you know that coffee can be bought in bulk through several online distributors? Saving you significant amounts of money if you purchase it in this way? I bet you didn't, but lucky for you I plan on letting you know how. The first thing you should keep in mind is the cost of shipping. Since most coffee beans are shipped in 5-25 pound bags, it's best to find a coffee distributor that is close to your location. This will help cut down on the delivery fees and delivery times. I usually get my coffee to order the next day. This cuts down on my available choices, but I would not want to pay the overnight shipping fees on a 25 pound bag of coffee.

There are many reputable bulk coffee programs out there. You can usually save if you join a plan where a certain amount of coffee is shipped to you each and every month. The amount of coffee you are required to order varies by company so make sure you check the terms of each plan you join. Many house blend coffees that are up for sale come from various vendors. You should expect to see several different blends of coffee from Sumatra, Kenya, South America, and Central America. You should start out by buying the lowest quantity of coffee available so that you do not end up with 5 pounds of coffee that you just can't stand to drink. I prefer to buy my coffee in small amounts and I choose only the best quality beans to roast. If you have a coffee house, diner or restaurant, then you will most assuredly need plenty of coffee.

If you are buying bulk coffee then you probably own a restaurant or large office building. It's always a good idea to invest in a commercial grade coffee machine if you're planning on making large quantities of coffee. The coffee maker you have in your kitchen just can't compete with most of the commercial models. Regular coffee makers are extremely slow at making coffee and most of the time the water just doesn't get hot enough to extract the optimum flavor from the coffee bean. This is one of the main reasons why the coffee you make at home never tastes as good as the coffee you bought from your local coffee shop. The temperature of the water during the brewing process is extremely important in the outcome your cup of Joe. If you don't need lots of coffee, don't buy large bags. You will definitely save yourself some money if you buy a 25 pound bag, but if it takes you a year to use it all up then don't buy so much. The last cup will be completely devoid of any flavor.
You should only buy as much coffee as you'll be using in the next month maximum.

Hawaii... The Sand, The Surf, And Kona Coffee

Kona coffee, how I love thee, let me count the ways... Oh, I'm sorry. I must have been day dreaming. Not only is Hawaii home to some of the most beautiful landscapes and amazing sunsets, but it's also home to one of my most favorite types of coffee. Kona coffee. I could talk your head off for days about how great this coffee is, but you really have to taste it for yourself to understand why many others, including myself, love it so much. This coffee comes from the Big Island of Hawaii. The coffee plant was brought to the island early in the nineteenth century by Brazilian farmers. Today, there are still many small farms on Hawaii that grow this wonderful type of coffee. My favorite kind of Kona coffee is the peaberry version. The small coffee beans of this plant are so full of flavor and aroma.

If you are a coffee connoisseur and are ready to have Kona coffee delivered to you, you might as well do it the right way. First off, it is imperative that you buy the beans, don't buy the coffee already ground. It will lose much of its natural flavor and aroma if you buy it pre-ground. I have measured how much it actually takes to fill my coffee press and I only grind one press full at a time. By the way, I don't use a coffee maker. I prefer the coffee press. It is basically a jar with a top piece that is attached to a plunger with a screen attached to it. You put the coffee in the bottom, pour some hot water into the jar, let it brew for at least 4 minutes and then you push down on the plunger which in turn strains the coffee and keeps the coffee grounds on the bottom. This is (in my opinion) the very best way to enjoy your cup of Joe. This method of making coffee blows away my $200 Capresso coffee maker. This simple $30 device has made some of the best coffee I've ever tasted.

Okay, enough with the coffee brewing lesson already. If, at this point, I've managed to convince you to at least try Kona coffee, make sure you get 100% Kona coffee. Do not buy a blend. It's sad but as much as 90% of a Kona coffee blend can contain cheap coffee mixed in with it. I don't know about you, but I'm not paying premium prices for cheap coffee. I would recommend you try a small size to start out with. Something like an 8oz. bag of coffee would do nicely and who knows, if you like it you can save money by ordering several pounds of coffee beans at a time. For myself, I like to buy my coffee beans fresh every month despite the higher cost to me. You just can't replace a REAL fresh cup of coffee to start your day off right.

Coffee Delivery Services

Coffee delivery services exist with one goal in mind; make the coffee drinker happy. At least, that's how I view the industry. If you are the casual coffee drinker (i.e. Folger's instant coffee is what's in your cup) then this kind of service may not be for you. The person I'm talking to is the coffee aficionado who understands that there are so many better and more flavorful ways of happily satisfying their coffee cravings. Let's talk for a minute about what kind of coffee drinker you are before we discuss what's out there.

There are so many different types of coffee drinkers in the world. From the average coffee lover to the person who pays over a hundred dollars for exotic coffee's to be flown directly to their door for instant gratification. I would probably fit into the latter group of coffee drinkers. However, the only coffee I that I will pay top dollar and have shipped to me is Kona Peaberry coffee. One taste of this delicious brew and you will never want to drink any other coffee again. Unfortunately for me, my friends have tasted it and as a result, I have to keep myself from buying so much of this wonderful coffee for fear of going broke because of the moochers. Anyway, once you have discerned you level of coffee mania, you can decide which coffee delivery services are the right ones for you. Most people enjoy surprises. I am not one of those people. If you want shake things up a bit however, you can choose to have a random selection of coffee shipped to you on a schedule, usually on a monthly basis.

No matter what kind of coffee you have delivered to you, please remember that a true coffee drinker will have their coffee beans shipped directly to them. And for heaven's sake, please invest in a proper coffee grinder. The way your coffee is ground can make all the difference in how it will eventually taste when it reaches your cup. Blade coffee grinders simply shred the coffee and are all but useless when trying to get uniform flavor from your bean. I would recommend using a burr grinder, they are only slightly more expensive but they are entirely worth the added cost.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, make sure your coffee delivery service is located as close to your location as possible. Order today, grind tomorrow, and savor the wonderful flavor. Everybody say ahhh... It is best to grind only enough coffee for your immediate use. The thinking behind this is that the wonderful aroma you smell escaping from the grinder will disappear if the fresh ground coffee sits outside too long. Haven't you ever wondered why supermarket coffee tastes so bad? It tastes so bad (in my opinion) because they use low quality coffee beans that were ground months before the coffee even reached the shelf. Save yourself (and your taste buds) from bland coffee by having gourmet coffee delivered directly to your doorstep through a reputable coffee delivery service.

A Deluge Of Coffee Services For The Coffee Enthusiast

Coffee services are abound in the United States. We are a country united in our love of coffee. The fact that their is a Starbucks around almost every corner of the city is a testament to our nations infatuation with all things coffee. That being said, there are an enormous amount of companies that will ship you any type of coffee you could ever want overnight. There are online coffee clubs that that will ship specialty gourmet coffees to your home or office each and every month. Your options are unlimited, you can select from your favorite coffee blends, or you can select the online coffee of the month which could lead you to try different coffees that you would otherwise not try yourself.

Ask yourself these questions:
"What kind of coffee drinker am I?"
"Do I drink more than one coffee each day?"
"Do I get my coffee on the run to work or do I make it at home?"
These are the questions that will help determine which coffee services you might be
interested in. For example, I have a Braun Tassimo coffee maker. It is one of those instant coffee makers that can make a latte in two seconds flat. My wife truly loves this machine but as for myself ( the real coffee connoisseur in the house), my old-school love of coffee will not allow me to part with my coffee press. Anyway, before I forget, we regularly get a box of Tassimo coffee cartridges delivered to the house each month. Naturally, they are cappuccino coffees.

I would have to say that one of my favorites would be the office coffee services package that some companies offer. If at all possible, I highly urge you to get your boss to look into one of these office packages. Basically, they will give you a free coffee machine, something like the Braun or Keurig instant coffee machines and (here comes the best part) each and every month, you get your choice of regular, vanilla, hazelnut, and other gourmet coffee flavors that everyone in the office is sure to love. It's totally up to you when the deliveries take place and you are also in complete control of the amount of coffee that is shipped. Bigger offices, will obviously have need of much more coffee (not a bad thing right?), but any office that has me in it will have to have large volume and premium selection. If you are the boss, you will be the one stuck with the bill, but on the bright side of things, you won't have to share any of it! By the way, a good coffee service company will have free shipping to their customers who by monthly supplies.

No matter what you do, choose a coffee service that will provide you with excellent coffee and, of course, excellent service. I am of the firm belief that a good cup of coffee is worth its weight in gold. An office with a good supply of coffee will be a happy and alert office.

Buy Right From The Roasters – Get Your Coffee Bean Direct

If you want your coffee at wholesale prices you have to get your coffee bean direct from the roasters. There are plenty of sources online for premium coffee. Buying coffee for many of us is a personal choice. We enjoy seeing, smelling, and (if possible) tasting the coffee before we buy it. Knowledgeable coffee drinkers know not to buy their coffee from the supermarket. The flavor and aroma have all but dissipated while it sets on a shelf for several months waiting to be sold. The secret to great coffee is in the timing. Once the coffee roaster roasts the coffee, the clock starts ticking. I like to only buy as much coffee as I can consume in a week so that I will always have a fresh cup to start my day.

When choosing a place online to get your coffee bean direct, make sure that they are located close to where you live. Fortunately for me, my favorite coffee bean source is is located only one day away via UPS. That means if I place an order for my favorite coffee on Monday, I will usually have my coffee by Tuesday. Nothing can beat quick service, and if you love your coffee as much as I do, you'll do anything to get those coffee beans in your
coffee mug as soon as possible. It's not a very good idea to select a coffee roaster that is located far from you unless you like paying tons of overnight shipping charges (I know I don't). There are exceptions to this rule, however. I get peaberry coffee from Hawaii every month and in my opinion it is worth every penny to have it FedEx'ed to me.

Like I was saying before, buying coffee online has many advantages. The best and most obvious of these advantages is having your coffee freshly roasted for you and getting the coffee at a discount. You should expect to pay about half of what you would normally pay at your local supermarket unless of course your into buying the kind of coffee beans that taste more like tree bark than gourmet coffee beans. Another great advantage to buying coffee directly from a coffee roaster is the large selection you have to choose from. You can get regular coffee, gourmet coffee, Costa Rican coffee, Brazilian coffee, dark Sumatran coffee, there are literally thousands of different kinds of coffee beans to choose from. So, it should be completely obvious to you by now, you can't go wrong when you get your coffee bean direct from a reputable coffee roaster. Your taste buds will thank you for it.