Discovery

by Jerry Johnson
Chocolate-the drink of wisdom! The utilization of cacao dates back to the ancient Aztecs, who believed it was a source of wisdom, energy and that it was great as an aphrodisiac. Think about it. You couldn’t beat something that taste not only good but also made you smart and in the mood for love. Montezuma used to drink chocolate from a gold goblet. I imagine these drinks were organic chocolate yummies. It was from there that this product made it’s was into Europe, where the first eating chocolate was created in 1849 in England. Leave it up to the Europeans create the first Chocolate bars.

Organic chocolate could be categorized as a snack, treat, candy, or even beverage. Chocolate lovers around the world would argue that chocolate deservers it’s own category. How about gourmet? How about health food?

Where does this wonderful chocolate come from? Commercial chocolate is derived from the Theobroma Cacao tree. The Greek name means “drink of the gods”. I don’t think I will hear anyone contradicting this. The cacao pods are carefully processed through fermentation, drying, agitation, roasting, and heating to produce what we refer to as cocoa.

Did you know?
* the cacao tree grows from 10 to 30 feet high
* the cacao tree flowers all through the year and produces fruit yearlong
* each flower after pollination becomes a pod-fruit
* it taks the fruit about 6 months to ripe and be ready to process
* each pod-fruit contains about 30-60 seeds or what we call cacao beans
* the average American consumes over 12 pounds of chocolate a year

As we learn about the effects chemicals used on our foods have on our bodies, more and more people are turning to organic foods. Organic chocolate is grown free of pesticides. Are you aware that non-organic chocolate has the second highest use of pesticides outside of commercial non-organic cotton? It is a no brainer, eat organic chocolate instead of the typical off the shelve you find in the grocery store unless you enjoy pesticides in your system.

Women everywhere have always known of the benefits of chocolate. Now the world knows of its health benefits, as well - not to mention the fact that organic chocolate helps our environment. An organic chocolate bar contains as much antioxidant power as a glass of red wine. Antioxidants are substances that may protect your cells against the effects of free radicals. Free radicals are molecules produced when your body breaks down food, or by environmental exposures like tobacco smoke and radiation. Free radicals can damage cells, and may play a role in heart disease, cancer and other diseases. Just think, that next bite or organic dark chocolate is fighting those free radicals.

The phenols in chocolate are known to help the immune system, reduce the risk of cancer, and promote heart health. Pound for pound, organic dark chocolate has higher levels of antioxidants than blueberries! Dark chocolate also contains more flavanoids than green tea. Flavanoids found in organic cocoa stimulate the blood vessels to produce nitric oxide. Nitric oxide relaxes the smooth muscles in blood vessel walls.

All through the ages, people have known that chocolate can soothe the soul. I guess rock n roll takes a backseat to milk chocolate. With the help of modern science, we now know that is because organic chocolate boosts the brain chemicals serotonin and endorphin. These chemicals produce a feeling of euphoria. Another compound called anandamide has known calming properties. Anandamide is a lipid that binds to cannabinoid receptors and mimics the psychoactive effects of the drug marijuana. It is not the same but you get the picture. I guess chocolate is definitely the ultimate comfort food!

Chocolate’s other ingredients include magnesium and chromium (known to regulate blood sugar); theobromine which stimulates the central nervous system and is an appetite stimulant; caffeine (in relatively small quantities); and tryptophan (an essential amino acid). This also gives the calming effects.

Why organic chocolate? If regular chocolate is so good for you, why go organic? For many of the same reasons that buying organic is better in the first place. You can support fair trade practices in the forests of South American countries where cacao beans are grown. Shade grown beans encourage biodiversity, and you avoid toxic chemicals. No pesticides is a major reason to buy organic chocolate. Why not have one more reason to feel good when you bite into that chocolate bar?

Jerry Johnson owns the Organic
Chocolate Yummies website as well as several other successful webstores. Organic chocolates make perfect gifts for the gourmet within all of us. Visit the OrganicChocolateYummies.com for great buys on organic chocolate yummies.

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Only a few can disagree that a great day starts with a cup of rich coffee. A great flavored cup of hot coffee is a perfect way to begin your day. And most of the readers interested in this article like it that way only. The most important part in getting close to the perfect cup is brewing.

This part is quite crucial once you have selected and grinded the fine gourmet coffee beans. Of course, brewing only starts after you have grinded the coffee well.

For those who know less about it let us make it clear that the basic principal which is common to all methods of doing it is to immerse ground coffee in hot water to extract the flavor and aroma of the coffee so that the drink you get is rich in both mentioned above.

So lot many things are to be understood with absolute clarity if you are planning to brew the coffee all by yourself.

While brewing the coffee, the coffee maker also plays an important role. The most commonly used coffee maker is the one which uses drip method and so it is essential to understand how to brew the coffee using it. The least bothered about element in this process is water.

But a bit consideration to this element can drastically change the flavor of your coffee. We suggest you to use fresh filtered water. Always add fresh and cold water to your coffee maker. It is a misconception that it is better to add hot water to brew coffee.

Adding hot water directly to your coffee maker not only changes the overall flavor of the coffee but can also ruin the equipment. So better add cold water only. Another factor is cleaning the equipment. Always ensure that this device is absolutely clean as the unwanted elements like water sediments and coffee oil can add to the brewing process and will change the taste of the coffee for the worst of it.

That is why it is very essential to clean he maker regularly so that nothing gets mixed up with the process.

The most important step is to measure the proper amount of coffee for your brew. The most common method is to use two level teaspoons for every six ounces of water. You can always adjust it according to your taste to make your coffee either darker or lighter.

It is better not to trust the measurements on your coffee pot as these are often wrong and sometime it is found that the machines cup is four ounces instead of six. Another aspect to remember is to brew only the amount of coffee that you will be consuming in the next hour.

Keeping the coffee in the burner for more than this time may result in losing flavor, taste or even the aroma that eventually makes it stale.

Coffee health benefits, delicious coffeecakes, and coffee maker reviewsall at Coffeefun.com!

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