Starbucks VIA Instant Iced Coffee is a new sweet blend this summer

This summer coffee drinkers who love the Starbucks VIA instant coffee blends will now be able to enjoy their drinks on ice.  The Starbucks VIA Instant Iced Coffee is a premium medium roast blend made from Arabica beans, with the same robust flavor of drip coffee.

If you like your coffee sweet, then you will also enjoy the added sugar of 22 grams, which makes the drink around 100 calories per cup.  The quick dissolve granules are easy to prepare with a blend of milk, soy milk or water.  The grounds are full throttle, with the usual caffeine in the mix.  A decaf version has not yet been made available.

The new Starbucks VIA Instant Iced Coffee is available in box of five packs with each stick created to blend into a standard water bottle.  The cost for these sets are around $5.95 each and right now Starbucks is offering the product at $1.00 off through a coupon on its website.  Members of Costco may also obtain a free sample stick directly from the Costco website.

The Starbucks VIA Instant Iced Coffee will be sure to please those who love sweet iced coffee with the full Arabica bean flavor.

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Espresso Con Pana is an Italian original now popular in the U.S.

Espresso by itself is a dark, robust blend of coffee bean perfection.  The drink that put Italy on the map has been transformed by some of the top coffee sellers in the world into many different varieties.  But one such blend is just as well known as espresso by itself, and that is espresso con panna.

The Italian drink is translated as, “espresso with cream“.  After the espresso is created through high pressured hot water then sweet homemade whipped cream is added.  And of course if you do not want the added sugar then the cream by itself is just enough to take the bite out of the dark coffee taste.

The espresso con panna is a favorite in the United States.  In fact, Starbucks has it on the menu, which can be made with one, two or three shots.  Because of it’s bitter taste this drink may not be for everyone, especially if you enjoy tasting less of the coffee and more of the filler.  But for the robust taste buds this drink is a creamy delight and very simple to make.

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Italy

According to Dr. Ernesto Illy of Illy Coffee it is all in the technique of roasting the beans that makes an Italian Roast.  Illy is the most common type of Italian Roast found in the United States.

For the true connoisseur purchasing the whole bean and grinding at home is the preferable method to brew providing a fresher tasting coffee and customization for the pot you will use be it espresso or drip.  Beans can be found in specialty coffee shops and sometimes at grocery stores.

If you are concerned about serving this strong roast in the evening and staying awake no worries, it is also available in decaffeinated.

First made in the 1500’s in Italy, it exhibits the coffees found in Turkey at the time.  It is a less acidic and sweeter tasting coffee than other dark roasts such as French Roast.

The longer roasting time depletes the natural caffeine sources in the beans resulting in a coffee that contains less caffeine.  Italian Roast is a rich brown color with little or no oil.

Italian coffee uses Arabica coffee beans known for their full flavor and low caffeine content, Southern Italians tend to mix Robusta content in their coffee for a stronger flavor.

The method of grinding is different as well; a grinding wheel is preferred to allow a more thorough grind.

The rules of drinking Italian Coffee like the Italians do are as follows:  the locals drink it standing at the bar, “caffe” is an espresso and drunk in two to three sips and coffee should not have milk in it after 11:00 a.m.  Any other behavior will flag you as a tourist.

However you prefer your coffee know that Italian Roast will deliver a smooth full-bodied dark cup of sweet coffee with low acidity and lower caffeine content.

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Espresso

A nice creamy cup of espresso begins by forcing hot water through finely ground coffee.  It may then be used as a base for many specialty coffee drinks or enjoyed as is with a lemon rind to rim your cup.

Espresso has more caffeine per typical 30ml (1 fluid ounce) cup than other beverages.  Compared to a 6 ounce cup of drip coffee it has about half of the caffeine.

In Italy espresso bars provided a place for socialization with the advent of growing urbanized areas.  Local authorities controlled the price of espresso with the understanding that it would be consumed standing, hence the “stand-up” café.

Due to the equipment that was needed to make espresso they were only available in cafes or restaurants with the machines.  The domestic espresso machine was popularized in the 1970’s but was still large, expensive and required a bit of know-how to use them.  In recent years the espresso machine has evolved through the introduction of the coffee pod concept.

The origin of the word is debatable but it has been said it means “pressed out” or similar to the English word express meaning a quick coffee. 

Express can also mean to squeeze the flavor from, espres can refer to the speed of a train and espresso can mean especially for someone. 

The first espresso machines the Bezzera and Pavoni from 1906 took 45 seconds to make a cup of espresso, one cup at a time, “just for you”.

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