How to Make Mocha The BEST Way (Tutorial)

Probably you have a moka pot, but do you know how to use it like a boss? hahaha.. here you go, this is the "Boss way" to make a cup of mocha and drink it like a boss too!

 

How to prepare a good italian espresso with moka pot?

Do you have a Moka pot? If yes, do you know how to make espresso with your Moka pot?

Here are the video I found on YouTube for your reference on how you can enjoy a cup of espresso with your Moka pot. Enjoy it~!


    

The Brewer Family, Do You Know Them All? (Part 1)

Some people may be a coffee drinker, they drink coffee everyday and definitely enjoy the aroma of coffee. But, do they know the story of the coffee they are drinking? Here are the coffee brewer family, do you know each of them?

1. The Coffee Percolator ( invented during year 1810-1814 )

American-born British physicist and soldier Count Rumford, otherwise known as Sir Benjamin Thompson (1753–1814). He invented a percolating coffee pot between 1810 and 1814 following his pioneering work with the Bavarian Army. This coffee percolator also name as the moka pot. How to brew a perfect mocha? Read it here. You also can make espresso with this moka pot do you know that? If you also interested in making espresso with moka pot, follow the instruction here, it's simple.

2. Siphon Coffee Maker, or The Vacuum Coffee Maker ( invented year 1830 )

This is my personal favorite! You can enjoy the process by looking at how the coffee is being brewed and also enjoy making it like a boss. :) I bought myself a set of this few years ago and I'm still using it in my hometown in Penang, Malaysia. But because I constantly need to be working overseas, I bought another set just to put it in my workplace. 

A vacuum coffee maker brews coffee using two chambers where vapor pressure and vacuum produce coffee. This type of coffee maker is also known as vac pot, siphon or syphon coffee maker, and was invented by Loeff of Berlin in the 1830s. These devices have since been used for more than a century in many parts of the world and more recently have been given a new use by molecular mixologists and chefs to make hot cocktails and broths.^[1] The design and composition of the vacuum coffee maker varies. The chamber material is borosilicate glass, metal, or plastic, and the filter can be either a glass rod or a screen made of metal, cloth, paper, or nylon.

3. Royal Belgian Balancing Siphon Coffee

I also have one set of these at my office in Penang, Malaysia. For me, it's a collection, gold in color. I have only used it for once or twice. As I did not have gas burner and only used alcohol burner, the bottom of the water section was burnt to black color so I stopped using it. This is another version of the Siphon coffee, a revolutionary type of "automatic Siphon" I call it. 

Here you can see how the pot works by itself until the end of the process while you're talking with your friend. After that, tadaaa~~!!! You just have to open the tap/valve and  the coffee comes out from the tap! An early variation of this principle is called a balance siphon. This implementation has the two chambers arranged side by side on a balance-like device, with a counterweight attached to the heated chamber. Once the vapor has forced the hot water out, the counterweight activates a spring-loaded snuffer which smothers the flame and allows the initial chamber to cool down thus lowering pressure (creating a vacuum) and causing the brewed coffee to seep in.

Continue to learn more about the coffee brewer family =) 

9 Ways To Reuse Coffee Grounds

We all know that coffee is a normal beverage that we drink almost every morning.. but do you know that coffee can be used for other purposes? No matter you are making a cup of Mocha, Espresso or Latte, it's sure that you'll have some used ground coffee.

Here are some good idea that can be shared:

1. Fertilizer:

You can easily google and see if the plants you have in your garden prefer high acidity soil. If the plant prefers acidic soil like rose, then sprinkle a thin layer of coffee powder around it. Coffee is high in nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, potassium and other minerals that can be useful for your plant. But be extra cautious on the plants that don't like acidity soil.

2. Insect Repellent:

Coffee has a very strong aroma which many insects like mosquitoes, ants, slugs and maggots dislike. They also avoid soil with high concentration of acid.

3. Pet Repellent:

Coffee may smell good to human but it can be a disturbance to animals as the smell is too strong for them. Spread the mixture of orange peels with used ground coffee around your garden to avoid feline (cats) entering into and messing up your garden. This is definitely a safe and efficient pet deterrent.

4. Bigger carrot?

If you mix some used coffee in the soil before you start to sow your carrot seed, if will give your carrot a boost from the beginning and you will have bigger carrots harvest!

5. Absorb Odors:

Fill your stocking or small container with used coffee ground and place it in the refrigerator or hang it inside the toilet, it will help to absorb the odor. After all, we drink coffee everyday and will never run out of coffee grounds. You just have to replace the old one with newly used ground coffee.

 

6. A Golden Dye:

Ever spilled coffee on your white shirt? Then you will get the golden color on your shirt. You can dye anything with this, including your t-shirt, feather, easter eggs, cloths.. and turn all these boring things into something special, just be creative! With a bit of water, soak used coffee ground into and dye your white paper into ‘antique’ parchment. It's gonna be fun, trust me!

7. Coffee for Your Hair:

If you use a lot of hair styling products, or if you’ve recently switched to a natural shampoo and conditioner, your hair is probably weighted down by residue. Remove that build-up using old coffee grounds to give your hair a lift and restore its natural healthy shine. Before shampooing, simply grab a handful of used grounds and massage them into your hair. The coarse texture is enough to break apart the product residue, but it’s also gentle enough that it won’t damage your locks.

8. Cellulite treatment:

Poor diet, frequent or extended periods of sitting, smoking, or genetic predisposition – cellulite has many causes and for every cause there are at least a dozen “cures” which may or may not actually work.  Well, here’s one that does: used coffee grounds.

There are probably hundreds of recipes on Pinterest alone for cellulite-reducing coffee scrubs.  However, a simple mix of used coffee grounds and warm water will also do the trick.  Use this scrub for ten minutes twice per week on any areas affected by cellulite.  Results should start to become apparent within four weeks of steady treatment.

9. Facial Scrub

Just as it works as a body scrub, coffee makes an excellent facial.  Mix two tablespoons of used coffee grounds with an equal amount of organic cocoa powder.  Add three tablespoons of whole milk or heavy cream and top it off with a heaping tablespoon of honey for the perfect all-natural alpha-hydroxy and antioxidant facial.

So are you ready to make good use of those used coffee grounds in the kitchen? 

Tips on removing coffee/tea stain on cloths.

Arggh! It just had to be the the day you're wearing your favourite white shirt. When the spill happens, most of us don't know how to get rid of the coffee stain. But fret not, from now on you'll know how! =)

Here is the right way of removing them. This is what you need:


 Method 1:
1. Baking soda.
2. Hot water.

Wet the stain if it's already dry. Then add 1tbsp of baking soda onto the stain. Rub the stain with this paste form of baking soda, later adding some hot water onto it and continue rubbing. The stain should be gone in a moment.


Method 2:
1. Vinegar.

It also well life with many type of stains— fruit juices, beer, coffee or tee, patting the white vinegar (do not add water) direct from the bottle to the stain, after that just put your cloths into washing machine normal wash. For large area of stain, you need to soak the material like carpet into the vinegar, the mixture should be 2 portion of vinegar with 1 portion of cold water soak over night.

Method 3:
1. Egg Yolk

It may sound insane but this is true. Beat the egg yolk and apply onto the coffee/ tea stain. Leave it about 3 minute and then wash it with soap water. The stain should be gone.

Method 4: 
1. Beer. (not black beer).

Pour a little bit of beer on to the coffee stain, rub it gently and the stain should be disappear. Rinse with water will do.

And this will save your white clothes and cloths!

Do you know what is "White Coffee"?

In Malaysia, white coffee started in the town of Ipoh, as early as in the years of 1970's. Before that, the labour worker are imported from China to work in Ipoh where the mining of Tin are extract., control by the British during the British Colonize time. The China mining worker drink coffee as medicine and as a "herbal tea" because coffee can be found in the jungle of Ipoh. They boil the coffee with pork and some other herbal as "herbal tea". The taste was bitter.

 Picture shown the early 60-70's mining worker in Ipoh, Malaysia.

The China mining worker did not know that the British are also drinking coffee as a beverage. One day when the Chinese worker preparing the "herbal tea', one of the British boss smell the aroma of the coffee and ask the worker who drink "coffee", why he was not invited? But non of the mining worker can answer this.

The British boss follow the aroma of the coffee and found the place where the worker cooking their "herbal tea", and ask them why he was not invited. The worker ask the boss: "Are you sick boss?"

"I am not sick!" answer the boss.
"If you not sick why are you drink our herbal tea?" asked the worker.
"Hahaha.... I see... This is call coffee and we drink it as a beverage, not a herbal tea!"
Then the British boss start to teach the Chinese worker how to prepare a cup of coffee with sugar and milk. The worker start calling this mixture of coffee, milk and sugar as: White Coffee.

After several years most of the mining are closed down in Ipoh and a lot of the worker are jobless, and these Chinese worker decided to stay in Malasyia (Formally Malaya) and starting to sell this "White Coffee" with a small stall beside the street with bread, during that time not much people are educated and so to be easy to remember they just wrote "White Coffee"- (with milk) and "Black coffee"- (without milk). This is where the name of "White Coffee" are born and become well known among all Malaysian even after so many years.