Coffee add-ons

What is the difference, other than the time the coffee beans are roasted? The amount of time roasting can add flavour, but more importantly, (depending on why you drink coffee) add or remove caffeine. The lighter a roast, the higher the amount of caffeine. So even if the word 'light' makes you think 'weak', do not be deceived. The acid content will also be higher in a lighter roast.

A disadvantage of dark roasted coffee beans is that they lose their freshness faster as more oil is released.

Iced coffee is a refreshing way to still get your daily dose of caffeine without feeling like you are warming yourself up from inside. Cold brewed coffee is iced coffee made by pouring cold or room temperature water over a larger amount of ground coffee than you would normally use. Then let it soak for at least 12 hours or longer. The result is a full-bodied, soft coffee without any of the bitterness or acidity that you would normally expect. Even if you use twice as much ground coffee as you would in a cafetiere, it is a delicious coffee to drink with ice and either milk or water and one of our coffee syrups for sweetness and extra flavour.

If for some reason you have old coffee beans that you do not want to grind but also do not want to throw away, then here are some suggestions you may find useful:

• Fill a small glass or candlestick with coffee beans and place a tealight on top for a wonderful decorative sight and a delicious coffee scent.
• Put your old coffee beans in a small cloth bag and use it as an air freshener or deodorant.
• They can be used in the bottom of a terrarium for drainage and to keep it antimicrobial.

The coffee industry is always buzzing and busy, so it is inevitable that there will always be good, bad and interesting news going around:

• Coffee rust, a fungal disease, spread to Central America and affected 70% of coffee crops. The affected coffee plants were the most popular Arabica. An agricultural emergency was declared and the farmers were given funding to eradicate it with pesticides.
• Researchers have found that caffeine has a positive effect on bees' long-term memory, so they can better remember the flowers they encounter. This has been linked to humans and the neurological consequences it also has for us and our memory - of course with our differences in mind.