Wed, 08 Nov 2006 16:58:00
Coffee pods of the day - Java One French Roast and House Blend
Today’s coffees are Java One’s French Roast and House Blend. I get them from ACSJava.com, but they’re available at a lot of sites that stock coffee pods. They’re 60mm, 9gram pods, so they work in all the usual machines.
Pods: Always well-constructed. I’ve been using these for well over a year and never had one come out of the bag split or torn at the seam like some other brands. The filter material is thin but not too thin. Good extraction with these generally, but the House Blend pods always have one odd issue.
Most coffee pods have a fairly flat top and the bulk of the pod is on the underside, like so:
With the Java One House Blend pods, the seam is dead smack in the middle. With some pod holders, this means that the “belly” of the pod doesn’t touch the botton. In turn that drags the edges of the pod away from the lip of the pod holder and can break the seal, resulting in raw water passing around the pod instead of through it. Just be careful when you place them in the holder and make sure the entire lip is covered.
Taste: The French Roast is your basic mid-range French. It’s a good dark roast but not great. Much better than almost anything in the grocery store, and definitely something you can drink day in and day out. If you like dark French, you’ll like it. The House Blend is a little lighter, they call it a medium roast, and the first thing I notice every time I use it is the smell. It smells like coffee should smell. it’s as though someone probed my brain to find out what I think coffee smells like and then put it in a pod. Sweet and rich and slightly nutty and smooth...if they made perfume out of it I would be uncontrollable on the streets. That and fresh basil. But I digress. :)
The flavor of the House Blend is bright and smooth, with just a hint of something acidic and fruit-ish with no one flavor, but add a little sugar and it almost tastes faintly of cherries. Easy to drink and a great serve-to-your-guests coffee. Tastes even better as is starts to cool down. Definitely recommended.
Posted by JimK at 04:58 PM on November 08, 2006
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#2 Posted by JimK 
on 11/09 at 10:53 PM -
This is my favorite fresh basil recipe. You can usually get good flavor, even out of winter tomatoes, if you stick to hothouse and romas.
Another thing you can do is order pizza from your local joint. Before it gets there, pre-heat your oven as hot as it will go. Chiffonade your basil. When the pizza gets there, put the fresh basil all over it and put it in the oven for 5 minutes. It should wilt nicely. It tastes SO good! For that matter, add chiffonaded basil to any red pasta sauce on spaghetti, etc.
Last tip: Fresh basil pesto. It’s like heaven in your mouth. I can’t remember what webpage gave me this recipe, but it’s awesome.
Pesto Recipe
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup Olive oil
3 tablespoons pine nuts or walnuts
3 garlic cloves, finely mincedPlace basil leaves in small batches in food processor and whip until well chopped (do about 3/4 cup at a time). Add about 1/3 the nuts and garlic, blend again.
Add about 1/3 of the Parmesan cheese; blend while slowly adding about 1/3 of the olive oil, stopping to scrape down sides of container.
Process basil pesto it forms a thick smooth paste. Repeat until all ingredients are used, mix all batches together well. Serve over pasta. Basil pesto keeps in refrigerator one week, or freeze for a few months.
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What do you do with the basil? I have a plant [looks like a bush its so big] someone gave me and the growing season here for it is almost over. I have never used it. Got a favorite recipe with basil, please share.