As every coffee aficionado knows, coffee is more than just a drink. It’s an experience and one that shouldn’t be hurried. To properly appreciate the full body, aroma, acidity and flavor of any coffee, it must be brewed from freshly ground specialty coffee beans and nothing less will do.

One of the main advantages of buying specialty coffee is the extensive range of coffees that are available to you. Rather than settling for whatever ‘house blend’ your regular coffee chain deems suitable, buying your own specialty coffee means you can experiment with coffee flavors from around the world.

Binge drinking is a growing concern pervading all sectors of society, from stressed out, high income earners to the unemployed. And hardly a day goes by without newspaper reports detailing the alcohol-fueled antics of drunken teenagers, rampaging through city centers. But what sort of toll is binge drinking taking on their health?

Coffee, consumed daily by millions worldwide, often carries worrying health warnings. It’s well known that coffee contains caffeine and that drinking too much can make us jittery, anxious and less likely to sleep. At the same time, withdrawing from it altogether can leave us suffering from headaches.

However, drinking coffee in moderation can offer protection against a whole host of diseases. And with so much of what we enjoy eating or drinking being deemed bad for us, it makes a welcome change to learn that a beverage as popular as coffee, can actually do us some good.

Anyone who loves the taste of vanilla, probably also likes vanilla milkshakes. And even better than a vanilla milkshake is a thick vanilla milkshake. Ideally, it should be thick enough that your straw can stand up on its own.

Buying a vanilla milkshake can be an expensive treat and you can't always be sure exactly what's gone into it. So why not make your own at home where you make it as healthy or decadent as you please.

Somehow, the more vibrant the color of a cocktail, the more exciting and tempting it looks. The Trocadero cocktail doesn't disappoint. Its gorgeous crimson glow is born from one of its ingredients - grenadine, which also gives it a sweet and light flavor.

The main contributors to this delightful cocktail are a combination of both dry and sweet vermouth plus a few other special ingredients which together create this very drinkable cocktail. Read on to find out how...

Smoothies are a delicious way of topping up your fruit intake. They're so simple to make, healthy and full of goodness, plus they're really filling. And if you have kids who refuse to eat some types of fruit, pop them into a smoothie and they'll never know.

A smoothie can also be drunk as a meal in itself. But rather than spending money on a shop bought version, making your own smoothie at home takes only a matter of minutes.

The sidecar cocktail is a classic dating back to the 1920s and is enjoying something of a revival on today’s cocktail menus. How the sidecar got its name and its origins are a little hazy. However, it’s generally considered to have been invented for a US army captain in Paris around the time of the First World War.

One day, the captain who was feeling unwell, requested an aperitif before his evening meal. Since brandy was commonly used as a cold remedy, this was used as a base with lemon juice added for its vitamin C content.
 

Pacific Sunrise

Mixing your own cocktails at home can be a lot of fun. Once you've built up a collection of various ingredients, you can start experimenting and create your own.

Indeed, many cocktails are just slight variations of those already invented. The Pacific sunrise for instance, is very similar to the blue margarita with its exotic deep blue color and ingredients but has the addition of bitters which, while barely detectable, somehow injects a more subtle and interesting flavor.

The Pacific sunrise will always impress your guests and it makes a refreshing cocktail to enjoy on a warm summers day. (to be updated)

Cappuccino

There are still some corners of the world where you won't find a Starbucks chain. And there are people who only ever drink instant coffee. To the uninitiated, the modern world of gourmet coffee culture can seem a bewildering place. But it doesn't have to be. Understanding the language of coffee culture is easy when you know how.

Coffee Culture has been around for a long time. Back in the 17th century when coffee houses first began springing up around Europe, they were popular places for social gatherings. This is still the case today. A definition given on the Internet defines coffee culture as ‘A lifestyle characterized by drinking coffee (especially in a coffee shop) as a social activity.’