Italian coffee drink: Cappuccino

Cappuccino is the strong coffee covered ('cappuccino' is a small hat or hood) with a layer of hot frothy milk topped with a dash of chocolate powder, 'caffelatte' (milk coffee), usually half coffee and half milk in a large cup or glass.

In the classic Italian-American cuisine, a good cappuccino consists one-third frothed milk, one-third steamed milk, and one-third espresso in a heavy 6-ounce cup.

In Italy, the milk is not frothed as thoroughly as in the United States, and is presented as a heavier, soupy foam that picks up and combines with the espresso, rather than floating on top of it, as is often the case with the lighter, drier froth typical of American production.

Cappuccino originated in 18th-century Viennese coffeehouses, where it was known as kapuziner. The addition of cream and sugar gave the coffee a brown color that was reminiscent of the hooded robes worn by friars of the Capuchin order.
Italian coffee drink: Cappuccino

Soft drinks of Pepsi Cola

In the 1890s, in New Bern, North Carolina, a pharmacist name Caleb D Braham experimented with extracts of coca leaves, kola nuts and sugar. One beverage base on kola nut extract was first name Brad’s drink, but by August 28, 1898, he christened the new drink Pepsi-Cola.

It was successful and its sales encouraged Braham to incorporate the Pepsi Cola-Company in 1902. Pepsi-Cola was the first to use skywriting as advertisement medium. This new advertising campaign helped to increase Pepsi sales an make consumers more aware of the big nickel drinks.

By 1905, demand for Pepsi-Cola had increase so much that Braham decided it was time to offer Pepsi-Cola for sale in bottles. To facilitate the sale of Pepsi-Cola in bottles Braham issue the first of many franchise agreements. Soon the name of Pepsi-Cola was known throughout the southeastern United States. In 1941, Pepsi-Cola shares were first listed in the New York Stock Exchange.

Pepsi-Cola has regularly expanded its operation by acquiring other companies. For instance, in 1998 it acquired Tropical Products, makers of a variety of fruit juices.

Today, Pepsi-Cola is considered to be a total beverage company selling everything from Pepsi-Cola to iced tea. The dream of Caleb Braham, to sell the public a refreshing drink, continues.
Soft drinks of Pepsi Cola

What are the herbal drinks?

There has been a growing interest in the health benefits that can be derived from taking herbal extracts and this has led to the inclusion of these types of extracts in some beverages.

Herbal drinks are obtained by decoction or concoction from flowers, fruits, leaves, and roots/rhizomes; popular traditional herbal drinks are made from roselle, pomegranate, sugar apple, tamarind, lime, carambola, longan, mulberry, native apricot, and bael fruit.

Normally fresh or dried herbs are used for making herbal drinks. Decoctions are made by boiling herbs on water over a low flame until ½ the amount of water remains. Decoctions are best suited for roots, stems, bark and fruit.
What are the herbal drinks?

Popularity of coffee

Coffee gives an instant 'fix' and helps people be alert and ward off sleepiness when at work thanks to the caffeine content in the drink. The health conscience coffee drinker tends to opt for decaffeinated coffee and thus gets the flavour without the caffeine.

The first known reference to coffee in Arabic writings came from an Islamic physician, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariya El Razi (known as as ‘Rhazes’).

Since its discovery, coffee has provoked passion and fear. From its early days in the Islamic world, the popularity of coffee was controversial.

Many were suspicious of both the effects that caffeine had on those who consume coffee and the gatherings in which it was consumed. Coffee shops encourage people to meet and tackle local problems.

Coffeehouses offered an antidote to the rowdy gin and beer business, both in decor and in atmosphere. They had bookshelves, mirrors and good furniture and the mood was clam and disciplined.

Today, coffee plants are cultivated in more than 50 countries, resulting in a wide variety of coffee, each with its own combination of flavor, body and aroma.

Coffee is very popular in the United States and is also an international drink which is appreciated the world over. These are the coffee benefits present in every cup. It is very difficult to determine which beverage garners more votes with a global audience since each drink has its own fiercely loyal fan following.
Popularity of coffee

Decaffeinated tea

In General Tea from the Camellia Sinensis family contains from 1.6 percent caffeine in Formosa broken leaf type to 4 to 4.5 percent in most other types. By U.S. Food & Drug Administration standards, 97 percent of the 4.5 percent caffeine must be removed in order to label the tea decaffeinated.

Some packers label their teas 98 percent caffeine free. These teas, however, have never been decaffeinated but have a naturally low caffeine count.

Decaffeinated tea leaves unfortunately produce a flatter-tasting tea. Decaf tea also lacks the ‘aliveness’ and intensity of regularly processed tea.

Tea is decaffeinated by various methods. There are three processes used to decaffeinate tea: methylene chloride, ethyl acetate and carbon dioxide.

The latter two are the only two permitted in the United States. The use of methylene chloride on tea uses the same processing methods as ethyl acetate (see below) but is not allowed for import to the United States.

The most common decaffeinating solvent is ethyl acetate. Chemically, ethyl acetate breaks down into alcohol and acetic acid. Both these components are considered safe for use in decaffeinating by the FDA.

Carbon dioxide is a high pressure, super critical process. Unlike the other two processes mentioned, this process is considered natural and is more gentle to the tea leaves. It has the added advantage of retaining 90 percent of its polyphenols, the healthful antioxidants abundant in green tea.

The decaffeination technology affects the constituents drastically in case of ethyl acetate because besides caffeine most of the catechins and certain related compounds are also removed. Tea decaffeinated using ethyl acetate loses up to two thirds of its flavonoid content.
Decaffeinated tea 

The invention of Pepsi Cola

Caleb Bradham, licensed pharmacist and proprietor of Bradham’s Prescription Pharmacy, thought someone ought to create a good tasting, refreshing drink without then harmful dugs contained in many fountain beverages.

In 1893, he began experimenting with combinations of spices, juices, and syrups trying to create a refreshing new drink to serve his customers.

Cola flavored beverages already existed – among them Coca-Cola - but Bradham wanted to develop his own formula, omitting the caffeine and cocaine.

He succeeded beyond all expectations because he invented the beverage known around the world as Pepsi-Cola in the summer of 1893.

Caleb Bradham creation, a unique mixture of kola nut extract, vanilla and rare oils, became so popular his customers named it "Brad's Drink."

The name ‘Brad’s Drink’ didn’t convey the nature so the beverage and he decided to rename it "Pepsi-Cola,” in 1898 and advertised his new soft drink. People responded, and sales of Pepsi-Cola started to grow, convincing him that he should form a company to market the new beverage.

In 1898, Caleb Bradham wisely bought the trade name ‘Pep Cola’ for $100 from a competitor from Newark, New Jersey that had gone burke.

By 1900 Pepsi-Cola had become so popular, that Bradham created the Pepsi-Cola Company.

According to a document signed by Bradham, his formula for Pepsi-Cola consisted of sugar, water, caramel, lime juice, phosphoric acid, alcohol and oils (lemon, orange, cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander and petit grain).
The invention of Pepsi Cola

Coffee health benefits

Coffee is consumed for its unique taste and stimulating effects. The pleasant taste originates from the roasting process where the bitter tasting and the characteristics volatile aroma component are formed.

The biological active classes of compounds in coffee are usually considered to be caffeine, chlorogenic acids, melanoidins and diterpenes.

Researchers have found strong evidence that coffee reduces the risk of several serious ailments, including diabetes, coronary heart disease and cirrhosis of the liver.

It is also reducing the risk of several cancers, rheumatoid arthritis and possibly Alzheimer’s disease.

Habitual coffee consumption appears to be associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. Decaffeinated coffee is also associated with decreased risk of diabetes, substances other caffeine are responsible for this activity possibly the chlorogenic acids.

Coffee contains antioxidants that help control the cell damage that can contribute to the development of the disease.

Larger quantities of coffee seem to be especially helpful in diabetes prevention. In a report that combined statistical data from many studies, researchers found that people who drank four to six cups of coffee a day had a 28 percent reduced risk compared with people who drank two or fewer. Those who drank more than six had a 35 percent risk reduction.

Epidemiological research as well as large prospective cohort studies in the Netherlands, the United States, Finland and Scotland – have shown that coffee consumption is associated with a significant dose dependent reduction in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus.

There was study in Amsterdam that components in coffee seem to help the body metabolize sugar, thereby reducing the risk of diabetes, which affects 130 million people worldwide.

Initial studies found that heavy coffee consumption was correlated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. However, in more recent studies, the controversial harmful effects were likely exacerbated by association between high intakes of coffee and unhealthy lifestyle habits including smoking, alcohol drinking, and physical inactivity high fats diets.

Some studies show that cardiovascular risk also decreases with coffee consumption. Norwegian researchers found that women who drank one to three cups a day reduced their risk of cardiovascular disease by 24 percent compared with those drinking no coffee at all.

The antioxidants found in coffee have been found to inhibit inflammation and thereby reduce risk of cardiovascular and other inflammatory disease in post menopausal women.

In males, consumption of 8 or more cups of coffee a day reduce d the risk of cerebral infraction (stoke) when compared to non coffee drinkers.
Coffee health benefits

High sugar beverage

Sugar sweetened beverages comes to releasing a large amounts of sugar into the bloodstream. The digestive system breaks down starch to sugar and water, which is what sugar sweetened beverages are to begin with.

At a time when childhood obesity, dietary disorders and the quality of childrens' diet receive widespread media coverage, it is perhaps some comfort to know that few children are likely to suffer from the quantity or content of their diet.

A teaspoon of sugar in coffee or tea is not a problem. The glycemic load of a single teaspoon of sugar is only 28 percent of that a slice of white bread.

Soda contain a lot more than a single teaspoon. A twelve ounce can of Coca-Cola contains ten spoons of sugar.

Carbonated soft drinks are by far the most popular beverages among young people. High sugar soft drinks intake is linked with fast food consumption because soft drinks are usually marketed and bundles with meal packages in fast food restaurant.

Beverage intake seems to be a major contributor to caloric intake.

Intakes of added sweeteners exceed current dietary recommendations. The USDA recommends no more than 40 grams (about 10 teaspoon) of added sugars per day when consuming 2000 calories.
High sugar beverage

Chinese tea

Tea has played an important role in the social and cultural fabric of life around the world for thousands of years.

It is enjoyed for its health benefits and its contribution to living a better, simpler and aesthetically appealing life.

It is said that tea was discovered about 3000 BC by the legendary ruler Shennong. He sampled numerous herbs in order to find out their possible uses as food or medicine for his people.

In third century the celebrated surgeon Hua Tuo, originator of anesthesia, is reported as saying that tea drinking increased concentration and alertness.

In ancients, times, many Chinese, including emperors and common people alike, were captivated by its unique fragrance and aesthetic experience.

Tea drinking in China gradually spread from the south to the north. Widespread tea drinking began during the Tang dynasty, sometime between the eight and tenth centuries. It then extended from China to her neighboring countries.

Tea is always offered immediately to a guest in a Chinese home. Serving a cup of tea is more than a matter of mere politeness, it is a symbol of togetherness, a sharing of something enjoyable and a way of showing respect to visitors.

The plant which produces the common kinds of tea in commerce is the Thea chinensis, of which there are a number of more or less constant varieties so that several botanists have made three distinct species, viz, Thea viridis, Thea bohea and Thea stricta.

Fresh tea leaves are not aromatic. The tea fragrance emerges after the leaves are cured slowly under low heat. The cured tea leaves are either black or green depending on whether the leaves are fermented or unfermented.
Chinese tea