How do you start your Mondays?  How do you start your week?

With a cup of coffee, of course.

There can be a rush on Mondays, everyone is sleepy after the weekend, and the mind racing as the busy workweek begins.  But take some time to savor your coffee.  Each cup of coffee is like a small bit of meditation; it is the yoga of the mind.

Enjoy your cup, enjoy your day.

If you have your coffee while you working, and rushing around, you have not really given it a chance to do its magic.  Sit down for a moment, sip your coffee, and organize your thoughts.  Find your priorities.  You will now be more productive the whole day, and happier. 

Is coffee a stimulant?  Yes it is - it stimulates happiness.

Do you like coffee?   A great way to celebrate National Coffee Day is to go out and... have a coffee!
In fact there are several places giving FREE coffee during National Coffee Day/1

Dunkin Donuts will give you a free cup of coffee if you download and install their app.  Nice!  They also have their regular bag of coffee, in 4 different flavors, for just $5.99

Starbucks will give you a free taste of their Ethiopian coffee.  Many people consider Ethiopia as the birthplace of cofffee.  Also, if you buy a bag of their Ethiopian coffee, you also get a free, commemorative, ceramic Starbucks coffee cup.

Krispy Kreme will give each customer a free coffee on National Coffee Day, at participating locations in the U.S. and Canada. Mochas, lattes and iced-coffee drinks will be served for just $1.  Might be good with a donut!

Tim Hortons has a good one.  If you say “Happy National Coffee Day”to any Tim Hortons Barista, you get a free coffee!  No coupon needed!  There will be other surprises too, to be announced on Twitter

Kangaroo Express will give a drip coffee to anyone who stops in before noon for just one Cent.  So Hop on over!

If you register online with WaWa, an East Coast coffee chain, then you get a free drip coffee.

There is likely to be some kind of deal at almost any coffee shop.  Go to your favorite, local shop and ask they they have brewing, for National Coffee Day.

The key to choosing the right coffee maker is to think how and when you have coffee.  There are many kinds of coffee brewers,f from single serve, to large drip machines; here is a great selection.

If you are into the best possible taste, and have a little more time to spend, then do this: first, fresh-grind your beans; second,  brew using a french press.  This gives a very earthy, authentic cup of coffee.

If you drink several cups of coffee each moring, or if you serve coffee to others, then a more traditional drip brewer will work well for you; and they are almost unlimited choices.  There are many espresso machines to choose from if you like espresso; you can make a great cup of espresso right at home!

What you go to coffee shops, ask if they have a 'pour over' brewer.  Because you don't know how long their drip coffee has been sitting; if they will do a pour-over for you, then you get a very fresh cup of coffee.  I personally prefer 'half  caff' coffee so I get a pour-over with half decaf and half regular beans.  If they will grind it right then, the pour-over can rival a french press.

Another consideration is cholesterol.  For most people this will not matter but if you have elevated cholesterol, and if you drink a lot of coffee, then you should drink only filtered coffee.  Paper filters remove certain oils, called Terpenes that are found in coffee.  It is believed that Terpenes can cause a rise in cholesterol in susceptible individuals.  If you go to a coffee shop and ask for decaf, and if they offer to do it on the espresso machine, ask instead for a filtered cup.  Only paper filters remove Terpenes; gold filters do not.  We will soon be launching a website on coffee science to explore all the aspects of coffee and health.

Finally, the type of grinder you use makes a big difference. The best grinder is called a Burr Grinder. 

Now make yourself a nice big cup of fresh hot coffee, sit down at the computer and go find the optimal brewer for you!

We will be doing reviews on a regular basis, on a wide variety of topics that all relate to coffee in some way.  While our focus is on gourmet beans, we are also interested in the history of coffee, on health issues, on the science behind the perfect cup, on reviews of brewing equipment, and many more topics.
 
We will allow guest bloggers if you have something interesting to say, so send us an email with your proposal.

Any articles you see here may be re-used, if you give full attribution   However, if you are going to use only part of an article, then you need to contact us for permission.

Coffees.com is the hub or center of a network of coffee websites.  As each site is released, we will post a review entry here to tell everyone about it.

Thanks and enjoy your coffee!