Before the coffee is made into a drink, it is "ground" in a small grinding machine called a "coffee mill". The coffee mill breaks the beans into very small pieces. Coffee is turned into a drink in several different ways. For some ways of making coffee, such as "espresso" it is best to have the coffee ground into fine powder but for other types of coffee-making, such as "filtered coffee", the coffee is in larger pieces to stop it going through the filter. Finely ground coffee makes a stronger taste.
Coffee is made into a drink by putting the coffee into boiling water. This is called "brewing" coffee.
There are many ways to brew coffee. Four of the most popular are:
"Instant coffee" is a very quick way to make a cup of coffee to drink. It is made in a factory and sold in jars or packets. First, strong coffee is made using ground coffee and boiling water. Then, the coffee grounds are filtered out. The coffee liquid is dried out until nothing is left except granules (little crunchy pieces), or fine powder. This is then put into jars or packets. As soon as a spoonful of "instant coffee" is added to boiling water, it dissolves in the water to make coffee to drink. The taste can be very different from fresh coffee. Part of the reason for the different taste is that "Robusta" coffee beans are usually used for making instant coffee. Robusta coffee beans do not cost as much as "Arabica".
The United States buys the most coffee; Germany is next. People in Finland drink the most coffee for each person. In Canada, the United States and Europe, some restaurants sell mainly coffee; they are referred to as "cafés" or "coffeehouses". Cafés often sell food, but the type of food is different from one country to another.
In some countries, for example, those in northern Europe, people like having coffee parties. At these parties, people have coffee and cake.
In many countries, people drink coffee at work; in the United States and England, for example, people drink it in the morning. In other countries, such as Mexico, people drink it in the evening to help them stay awake.
Coffee contains the drug caffeine. Caffeine is a mild stimulant which helps to keep people awake. Caffeine, like many drugs, can be addictive and can cause health problems.
Some studies have looked at the health risks of coffee. In February 2003, there was a study in Denmark of 18,478 women to find out if coffee had an effect on pregnancy and birth. It was found that if a woman drank between four and seven cups of coffee a day, it did not seem to make a big change to the number of babies that were born dead, (stillborn). But the women in the study who drank eight or more cups of coffee a day had three times as much chance of having a stillborn baby.
For this, and other reasons, some people drink coffee substitutes or decaffeinated coffee instead.
The BMJ quotes a study that concluded that there are health benefits for drinking up to four coffee cups per day. However, drinking coffee is not recommended for pregnant women and for women who are in danger of fractured bones. According to the BMJ not everyone agrees with these findings
Beef
Beef is a type of meat that comes from cattle. Beef could also include meats from other bovines. There are different types of beef. Beef is popular in the United States.
Beef can also be in different types of grading such as:
Hyaena
Hyaenas (sometimes 'Hyenas') are mammals. They are the family Hyaenidae, in the order Carnivora. They live in Africa, and in west and south Asia. In the past they had a much wider distribution. Now there are two subfamilies with four species.
With only four species, it is the fourth-smallest family in the Carnivora, and one of the smallest in the class Mammalia. Despite their low diversity, hyenas are unique and vital components to most African and some Asian ecosystems.
Hyaena walk much like bears because their front legs are longer than their back. Hyaenas are known to have one of the world's strongest bites. Its function is to crush bone.
Hyaenas look much like canids, but they are actually in the Feliformia, with cats and mongooses. Although related to felines and viverrids, their life style is similar to canids. Convergent evolution has taken place. Both hyaenas and canids are non-climbing, running hunters which catch prey with their teeth rather than claws. Both eat food quickly and may store it. Their calloused feet have large, blunt, nonretractable nails, good for running and making sharp turns. However, the hyaenas' grooming, scent marking, defecating habits, mating, and parental behaviour are similar to the behaviour of other feliforms. Hyenas are matriarchal. This means that females dominate and males are inferior.
Hyaenas were long said to be cowardly scavengers, but they kill as much as 95% of the food they eat (especially spotted hyaenas). They can drive off leopards or lionesses from their kills. Hyenas are mostly nocturnal animals, but may leave their lairs in the early morning. Except for the very social spotted hyaena, hyenas are generally not gregarious animals, though they may live in family groups and come together at kills.
Hyaenas are intelligent creatures. They work together well and are cooperative. They have strategic hunting methods and work to steal and protect it from other predators. Hyaenas main targets are zebra and wildebeest. Their main rival is the lion. Whether hyaenas do or do not chase lions off their kills is mostly a matter of numbers.
Table salt
Table salt is a mineral composed mainly of sodium chloride (NaCl). This is a chemical compound, one of many salts. Salt in its natural form as a crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite.
When salt (sodium chloride) is mixed with water, the salt dissolves into the water, creating a saline solution. Salt is present in vast quantities in seawater, where it is the main mineral constituent. The open ocean has about of solids per litre, a salinity of 3.5%.
Salt can be made by either evaporation or can be mined. To get sea salt, man-made holes are built then filled with sea water. The water evaporates and leaves salt behind.
Silk
Silk is a natural fibre made by the silk worm cocoon. Silk fibres are very strong and are often used to make cloth.
The cloth from silk can be made into rugs, bedding, or can be used to write or paint on. In the past, silk was used to make parachutes. The practice of growing silkworms for silk production is called "sericulture".
Most spiders make a natural fibre of their own that is also called silk.
The Chinese invented silk cloth in 3000 B.C. and traded it across the world through the Silk Road because it was very valuable and costly. They were the only ones producing it and selling it to the world until 522 CE.
Silk that is made by the silk worm is made up of two main proteins, sericin and fibroin.
Fibroin is the structural center of the silk and gives it its strength. It is made up of amino acids, which make the fibers strong and hard to break. The tensile strength is there because of hydrogen bonds. When silk is stretched, there is a strong force on these many bonds, so they do not break.
Serecin is the sticky material which surrounds the fibroin and gives it protection from the outside. Silk is resistant to most mineral acids, except for sulfuric acid, which dissolves it. Perspiration gives the silk a yellowish colour.
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