Peet's Coffee - Major Dickason's Blend

Review of Major Dickason's Blend

First impressions are important. When I first smelled of the ground coffee, I thought to myself, “this is really rich stuff.” The aroma of the ground beans has a depth that is hard to describe…it is just that rich in aroma.

This is a nice, full bodied coffee with a very smooth mouth feel, suitable for all day sipping. Major Dickason's Blend® has some earthy undertones which become even more apparent as the coffee cools down a bit. The flavor is very active on the back of the tongue at the first part of a sip, then it moves to the front of the tongue. This is, by my personal standards, a medium roast that has some of the depth of a dark roast.

I decided to try this brew with some dark chocolate. Peet’s Coffee has a real winner here – the coffee really enhances the chocolate’s flavor. It is good with milk chocolate, don’t get me wrong, but this coffee is meant to go with dark chocolate.

Since I bought 12 ounces of this blend, I will definitely enjoy it for a several days – no problem! If you have guests coming over that aren’t into dark roast coffee, but you still want to give them a nice rich cup, this is the one to brew.

Thanks for reading, and may your next cup be the best!

Coffee and Health Problems Part 2

Coffee and Risk of Heart Disease – Is That Cup of Dark Roast Coffee Bad For You?

In this two-part blog I have been discussing some recent information about coffee and health. Part 1 focused on the correlation between coffee and stroke, in Part 2, we will focus on heart health and other health related concerns.

The information below is a summary of multiple articles on the subject of heart disease, other health issues, and coffee consumption. It is up to each person that reads this to do his/her own research on the subject. In addition, this is not meant to replace a consultation with your health care provider. This article is for informational purposes only.

While some studies have shown that coffee and tea are bad for your health, more information surfaces that indicates that coffee and tea, in moderation are actually good for most of us. Some studies do indicate there may be a correlation between coffee and heart disease.

In one recent Dutch study, it was determined that moderate consumption of tea or coffee reduces the risk of heart disease.

This study of 37,514 men and women was conducted over a period of 12 years. It appears that those who drank between 2 and 4 cups of coffee per day had a 20% lower risk of heart disease than those who drank less than 2 cups of coffee a day and those who drank over 4 cups a day. Moderation appears to be the key element here.

Those who drank over 6 cups of black tea per day had a 36% lower risk of getting heart disease and a 45% lower risk of death from heart disease.

In a study from 2002, a group of about 3,000 subjects with no history of cardiovascular disease were tested for compounds that either promote or are markers of inflammation. The subjects were asked to fill out questionnaires about the quantity of their coffee intake. When compared to individuals that drank no coffee, those that drank about a cup a day had higher levels of the compounds in their bodies.

So it appears that there are two distinct camps on the subject of heart disease – those who think coffee is bad and those who think that, in moderation, a cup or two of java is a good thing. More studies should help to clear the air on this one.

Some studies say that coffee seems to help reduce the liklihood of gall bladder problems and there are studies that say it may help reduce the liklihood of the onset of type 2 diabetes.

Although there are no clear-cut answers, it appears that coffee does have an effect on our health. It does appear that caffeinated coffee may have some benefits when drank in moderation. But this is almost always true with anything – a little of something can be good and a lot can be bad.

Maybe that 4th cup of java isn’t really so bad...

May your next cup be your best!

Coffee and Health Problems

Coffee and Risk of Stroke – Is That Cup of Dark Roast Coffee Bad For You?

In this two-part blog I will discuss some recent information about coffee and health. Part 1 will focus on the correlation between coffee and stroke, while Part 2 will focus on heart health and other health related concerns.

The information below is a summary of multiple articles on the subject of stroke and coffee consumption. It is up to each person that reads this to do his/her own research on the subject. In addition, this is not meant to replace a consultation with your health care provider. This article is for informational purposes only.

Coffee may not be quite as bad for you as most people think. In one study, it was found that regular coffee drinking appears to reduce the risk of stroke. The study consisted of 23,000 men and women who were followed 12 years. The study concluded that stroke risk was inversely proportional to their coffee consumption. in this study people who reported any intake coffee were at 27% lower risk of stroke than those who had said they never drank coffee.

The results of a 24 year study reported in the February 2009 issue of the journal Circulation said that drinking caffeinated coffee diminishes the risk of stroke for women. The study followed a group of 83,000 female nurses. Among those who were non-smokers, those who drank 4 or more cups of coffee apparently lowered the risk of stroke by 43% compared to those who drank no coffee. An important point in this is that coffee lessened the stroke risk over time. Other important factors to consider whenever you are doing stroke prevention are to maintain a healthy diet, exercise daily, control your weight and don’t smoke. High blood pressure and high cholesterol are usually the start of stroke problems and should be controlled.

There are also studies that say that coffee can increase the risk of stroke. In one study, researchers said the stroke risk increases in the hour after drinking a cup of coffee and that the risk decreases within two hours after consumption.
Among people who reported drinking one cup of coffee a day or less, stroke risk doubled in the hour after they consumed a cup of coffee. Coffee has been documented to have negative physiologic effects, such as increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure. In addition, some studies have proven that caffeinated coffee increases stiffness in the arteries. The findings in this study don't seem to have any application to those who drank more than one cup of coffee per day. Those who drink coffee more frequently apparently developed a tolerance to the short-term effects of caffeine.

So there are those that say coffee increases the risk of stroke and those who say it lowers the risk. Time and more studies will tell the tale.

In my next blog post I will cover the effects of coffee and heart disease along with other ailments. Thank you for coming by, and as always, may your next cup be your best!