The Whats and Hows of Flavored Coffee: Add an Aroma Kick to Your Morning Brew
Although many people think of flavoured coffee as a recent innovation, its origins are nearly as ancient as the drink itself. A few hundred years ago, people in the Middle East loved drinking coffee combined with nuts and spices. And today, enterprising marketers have seized on coffee drinkers’ yearning for more tastes than nature can give by developing novel methods of introducing flavouring ingredients into coffee.
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Why You Should Drink Decaf Tea: Reasons to Make the Switch
Everyone loves a good cup of tea. It’s the beverage of choice for most people since they can enjoy it without any side effects. There are many different kinds of tea, which range from herbal blends to black teas made from Assam leaves.
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No Guilt Baking: Healthy All-Purpose Flour Alternatives
Generally speaking, all-purpose baking flour refers to wheat flour that is milled from hard red wheat or a blend of soft and hard wheat. As the name suggests, plain all purpose flour is designed for all types of baked goods like cakes, pizza dough, cookies, biscuits, bread, muffins, etc.
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Coffee Chat: Interesting Facts About Coffee That Will Wake You Up
We all favour different drinks to start our morning rituals with. People often drink matcha, fruit juices, and plain water, however, the most famous beverage to kick-start the day is coffee. This delicious drink has been around for ages. It helps us stay alert and productive during the day and makes an enjoyable companion for our gatherings with family and friends. Even though it’s a well-known beverage, there are still a lot of interesting facts about it that many people aren’t familiar with.
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How to Host a Vegan-Friendly Party Everyone Will Enjoy: Go Beyond Salads and Sides
We all love to spend time with the important people in our lives such as our family, friends, and colleagues. And as The Beatles have famously stated in one of their songs “I get by with a little help from my friends” we can all agree that the great pleasure in our life is to be of service to others and to have others be there for us as well.
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7 Benefits of Matcha Green Tea
When talking about beverages that are both, good for your health and exceptionally tasty, there’s nothing that can compare to a good cup of matcha tea. In fact, the popular matcha tea is a finely ground powder of green tea leaves that are grown and processed by using long and specialized processes to get the most out of its natural properties.
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Belgian Beer Types: the perfect fizzy tipples that marry tradition with innovation
When there are devils, phantoms and dragons lurking in your glass, you know it’s got to be one hell of a beer. Not all Belgian beers or breweries have such cool names, but the sheer variety of tastes, aromas and flavours is certainly there. They might not all have a diabolical tinge, but pleasure is found in every sip. The country boasts almost 2000 different beers, from as many as 300 breweries. With a brewing tradition dating centuries back, craftsmen have passed on age-old recipes from one generation to the next. Ales sit high on the favourites list, but new beer styles are also hitting the shelves.
Typical of full-bodied Belgian craft beer is the high alcoholic content, the use of specialty malts and yeasts, and fermentation processes best-kept secret. Local varieties are a matter of pride, and thirstily worshipped on every occasion. Each beer type also has its own uniquely shaped serving glass to bring out the wild complexity of differing tastes and aromas and make it known to everyone that you’re drinking a unique beer full of character.
With breweries dotting every part of the country, Belgium has become a mecca for beer lovers the world over. The country’s contribution to beer-making has even been recognised by UNESCO, with Belgium’s beer culture enlisted as an intangible cultural treasure since 2016. Several beer museums highlight the historical importance of beer in the country. Craft breweries have long had a strong footing in this respect churning out different types of beer throughout the centuries. Let’s take a sip into the different flavours.
Lambic Beer
Lambic beers are traditionally produced around Brussels and the region of Pajottenland, just to the south of the city. Lambic typically has 40 per cent unmalted wheat and 60 per cent of base malt, mainly barley. Aged hops are used in so-called spontaneous fermentation with naturally occurring yeast and the beer has low carbonation. Most Lambic varieties have an earthy, sour taste, though, for those with a sweet tooth, fruit Lambics are more palatable. Popular Lambics are Kriek and Lindemans Frambiose.
Lambic is the base for another popular style, Gueuze. This consists of old and freshly brewed Lambic beers blended together in secondary fermentation. Flavours vary depending on the base beers, and range from mildly sour, to hints of citrus fruits, vanilla and oak.
Trappist Beers
Arguably the most well-known Belgian beer styles, these are more a testament of where they are produced, than a category in itself. Trappist beers are made by monks of the Cistercian order, with six certified abbeys around the country using locally harvested yeasts to produce the beers within the monasteries. Proceeds from sales are used for charities. Beers defined as Trappist have wildly different flavours ranging from malty, bready, sweet, spicy and nuances of different fruits like apples, raisins, pears and cherries. Typical styles are ales called Dubbels, Tripels and Quadripels, each with increasing alcohol content. Popular Trappist breweries and beers are Chimay Bleu, a dark Belgian strong ale, Rochefort 6, a fruity beer with ‘medicinal purposes’ and Westvleteren 12, a strong quadruple ale and consistently voted as the world’s best-tasting beer. Each has its own intricately designed chalices. Similar in style and complexity is the range of Belgian craft beer from non-certified abbeys, producing so-called Abbey beers.
Saison
Saison beers were what the poor farm folk brewed in Wallonia in southern Belgium during harvest season, or so the story goes. They are referred to as farmhouse ales, with lower alcohol content, and generally fruity overtones. The prime example is Saison Dupont, with strong yeasts, full-bodied malt, and a thirst-quenching citrusy finale.
Witbier
Wheat or White Beer is a typical unfiltered Belgian craft beer with a higher wheat content, moderate alcohol content and mild flavours with fruity overtones. The addition of orange zest and herbs, namely coriander, creates a refreshing beer ideal for the summer months. A popular yet relatively recent witbier is Hoegaarden Wit Blanche.
Oud Bruin
Oud Bruin beers are sour ales, another traditional Belgian craft beer style, often produced by blending two beers, one fermenting for years in oak barrels and a younger beer to bring up sugars and yeasts. The blend ripens in the bottle for up to six months. These are dark beers with hints of nuts, caramel and chocolate. A popular Oud Bruin is Verzet.
Belgian Strong Ales
Belgian strong golden ales are light-coloured fruity, hoppy beers with high alcohol content and beers with diabolically interesting names. Duvel (Devil) and Delirium Tremens are notable examples. This beer variety has been widely copied worldwide, particularly in craft breweries in the US.
Other Belgian Beers
Ales are the mainstay of Belgium craft beer varieties, though you can also find a few lagers thrown in the mix. One of the giants in this realm is Stella Artois, a light-bodied lager with a floral aroma, balanced malt sweetness and a dry finish. It’s also a bit on the stronger side. If you lean more towards wine, then a champagne beer or Biere de Brut with high carbonation and heaps of push can quench your thirst.
Freeze-Dried Meals: Eating Right on the Trail
Eating a balanced diet is vital for a healthy lifestyle, and when you are backpacking it can be difficult to prepare healthy meals for yourself. This is why backpackers will sometimes prepare meals in advance, as opposed to campers, who can have the luxury of cooking in their camp kitchen. However, if your backpacking trip is going to last a while, this can be difficult, because, with all the backpacking essential supplies, your backpack will be heavy enough. This is where lightweight, healthy, conveniently packed freeze-dried meals come to the rescue.
When Vegan Friends Come to Dinner: The Dos & Don’ts
Although the idea of going completely vegan doesn’t appeal to me, I like to cook plant-based meals for my vegan friends when they stop by for dinner. I respect their values and lifestyle choices and try to please them with healthy and clean meals. Except for excluding meat, dairy, eggs, and fish for these meals, I was surprised to find out that some foods I thought are vegan-safe are actually not. Therefore I had to find a suitable vegan-friendly alternative for these.
Food Businesses: How to Go Green
As anyone in the food business knows, success is about adopting the right strategy backed by a great deal of planning. Though usually most people focus on the big picture, it’s the smallest details that count the most.
The perfect example for this would be in going green. There’s more to this than keeping up the pace with trends considering it has to do with the environment as well as saving up more money along the way. Read More
Vacuum Insulated Stainless Steel Bottle is Better for You
Health awareness is on a much greater level these days, and besides a proper exercise regimen and eating high-quality food you should also pay attention to staying hydrated. In my opinion, good health can’t be achieved without keeping your body hydrated at all times. This helps in maintaining the function of your brain, heart and muscles. So, my advice is to always have a high-quality stainless steel water bottle at hand, so that you can have fresh water available whenever you may need it. Here are some benefits that a vacuum insulated stainless steel bottle offers. Read More
Pre-Workout Pump Supplements: The Best Way to Maximise Muscle Growth
When you’re a gym rat, nothing is more satisfying than seeing your muscles pumping and engorged with blood. This is the sign that tells you’re doing everything right and you’re on the fast track to a Hulk-like physique! However, to achieve the super-human body of your dreams, working out alone is not enough. If we’ve learnt anything from superheroes, is that you also need to be exposed to a nuclear disaster, some chemical X, or the next best thing available to you – pre workout pump supplements.