Acidity in coffee brings a pleasant liveliness, sparkle, or snap to the drink that is experienced around the edges of the tongue and towards the back of the mouth. The acidity of a coffee brings the flavors to life. Aroma is the smell or bouquet of the coffee. The best coffees exhibit a complex floral aroma. Body or "mouth feel" is the impression of lightness or of weight one experiences when drinking coffee. And flavor refers simply to the taste of the coffee.

Part of the taste of coffee is derived from the presence of caffeine which, in conjunction with sweetness, provides a particular appeal to the taste buds, and has been associated with calming of mood. The best coffee blends are rich and complex, with flavor elements described as winey, earthy, sweet, nutty, smoky, or spicy.

The Consummate Cup.
Coffee is a fleeting moment and a fragrance. You can almost smell the fresh berries being transformed into roasted beans at National Geographic's Coffee Website. You'll find a clickable map highlighting the major coffee regions of the world and a rundown on the processing, textures and flavors for each type of roast. The section on coffee legend and history reveals the rapaciousness and greed that spurred the spread of coffee drinking from Africa to the New World. (The plant was introduced to the Americas by a naval officer who stole a sprout from Louis XIV's botanical garden before setting sail for Martinique.)

The Perfect After-Dinner Coffee.
It's the largest-selling coffee in the UK, and we learned about it through our friends in London. From a 250-year-old company that began as a small grocery shop in the Netherlands, Douwe Egberts Coffee is an experience unto itself. Like a fine wine, "After Dinner" is a judicious blending of Kenyon, Brazilian, and Colombian coffee beans, darkly roasted to produce rich, full-bodied flavors.

Small Farm Coffees.
Sun-grown coffee is a relatively new phenomenon, begun about 25 years ago to increase crop yields. The massive removal of tropical hardwoods with an accompanying loss of rainforest canopy was the result. In addition, more fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides were required for farmers to produce coffee under high yield, full sun growing conditions. The traditional shade-grown method is still employed by some smaller farms in Central America. The coffee matures more slowly, tastes richer and requires little or no pesticides and fertilizer -- birds naturally assist in clearing the area of unwanted pests. Sterling Moon is one of only a few companies able to guarantee that their coffees are shade-grown.

Seattle's Gifts to the World.
Starbucks was founded in 1971 by three academics who had become enamored of the Berkeley, California, food scene. The teachers moved into Seattle and opened a shop named Starbucks after Captain Starbuck, the coffee-loving first mate in Moby Dick. It has since exploded to a half-billion dollar company serving three million cups of coffee per week in one thousand stores around the country. Our favorite Starbucks coffee is Kenya, a perfectly balanced blend, with wonderful, intense flavors. It hits the tongue with bright, complex, fruity flavors, and just a hint of grapefruit.