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Is Decaf Coffee a Diuretic? Caffeine, Hydration & What the Science Says

If drinking coffee seems to send you to the bathroom more often, you may wonder whether switching to decaf solves the problem. So, is decaf coffee a diuretic? For most people, decaf coffee is unlikely to have a meaningful diuretic effect. Decaffeinated coffee still contains a small amount of caffeine, but typically far less than …

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Dark Roast Coffee: What It Is, Flavor, Caffeine & Brewing Guide

Dark roast coffee is bold, aromatic, and unmistakably roasty. Its deep brown beans, sometimes shiny with surface oils, produce the bittersweet chocolate, caramelized, smoky, nutty, and toasted flavors many coffee drinkers associate with a strong traditional cup. But dark roast is also surrounded by misconceptions. Does it contain more caffeine because it tastes stronger? Is …

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How to Make Drip Coffee: Ratio, Grind, Temperature & Brewing Tips

Drip coffee is one of the simplest ways to make coffee at home. Add water, place ground coffee in the filter, press a button, and let the machine do most of the work. Simple, however, doesn’t always mean foolproof. If your drip coffee tastes weak, bitter, sour, flat, or completely different from one morning to …

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Best Espresso Beans: Top Coffees for Espresso, Lattes & Cappuccinos

Great espresso starts long before you lock the portafilter into the machine. The beans determine whether your shot tastes like dark chocolate and caramel, bright cherry and citrus, roasted hazelnuts, molasses, or something in between. They also determine how well the espresso stands up to steamed milk in a cappuccino or a 12-ounce latte. But …

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Best BUNN Coffee Makers: Models, Features & Buying Guide

BUNN coffee makers are a little different from many of the programmable drip machines lining store shelves. The brand’s signature Speed Brew system keeps a reservoir of water hot inside a commercial-grade stainless-steel tank. Instead of waiting for the machine to heat an entire batch of cold water every morning, you add fresh water and …

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Best Smeg Coffee Makers: Models, Features & Buying Guide

Smeg coffee makers are difficult to mistake for anything else. Rounded edges, polished chrome details, pastel colors, and unmistakable retro styling have turned the company’s coffee machines into design pieces as much as kitchen appliances. But Smeg’s coffee lineup now extends far beyond the familiar retro drip brewer. Depending on the model, you can choose …

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What Is Espresso? History, Brewing, Crema & Popular Drinks

Espresso is small, concentrated, intensely aromatic, and responsible for an enormous portion of the modern coffee menu. A cappuccino begins with espresso. So does a latte, macchiato, flat white, mocha, Americano, cortado, and affogato. Yet despite espresso’s familiarity, there is still plenty of confusion about what it actually is. Espresso is not a type of …

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History of Coffee: Origins, Legends, Coffeehouses & Global Spread

Coffee has traveled an extraordinary distance to reach the modern kitchen counter. The plant’s deepest roots lie in Ethiopia, the first well-documented cultivation and coffee-drinking traditions developed across the Red Sea in Yemen, and from there coffee moved through the Islamic world, into European coffeehouses, across colonial trade routes, and eventually onto plantations throughout Asia, …

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How to Make Iced Coffee: Easy 5-Minute Recipe

You don’t need to wait overnight for cold brew—or even wait an hour for hot coffee to cool in the refrigerator—to make a genuinely good iced coffee. The easiest method is to brew hot coffee a little stronger than usual and chill it immediately over plenty of ice. You get the aromatic extraction of hot …

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Best Smeg Espresso Machines: Models, Features & Buying Guide

Smeg espresso machines are some of the easiest coffee appliances to recognize. The rounded bodies, chrome accents, glossy finishes, and pastel colors give many of them the company’s signature retro look. But choosing a Smeg espresso machine shouldn’t begin with deciding between cream and pastel blue. Smeg’s current U.S. espresso lineup includes several machines aimed …

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