Planet Doppio - The Coffee Metablog

Newhall Coffee’s Beatnik Espresso Review

2010-09-05T14:00:42+00:00

The Drink: Newhall Coffee’s Beatnik Espresso
Type: Espreso Blend
Overall Rating: Three Out Of Five Coffee Mugs

We have been learning about coffee roasters that do more then make good coffee. There are roasters out there who give back to their communities and/or help the farmers who grow the coffee beans. One of the giving coffee roasters is the Newhall Coffee Roasting Company. They are a family owned roasting company with a conscience.

The founders’ older brother lost his battle with leukemia and in honor of their brother they started “Coffee For A Cure.” Their goal is to raise $1,000,000 to fight leukemia. Purchasing Newhall Coffee will help this fight because some of the proceeds will go to this fund. These are the types of things Kim and I want to learn about and support when we buy coffee. It is not just about the coffee but about helping others too. We want to pass that information onto our readers.

This Beatnik Espresso is described as a combination of three beans from Indonesia, South America and Central America that brings this espresso roast to a diverse and complex body, while producing a very mild and clean finish.

The South America bean of the ‘typica’ varietal is wet processed and sun dried. The Central American bean of the ‘bourbon’ varietal is semi-washed and sun dried to bring out its nutty and floral notes. The Indonesian is semi-washed and sun dried, bringing out the earthy and spicy notes.

We received the coffee ground and not whole bean, but we were still able to brew it three different ways. First up was the auto-drip and this dark roast has a good strong aroma. It has a heavy body, almost edgy and we both used a little cream. We aren’t used to this deep of a roast, but it did not need any sweetener and we liked it.

Next up was the Chemex coffee maker and the coffee tasted smoother here. The aroma is still strong and there is a slight acidity. We did not need to use any cream and it has a cleaner overall taste. We began to taste some of the subtleties of the coffee here. It was pleasant to drink and this was our favorite brewing method.

Lastly we used the Aero Press brewer which we are beginning to like more and more. I had mine espresso style and this is some strong coffee. Coffee drinkers will understand that I mean that in a good way. This is one of the strongest, deeper roasted coffees we have had. We liked the flavor, but we could not drink this as an everyday coffee. If you like espresso or espresso roasted coffees then we suggest you try this Beatnik Espresso.

We do appreciate Newhall’s commitment to “Coffee For A Cure” and hope they have great success in helping to win the fight against leukemia. We received this coffee for review purposes and offer objective feedback. Until next time stop and enjoy the coffee and conversation.

Much GRACE and peace to you,

Bill and Kim

Romans 15:13; Psalm 34:1-10

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Fine Print.

Newhall Coffee’s Beatnik Espresso Review is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

Shade Coffee

2010-09-05T03:09:08+00:00

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Sounds interesting, doesn’t it? I don’t know, but for some reason, when I read the term “shade coffee,” I thought of something mystical. In any case, it is just a term used to refer to coffee that is grown without full exposure to the sun. Why do they do this? Because shade grown coffee takes much longer to ripen and it is believed that longer ripening times makes the coffee’s flavor better.

I am not an expert in this area so I think I’d better share with you the view of a person who knows more about this. Here’s an excerpt from a post in Coffee and Conservation – a very interesting blog on coffee and the environment:

In order to produce faster, higher yields and prevent the spread of coffee leaf rust (Hemileia vastatrix), many coffee plantations have begun to grow coffee under sunnier conditions. The fewer shade trees that are in coffee plantations, the less biodiversity there is in those plantations.

This loss of biodiversity, especially in birds, has led conscientious consumers to look for “shade grown” coffee. However, coffee is grown under a continuum of conditions, from rustic or traditional, to full sun, and these “shades of shade” are not all equal when it comes to the health of ecosystems. Unfortunately, there is no official definition of “shade grown,” so coffee so labeled may be grown under what are technically shady conditions, but which are little better full sun.

There is more to be learned about shade coffee. I suggest that you visit the blog and find out for yourself.

Share and Enjoy: co.mments del.icio.us digg Furl Ma.gnolia NewsVine Reddit TailRank YahooMyWeb

Hello Celebes Kolassi!

2010-09-04T14:00:11+00:00

I am a fan of dark roasted coffees…they make me tingle with delight. They have such body, strength plus an ability to stand up and make you pay attention when you drink them. Dark roasted coffee is, in my very humble opinion, the kind of coffee that makes coffee drinking worthwhile.

I have been drinking Celebes Kolassi for a while. I am on my second pound of it so I am no stranger to this earthy, smoky Indonesian brew, however at the recommendation of a friend I made my brew a little stronger. I put three scoops of Celebes Kolassi in my French press pot instead of my normal 1 1/2. I should have been prepared. Hello, now this was a cup of stout and I mean STOUT coffee. It slapped me in the face and got my attention.

I drank the first two sips black and then chickened out by adding some evaporated milk and two cubes of sugar to my coffee. I was able to drink it but knew that I would not be making a three scoop pot of Celebes Kolassi again. Wowzer!

I immediately, okay 30 minutes later, made another pot with just a tad over 2 scoops of Celebes Kolassi in the pot and this one had the attention getting factor my friend had described and was very smooth, sassy and rich. I did add a little evaporated milk but that was just because I like the way it adds a hint of caramel to the complex flavor.

I am sold on making my Celebes Kolassi a bit stronger than I had been making it. The flavor is more intense but oh so very satisfying. My mouth is still filled with joy and it has been almost an hour since I completed my second cup of coffee, so you have to know this was a happy experience.

I think my lesson is to mix things up a bit when you are brewing coffee…does it need to be a little stronger, do you need to cut back just a bit on the amount of coffee you are brewing or have you perfected the brew to your satisfaction? I think we can all play with our coffee and find a new level of intensity in our cup. As for me I may never try three scoops of Celebes Kolassi again but if I do I will be ready for it to make me snap to attention and not take a single drop for granted.

Enjoy your coffee!

Ciao!

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Photo by Csizmadia Tamás.

Hello Celebes Kolassi! is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

Mugged: 2010 Reserve [Mañana Madera]

2010-09-04T01:38:00+00:00

'What does "Mugged" mean?Subject: Manana Madera Coffee Estate Coffees Mugged: 2010 ReserveRating: 5+ [see key]A good cup of coffee always starts from outside the continental US (of course, Hawaii represents as our lone coffee grower state) but usually I am not too familiar with trying out coffee roasted on-farm. I guess the idea makes a lot of sense and the only real headache is shipping.I had

Fresh Brews: Coffee Wine, Flavored Instant Coffee From Starbucks And More

2010-09-03T12:00:30+00:00

You never know what is going to happen next in the coffee world. Fresh Brews is a weekly attempt to wrap up everything going on in the news and on the blogs.

Coffee Blogs

An Interview With Artisan Roaster Tony X. Williams of HypnoCoffee
Every coffee bean has a story, go behind the scenes and meet the roaster behind Hypno Coffee, a coffee roasting company in West Virgina.

Coffee Beef Stew Recipe
Here’s a recipe that I hope to try very soon. It combines two of my favorite food groups: meat and coffee. Another case of what else do you need?

French Press #Coffee Techniques
Nate shares his detailed step by step instructions for making the perfect coffee with a French Press.

Wine. Coffee. All In One.
I’ve heard of coffee soda, coffee beer, but this is the first time that I’ve heard about a wine that tastes like coffee. I’m going to have to keep an eye out for this one.

Coffee News

Coffee May Combat High Blood Pressure
More proof that coffee is good for you! Step aside tea, “Older people with high blood pressure who drink one to two cups of coffee a day have more elastic blood vessels than people who drink less or more, Greek researchers report.”

The problems stirred up by coffee cups
Coffee may be good for us, but it’s not so good for the earth. Listen to this podcast about the problems coffee cups and k-cups are causing.

Spurred by Warming Climate, Beetles Threaten Coffee Crops
And more bad news. A tiny insect that thrives in warmer temperatures (think global warming) is devastating coffee plants all around the globe.

Starbucks brings vanilla, mocha, caramel and cinnamon to its instant coffee
What do you think? Are you interested in flavored VIA? I’ll at least give them a shot, however instant coffee under any name still makes me nervous.

Hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend!

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Photo by Rob Qld.

Fresh Brews: Coffee Wine, Flavored Instant Coffee From Starbucks And More is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

Introducing Presso USA: Daily Shot Of Coffee’s Newest Advertiser

2010-09-02T22:21:39+00:00

Since I first caught a glimpse of the Presso, this espresso making gadget has been on my radar. The Presso is an environmentally friendly espresso maker. It uses only a little elbow grease and the power needed to boil a cup of water in a kettle. And I’m proud to announce that Presso USA is the newest sponsor here at Daily Shot Of Coffee.

The Presso can be used anywhere that water can be boiled. It creates 5 to 10 bars of pressure depending on how firmly the arms are pressed down. It’s easy to clean and made of recyclable aluminum. If you are looking for an espresso maker that’s environmentally friendly and portable, you have to check out the Presso.

Have you tried the Presso? What did you think of it?

Introducing Presso USA: Daily Shot Of Coffee’s Newest Advertiser is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

Guatemala Fina El Injerto From Kuma Coffee Review

2010-09-02T12:00:23+00:00

The Drink: Guatemala Fina El Injerto From Kuma Coffee
Type: Whole Bean Direct Trade
Overall Rating: 3.75 Out Of 5 Coffee Mugs

I loved the last coffee that I tried from Kuma Coffee, the Panama Elida Estate Natural, so I couldn’t wait to brew up a pot of the Guatemala Fina El Injerto another coffee from the same roaster.

Guatemala Fina El Injerto had a nutty aroma mixed with a sweet scent that reminded me of a fruity candy from my childhood. I couldn’t exactly put my finger on it, but if you try this coffee and can figure out what candy it is, please share with me because it’s been bugging me since I took the first sniff. I was able to determine small hints of tangerines and limes that Kuma Coffee mentions in their description. A more floral scent came out as the coffee cooled down.

This coffee had a medium roast flavor and a slightly darker back end. It felt light and very dry feel on my tongue.

Their description doesn’t describe it, but I’m pretty sure that I was picking up chocolate flavors. I also tasted the lime, like it was dipped into the coffee real quick, then taken right back out.

A bag of Guatemala Fina El Injerto costs $14. It’s totally worth it for the interesting flavor and because it’s direct trade. I’m more than willing to pay more for quality, especially if some of the cash is passed on to the farmer.

The Guatemala Fina El Injerto was good, well above average with a score of 3.75. The Panama Elida Estate Natural is still my favorite, but you’re not going to go wrong with either one.

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Fine Print

Guatemala Fina El Injerto From Kuma Coffee Review is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

Coffee. Cheaper Than Crack T-Shirt

2010-09-01T12:00:47+00:00

I have an addiction to coffee and a growing t-shirt collection. T-shirts with bands that’s no one has ever heard of, more NY Yankees t-shirts than one person should ever have, but not enough coffee shirts. This t-shirt from Coy Clothes, titled “Coffee Junkie” helps solve my coffee t-shirt shortage.

Coffee? Crack? Coffee. Hands down. Here we have a medium, charcoal slim fit shirt with a cream coffee patch. The “too damn close” patch in the back collar gently reminds people to keep their distance.

- Coy Clothes Description

The shirt from Coy Clothes isn’t cheap, $45 but it is made out of bamboo. It’s comfortable to wear and easy on the earth.

Coy Clothes has one other coffee shirt, “Are We Out Of Coffee?” They also have other retro images that range from sweet to naughty and a catchy text to go with it.

Huge thanks to Coy Clothes for sharing one of their t-shirts with me.

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Fine Print.

Coffee. Cheaper Than Crack T-Shirt is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

Birds on coffee

2010-08-31T23:02:25+00:00

I talk about birds in coffee a lot on this site-- how birds use and need the resources provided in shade coffee farms is the inspiration for the site. How about birds on coffee...labels and logos? First up, coffee roasting...

Guilt Free Medium Review: Guilt Free Coffee?

2010-08-31T12:00:06+00:00

The Drink: Guilt Free Medium From Guilt Free Coffee
Type: Medium Roast Organic Blend
Overall Rating: Three Out Of Five Coffee Mugs

I wish more coffee companies would follow Guilt Free Coffee’s lead. All of their coffee is Carbon Neutral, Fair Trade And Organic. Not too long ago, I sampled their Guilt Free Bold. This time, I’m reviewing their Guilt Free Medium.

Their Bold was a winner and very easy to drink, so I could wait to brew a pot of the Medium. I’m developing a love for darker roast coffees, but medium roasts are my passion.

My nose gave it’s approval of the Guilt Free Medium. It had a sweet aroma with hints of honey that mixed with a mild nutty flavor.

However, the taste was just acceptable. It was a nutty flavor, mixed with hints of honey, cinnamon and a bit of spice mixed in. I liked the taste, but it was just not all there. It was kind of lifeless and I’m wondering if it was because it was pre-ground (coffee starts to lose it’s flavor within 15 minutes of being roasted).

A 12 ounce bag of Guilt Free Medium costs $10.80, which is fairly reasonable.

Overall, Guilt Free Medium was an average coffee. It just needs a little more “pop” and I think it could really have something going on.

They do sell a whole bean version of Guilt Free Medium, so that might be worth trying. However, my favorite of the two was the Guilt Free Bold. If you’re looking for a coffee that’s guilt free and tastes great, that’s the one that I would recommend.

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Fine Print.

Guilt Free Medium Review: Guilt Free Coffee? is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

CC: Skaneateles Bakery

2010-08-31T02:15:00+00:00

'What's does "CC" mean? Subject: Skaneateles Bakery Location visited: Skaneateles, NYFree WiFi ? : noRating: 4+ [see key] Finger lakes hold some wondrous scenery if you hit them at the right times. The cold winters usually deter much merriment and the summer can get sweltering, yet a nice day amidst the nature and culture of the region stands as a lasting euphoria.Personally, my favorite

Poll: Are You Worried About The High Coffee Prices?

2010-08-30T11:16:06+00:00

Earlier this month coffee prices hit a 12 year high,with prices up 40 percent per pound. Green beans that were once $1.o9 are now $1.53 and some coffee companies are passing along the increase to the consumer. Read more about it: Price no buzz kill for java lovers and Why Coffee Is Getting More Expensive.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

I’m not too concerned about the price hike yet, mainly because I’ve read more about it in newspapers than actually seeing it in person at a coffee shop or grocery store. I’m curious if some companies are using the record highs as an excuse to raise their coffee prices and will they reduce the prices after the spike dies down?

What about you? What do you think about the price increase? Have you noticed any changes?

Last week’s poll was “How Old Were You When You Started Drinking Coffee?“

It was younger than I thought it was going to be. The number one answer was 10-15 years old with 31% of the vote.

Number two was 15-20 years old with 25% of the vote.

Under ten years old finished with 20% of the vote, but had the most comments.

Ardee-ann said:

I started drinking coffee before I was two. My meema made me “coffee milk” and I was hooked from then on. I have always enjoyed the flavor and complexity of a good cup of coffee and have survived many bad cups of coffee while living to write about them. LOL!

Karen said:

I can’t exactly remember how old I was, but it was certainly under the age of 10 and I loved it ever since, far better than tea (yuck!)

Julie said:

Ashamed to admit it, but I think I was under 10 when I started. My parents let me “taste” a little because they figured it wouldn’t hurt. Little did they know, I ended up loving the taste, and I was hooked on the flavor of coffee. It wasn’t ok for me to drink straight up coffee as a kid, but I got around that by eating coffee ice cream and coffee candies.

Twenty to twenty-five years old had 10% of the vote.

Twenty-five to thirty had 8% of the vote and over thirty finished with 6% of the vote.

Thanks to everyone that voted.

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Photo by Melina Vanni-González.

Poll: Are You Worried About The High Coffee Prices? is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

Is Rare Coffee Really Worth It?

2010-08-29T13:00:31+00:00

This is a guest post by Lisa Rotenberg of Rocketfuel Coffee. Learn more about how you can guest post for Daily Shot Of Coffee here.

A favorite discussion forum of mine, Coffee Forums, where professionals and consumers discuss coffee issues, recently touched on the debate whether rare coffees, specifically Hawaiian Kona and Jamaican Blue Mountain were “worth it.” The reason I love this forum is that the moderators and some members are so knowledgeable and have years of experience beyond mine. They actively participate in the threads and bluntly say what is on their minds. More than once they have chewed out a blockhead or two, and added insight on a topic that has taught me so much.

In this case, the member I was speaking with was very knowledgeable and only previously on another post taught me a thing or two about the various ratios of arabica espresso beans, by percentage. He then added, “Those coffees are more hype than anything and are really sought after because of supply/demand, not just because of the taste.”

Well I can tell you my heart and brain lit up like a Christmas tree and off to WordPress I ran. My first reaction was I deal in the 100% pure Kona and JBM beans and I can tell you they are really special tasting, especially when brewed fresh. True they cost significantly more than others, but once in a while, like a good steak, a fine wine, a good Cuban cigar, a good single malt, they are all worth it. My second was, are they genuine, are they old and stale and is the coffee made right? If not, you may as well be drinking Sanka. This applies to any bean and in the coffee business, we of all people would understand.

Then it hit me. I was talking like a rare coffee retailer, as usual, not a coffee lover. With the thousands of coffees cupped everyday at various resources, we certainly do not have to pay these premiums for a pound of wondrous coffee. Companies sell great coffee, review and brag about quality beans at $13/12 oz. Juan Valdez did not ride his mule for 100 years for nothing. If you love your coffee, so be it. If your honeymoon was in Jamaica and when you came home all you want is to relive your wedding night, then only specific coffees will do the trick.

Like connoisseurs of brandy or wine, the truly knowledgeable about coffee is a small number. Sharing this information is a wonderful thing. In the age of internet search by key words, Jamaican Blue Mountain will beat out Acatenenango or even Yirgacheffe every time. Aspiring to taste rare coffees, like caviar, oysters or fois gras is a real treat – as long as the coffee is the real thing, from a company who sells it fresh and respects the customer who pays the premium price for it. Perhaps the coffee market has not come up the level of service for this yet? Perhaps the market for this is so small, the majority just does not understand? In the coming years, if the public is to know that rare coffee is indeed “worth it,” this will be the challenge.

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Lisa Rotenberg is the owner of www.rocketfuelcoffee.com and will be one of twelve competitors in the upcoming Canadian Cup Tasters Championships. She writes about coffee, the coffee business and about the coffee experience. She is also a professional illustrator and her paintings appear on each bag of Rocketfuelcoffee.

Is Rare Coffee Really Worth It? is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

Upsetting the Apple Cart!

2010-08-28T12:00:11+00:00

I am a coffee drinker and have been since an early age but it is only in recent years that I have come to fully appreciate a cup of coffee in its purest stage, black coffee. When I was much, much younger my primary association with black coffee was when I’d go hunting with my father. He’d bring along a thermos filled with black swill that he called coffee and if you were cold, and trust me you would be, you would drink some of this “coffee” so that your innards wouldn’t freeze like your nose, toes and fingers were. It was a vile brew as he would percolate a huge church sized pot of coffee as soon as we arrived at our cabin (real cabin…not a house, lodge or cottage…a cabin), then he would keep it hot all day and reheat it every morning while we were there. Ahem, this stuff got stout after a day or so, yes indeed.

As this was my introduction to black coffee, it is no wonder that for years I turned my coffee into a confection by adding a great deal of sugar and creamer to my cup. I wanted the “taste” of coffee but I didn’t want it to reach out and choke the life out of me the way some of that hunting era coffee tried to do. I still on occasion enjoy coffee heavy on the creamer and sugar and prefer to make my instant hot cocoa with fresh brewed coffee. It makes an easy quick mocha.

I realize that by admitting that I still enjoy coffee with “additives” beyond some Irish Whiskey that I am destroying my “street cred” as a writer about coffee but I do not profess to be a coffee tasting professional nor even a connoisseur of the bean. I am just a woman who likes coffee and who sometimes gussies it up even if this does upset the apple cart among the die hard coffee drinkers who read my column.

I proudly brandish my slightly whitened coffee (evaporated milk don’t you know) and smile as I drink my adulterated brew with impunity.

Ciao!

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Photo by Steve Snodgrass.

Upsetting the Apple Cart! is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

A Friday Afternoon Experiment

2010-08-27T23:22:19+00:00

Recently we’ve been talking about replacing the temperature probe on the roaster. The discussion came up about probe placement, and where would be best. Our UG-15 is something of a difficult roaster in this respect, because the fins on the drum pass very close to the front wall meaning you can’t get a probe very deep.

John, a constant source of good ideas, came up with a plan. We could take the front door of the roaster off, replace it with perspex, throw some coffee in and see where the bean mass was most easily measured.

I have to say that being able to do stuff like this, working with people excited to geek out and experiment, and have fun while doing it makes me very happy!

We had some coffee that was going to be trashed as there had been a gas pressure issue early on in the roast so we’d dumped it. (In case you are wondering why the coffee in the roaster is such a funny colour!) We learned a lot from our little experiment – and it was fun too!

I threw together a few clips from video I shot as we were doing it because I thought other people might find it interesting. Not included in the short are several of the trial and error attempts!

The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that because the perspex didn’t fit super tight there was some massing of the beans where the movement was clearly restricted compared to how the would be moving when the roaster was in normal operation.

(Music: “Do the Astral Plane” by Flying Lotus)

I look forward to more experiments!

Panama Elida Estate Natural From Kuma Coffee Roasters: A Coffee You Have To Try

2010-08-27T12:00:10+00:00

The Drink: Panama Elida Estate Natural From Kuma Coffee Roasters
Type: Whole Bean Direct Trade Full City Roast
Overall Rating: 4.25 Out Of 5 Coffee Mugs

I had a feeling that the Panama Elida Esate Natural from Kuma Coffee Roasters going to be a good cup of coffee even before I opened up the bag. They had the date the coffee was roasted, but they didn’t stop there. The label listed everything from what elevation the coffee was grown to what kind of processing was used to remove the pulp and even the farmer’s name. It was the first time that I saw that much information on a bag of coffee, it was a distinctive sign that the roasters really cared about the beans inside of the bag and the customer drinking their coffee. (Learn all the details about their coffees at the Kuma Coffee Roasters website.)

Panama Elida Natural had an unforgettable aroma, that I can still smell even though I finished the last beans from the bag a few days ago. It had an extra sweet aroma, that smelled like dessert for breakfast. There were smells of blueberries and honey, almost like a good, homemade syrup.

The aroma was almost like a flavored coffee, but the taste of Panama Elida Natural had a more mature flavor. It was a nutty, medium-dark roast flavor with an exceptionally smooth sip. I picked up just hints of the blueberries and honey that had dominated the aroma. There was also a tiny hint of cherries. In the after taste, the nutty flavor came back and lingered on my tongue.

The coffee seemed to have a light body, or in other words it felt lighter on my tongue.

This coffee earns bonus points (not that it needed it) for being direct trade. Direct trade takes fair trade one step further, it’s when the roaster buys the coffee directly from the farmer. It cuts out the middle men, allowing the roaster to pay the farmer more in many cases.

A 12 ounce bag of Panama Elida Estate Natural From Kuma Coffee Rosters costs $14. It’s on the higher side of coffee prices, but is well worth it.

Overall, the Panama Elida Natural From Kuma Coffee Roasters earned an exceptional 4.25 on the Daily Shot Of Coffee scale. It woke up my nose and gave a workout to my tongue. If you like coffee with a lot of natural flavors, this is a coffee that you have to try at least once.

If you want to try Kuma Coffee Roasters out for yourself, they sent me this coupon code “dailyshot” for 20% off orders of $25 or more.

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Fine Print.

Panama Elida Estate Natural From Kuma Coffee Roasters: A Coffee You Have To Try is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

Seattle’s Best Coffee Contest: FREE TRIP TO SEATTLE

2010-08-27T04:18:50+00:00

Coffeesage.com readers have been invited to participate in a Seattle’s Best Coffee contest. First prize is an all expenses paid trip to the coffee capital of the US……….. Seattle!!!! Seattle’s Best is celebrating their fan’s love of great coffee. They are now looking for their BIGGEST fan to join them for a first class coffee [...] Related posts:

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CC: Taylor Street Baristas

2010-08-27T03:11:00+00:00

'What's does "CC" mean? Subject: Taylor St Baristas Location visited: London, UK[New St location]Free WiFi ? : yesRating: 5+ [see key] London is one crazy town during weekday rush hour. Granted New York City is just as crazy but somehow, I half expected the crazy rush of rush hour to be a little more relaxed on the other side of the Atlantic.Amidst the wanderings of the morning rush hour

Cafe Grumpy in NY Bans Laptops

2010-08-26T15:20:39+00:00

Cafe Grumpy in Chelsea, NY is fed up with extension cords being ran all over their store. Although their Brooklyn location welcomes those with laptops and noise cancelling headphones. The owners, Caroline Bell and Chris Timbrell have been the target of much bad publicity for their ban in the Chelsea location. Cafe Grumpy has opened [...] Related posts:

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Earthquake Blend From Newhall Coffee Review

2010-08-26T12:00:08+00:00

The Drink: Earthquake Blend From Newhall Coffee
Type: Ground Blend
Overall Rating: 3.5 Out Of 5 Coffee Mugs

I’ve been in a couple minor earthquakes, nothing more than a 4.0 on the Richter Scale, (an experience that most Californians would probably label as practice) but nothing prepared me for the strength of the jolt from latest coffee that I tried from Newhall Coffee, their Earthquake Blend.

Wake-up California-style with a high impact blend. A Central American bean with a very strong bite but with a rolling mild finish. You will find nutty and chocolaty notes with this bean mixed with a strong and crisp body. A Guatemala from the Antigua Region, located between 3 volcanoes and grown on volcanic forested soil. This is a Caturra type of bean grown on an elevation between 4,500 – 5,500 feet.
-Newhall Coffee Description

I’ve smelled chocolate in many coffees, but the Earthquake Blend had a unique aroma that reminded me of Cocoa Krispies. Yes, Cocoa Krispies, which I’m now craving. The chocolate flavor was mixed in with a nutty aroma and just a hint of spices.

But what gives this coffee it’s name is the taste. It was strong, like strong enough to knock you off your feet with the first sip. Some people might even say that it causes an earthquake in your mouth. There’s no way around it, from the first sip to the moment that the after taste fades away, I was thinking this is a strong coffee with an exceptionally heavy body. The taste had a very nutty flavor, with just hints of the chocolate that I smelled a few minutes earlier.

Earthquake Blend earned a solid 3.5 on the Daily Shot Of Coffee scale. It’s strong, but it’s still smooth and very drinkable even for a medium roast drinker like me.

If you’re thinking of buying Newhall Coffee online, use the coupon code QZ742, which is good for 10% off any Newhall Coffee until October 1, 2010.

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Fine Print.

Earthquake Blend From Newhall Coffee Review is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

Tradition

2010-08-26T00:06:42+00:00

I’m a little conflicted when it comes to the idea of tradition. I firmly believe that an understanding of the past, especially its mistakes, is crucial to understanding the present and composing a reasonable guess at the future. A lot of coffee’s past is covered with the blanket of tradition, but I think we often neglect to look underneath to try and understand why and where they’ve come from.

I don’t really want to write this as a response to the articles Giorgio Milos has been writing, though they’ve probably helped crystalize some thoughts. We, as an industry, are continually struggling to deal with the impact and importance of Italian espresso traditions.

What has been on my mind has been the idea that tradition is something immutable, something to be preserved and studied. This just isn’t true – tradition is little more than persistant ideas, roughly copied using the human mind. Their memetic nature means that a tradition will adapt and change in order to be valuable and be passed on. What distinguishes tradition from historical cultural artifact is relevance to the current culture. What is traditional is not correct, nor perfect, it is merely useful enough to keep alive as an idea.

What does this rather wordy paragraph have to do with coffee? Espresso is Italy in 1950 would be further away from espresso in Italy in 2010 than espresso in the USA in 2010. I hope, and strongly suspect, that espresso in Italy today will be abhorrent to an Italian in 2060. Tradition must evolve.

Tradition is not an excuse to stop exploration and progression. Deviation and experimentation away from tradition absolutely must happen in order to discover new and useful things that will become the traditions we will pass down to future generations.

This doesn’t mean we should ignore the ideas that have survived best until now – if we can understand the 7g dose then we stand a better chance of avoiding mistakes that have already been made, of learning from past experiments. My understanding of this dose, current machinery and extraction have all changed dramatically in the last year but if I’d either completely ignored the 7g or followed it slavishly I wouldn’t have had that learning experience.

Understanding the influence of economic factors on the birth of traditional espresso blends (coupled with regulation of drinks prices) explains more about the presence of robusta, or unwashed coffees from Brazil, than taste does. This isn’t to say that people don’t enjoy blends like these – but you can’t help but end up at the conclusion that taste preferences weren’t the driving factor they are sometimes made out to be. This means that if taste is your driving force then perhaps a different approach would be preferable.

I think the thing that most annoys me about the articles, and it annoys me about a great deal of culture, is the idea that diversity is not to be celebrated and encouraged. I’d hate to see Italian espresso in its current form disappear completely, but I’d hate to see it become a ubiquitous, monotonous method more.

Turkish Coffee Trivia

2010-08-25T12:41:06+00:00

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There is a Turkish proverb that says, “A single cup of coffee is remembered for fourty years”. In the Turkish culture, coffee is always offered at the start of any visit. No true conversations begin until kahve is served. The discussions and the brew are remembered together. No wonder that Turkish coffee is unforgettable.

There is no ritual more important in any culture than marriage. It is a way to improve ones standing and situation in society after all. Every prospective bride is tested by the way she makes coffee. Some brides are known to have substituted salt for the sugar in order to avoid an unwanted marriage.

It was also considered an insult to spill the coffee, even just a little on to the saucer so a reluctant bride would sometimes find a way to spill coffee, not just on the saucer but on the guests. That usually ended the marriage talks.
The foam on Turkish coffee is very important. It is made as the brew sits on the stove without being stirred. A few people will tell you that it is okay to stir after the first two boiling, in fact some will say it is a must but never is it stirred once it is placed on the heat for the last time. In fact, it is said that the host who serves coffee with no foam loses face.

For those of us who’ve always wanted our future read with coffee, Turkish coffee is the brew you must try. It is the remains from this brew or fal that is used to read ones possible fututre or destiny. In fact it is still a favorite pastime in Turkey today, especially among the women.

Make yourself a cup of Turkish coffee or go find a place that makes good Turkish coffee. Enjoy the experience for yourself. Don’t forget to check if there’s someone around who can read fal.

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Bonsai Blend From Velton’s Coffee Review

2010-08-25T12:00:06+00:00

The Drink: Bonsai Blend From Velton’s Coffee
Type: Whole Bean Blend For Espresso
Overall Rating: 3.75 Out Of 5 Coffee Mugs

Today, is one of those days when I wish I had a quality espresso machine. Okay, every day is a day when I wish that I had a high end espresso machine on my kitchen counter. But today especially because I’m tasting the Bonsai Blend from Velton’s Coffee, a blend designed for espresso.

A medium roasted blend designed for espresso. It produces a thick, smooth shot with a lingering sweetness; notes of milk chocolate, caramel, hazelnut, and citrus fruit pervade.
- Velton’s Coffee website description

Of course, I wasn’t going to let this coffee go to waste just because I didn’t have an espresso machine. I ground it up and put in the next best thing, a french press. A few minutes later, I was taking my first sniff of this coffee.

Bonsai Blend had an aroma that was eye opening. It was a blend of chocolate, nuttiness and citrus that mixed together perfect and made me smile.

Each sip was loaded with flavor. It had a smooth chocolate taste, mixed with a hazelnut flavor. There was some citrus flavor around the edges and in the after taste it mixed with a fruity flavor.

In the french press, it had a medium body.

Even though I don’t have an espresso machine, this coffee was obviously something special. It earned a well above average, 3.75 on the Daily Shot Of Coffee scale. I’d recommend it to anyone with our without an espresso machine.

Make sure you check out the reviews of the Guatemala Finca Liquidambar and Costa Rica Finca Genesis, two other coffees from Velton’s Coffee that I enjoyed reviewing

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Fine Print.

Bonsai Blend From Velton’s Coffee Review is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

Excellent Syphon Video

2010-08-24T17:12:20+00:00

I am sure many people have seen this but in case I thought I’d repost it. Outstanding work!

More info here.

Back To School Guide To Coffee

2010-08-24T12:00:44+00:00

When I went away to college, there were three things that I needed: a television, a computer (three gigs of ram was top of the line back then) and a coffee pot. I had no problem getting the television or computer to work, but the coffee maker was a different story. I had coffee before, but I had never brewed it to myself. I didn’t understand where the water was supposed to go and tried pouring it directly in with the coffee grounds. More coffee spilled on the counter, then made it into my coffee mug that morning. Luckily, by the second day of classes, I figured out that the water went into the water chamber. Simple concept, but I was too cool to read the directions.

Anyways, check out this required reading on what coffee equipment to bring to college and make sure you practice before the first day of classes.

Coffee 101

On the first day of classes, the last thing you want to be doing is running around trying to brew a cup of coffee to keep you awake for your 8am class. The perfect solution for the student that wants something easy and convenient is the single serve coffee machine. My recommendation is the Keurig B70. It’s been a few too many years since I had to wake up for an early morning class, but this coffee maker is great for when I’m half asleep and in a rush to get somewhere.

Keurig Platinum B70 Single Serve Coffee Maker $169.95
The Good:
* Easy To Use
* Makes A Quick Cup Of Coffee
* Easy To Clean

The Bad:
* Price Per K-Cup
* Isn’t Tall Enough For Travel Mugs
* How Environmentally Friendly Is It?

Do your homework and read the complete Daily Shot Of Coffee review.

Coffee 202

Single serve coffee makers aren’t for everyone. They’re convenient but the price is on the higher end of things and when you have hundreds of dollars worth of books to buy, I could understand why you would want to spend a little less on a more traditional coffee maker like the Black & Decker (DCM18S) Brew ‘n Go Personal Coffeemaker.
Black & Decker DCM18S Brew ‘n Go Personal Coffeemaker with Travel Mug $19.99

This personal coffeemaker brews 15 ounces of coffee directly into a stainless-steel travel mug. The mug has a rubber handle for a safe grip and a lid to keep coffee hot. It’s tapered to a 2-1/2-inch-diameter bottom, so it fits most vehicle cup holders. The coffeemaker itself is designed for an on-the-go coffee drinker. It has a permanent filter–no messy disposable paper filters required–and shuts off automatically after brewing. The mug, filter, filter basket, and mug lid are dishwasher-safe, and the coffeemaker can also be used to heat water for tea, hot chocolate, and instant foods like oatmeal and soup.

If you’re looking for something that can brew more than one cup of coffee, you have to check out the Zojirushi Fresh Brew Thermal Coffee Maker. It produces some of the best tasting coffee that I’ve ever had, plus it has a thermal carafe so you could go to your 8am class, go back to the dorm and still have hot coffee waiting for you.

Zojirushi (EC-BD15BA) Fresh Brew Thermal Carafe Coffee Maker $79.99

The Good:
* Thermal carafe keeps coffee warm without burning it.
* Coffee brews hotter, bringing out more flavor.
* Easy to set the time and to program it.

The Bad:
* Tall, may not fit under some cabinets.
* Thermal carafe with no marking for cup measurement.
* Coffee filters didn’t fit in perfectly.

You can do your homework on this one too, check out the full Daily Shot Of Coffee review.

Coffee 303

Now this only for advanced coffee geeks. When you break out the French Press, it’s sure to impress any member of the opposite sex. Plus, it’s the ultimate way to make coffee anywhere – the dorm, the off campus apartment, etc.

Bodum Chambord Coffee Press $29.02

The Good:
* Excellent Coffee
* Price Is The Same As Most Drip Coffee Makers
* Did I Mention It Makes Incredible Coffee

The Bad:
* Fragile & Lack Of Padding In Shipment
* Not As Quick And Easy As A Drip Maker To Make And Clean

Required Reading: Full review of the Bodum French Press

Extra Credit

For extra credit, make sure you get a burr coffee grinder. Pre-ground coffee will get caffeine into your blood stream, but nothing compares to the taste of coffee made with freshly ground beans.

Breville BCG450XL Conical Burr Grinder $90.11

This conical burr grinder features adjustable settings for various grind options. Choose from ultra-fine for Turkish coffee or large and coarse for percolators. The settings offer consistently shaped grinds and even extraction, which is the key to producing flavorful coffee. In addition, the unit’s metal conical burrs preserve more natural bean flavor than blade drivers due to the slower grind nature. The grinder comes equipped with a removable bean hopper that holds 1/2 pound of coffee beans, and its stainless-steel/polymer base offers start and stop control, as well as an on/off switch. Other highlights include a variable timer with 10 to 30 seconds of grind time, anti-static technology, and a removable burr for convenient cleaning.

What coffee related advice do you have for college students?

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Photo by Infidelic.

Back To School Guide To Coffee is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

Eco-Friendly Coffee: Is it Really Worth the Hype?

2010-08-23T22:00:57+00:00

This is a guest post by Dana Livingston. Learn more about how you can guest post for Daily Shot Of Coffee here.

As the climate steadily changes and the natural world around us of plants and animals slowly begins to depreciate, the drive to switch to more eco-friendly and sustainable ways of living grows more and more steam. People around the world are beginning to make the switch to green living, refitting their homes with environment friendly infrastructures, buying cars which make less of an impact on the quality of the atmosphere, using material products that are non threatening and non taxing on the earth, eating organically grown food. The list runs on and on. The way businesses function, the products they produce, the way countries are run, and the sources of the global food supply have all been radically rethought to consider the influence of our human decisions on the natural environment. And this includes everything, down to the coffee you drink. But what is eco-friendly coffee? And does this really make a difference and impact on the global biodiversity and ecosystems?

Second to petroleum, the coffee bean is one of the most globally traded and harvested products. Within the United States alone, over four hundred million cups of coffee are consumed every day. And have you ever thought about how many coffee beans go into making a single cup of coffee? And with the hype surrounding coffee these days regarding its positive effects on our health, the demand for coffee has never been higher. And in countries with few other exports, coffee beans provide them with the most stable, consistent, and viable string of income.

But what’s the difference between eco-friendly and eco-threatening coffee beans? The traditional, environmentally damaging, way of producing coffee beans is to first create the coffee plantation, which entails clearing out acres upon acres of natural environments and ecosystems in order to do so. In these cases, pesticides and chemicals are usually used to keep the coffee fields clear of insects and reptiles. This in turn not only depletes the area of its natural wild life and wilderness, but the use of chemicals causes cancer in the low-wage paid workers tending to the fields and people in villages or towns surrounding the field that drink from the water that runs off from the fields; these chemicals are sometimes sprinkled over the ground and consequently kill larger animals confusing the chemicals for water or food.

Eco-friendly coffee beans are planted and harvested on shade plantations, which are plantations with natural tree canopies surrounding the fields. These tree canopies allow some of the areas smaller animals – insects, birds, reptiles, etc – to thrive in the safety of the trees and the habitat they provide. Moreover, these shade plantations prevent the segmentation and fragmenting of natural habitats. Because large areas of habitat are not destroyed to clear out room to allow for the making of these fields, these animals are able to move freely throughout these larger areas and are ensured their genetic diversity.

So is that cup of eco-friendly coffee worth the hype? Only if you think protecting and ensuring the survival of our world’s plant and animal life, and even saving the lives of our fellow human beings, is a high priority.

Dana Livingston is a writer for a culinary institute website where you can browse schools and the latest trends in the culinary arena.

Eco-Friendly Coffee: Is it Really Worth the Hype? is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

Tea cups

2010-08-23T20:49:54+00:00

I was at Tea Smith yesterday and I was very much enjoying the tea I was drinking, and the owner remarked that they were his favourite cups to drink from. “The lip” he said, “disappears!”

So I grabbed 7 of them and took them in to work. We’d talked about sourcing tea cups for Penny University for certain coffees (like the Yirgacheffe) where we thought a cup could really enhance it.

Having tried brewed coffee (and enjoyed it very much) I couldn’t help but want to try espresso…

It was really, really good. Embarrassingly good – you couldn’t help but feel a little self conscious drinking from the cups – but true to John’s word – the lip disappeared.

A few thoughts in my head to finish – because this is really just a fun little post:

1 – We really need to explore the vessels we serve coffee in. I like owning diner mugs a lot more than I like drinking out of them. I know it has been brought up before, but we still haven’t really done much

2 – As Tim would point out: Is there any way you could get something like this into service without coming across as being incredibly pretentious?

3 – I now want to buy lots of different tea cups. I worry this could get expensive. If anyone has any recommendations I’d be interested!

4 – The disappearing lip thing is one of the reasons I really hate hot espresso cups. I don’t want to notice the cup, and a scorching hot cup is really quite a distraction. I also really enjoy espresso when I barely notice its temperature – when it is close enough to body temperature that all you thinking about is texture and flavour. This may also seem a little pretentious but I’ll survive…

Ice Brew Lemon Coffee

2010-08-23T12:00:05+00:00

Do not Blame me, I was having one of my uncontrollable geek coffee moments. There is just no normal way to put this. I was just following the call of lemon and coffee. It is an idea I have been toying with recently. I’m not like most coffee drinkers, I need tangents occasionally and this is the most unique one I have come up with.

The reality of this drink is that it’s Cold Brew Coffee with Coffee ice, I used Kohana Hawaiian Prime, with two Slices of lemon, and a little agave nectar to sweeten the cup. That it, nothing else, it is that simple.

This does not work with coffee that is brewed using hot water brewing methods, like a French press or percolator. Hot Coffee and lemon combined have too much acidity. Well at least to me. I tried this drink with water ice and coffee ice made from cold brew coffee. Coffee ice is the way to go. You get a cup that is a journey, if the drink is sipped slowly. The Coffee ice mixes in as it melts, altering the coffee flavor of the cup without watering it down.

I could have made simple syrup for the chilled cold brew lemon coffee, but I chose Agave Nectar. It is my sweetener of choice because it can dissolve quickly and has a low Glycemic index (I’m on a diet) . Agave nectars are sold in light, amber, dark, and raw varieties. Light agave nectar has a mild, almost neutral flavor, and is therefore sometimes used in delicate tasting foods and drinks.

As for the style of cup or glass you place cold brew lemon coffee in, that is entirely up to you. I have used coffee cups, a beer glasses, a tumblers, they all worked well. I personally liked using my favorite coffee cup (image at the top) the most though.

This all started One day, when my wife said, “Have you ever put lemon in coffee? You have put it in everything else it seems.” She was on to something. So after some trials and errors, I found the balance. I now have a new summer drink.

Ice Brew Lemon Coffee is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

Coffee in Italy

2010-08-23T00:01:00+00:00

'Italy. One country that is venerated to a true place of honor in coffee contributions. Espresso, though only one manner of coffee infusion, pretty much began from popular Italian culture and the art of Italian espresso has helped sculpt the modern quality coffee world.But despite the inspiration, the current coffee culture of Italy seems to differ from that of the many other countries it could

Fresh Brews: Bats Overdosing On Coffee, Coffee Smores And More

2010-08-22T18:59:44+00:00

You never know what is going to happen next in the coffee world. Fresh Brews is a weekly attempt to wrap up everything going on in the news and on the blogs.

Coffee Blogs

Coffee Nate How To Cold Brew Coffee With The Toddy (video)
Nate shows just how simple it is to make cold brew coffee with the Toddy. A perfect way to keep caffeinated and cool for the rest of the summer.

Why Not Coffee? “Cupping” app debuts on iTunes
A cool app to help rate coffee. Now where’s the Droid version of the app?

Coffee Vanilla Coffee Smores
Looks like I have some more work to do in the kitchen. I can’t wait to try this recipe.

Starbucks Melody Starbucks sends Melody a housewarming gift: Flavored coffee fusions (Vanilla)
Melody gives her review of one Starbucks’ new flavored coffees. What did you think of them?

Coffee News

Coffee-cup recycling brims with obstacles
What’s really keeping coffee cup recycling from going mainstream?

Amped up bats overdosing on coffee
Humans aren’t the only ones addicted to coffee in Australia.

Starbucks to introduce ultra-premium coffee in Seattle, other markets
At select Starbucks, you’ll soon start seeing premium, high quality coffees. It’s a nice gesture, but if you’re not lucky enough to be near one of these select Starbucks, you’re out of luck.

Sales strength of Starbucks’ Via coffee questioned
Is Starbucks’ record sales of their instant coffee for real, or is there something else going on that’s a little shady to boost those sales numbers?

Coffee Contests

Search For Seattle’s Best Fans
Like coffee? On Facebook? Win a trip to Seattle to learn all about Seattle’s Best Coffee.

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Photo by DeaPeaJay.

Fresh Brews: Bats Overdosing On Coffee, Coffee Smores And More is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

Poll: How Old Were You When You Started Drinking Coffee?

2010-08-21T12:59:08+00:00

This week’s poll is “How Old Were You When You Started Drinking Coffee?”

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

I started experimenting with coffee when I was about six or seven years old. However, it was mostly for medicinal purposes because it helped calm my asthma. I didn’t become a full time coffee drinker until I was eighteen and at college, struggling to stay wake up for my early classes and staying up late to study.

What about you? When did you start drinking coffee and why?

Last week’s poll was “Do You Look For The Fair Trade Label When You Buy Coffee?”

The overwhelming answer was yes with 63% of the vote.

Ardee-ann said:

When I was better off financially, I shopped fair trade and organic whenever possible. I was one of the seriously conscious consumers of the times. I boycotted products and vendors out of principal. I was activist in my shopping habits

Cate said:

I do like to buy Fair Trade coffees as much as I can

Nate said:

It is important for me to purchase sustainable coffees. Fair Trade is one way to do that. I don’t think that I should sip on a cup of coffee and save a few pennies, while the person that grew my coffee lives in a shack and can barely feed their children. I think we can all do our part to help the situation.

No had the remaining 37% of the vote.

Glenn said:

No, I prefer to buy Direct Trade coffee which is usually more equitable for the farmer.

More direct input by the buyer/roaster and often a higher price paid than the specified Fairtrade price too

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Photo By KatieL366.

Poll: How Old Were You When You Started Drinking Coffee? is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

The Lesser Known Facts about Coffee

2010-08-20T20:00:38+00:00

This is a guest post by Carol Montrose. Learn more about how you can guest post for Daily Shot Of Coffee here.

To the true coffee aficionado, coffee is not so much a beverage as it is a love affair. The coffee cognoscenti know the beans, the roasts, the most efficient to the most exotic coffee brewing devices, and that when it comes to coffee, “crack” is a good thing. The rich aroma and full-bodied taste of a perfectly brewed cup of coffee is just the beginning of a lifelong romance with the bean.

But what do you really know about the brew that joins you at breakfast every morning and accompanies your dessert every night? Does your beloved beverage have secrets, a hidden past? Is it a drug, a medicine, an aphrodisiac? Here are some facts you just might want to know…

Coffee can turn you on. Some studies show that people who drink a cup a day or more are almost twice as likely to characterize themselves as sexually active, and coffee can help with erections. Have coffee in bed in the morning and see what happens from there. You might find it…stimulating!

A coffee a day keeps the doctor away (11th century). One of the first references to coffee’s medicinal value came from the philosopher and physician Avicenna of Bukhara (980-1037 A.D.). Of coffee, he wrote “It fortifies the members, it cleans the skin, and dries up the humidities that are under it, and gives an excellent smell to all the body.” Recent studies seem to bear out his remarks, as the following demonstrates…

A coffee a day keeps the doctor away (21st century). Harvard researchers and Dutch scientists agree – coffee in large quantities protects men and women against diabetes, Parkinson’s disease and some types of cancer. While one to three cups a day is good, six cups or more per day is better! The data showed that regular coffee drinkers can slash their risk of Parkinson’s and cirrhosis of the liver by 80%. Incidences of colon cancer dropped 25%, and even smokers and heavy drinkers had lower rates of heart disease and liver failure if they drank coffee. The health benefits in some cases are due to the caffeine in coffee, but other benefits seem to be a result of coffee’s high concentration of antioxidants. Antioxidants mop up free radicals that age the body and damage organs. Still, pregnant or nursing women, and women trying to get pregnant, should forgo the coffee. Not everyone tolerates coffee’s stimulant effects well, so use your best judgment when deciding how many cups a day to drink.

A coffee a day keeps the psychiatrist away, even for kids! Brazilian studies have shown that children who drink coffee with milk every day, as is common in some countries, are less likely to be depressed than their counterparts who shun coffee. In fact, despite common concerns, no studies demonstrate that coffee is bad for kids. A study of female nurses demonstrated that those who drank 2-3 cups of coffee a day had a significantly lower rate of suicide than the control group.

Coffee lotion, anyone? Although studies have not yet been done on humans, studies on rats with skin cancer have shown that applying a coffee lotion to their skin kills off cancer cells leaving other cells unharmed. Coffee is hard to absorb into the body from skin, however, so claims that facial masks and soaps made from coffee are beneficial systemically are not supported by science.

People write poetry to coffee. Sure, the benefits are great! But people who drink coffee drink it because they love it. So it’s probably not too surprising that some extol its benefits in verse. Okay, so they can’t live without it. But coffee poetry websites? A coffee prayer? Wow. I think I need a cup of coffee.

Carol Montrose is a writer for Online MBA Programs where you can browse the top online MBA programs.

The Lesser Known Facts about Coffee is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

Pressurised Cold Brewing

2010-08-20T12:17:30+00:00

I read quite a lot of blogs. Actually that is probably a half truth. I subscribe to a huge number of blogs and often skip through postings that don’t immediately grab me. This one I read, and it lead me to this post.

I’m sure it is no leap to see where I am going with this, and also clear that I am not claiming this as original thinking!

I began to wonder if pressurised brewing could be applicable to more than espresso. Cold brewing (not icing hot coffee to dilute, but brewing with ambient/cool/cold water) is often a little disappointing. While you can get a balanced and tasty brew you sometimes miss out on some of the interesting aromatics and flavours, as well as the acidity, of some coffees – due to a lack of heat/energy to extract them.

Could pressure add the necessary energy – perhaps even allow rapid cold brewing? I loaded a syphon with 15g of coffee and 250ml of water, pressurised it, shook vigorously and then waited a minute and released the pressure. I strained it through a V60 and tasted it. Disgusting, barely any extraction.

“More time….” I thought – so I set up a longer brew. The results were very tasty. I needed a control sample, so last night I experimented again.

The two brewers

I would use the same amount of coffee, water and use the same brew time. One brew would be in a french press, left to steep. The other would be pressurised.

Matching doses within 0.1g

For the coffee I used a test batch of the washed lot from Finca Killimanjaro, from Aida in El Salvador. We’d already cupped it and I knew it to be juicy, tasty and not an obvious coffee to (traditionally) cold brew.

There is a lot less bloom with cold water.

I steeped them for 12 hours – the french press lidded and two charges into the cream whipper. (If anyone knows how to calculate how much pressure the liquid was under I’d be very grateful!)

This morning I strained the two coffees in preparation for serving to the rest of the team at the roastery. The french press brew looked fairly normal:

Straining the press pot

Straining the pressurised liquid was very different. Overnight the gas had gone into solution and releasing the pressure meant that it began to bubble and fizz out (this is important – more on this later!). It doesn’t look very appealing to pour a mass of fizzing coffee slurry into a V60!

Fizzing coffee slurry

The coffee also looks a little odd initially as I think it was still giving up a little of the dissolved gas. Very quickly it just looked like paper filter coffee again.

Pressurised cold brew coffee

I served the two coffees blind to everyone, though it was clear there was an obvious winner. Everyone picked the pressurised brew as being more delicious. I checked the extractions with the Mojo and the preference made sense. The ambient pressure cold brew struck out at a lowly 14% extraction. The pressurised brew (with identical time, brew temp and grind size) came out at 18%. This was a pretty significant change to the brewing process.

Now – I know what you are thinking: Is the pressure speeding up the extraction. My initial thoughts are: probably not.

I think that the aggressive fizzing upon depressurisation and during the pouring process was effectively and noticeably agitating the coffee grounds increasing the extraction.

What I’d like to try next is to compare an ambient cold brew that gets up to 18-19% extraction (into the zone of deliciousness) to a pressurised brew of equal extraction. I’ll probably need to agitate the coffee in the ambient brew to get it to do that without introducing a new variable between them of brew time. This should also give a slightly clearer impression of the role of pressure outside of its agitating effect.

The coffee: pretty damned tasty – and some nice acidity/juiciness in the cup which makes me hopeful. We did it with one of the Kenyas we have (the Tegu AA lot) and it was seriously delicious. If any of you have a cream whipper and some spare time and want to experiment too I’d love to hear about it. Thoughts, suggestions and gentle berating for silly experiments always welcome in the comments!

Coffee or Tea???

2010-08-20T12:00:11+00:00

I have been in “merry olde England” for the past two weeks…not literally, darn it, but rather I have been watching movies such as “Pride and Prejudice,”"Rebecca,” “Mansfield Park” and “Jane Eyre,” for example. Let me tell you I have seen a lot of tea drinking from fine bone china sets in these movies. The cups have been dainty and lovely. I am sure they do well for a delicate brew such as tea but I kept wanting to tell the fine ladies and gentlemen to get a hefty mug of coffee and enjoy it. The drink can be just as civilized and provides a lot more body to the brew.

Watching all that ritualized tea drinking made me want to brew up some stout coffee, pour it into thick “diner style” coffee cups and quaff it with impunity. I wouldn’t have to worry about burning my tongue or palate in such a case, I could just enjoy the brew heartily and without concern. Doesn’t that sound wonderful…fresh brewed coffee to be chugged down immediately before the “bloom is off the rose” so to speak.

If you ever find yourself in the company of too many tea sippers even on the television screen, do yourself a favor ~ brew a pot of coffee and enjoy a cup of joe. You will be glad you did and your taste buds will thank you for satisfying them with some coffee.

I am not discounting the joys of tea drinking and the ceremony that can be involved at all. I am just saying that while tea drinking has its place in the world but so does a well brewed cup of coffee and sometimes coffee can provide a bit more character to your cup than tea can.

Ciao!

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Photo by micah.hb

Coffee or Tea??? is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

CC: Beaver Falls Coffee and Tea

2010-08-20T01:52:00+00:00

'What's does "CC" mean? Subject: Beaver Falls Coffee & Tea Company Location visited: Beaver Falls, PAFree WiFi ? : yesRating: 5+ [see key] The drive between Pittsburgh and Erie is not one populated with many well-known pit stops, unless you like stopping to experience nature (fortunately, I do!). Sadly, this is usually the case with many stretches in the middle of the country.But fortune

Limited Edition Espresso: Sweet Shop

2010-08-19T16:09:28+00:00

Last year we created a fun espresso blend called Juice. This year we’re doing a one-off roast of a blend we are calling Sweet Shop.

The idea was to blend for a different reason – to see how far we could go, to see how much sweet delicious fruit we can cram into a cup. Some may say there is too much in here – for us there’s never enough!

The blend takes three of our favourite coffees – each capable of a different range of vibrant sweet flavours – and blended them together in equal parts. Some may be nervous about the acidity in the espresso but these coffees are roasted very careful to showcase their sweetness above all else. (Though if you prefer low acidity espressos then this probably isn’t for you.)

The recipe is:

1 part Kangocho AA (Kenya)

1 part Tegu AA (Kenya)

1 part Yirgacheffe (Ethiopia)

In the cup look for notes of:

Refreshers, pear drops, cola cubes, blackcurrant fruitella, cherry lips and sherbert lemons. This is an intensely fruity espresso blend, very sweet and with a balanced and pleasing acidity.

(click for full size - and you can expect a t-shirt of this very soon too! Artwork courtesy of David “El Grifo” Gibbons)

A few very important things – please read before ordering:

We are roasting a limited amount of this on 31st of August only. If you place an order for Sweet Shop that has other items the whole order will be held until that date, then fulfilled.

As we say above – this is a limited run. We expect to sell out of it in the next week, as it has been available to pre-order already to our newsletter subscribers and over 70% has already gone. (We like to say thank you however we can!)

Sweet Shop Espresso – £9.00 (350g)

Komodo Blue Dragon From Rocketfuel Coffee Review

2010-08-19T12:00:15+00:00

The Drink: Komodo Blue Dragon From Rocketfuel Coffee
Type: Organic Whole Bean
Overall Rating: Four Out Of Five Coffee Cups

In the middle of south east Asia there’s an island called Flores. Flores is located about 200 miles to the east of Bali, and is northwest of Timor. The island is one of the few places on earth where Komodo dragons can be found in the wild. It’s known as the “island of flowers,” named by the Portuguese not because of flowers, but rather by the colorful coral reefs that surround the island. The terrain is rugged and the island has both active and inactive volcanoes which have created especially fertile soils ideal for organic coffee production.

On of these organic coffees is that comes from this region is the Komodo Blue Dragon by Rocketfuel Coffee. I’ve had several amazing coffees from this Canadian coffee roaster and was hoping to continue the trend with this coffee.

From the first sniff, I had a feeling that I was going to like this coffee. Komodo Blue Dragon had a sweet aroma with hint of chocolate that reminded me of a bar of dark chocolate candy and a floral scent that reminded me of walking past a flower shop. There was also a slightly smoky flavor hovering around it all. If the taste of the coffee was half as interesting as the smell, I had a feeling that I was going to love this coffee.

Komodo Blue Dragon had a darker roast taste, however it was still loaded with flavor and was still exceptionally smooth. My tongue was first greeted with a smoky taste, but it was a pleasant smoky flavor. There were the hints of the chocolate that I had smelled a few minutes earlier, but there was also an earthy taste. The good kind of earthy flavor. Not a dirty feel by any means, but it reminded me of a natural earth like flavor. Plus at the end of the sip, there was just a hint of a wine-like flavor. The after taste had a darker, almost ash like flavor. Overall, a winning sip.

In a french press, this coffee seemed to have a heavy body.

The only thing that’s hard to swallow about this coffee is the price. It’s $20 for half a pound, however, it’s well worth it. The taste was above average and the coffee looks to be on the rare side of things.

I’ve had a lot of great coffees from Rocketfuel Coffee and I’d say the Komodo Blue Dragon was another award winner in my book. It earned an exceptional score of four on the Daily Shot Of Coffee scale.

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Fine Print.

Komodo Blue Dragon From Rocketfuel Coffee Review is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

Coffee House History: Seattle’s Best

2010-08-18T12:03:21+00:00

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My local mall gives me a basic choice of 3 coffee houses(or is it shops in a mall?) -The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Starbucks (duh), and Seattles Best. And the one I always inadvertantly pick is Seattles Best. Yes, the coffee is much more my “cup of tea”, and there dont seem to be too many noisy teenagers as there are in Starbucks or bored housewives as the Bean…..

Seattle’s Best

Seattle hasn’t always been the center of the coffee universe, in fact the city once served as much bad coffee as the rest of the country. That changed in the early 70’s when a group of passionate coffee lovers started a revolution.

The founders of Seattle’s Best were some of these early coffee pioneers, and in the beginning the coffee was roasted in an old peanut roaster down on the Seattle waterfront. These guys used the finest beans and roasted to achieve a bold and full flavored cup that was also smooth and mellow.

In those days, the Northwest was such a hotbed of competing coffee styles that a local restaurant held a taste-off to crown “the best cup of coffee in Seattle.” Much to the founders delight, their little coffee company took first place.

To celebrate the occasion, they officially re-named the company “Seattle’s Best Coffee” and the rest is coffee history. Today, the coffee revolution has spread across America and now good coffee is fashionable everywhere. There are many great coffees roasted in Seattle, but only one offers the bold flavor and smooth taste that is Seattle’s Best.

Coffee grade: Above Average

Good Points: Breve superb, great organic beans, yummy macaroons

Bad Points: Counter foodoften tasteless ,vanilla latte cloyingly sweet

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Coffee That Tastes Like Tea: Review Of Broadway Blend From 35 North Coffee Co

2010-08-18T12:00:13+00:00

The Drink: Broadway Blend From 35 North Coffee Co
Type: Medium Roast Whole Bean
Overall Rating: 3.5 Out Of 5 Coffee Mugs

If you’re looking for a unique, excellent tasting coffee, I have a coffee for you. It’s the Broadway Blend from 35 North Coffee Co.

12 ounces of blended coffee from 2 different continents and three distinctly different coffee growing regions. This Medium roast will leave you with sweet, chocolate and nutty flavors perfect for your morning cup of coffee. It is truly unique to anything we’ve ever tasted.

— 35 North Coffee Co description of Broadway Blend

Broadway Blend had an aroma that I couldn’t take my nose away from. It was a sweet aroma that was intriguing and pleasing. There were hints of chocolate and almost a mint tea like scent.

When they said the taste was truly unique, they weren’t lying. I had to take sip after sip until I was really sure of what I was tasting. The taste was tea like with hints of nuts and chocolate. There was a minty, medium roast after taste. It was really unlike anything else that I’ve tried before.

From a French Press, this coffee had a medium body.

Twenty-four hours ago, this coffee would’ve cost you 8.88 for 12 ounces, which would’ve been a steal. However, when I checked the website last night, the price was up to 9.88, which is still worth it and still a decent value.

It’s even more of a value because a portion of their proceeds are donated to Baby Safe, which rescues abandoned children in South Africa and counsels at risk pregnant mothers. Plus their coffee is TransFair, or in other words they’re a Fair Trade Certified Coffee Roaster

My only small complaint is that they weren’t more specific about the origins of the beans in the blend. It’s a minor complaint and overall the intriguing taste outweighs anything like that.

This coffee isn’t for everyone. I could see dark roast fans, not wanting to take more than a sip. However, I couldn’t get enough of this coffee. On the Daily Shot Of Coffee scale it earned a solid 3.5.

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Fine Print.

Coffee That Tastes Like Tea: Review Of Broadway Blend From 35 North Coffee Co is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

Changes to Webshop

2010-08-18T11:38:53+00:00

Just a quick post to let you know that we’ve slightly changed the cut-off time for our webshop orders.

We roast and ship on Mondays and Thursdays, so for a Monday roast we must receive the order by midnight Sunday and for a Thursday roast by midnight Wednesday.

If you have any questions or comments then do please let us know.

Joe Pokes – The Coffee Toothpicks

2010-08-17T22:00:51+00:00

I’ve come across some rather unique coffee products. A lot of them weren’t worth mentioning. However, there have been a few that really impressed me. It wasn’t too long ago that I spotted the coffee beans ice cube tray. Last year, I reviewed a drink that was half coffee and half pomegranate fruit called POMx Iced Coffee. However, I found something that I think tops it all. It’s called Joe Pokes.

Joe Pokes are coffee flavored toothpicks with an added caffeine burst. When I opened the box and took a look at these coffee toothpicks, I wasn’t sure what I had gotten myself into. However, after chewing on a few, I was pleasantly surprised.

The Joe Pokes will probably never replace my five cup a day coffee habit, however they impressed me with how well they taste. They actually taste like coffee. The first couple of minutes, it’s a bold, almost dark roast taste mixed with hints of sugar. As I chewed on it some more, a more mellow, relaxing coffee flavor came out.

Plus, it doesn’t hurt that the Joe Pokes are infused with caffeine. After chewing on a few back to back, I could’ve sworn that I had a little bit of a caffeine buzz. Jeff Mazurek, the creator of Joe Pokes says that he knows that it’s just a niche item, but says hikers have said they like the coffee toothpicks for when they can’t brew coffee on the trail. The website mentions that it’s good for tired truckers and sleepy drivers.

Overall, I was surprised by the Joe Pokes. The flavor was fairly accurate and the caffeine earned it some bonus points. It’s definitely one of those things that you have to try for yourself if you’re a true coffee geek like myself.

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Fine Print.

Joe Pokes – The Coffee Toothpicks is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

Starbucks Launches “Starbucks Reserve”

2010-08-17T16:42:21+00:00

Starbucks has announced the introduction of an ultra premium coffee, Starbucks Reserve, to their menu. A 12 oz cup will sell for nearly $3 in Seattle and other select markets. The coffee will be released on August 31st. Starbucks has chosen to pitch the product in New York City, San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, [...] Related posts:

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Guilt Free Bold: Coffee That’s Fair Trade, Organic And Carbon Neutral?

2010-08-17T12:00:45+00:00

The Drink: Guilt Free Bold From Guilt Free Drinks
Type: Dark Roast Organic Blend Ground
Overall Rating: 3.5 Out Of 5 Coffee Mugs

There’s more and more Fair Trade and Organic coffees showing up on the market every day, but there’s one company that takes it even further. All of the coffee from Guilt Free Drinks have those two labels, but they also have one more: Carbon Neutral certified.

I’ve heard of reducing your carbon footprint, but Guilt Free Drinks took it a step further. They’ve worked with an environmental consulting company to calculate their carbon footprint. Then they worked with them to reduce their carbon footprint wherever possible and worked to offset the rest of the emissions throughout the product life-cycle, from farming all the way through to consumption. The more I learned out about this company, the more that I liked them.

The certifications and labels are great, but there was still the question of how it actually tasted.

The coffee had an aroma that earned my approval. It was a nutty aroma with hints of cinnamon and maybe even graham crackers.

Even though it was labeled bold, the medium roast drinker in me liked the taste. There was no question about it, it had a dark roast taste. However, it wasn’t too overwhelming and didn’t bury the other flavors. I was able to pick up on hints of cinnamon and chocolate in the taste. The after taste had a medium-dark roast flavor that lingered on my tongue even after I set my coffee cup down on the table.

In the french press, this coffee had a medium-heavy body.

A 12 ounce bag of Guilt Free Bold costs $10.80 on their website and does come in a whole bean version.

Overall, I liked this coffee from the taste to the eco-friendly actions behind the scenes. It was very drinkable and had a smooth taste. It earned an above average 3.5 on the Daily Shot Of Coffee scale. If you’re into Fair Trade or eco-friendly coffee, I have a feeling that this is a brand that you should pay attention to.

For anyone that wants to buy coffee from Guilt Free Drinks, they threw in a coupon code for $2 off any $10+ purchase on their website www.guiltfreedrinks.com. The code is: mikehookedmeup. (I have to love that code) It’s good until September 19th.

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Fine Print.

Guilt Free Bold: Coffee That’s Fair Trade, Organic And Carbon Neutral? is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

Coffee Prices Increase in NY

2010-08-17T02:56:11+00:00

Coffee prices are at a 12 year high in New York due to the weak dollar. The US dollar dropped against the six other major currencies, even after gaining in the last five sessions. The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 raw materials gained as much as 0.5 percent before a plunge in wheat prices dragged the index down. Coffee climbed [...] Related posts:

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Imperialist Noir From Social Coffee Review

2010-08-16T22:00:45+00:00

The Drink: Social Coffee Imperialist Noir
Type: Organic French Roast
Overall Rating: Four Out Of Five Coffee Mugs

Today I had the opportunity to sample the final offering from Social Coffee, the Imperialist Noir. They describe this brew as an organic french roast: “This organic french roast, our darkest, storms the Bastille with a dark-chocolaty, nutty, dried-fruity intensity of flavour. Sumatran and Peruvian beans make it as charming and rich as royalty.” It certainly sounded like an exciting blend of flavors. I really enjoy bold, dark roasts, so I knew that this brew will be right up my alley.

As soon as I opened the bag I took a deep breath of the full coffee bean flavors. It smelled exactly like opening up a bag of fresh walnuts. I could detect a faint hint of dark chocolate, but the earthy, nutty flavor was very dominant.

I threw the beans in the grinder to get them ready for the french press, and the earthy, nutty aroma became even stronger. Once the beans were ground, I lost all of the dark chocolate flavors, but I could detect a faint whiff of a dried fruity flavor.

Once I threw the grounds in the french press, added some piping hot water, and let it steep, the aroma became intoxicating. I poured myself a steaming cup and really enjoyed my first sip. The flavor was very bold and the full, nutty flavor was very evident. I could not taste any of the dark chocolate flavor, but the fresh nutty flavor was very enjoyable.

As I was drinking this coffee I thought about the origins of these beans The mix of Peruvian and Sumatran beans is an excellent combination. I spent a few weeks in the Ancash Region in the Peruvian Andes a couple years ago and I was able to sample some of the EXCELLENT local coffees. Sipping on this brew really brought me back to that experience. I was instantly transported through time and place to a little hut in the village of Llipa where I first sampled fresh, organic, shade-grown, local Peruvian coffee. It is a very homely, friendly aroma that leaves you wanting more. The mix of the people and the coffee was amazing. I digress, but suffice it to say that this coffee is most excellent and certainly worth your money.

This coffee brew is more than I expected. I hit on all of the fine points of the intended flavors and it even gave me a bit of nostalgia. Social Coffee pried itself on their passion for coffee and I certainly felt a little piece of that passion while drinking this brew.

Highly recommended and I give it a 4 out of 5 stars for the excellent flavor and the “out of body” experience!

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Fine Print

Imperialist Noir From Social Coffee Review is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

A Beginner’s Guide to Espresso

2010-08-16T12:00:15+00:00

This is a guest post by Mike Tennant. Learn more about how you can guest post for Daily Shot Of Coffee here.

Espresso was first seen in Italy in the early 20th century, and since its inception, the boldly flavored drink has become one of the most popular coffee staples around the world. Thanks to the high concentration of coffee flavor, espresso has become the backbone for some of the most popular coffee drinks. Just about anything you order from your local coffee shop starts off with a shot or two of espresso. But for coffee beginners, the process can seem a bit overwhelming, especially when you don’t even know what espresso really is!

But we’re here to help. Here are some of the basics behind espresso, all of which should help you feel a bit more comfortable next time you’re rushed to order at the cafe.

The History

Italy is credited as the home of espresso, dating back to the beginning of the 1900′s. Originally, the drink began as a working class beverage of choice, and it began to receive mass appeal as the alternative or counter culture grew in Italian cities. As the cities grew, espresso become associated with the increased urbanization of the country, and espresso drinks and coffee bars were associated with the social life for the workers.

In more modern times, as specialized coffee and coffee shops began to gain ground, espresso shifted from a working class drink to a higher end clientele. It became more of a luxury drink, which is still part of the stigma associated with it today. Due to ongoing growth of coffee shops, espresso remains a social experience for many.

The Process

The most important thing for all espresso novices to know is that the term espresso itself does not refer to a particular coffee bean or ground. It’s actually the coffee resulting from the specific process. Espresso is a coffee drink developed by forcing hot water under intense pressure through finely ground coffee. As a result of the process, the coffee flavors are all quite concentrated, which is why espresso is widely used as the foundation for a variety of coffee drinks.

You can use any type of coffee bean to make espresso. Darker roasts will lead to more bitter espresso, while a lighter roast can have a more acidic flavor. The basic process of pouring a serving of espresso is commonly referred to as “Pulling a shot.”

The Shots

There are two basic measures used for describing espresso - size and length. Sizing up espresso is really as easy as 1, 2, 3 – traditionally espresso is measured as a single, double or triple shot. This refers to using either one, two or three ounces of espresso in your drink.

Interestingly, while the traditional shot size for espresso is a single – or one ounce – the standard shot size used in coffee shops today is a double. True singles are actually quite rare these days. Using a double shot, a single is poured as half a shot and a triple is poured as one and a half shots. Following that logic, you can guess how quad shots are actually poured at your neighborhood cafe.

The other form of measurement for an espresso shot is length. This simply refers to the level of extraction from the coffee beans. The longer a shot is, the more diluted it becomes, as the concentration of the coffee decreases. For longer shots, the coffee grind is adjusted in an effort to keep a similar volume. In essence, a long shot is simply more diluted coffee.

The Drinks

Since espresso is such a concentrated form of coffee, it’s used as the foundation for many of your favorite coffee drinks. It’s actually become difficult these days to order something from a local coffee shop that doesn’t begin or end with espresso in some form. Here are some of the more popular espresso coffee drinks:

Americano: This is one of the simplest espresso drinks, made up of simply espresso and hot water. interestingly, it was named for American soldiers who would water down their espresso drinks when serving in Europe
Latte: The cafe latte is another simple espresso staple, and is one of the most-ordered coffee drinks in the world. Containing simply espresso and steamed milk, a latte is the perfect place to start for espresso beginners.
Cappuccino: Another popular and traditional espresso drink, the cappuccino exchanges the steamed milk for foam instead. There are several more modern takes on this traditional drink that include adding things like milk and cinnamon – so feel free to explore these varieties.
Mocha: Another popular coffee house drink, the mocha is a latte made with chocolate instead of milk. For a slightly different taste, try a white mocha, which uses white chocolate.
Red Eye: For the bolder coffee drinker, a red eye is simply a cup of normal drip coffee with a shot of espresso added to it.

Mike Tennant is a freelance writer and content developer from Orange County, CA. Mike currently works with Air & Water Inc., where he helps people find the right coffee and espresso makers to fit their needs.

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Photo by Tonx

A Beginner’s Guide to Espresso is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

CC: Nude Espresso in Rapha Cycle Club

2010-08-16T01:47:00+00:00

'What's does "CC" mean? Subject: Rapha Cycle Club/Nude Espresso Location visited: London, UKFree WiFi ? : yesRating: 5+ [see key] Many people have noted that serious bicyclists tend to be avid coffee drinkers. I don't know if there is a true correlation, but it certainly seems to be more then a small coincidence in my relations, observations at coffeehouses and in the admitted habits of

Fresh Brews: Does Coffee Work? Coffee Creamers & More

2010-08-15T19:51:41+00:00

You never know what is going to happen next in the coffee world. Fresh Brews is a weekly attempt to wrap up everything going on in the news and on the blogs.

Coffee News

Does Coffee Work?
The answer is definitely yes for me, but the author of this article has a slightly more in-depth answer.

Thomas Coffee Reinvented in The Grove: Aims to Capture Local Market, Make St. Louis a Roasting Haven
Here’s the story of a St. Louis coffee company that is trying to re-create St. Louis’s rich coffee history. Who knew they had a coffee history? I thought it was just beer.

Lavazza pursues stake in Green Mountain Coffee
Why does this matter? Because the two companies plan to build a new line of single-serving espresso machines and espresso capsules that will be similar to Green Mountain’s popular Keurig coffee makers, which brew single cups of coffee.

Starbucks testing green coffee in summer drinks
Keep an eye out for this new drink from Starbucks that’s made of unroasted coffee beans. Now, if they would only do a medium or light roast coffee, they would have all of the bases covered.

Coffee Blogs

Coffee Nate Why #Coffee Drinkers Use Flavored Cream & Other Additives
In this video, Nate talks about the dirty little secrets of coffee creamers and other additives that change the taste of coffee.

Coffee & Conservation K-Cup and other single-use pods: the waste issue, again
Single serve coffee machines are great because of their convenience. However, their single use packaging, not so great?

Muddy Dog Coffee Photo Blog: How to Make Coffee in a Vacuum Pot
There’s a lot of different ways to make coffee. One way that I haven’t tried yet is in a vacuum pot.

Huffington Post 11 Roasters and the Art of the Bean
Huffington Post isn’t anywhere near being a coffee blog, but here’s an interesting story about coffee and one Oregon roaster.

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Photo by Billaday.

Fresh Brews: Does Coffee Work? Coffee Creamers & More is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

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Poll: Do You Look For Fair Trade When You Buy Coffee?

2010-08-14T14:12:13+00:00

This week’s poll is “Do You Look For Fair Trade When You Buy Coffee?”

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Right now, I’m reading Brewing Justice: Fair Trade Coffee, Sustainability, and Survival by Daniel Jaffee. It’s a systematic look at fair trade coffee and has me wanting to buy nothing but fair trade products right now. I’ve always kept an eye out for the fair trade label, but now I’ve taken it up a notch. Fair trade may not be the perfect solution, but it’s at least a step in the right direction and I have no problem paying a little more if that means that the people on the other side of my coffee get a little more.

What’s your opinion? Are you a fair trade fan? Or does the label not factor in when you’re making your buying decision?

Last week’s question was “Do You Use A Coffee Grinder?”

The overwhelming answer with 69% of the vote was “Of course.”

gservo said:

a coffee grinder is one of the best coffee decision ive ever made

Darrell said:

Yes, been grinding fresh for years now. Started with a little whirly/blade grinder but have used a burr gr. for awhile now(5-6 yrs?).

Neil said:

Unless you buy fresh roasted pre-ground coffee from a local roaster or quality roaster off the internet, I am not sure it is possible to truly enjoy coffee. The next logical step from that is to buy from the same source, but in whole bean. Each step toward freshly roasted whole bean coffee ground at home is a step closer to greater coffee enjoyment.
The best chance anyone has at truly enjoying coffee to the greatest extent possible is to buy fresh roasted (or home roasted) whole bean coffee and to grind it immediately before brewing. I wish everyone would try it and taste the difference.

Only 20% of the vote was for “No way.”

If you answered no, check out the comments in that post for some great buying advice.

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Photo by keishkakeishka

Poll: Do You Look For Fair Trade When You Buy Coffee? is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

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Cooling Down With Baileys Iced Coffee Cocktails

2010-08-13T21:00:22+00:00

I’m normally hesitant to put anything in my coffee, besides coffee. However, there is one thing that I’ll never hesitate about and that’s Baileys Original Irish Cream. With the weekend right around the corner, I can’t think of a better way to spend a Friday night than testing out these recipes that Bailey’s was kind enough to share.

Sweet and Spicy Cola Flip

By mixologist Freddy Sarkis and World Barista Champion Mike Phillips

Ingredients

2 ounces Baileys Original Irish Cream
1/2 ounce Iced Coffee
1/8 ounce 2:1 Raw Sugar Syrup
Real Sugar Cola
Whole Egg
Pinch of Freshly Grated Nutmeg
Pinch of Freshly Ground Cinnamon

Preparation
1. Mix coffee and sugar syrup together and set aside.
2. Combine all other ingredients except the Cola and dry shake.
3. Add ice and shake vigorously.
4. Pour into highball glass and then top up with Real Sugar Cola.
5. Garnish with another pinch of Nutmeg and a pinch of freshly ground Cinnamon.

A Shot in the Dark

By mixologist Leo Robitschek and barista Tim Luoma

Ingredients

1/2 ounce Baileys Original Irish Cream
1/4 ounce Cold Brew Coffee
1 ounce Bulleit Bourbon
1/4 ounce Zwack
1/8 ounce Demerara Syrup
1 1/2 Dashes of Mole Bitters

Preparation
1. Add Bulleit Bourbon, Zwack, Demerara syrup, Cold Brew Coffee and Mole
Bitters to a cocktail shaker.
2. Stir with ice and strain into a martini glass.
3. Slowly add 1/2 ounce of Baileys Original Irish Cream.
4. The Baileys will end up sitting at the bottom and the cocktail on top
(will look like a reverse cappuccino. You enjoy the bitter spicy cocktail
and get a last taste of rich cream from the Baileys).

Flippin Intelligent

By mixologist Marcos Tello and barista Ryan Wilbur

Ingredients

1/4 ounce Baileys Original Irish Cream
1/4 ounce Coffee Concentrate Syrup*
1 1/4 ounces Pampero Rum
1/4 ounce Heavy Cream
3/4 Egg Yolk

Preparation
1. Combine all ingredients in a Boston Shaker and Dry Shake (shake without
ice) for 10 seconds.
2. Add ice and shake for another ten seconds.
3. Strain into sour glass or cocktail glass and garnish with freshly grated
cinnamon and orange zest.

*Coffee Concentrate Syrup: To make a concentrate, you simply need a pound of very coarsely ground coffee, 9 cups of filtered water (filtered, not R.O.), a pitcher, some cheesecloth, and a strainer. The process is very easy. Simply place the pound of coffee in the pitcher, and slowly pour in the 9 cups of water. Allow the mixture to extract for 24 hours. Finally, pour the mixture through the cheesecloth, draped over the strainer. This will filter the coffee concentrate and remove the grounds. To the concentrate add an
equal proportion of Demerara sugar, and stir thoroughly, until sugar is dissolved.

Cooling Down With Baileys Iced Coffee Cocktails is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

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Starbucks Natural Fusions Cinnamon Review

2010-08-13T12:00:17+00:00

The Drink: Starbucks Natural Fusions Cinnamon
Type: Ground Flavored Coffee
Overall Rating: 3.25 Out Of 5 Coffee Mugs

I’m rounding out my reviews of the three Starbucks Natural Fusions flavored coffees with a review of the Cinnamon flavor. The Vanilla flavored impressed me. The Caramel flavor was good. Now, it’s time to see if the Cinnamon was worth writing home about or not.

The Starbucks Natural Fusions Cinnamon aroma was loaded with cinnamon flavor. It reminded me of cinnamon rolls fresh out of the oven and it’s enough of a flavor that it’ll scare away anti-flavored coffee drinkers. However, I was a fan.

The taste was a different story. The taste was dominated just a little bit too much by an over the top dark roast flavor. From the first drop on my tongue to the after taste, the coffee had a distinctive dark flavor that I couldn’t escape. However, I was impressed with the cinnamon flavor that was trying to peek out from the thick layer of dark roast. It had a natural flavor, that was just about perfect.

If Starbucks would just turn the roast dial a notch, I think this one would’ve been another hit like the Vanilla. However, I think at this roast, it scared me and will probably scare other flavored coffee fans.

Even though I didn’t fall head over heels for this coffee, I do wish that more coffee roasters would use natural flavors like Starbucks. I’ve said it before, but you can really taste the difference.

Overall, a good coffee with some great attributes and earned a slightly above average 3.25 on the Daily Shot Of Coffee scale. If you’re a dark roast fan and you have someone coming over that’s a flavored coffee fan, this is just about as much of a compromise as you’re going to get.

You can find the Starbucks Natural Fusions at many grocery stores and try it for yourself.

Have you tried any of the Starbucks Natural Fusions? What’s your opinion?

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Starbucks Natural Fusions Cinnamon Review is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

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CC: Big Dog Coffee

2010-08-13T02:30:00+00:00

'What's does "CC" mean? Subject: Big Dog Coffee Location visited: Pittsburgh, PAFree WiFi ? : yesRating: 5+ [see key]I have a negative association with the product line of Big Dogs. Everyone is entitled to their own tastes and mine never favored the hackneyed phrases and witty(?) dog pictures. Yet sadly, every time I hear the phrase (or a variation) of "Big Dogs," I think of the clothing

Go Coffee Go Adds A New Roaster To Their Lineup

2010-08-12T22:00:58+00:00

I wanted to share with you some exciting news from Daily Shot Of Coffee sponsor Go Coffee Go.

From their press release: GoCoffeeGo.com, a hip and groovy online coffee marketplace has quickly become “the” place to buy coffee beans online, fresh roasted-to-order. The website continues to attract attention from major coffee industry players and the Who’s Who of the specialty coffee world who seek to sell their coffees on the elite roaster marketplace. Continuing to expand on its A-list of artisan coffee roasters, GoCoffeeGo is proud to announce the signing of Portland newcomer, Water Avenue Coffee.

GoCoffeeGo.com was created by two coffee lovers who were left feeling bitter in their cup, one too many times. They wanted to bring the best coffee roasters together on to one site with one easy checkout. Co-founders, Scott Pritikin and Elise Papazian heavily vetted each and every roaster on their site. They spent two years in stealth mode, secretly ordering coffee and cupping it a variety of different ways, then jumped planes, rode trains and drove automobiles, traveling across the country for two months straight, to meet and check out each coffee roaster and their operations. “The goal was to not only carry the best coffee from the Who’s Who of specialty roasting, but also to actively seek out and promote talented new roasters. A lot of big names in specialty coffee did not make the cut. Water Avenue was a great discovery for us and they blew us away with their coffee. They were not just another new micro-roaster in Portland. Their packaging and passion was irresistible. These guys clearly know what they are doing.”

While it is true that Water Avenue is a new roaster, owners Matt Milletto, Bruce Milletto and Brandon Smyth are anything but new to the coffee industry. Brandon Smyth roasted for Stumptown, Matt Milletto heads The American Barista & Coffee School where students from all over the globe learn the latest techniques and trends in coffee extraction and Matt’s father, the esteemed Bruce Milletto, is founder of Bellissimo and The American Barista & Coffee School. Bruce is recognized by the media as “the voice of the specialty coffee industry.”

“When choosing roasters for the site, a lot of big names didn’t do well.” Pritikin says, “Ultimately, when we cup people’s coffee, we do not think about their name, their hype or their reputation. All that matters at that point is how it tastes. That’s it. You cannot put a barista in the shipping box. The beans must stand on their own.” Papazian adds, “When someone buys coffee from GoCoffeeGo.com, they can be sure that they are getting the best quality coffee, sourced from the sweetest, ripest handpicked and hand sorted coffee fruit from the best farms and grown in the best soil on the planet. That is what GoCoffeeGo is all about. We do not mess around. The roasters we carry are truly the Indiana Jones’ of the coffee world. Most spend a substantial amount of time traveling to origin and working directly with the farmers to bring back the best product on earth to our customers. Then they roast it to perfection, their own unique way. Our roasters put love in your cup. When we tried Water Avenue’s Coffee we could taste the love. GoCoffeeGo is all about love…. And without love, you’ve got nothing.”

Water Avenue Coffee will join prestigious Roast magazine’s current and former “Roaster of the Year Award” winners, Equator Coffees & Teas, PT’s Coffee, Klatch Coffee, Higher Ground, Metropolis Coffee, and coffee legend George Howell’s Terroir Coffee, as well as the hottest in the 3rd & 4th wave coffee roasting movement, Coava Coffee, Ritual Coffee, Novo Coffee, Johnson Brothers, Barefoot Coffee, Atomic Cafe, Cuvée Coffee, and Verve Coffee, on GoCoffeeGo.com.

ABOUT GOCOFFEEGO.COM

GoCoffeeGo.com offers more than caffeine to buzz about; it’s the ultimate destination to buy coffee online or anywhere. It changes the way people shop for the gourmet coffee beans that brew their next cup of Joe. Founded by San Francisco-based coffee fanatics Scott Pritikin and Elise Papazian, the Web site is meant for both the novice coffee lover and the connoisseur alike. GoCoffeeGo.com brings together for the first time the country’s top award-winning artisan roasters all on one site with one easy checkout. All coffee is fresh roasted to order and shipped directly from the roaster to the customer. Customers can browse coffees according to several criteria, including: roast, roaster, flavor profile, geographical origin, growing condition, whether or not the coffee is espresso coffee, organic coffee, fair-trade coffee, and even by their astrological sign. As customers find coffees they like, they can add to their cart or use the revolutionary, patent-pending multi-roaster Auto-Ship. For more information, including details on the roasters and their coffees, please visit www.gocoffeego.com.

Go Coffee Go Adds A New Roaster To Their Lineup is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

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The Perfect Beach Coffee? Surf & Snow From Newhall Coffee Review

2010-08-12T12:00:09+00:00

The Drink: Surf & Snow From Newhall Coffee
Type: Ground Flavored Coffee
Overall Rating: Three Out Of Five Coffee Cups

Most people go away for a beach vacation and pack things like sunblock and flip flops. In many ways, I’m not like most people. I loaded my suitcase with coffee. One of the coffees that I couldn’t resist packing was the Surf & Snow Blend from Newhall Coffee. There was zero snow during my getaway, but there was more than enough surf.

Newhall Coffee says that the blend is inspired by the ideal California day – surfing and skiing or snowboarding the same day. It’s created with Brazilian beans that are roasted to a city roast to “enhance the caramel vanilla flavor.”

At first, I liked this coffee and was ready to go hang 10. It’s safe to say the aroma wowed me. Steam flowing from my coffee cup had a sweet vanilla caramel aroma that caught my interest. I also picked up small hints of chocolate.

However, the taste had me thinking wipe out. An almost overwhelming dark roast flavor dominated everything, leaving the caramel and vanilla behind. The after taste had a slight chemical taste that didn’t make me want to get back up on the board and try it again.

Surf & Snow was an okay coffee, but if you’re looking for caramel or vanilla flavored coffee, I would check out Starbuck’s offerings. This coffee was drinkable and earns an average three on the Daily Shot Of Coffee scale, there just wasn’t much to write home about it.

If you’re looking at Newhall Coffees, I would check out their Bow-Chicka-Pow-Pow Blend or Organic California Blend. And if you’re thinking of buying Newhall Coffee online, use the coupon code QZ742, which is good for 10% off until October 1, 2010.

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The Perfect Beach Coffee? Surf & Snow From Newhall Coffee Review is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

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An Alternative To Expensive Coffee House Dessert Coffees?

2010-08-11T22:00:09+00:00

I’m not going to lie, I have a serious weakness for the White Chocolate Mochas, Caramel Machiattos and other sugar filled dessert coffees that chain coffee shops sell. When International Delights offered to send me two of their new creamers, I couldn’t say no. They promised that with their CoffeeHouse Inspirations Skinny Caramel Macchiato and Skinny Vanilla Latte I could replicate my favorite coffee house drinks at home, while saving time, money and now fat?

They are healthier. They each have 0 fat and 30 calories per serving. However, the taste wasn’t for me. Maybe, I’m too spoiled with the over the top vanilla lattes and caramel machiattos that I’m used to paying too much for. Of course, I may not be the target audience anymore. There was a time when I load my coffee with more sugar and cream than actual coffee. Now, I’m more into the discovering the flavors that different coffee beans naturally produce.

Have you tried these CoffeeHouse Inspirations creamers? What did you think?

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An Alternative To Expensive Coffee House Dessert Coffees? is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

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Le Coffeeing – Some thoughts

2010-08-11T19:31:36+00:00

This post is a result of the rather excellent post on Chemically Imbalanced. I’m grateful to Ben at CI for consistently writing such good stuff, even if it takes three goes to understand every sentence.

His latest post is great.

It raises, to me, a few rather uncomfortable thoughts and ideas so I thought I’d share them in order to make them less terrifying.

What we should take, first and foremost, from the food world is the accessibility of quality. This is where coffee falls down a little.

You could argue that first we have to make the consumer aware of quality within coffee, we have to change their idea about how good, how exciting, how surprisingly delicious it can be. You could argue that, quite rightly, people don’t have much in the way of expectations for coffee the way they might do for steak. ¹

You’d be wrong to argue, I think, that this is the consumers fault. They don’t lack the palate, they don’t lack the interest. They suffer a lack of availability, no doubt. Even if you like good coffee it is staggeringly hard to get. Do the maths – take the population of your local metro area and divide it by the number of great coffee places. In some cities great coffee places become one in a million.

But there are great coffee places. More and more open, every month, every year. The question is: are we making this coffee sufficiently accessible? I don’t just mean available, but more approachable.

99% of people you meet have probably had a less than ideal experience and past history with coffee. Marketing has always been ahead of what was produced, promising more than it delivered. People have been very disappointed, routinely, for years by the coffee they’ve bought. It makes them feel duped and angry (and more likely to leave comments on coffee articles online…)

There are places you can go to enjoy a meal that serve great food. Delicious food. They do it as if it is the most natural thing in the world, not special, not unusual, not fashionable. They charge appropriately and trust that you – the diner – will notice and appreciate the quality of what they do. No one thinks you’re a little strange because you spend a little more, travel a little further, or queue a little longer for a great meal.

Very few places serve great coffee in a matter of fact, friendly, casual way. We like to talk it up. We like to shout about it.

Are we shouting, posturing, proclaiming and promising because we worry that otherwise the customers wouldn’t notice that it’s better? Do we not trust them? Surely if it isn’t sufficiently different, better and more enjoyable that anyone tasting it would easily notice the difference – then are we doing a good enough job?

It is these last thoughts that are the most uncomfortable, the most worrying. With Penny University (there is a whole other blog post on this coming) we tried to aim high, hoping that people would be up for trying something new, something different. We still underestimated our customers, which is both incredibly exciting and a bit embarrassing.

If you opened a little cafe but made no promises, did no marketing, and served great coffee (truly great coffee) and gave no clue about its specialness other than the fact that you charged an appropriate price – would people notice? Would it be a success? If you left it to just the taste of the coffee to do the convincing – would people be convinced?

I think so. I certainly hope so. Do we, as an industry, genuinely believe so?

Footnotes:

Don’t ask me why I picked steak – except that steak something that a lot of people can get very excited about. For good reason….

Coffee House History: The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf

2010-08-11T12:47:19+00:00

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For those of us not named Paul Basset, a good up of coffee is more often than not found at the coffee house at the nearest mall, around the corner, or at an airport if you’re travelling (the photo by the way is of the CBTL at Singapore’s Changi airport) – and not at home, although we’ll put up with the home brew just to get up in the morning.
So I’ve decided to clue you in on a little background info about these institutions we so heavily rely on on provide a decent cup of java.

The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf

Herbert B. Hyman started The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in 1963 with a dedication to excellence and quality, and his efforts made him the founding father of gourmet coffee in California.

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf has since grown into one of the largest privately- owned, family-run coffee and tea companies in the world.

The endurance and popularity of The Bean, as it is affectionately referred to by devotees, can be attributed to the high standards that were established from the beginning. From trend-setting drinks like the World Famous Ice Blended, to the employees who become a part of the communities they work in, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf has discovered the formula for a successful coffee and tea company.

Coffee grade: Decent Brew

Good Points: Good variety of other things to eat, hot breakfasts, chai tea, vanilla lovers should be happy.

Bad Points: Drinks tend to be too much on the sweet side

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Candied Coffee…

2010-08-11T12:00:07+00:00

Hi, my name is Ardee-ann and I like “candied coffee.” I admit that when General Foods came out with International Coffees I bought one of every flavor. They were delish. I was young then, devil may care and was enamored of the fanciful nature of the tasty instant coffees that lured my taste buds to distant locales and made me feel totally bon vivant!

I settled in quickly on the Cafe Francais and Cafe Suisse Mocha as my favorites. Other flavors have come and gone, by the way GF you have ruined the Cafe Vienna. It used to be lovely but when you changed the formula you ruined its subtle essence.

I realize that in admitting that I enjoy “candied coffee” I may destroy any credibility I have in the world of the “real” coffee drinkers but I would only drink one or two cups of these coffees in an evening filled with cups of other coffee that were not gussied up with creamer and sugar. I would drink fine Columbian which in Little Rock, Arkansas back in the early 80s was just about as unique as you could get at your local grocery store.

There were some specialty shops that we would go to and buy some exotic brews to drink now and again but really back in the day I began my addiction to the sweet drink that still lures me away at times and probably keeps me addicted to Starbucks Mocha Lattes. I just like that sweet kick now and again.

I only have the flavored instant coffees as a rare “treat” so to speak but some days despite the allure of my beloved french press I find myself enjoying a cup of General Foods International Coffees and remembering when they seemed so exotic, exciting and new. I was so young then and had such an underdeveloped palate.

Ciao!

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Photo by Roadsidepictures.

Candied Coffee… is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

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Hailey Coffee Company Review

2010-08-10T12:00:22+00:00

Hailey Coffee Co (www.haileycoffeeco.com)
219 S. Main Street
Hailey, ID 83333
(208) 788-8482

Idaho has a big smile across its belly. They call it the Snake River Valley and it goes all the way from the Wyoming border to the Oregon line. JJ and I drove through that smile with headwinds so strong that I swear we were standing still on the highway with the pedal to the metal! “Santiago” used a ton of gas on that stretch. So much, that we actually saw the fuel gage drop from ¾ full to ¼ in 30 minutes at one point. Sure, it’s funny NOW, but it was fairly stressful for little ol’ me and we needed to find a spot to park and call it a day. Where would that wind blow us?

Out came the map to see what was around … and with some successful maneuvering we sailed north up Highway 75 toward Sun Valley and the Sawtooth National Forest. The Idaho sun was beginning to set as we meandered through acres of golden fields spotted with bright red barns positioned here, and there. Passing through several towns, we arrived at our destination … Hailey. Although we didn’t have this town chosen, the second we hit the city line we agreed that this was the place. Simultaneously we saw the Hailey Coffee Company situated at a corner on Main Street. We set up camp in the Albertson’s parking lot (with reluctant permission from the manager) had some dinner then hit the hay.

We woke up to almost a foot of snow on the ground. Tee hee … the snow plow driver plowed all the way around “Santiago” during the night leaving us looking like a little oasis of happy snow campers; and very inconspicuous I might add. Any who … we headed off to get our morning brew!

Hailey Coffee Co. was THE happening place that day and from our conversations with the patrons, we discovered that it was the best coffeehouse in town. There were 3 baristas rockin’ it and a guy working the back of the house cooking breakfast items and washing dishes. A constant flow of local folks came in to enjoy the first snow of the season with a hot cup of Carrie’s locally roasted java.

We sat at a table in an east-facing window. The sun shone through the steamy window inviting us to relax for a bit. Many small, adjoining rooms had a variety of chairs, a sofa, a coffee bar with stools, and small tables that had been moved around to serve the various sizes of groups that gathered. One wall was particularly intriguing. The art looked etched into the creatively stained, stone looking wall and for me, conjured up feelings of a rustic European cottage. My eyes were pulled to trace the etchings and gave me time to daydream …

Just behind us was a woman working on an online college class. She came to town to “get away” from LA so she could focus on her class before the holidays hit. As she left to catch her flight, the table was scooted across the room to join with another to make ample room for three women drinking coffee and eating their freshly made muffins from their in-house bakery.

There was a vibrancy that attracted everyone from the local high school kids, the travelers, and us. We got involved in warm conversations with others and took photos so we could remember its offerings. As we were packing up to leave, a woman walked in with a dog. She had a gentle yet determined demeanor. Carrie Morgridge is the owner of Hailey Coffee Co. and she just happened into the store to grab come beans for a delivery. One of the baristas sent her over our way and she graciously spent time sharing her personal story of building a successful coffeehouse. “It’s really not that easy to run a little coffeehouse. I’m still learning; all the buying, hiring, marketing, budgeting ….”.

“Even though the economy is tough right now people still want their coffee. It’s a comfort food”, she said as she smiled and welcomed a guest by name. Carrie believes in giving back to her community and is involved in helping raise funds and awareness for several local non-profit groups. Her support of Camp Rainbow Gold (for kids with cancer) and local theater top her list. She also offers 1 pound bags of beans as a fundraiser for the local high school’s Amnesty International Club and for Expedition Inspiration: a local breast cancer awareness group. As a huge animal-lover she also supports the only non-kill animal shelter in Idaho. Gotta love her compassionate involvement

The roastery where she roasts only high quality organic, fair-trade Arabica coffee beans, is just a short block to the west of the coffeehouse. From there they ship their deliciously roasted beans all over the world. If you want to know more about the Hailey Coffee Co in Sun Valley, Idaho please stop in or visit their website at www.haileycoffeeco.com.

Peace out.

Hailey Coffee Company Review is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

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Rwandan Bukonya Ikawa From Land Of A Thousand Hills Coffee

2010-08-09T12:00:43+00:00

The Drink: Rwandan Bukonya Ikawa From Land Of A Thousand Hills Coffee
Type: Whole Bean
Overall Rating: 3.5 Out Of 5 Coffee Mugs

Those of us who like to try different coffees enjoy differences presented by the roasters, the types of roasts and the beans themselves. We like to try the coffee that comes from different regions, countries, or specific farms. As we grow in discerning flavors we begin to get more confident and specific in what we like and don’t like. Bottom line is that we like coffee and enjoy the adventure of tasting the flavor of the next cup.

But could there be more? I think there can and maybe it starts with helping the farmers in different countries who actually grow the coffee. This Rwandan Bukonya Ikawa is from Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee and is described “as a sweet, aromatic melon medium that rides on top of the full chocolate undertones for a complex and delightful brew. Some are roasted to a solid medium and others to a rich dark.”

Land of a Thousand Hills was started to partner with coffee growers, coffee drinkers, coffee shops and churches to embrace a commitment to Community Trade and give back to the farmers who produce the coffee beans. They hope to use the coffee as a way to build community and connect people in a purposeful and tangible way. They care about helping people who live in one of the world’s poorest countries be empowered by being paid a fair living wage for their work. There are other things they do to help the farmers grow and develop and I would encourage you to check out their story and site. I’ll share more when we review their decaf.

We brewed this coffee in the Clever Coffee Dripper first. It seems to have a spicy, citrus aroma. The acidity is mild and the body is light to medium. The flavor seems to stay on both the front half and sides of the tongue. The aftertaste is kind of spicy and chocolaty.

Next was the Chemex coffee maker and deep roasted flavor comes out here. Kim liked this coffee paired with chocolate. It makes you think while you are drinking it because it is complex. There is something there that I can’t quite put my finger on, but I like it.

Then we tried it in the French Press and the aroma is more pronounced. It really smells good when you grind the beans and pour the water into the press. The deep roasted flavor stands out the strongest of either brew here. My mind is working as I try to figure out what I taste. Kim thought it went well with cinnamon graham crackers and chocolate. I’m only a man, but I think she wants me to get her some chocolate!

We also brewed this coffee in the auto-drip and liked it there also. I realized that we must have liked this coffee because it was gone in less than a week. I went to make some and all that was there was an empty bag. It was there and then it was gone, but it was a good coffee drinking experience. Two thumbs up.

We received this coffee for free and offer objective feedback. If you want to try a good Rwandan coffee and do good at the same time we suggest you try this Bukonya Ikawa. Until next time remember to stop and enjoy the coffee and conversation.

Much GRACE and peace to you,
Bill and Kim
Romans 15:13; Psalm 34:1-10

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Rwandan Bukonya Ikawa From Land Of A Thousand Hills Coffee is a post from: Daily Shot Of Coffee

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