3-Keys to Great Coffee

There are really only three keys to a great cup of coffee and I am going to share them with you here...

1.  Coffee must be fresh!  

Some coffee brewers promote the freshness of their coffee because it is brewed a few minutes before you get it and then it is poured into the drain when it becomes so-many minutes old.  That is commendable but it is only half of the fresh equation - the other side of the fresh coin is that the coffee needs to be roasted fresh. Coffee begins to stale the very moment that it is cooked.  It oxidizes from the air just as metal begins to rust. The process of staling coffee is impeded in a variety of ways but stale it still goes. (And the freezer method to keep coffee fresh is little more than a mythical hope).  I give coffee 14 days before it goes off, not Cinderella off but off enough that one can tell the difference. 

2.  Coffee must be made with good water!

Coffee too easily takes on the flavor of the water that is used to make it with.  I once made Michigan Snow Coffee and I also made coffee using good old-fashioned rain water - I don't suggest it without good filtration because it was nasty. Even with the tap water you can tell the difference between filtered and non-filtered--So get yourself a Brita or something like it if for nothing else but your coffee.

3.  The Coffee-to-Water Ratio must be Correct!

And here is the greatest of the three...We've all done it. We get the coffee container out of the freezer and use a spoon to fill the filter with grounds, we stop adding grounds only when we "feel" like there is enough caffeine and from pot-to-pot we wonder why we cannot get it to taste the same.  The fix to this is to weigh your coffee (ie. For every ounce of water you need a set amount of grounds to go with it).  I use a standard .042oz. (by weight) to 1oz. of water (by volume) for my ratio.   

Of course, coffee flavor will always be subjective according to the tastes of the person drinking it. There are a thousand things that factor into the flavor of your coffee (what you ate earlier, the roasting profile of the bean, the origin of the bean, the specific crop that the bean has come from, the blend, the cleanliness of the cup that is used, etc. etc.) but getting these three keys under control are huge and will lead to consistency and a better cup of brew.

For those who are purists:  Although I did not include it here there is something that needs to be discussed in another post - The idea of the Single Origin bean. Just as a single-malt scotch is preferable to a blended scotch or how a bottle of wine is known for the specific grape that is used to produce it so also a single-origin coffee bean is preferable to the blended grind.  At least that is my position as a coffee snob. ;-)

Kona Coffee

In Hawaii, coffee trees thrive on the cool slopes of the Hualalai and Mauna Loa Mountains in rich volcanic soil and afternoon cloud cover.  Coffee trees typically bloom after Kona's dry winters and are harvested in autumn. Coffee cultivated in the North and South districts of Kona (on the Big Island of Hawaii) is the only coffee that can truly be called Kona Coffee


Before being graded, Kona coffee is hand picked, pulped, dried and hulled. Machinery at the coffee mill sorts the beans into different grades by size and shape. Peaberry is top of the line. A peaberry bean is formed when one side of the flower fuses with the other leaving only one bean in the coffee cherry. This gives the peaberry a more concentrated flavor and makes up only about 5% to 10% of the total Kona Coffee harvest. Top grades (in descending order) include extra fancy, fancy, No.1 and prime


Kona Coffee is sun dried, then custom roasted depending on desired results and differences in moisture of the beans. A good roasting process (and processor) can make a world of difference. Roasting is referred to as an "art form" by many in the trade. Dark roasts are typically called French Roast, Italian or Espresso. Medium roasts include Full-City and Vienna. Flavored coffee is either sprayed or powdered immediately after roasting for best absorbtion of the added flavor. Just after roasting the oxidation process begins and coffee is at its freshest.


Air tight containers and freezing coffee will optimize freshness. Whole bean stored in this manner retains a recommended shelf life of about three months, ground coffee about a month. Growers suggest buying in whole bean form and grinding just before brewing each pot.  ~ Redacted from http://konacoffee.com/coffeestory.html

While I disagree that "freezing coffee will optimize freshness" and that shelf life is "about three months" I have to admit that I am very intrigued with this coffee that is grown in the soil of volcanic ash.  I am looking forward to roasting this bean fresh and serving it at the coffee roasting demonstration on Saturday, March 23rd.  There are a few seats left if you are interested - email me.

Jeep C-J5

I was just 3-feet away from plowing my dad's Jeep into the living room of our house when I was 14 years old - I was learning how to drive a stick shift.  Dad said "Just give it gas and drop the clutch."  I did and if I had not jammed on the break when I had I would have been watching Cheers on the television from the comfort of my canvass seat.  I eventually learned how to properly judge the drive engagement with the feel of the clutch and proper engine RPM's and I became pretty good at getting that old Jeep to respond to my driving desires - well as good as a Jeep could I guess.

Ford F-150

A few year later a friend of mine had a work horse of a truck that had a three-on-a-tree manual transmission system.  The clutch was sloppy and had what seemed a 15-inch reach before it was engaged.  I think this allowed for any farmer to pull his trailer of corn or hay.  I am glad I learned how to drive the thing but I found that I easily tired just working the mechanics of the drive sysytem.

Porsche 911

Then one day in my 20's a friend of mine had a Porsche 911 that he wanted to sell and I took it for a test drive.  Wow!  What a difference.  The clutch moved about 3-inches engaging easily and quickly but it took a precise foot to feel the power and make the car dance - And oh-boy how it danced!  This precision vehicle begged to be driven.  The clutch system demanded respect and the steering system was precise as it ordered the road to bow at ever turn.  As I glided through the twisty road I was very aware how this driving experience was so much better than my dad's Jeep or my friend's truck.  The Jeep and the truck required mere drivers while the Porsche demanded a driving enthusiast.  

It is interesting that I am reminded of this experience as I am roasting the Yemen Mocca Matari for people because the people that are tasting the Fresh-Roasted Yemen are experiencing the difference between driving a Jeep and making a Porsche dance.  

When you taste the Yemen you cannot help but smell the strong aroma of cocoa - not sweet-cocoa like a Hersey bar but soft-cocoa like the homemade chocolate pudding your grandma used to make on the stove-top.  When you sip this cup the flavor is very balanced and smooth without any of the bitterness that is known in standard issue coffees.  The flavor in this brew presents smooth and it finishes clean leaving just a hint of the mocha flavor  that is characteristic to the Yemen region coffees.  Yes, this coffee will immediately inform you that you are a coffee enthusiast and not just a mere drinker.

I presently (2/24/12) have 25-12 Cup pots of this premium coffee in stock - at just $4.00 a pot which means that the Yemen will practically drive out of the burlap that it is in.  If you want the experience of a real coffee enthusiast be sure to contact me as I will be roasting again next Wednesday.

~John

Anchor Bay Roasts

Here is a short write-up in a newsletter where I did a demonstration.


Click here for the PDF Article

The Art of Coffee Roasting...

Dancing

As coffee roasts there are two things that happen.

1.  The moisture cooks off

2.  The sugars in the beans caramelize

The art is to cook the beans raw enough to leave the natural God given flavor but cooked well enough that those caramelized sugars do a tango on your tongue.

Did you know that I can make green coffee beans dance?

Roasting Wednesday...

Coffee for Enthusiasts

Recently I have started roasting on Wednesdays only.  This was an economic decision as well as a family welfare decision.  Since I use the family kitchen to roast I recognized that it was not fair to my family to take up the kitchen 3 times a week when with better management I could occupy it only once.  And too many times trying to get a fellow coffee enthusiasts order of $6.00 to them I had to make the hard decision that it is just not economically worth spending the 2 hours needed to process an individual order alone.  So, Wednesdays it is...  Please don't get me wrong, I love $6.00 orders (heck, I love $1.00 orders) but to insure that I don't go out of business in a few months I have to insist that small orders are filled with the larger group of orders.


If you would like to have some coffee roasted, please let me know so I can get your order on the schedule.

February Event - 02/18/2012

My next public demonstration is at the ECCO, a bookstore in New Baltimore.  Heh heh, I really thought that I would have to write a book to get invited to a bookstore venue but I guess books and coffee do go together.

Coffee Demonstration - January 2012

John explaining the functions of the roaster

Today I roasted the Malawi Mapanga Estate - Washed "AAA" for a few guests of a coffee tasting and demonstration.  I explained the processes of bean growth & harvesting, processing, roasting, and tasting.  The guests were invited to help me sample this new bean and to help me decide if it was a good bean for me to stock and sell or not.


While the coffee was roasting I made a pot of Blooming Heart flowering tea for the guests to sample while we talked about coffee.  Even though nobody was real excited about the tea, it went over exceptionally well because it had a splendid flavor and was fun to watch steep.


The coffee took about 40 minutes to roast and cool then I brewed 2 pots of it.  The first pot was in the Siphon Pot and the second was in the French Press.  While people liked both they agreed that the siphon pot made the better brew. It really was good but to be fair to the french press, I muddled the ratio and made the coffee too strong.  Some of the comments about the coffee from the siphon pot was that it was very smooth - clean and neutral.

Sampling and tasting the Malawi Mapanga Estate - Washed "AAA"

Guests observed a chocolate note which had a note of a citrus.  The body was slightly buttery which weighed lightly on the palette. Overall, everyone enjoyed this coffee and approved it as a fine coffee to sell to my coffee enthusiasts.


After the tasting was through and everyone had sampled the coffee everyone was marked as an official coffee snob with the ABR tattoo.  Then, the $25.00 gas-card door prize was given to one of the guests.


After about 2.5 hours the demonstration concluded and everyone went home just a little more joyful than they had come.  Thank you to the guests of this demonstration and thank you for helping me assess the Malawi coffee.

Coffee Demo This Saturday...

There are still a few seats available for this FREE event if you are interested. Also, there is a $25 Gift Card for FREE gas that will be given as a door-prize to one of the attendees.  

Sorry, a reservation is required for a seat.
Please find my contact information on the website.

The Art in Roasting

Indian Monsooned Malabar - Roasted 

Have you ever Googled for images of roasted coffee beans?  If you have then you have seen the many images of coffee beans with a uniform color.  This uniformity is indicative of a mechanical roast which is scientifically heated, timed and cooled.  Not so with my roasts.  My roasts are not uniform because the process I use to roast is not at all scientific - it's artistic.


When you go to Target, Kohl's, K-Mart, or Walmart to buy art, what you are actually getting is a mass produced image of something that may have been art at one time - but no longer.  Real art is what you get when you go to Sotheby's.


Take the image above for example (click the image for a larger version).  Highlighted by the yellow star is a lighter bean.  The lighter beans retain the intrinsic flavor of the bean itself.  In this bean is an awesome flavor that is only found in the soil of the Malabar region of India.  It is wet-processed leaving the fruit of the coffee berry to dry onto the coffee bean itself until it naturally flakes away.  Then, the bean retains the natural flavor of the environment of that region of the world because it has been cured for about a year through the monsoon season which wet and dried and wet and dried and wet and dried this bean.  Yes, it took time but the flavor is wonderful because of it.


Now notice the bean toward the top in the blue star.  This bean is very dark and oily, it has the strong flavor of the roasting process.  The moisture is all gone out of this bean and the sugars caramelized under the heat to create a great roasted flavor.  If you will notice the bean in the purple star, this also is a dark roasted bean and if you will notice a rough patch on the bean, this shows that the bean was taken well into what is called the Second-Crack, a stage of the roasting process that tells me when to stop roasting (any darker and I would begin to make charcoal).


So there you have it, my Monet, my Van Gogh, my Dali!  The piece that you see above is originally mine and it will never be duplicated - it is a one of a kind and this specific one is being shipped to soldiers stationed in Afghanistan.  


Thank you to those who serve! I hope this little piece of art brings you as much joy as I had creating it.