Finca Pastoral Bourbon (Blend #7)

1oz - Nicaragua - Finca San Jose
1oz. - Guatemala - Antigua Pastoral
1 oz. - Rwanda - Washed Bourbon

This blend was alright but nothing spectacular. I liked that the acidity was very low (if at all detectable) which made it a very smooth flavor. However, I noted a floral quality in the nose with the after taste which was not overpowering nor was it bad - I just hapen to not especially care for the floral notes.

How Many Cups Do You Drink?

I have just been informed that there is a flaw with the above poll. There is no option for 0-cups per day.

Huh.. Silly me, this is a blog about coffee and so I did not figure it appropriate to add zero cups as an option. But, since my wife reads this blog I guess I will have to consider her as an option.

Sorry honey.

How You Drink Your Coffee?

I posted a survey on this blog and 33 people responded. Here's the skinny.

54% of this blog readers drink their coffee the way that God intended - black!
18% drink their coffee with just cream
21% drink coffee with cream & sugar
6% add some sort of flavoring to their brew

This means that almost half of the people who responded to the survey don't really drink coffee but rather some form of coffee drink. Now, far be it from me to tell people how to drink their coffee (but I will anyway) but if you need to add something to your coffee then the coffee that you are starting with is not very good. And if all you are served is Charbucks, Maxwell House, or Folgers then your dilemma is clear - you need some good coffee.

I hope that through this blog that you will discover good coffee - sooner rather than later. Stay posted as I will continue to explore the wide range of single-crop and blended-coffees in the time to come.

Buy Only Michigan Grown Coffee

We all heard Governor Granholm's appeal in last night's State of the State Address to buy Michigan products. So I am posting this list of the very best coffee grown in Michigan.

Study - Coffee a Cure for Everything

I was given this study. I have no citations. But I do have a link to MSNBC which is as good as having it written on tablets of stone.

You may not agree with my assessment of MSNBC - BUT it does not matter. Coffee, according to science, CURES EVERYTHING!

Now before you poo poo this - it is science. I have it in a print out on my desk. You must believe it.

"NEW YORK- . . . a new study suggests that middle aged adults who regularly drink a cup of java may have a lower risk of developing dementia later in life."

Hello - has no one noticed that I drink coffee and am brilliant? (note Coffee Shock post for proof )

"coffee drinkers have lower risks of several diseases. . ."
Does anyone else see an answer here to the health care crisis that Democrats and Republicans can get behind?

The article has it's own moments of dementia such as the one where it says "no one is recommending that people start drinking coffee. . ." Hmm - the rest of you non coffee drinkers just go ahead and die - leave the coffee, and the world, to us.

"Researchers do not know if it's components of coffee itself — like caffeine or certain antioxidants — or something else about coffee drinkers that explains the recent study observations." Hello??? All of the above. Since the whole world is reading this blog they ought to know that by now.

"More research is needed to determine whether coffee is truly protective, but for now, Eskelinen said, 'those people who have been drinking coffee can still do so in good conscience.'"

Well - I for one will do my part for science and do my research. I shall continue to post my findings here in the interest of science until the Anchor Bay people (or the guys in the black helicopters circling around outside) silence me.

Coffee Shock

Well - after the first roasting experience (see the smoke filled pics in Thom's Rebuttal post) I went out and bought a air popcorn popper. Rushing home I put some green coffee beans in and plugged it in.

Out they all popped! So I tried again with fewer beans. Out they came too.

So I emailed our illustrious blogger the "Mr. Reverend, John Rock" of Anchor Bay fame.

His response - are you putting too much coffee in the roaster?

WHAT!!! How can the words "too much" and "coffee" ever go together. I mean - can you have too much love? Can there ever be too much care and peace in the world? How can anyone have too much coffee. Too much "running with scissors" perhaps. Too much fun with a slinky (which frankly after you send it down the stairs once kind of looses its appeal) - but too much coffee?
But I tried, I went back and put ONE bean in the popper. OUT it came!

Well I emailed Mr. Rev. Rock again - he is the coffee guru (or was until the next advice).

"you may need to open the machine and install a resistor to the fan circuit."

OK - I am smart - I have a Ph.D. and can figure things out. In fact - I am the smartest guy I know. Of all the people I like to listen to - my favorite is me. So here goes, I open my new (though now that I have opened it - no longer under warranty - popper) and put in a resistor. All the while talking my ever so smart self through the process. I am very cool like that.
I can already taste the roasted goodness of the coffee on its way.

Small amount of test beans added. Looked at wall socket and put plug in. . . .















Well - a few hours later - hands still shaking - clothing freshly laundered - I went back to roasting in the fry pan (batteries now out of the smoke detector).


And this morning I had a cup of good coffee.

Thom will be stopping by Thursday to pick up his coffee beans - more roasting wisdom from the brilliant team of Thom and Malcolm will be posted as they are made available.