Gift Key

NEW for the Christmas season is the Anchor Bay Roasts Gift Key.  When your friend or loved one receives this gift they will open a little black box to discover a gold skeleton key inside with a card informing them that they have just received an Anchor Bay Roast Gift Key worth however much money you put on it for them.  


The gift never expires so if they put it aside only to come across it in a year - it will still be valid.


Be sure to get your coffee lover this gift and they will thank you for months to come.

Gene Cafe'

A week ago I did two coffee roasting demos and I featured the Bali Blue Moon.  I used the professional Gene Café roaster and the coffee turned out much different from my first experience roasting in the popcorn poppers.  In my opinion the coffee was under-roasted in the first demo and over-roasted in the second.  Both seemed a touch bitter to me but my guests were gracious enough to tell me that the coffee was good – at least better than the Maxwell House they had just drank.  So I decided that I need to roast a couple batches and get to know what was going on.

The first batch that I roasted was called a "High-Roast" (464 deg. F: 15 min.) in the Gene Café.  It was on the under-roasted side and left the bean rawer than it was roasted.  When I ground it and brewed it we (me and my wife) sampled it and found it to be true to its description of very fruity in flavor.  My wife commented that it reminded her of an Orange Zinger tea.  Indeed we could identify that this bean was actually grown between tangerine and orange trees.  However, my wife and I not being fans of Orange Zinger tea ended up dumping the pot and moving on to roast #2.

This second batch I moved up a notch on the roasting scale to "City-Roast" (482 deg. F: 17 min.) which was enough more to take the coffee from under-roasted to almost perfectly roasted (I say almost perfectly roasted because I don't know what perfect is in the world of coffee).  This coffee tasted balanced with only undertones of the fruitiness (like seeing something in the periphery) from the previous roast.  The natural nuttiness of this bean blended with the fruit dominance and made the fruit as though it were just a memory and an ever so slight chocolate note on the finish and after taste.   

What is the difference between roasting with the popcorn poppers and the fancy Gene Café?  There are two main ones as I see it.  First, roasting with the popcorn poppers is more of an art form as the result is singularly dependent upon a human to listen, look, and determine when the beans have been roasted enough.  When roasting with the Gene Café the human need only set the controls for the result they desire and then they are free to push start to begin the automatic process.  And second, I consider the two roasting methods best described as the "Petal-to-the-Metal Roasting" versus the "Oh-Dear-Heaven-I-Think-My-Grandma-is-Behind-the-Wheel Roasting" methods.  With the PttM method, the heat is full and furious and takes about 7 minutes to roast a batch of green beans and the ODHITMGiBtW method is well, about 30-35 minutes from start to finish per batch.  Granted, the ODHITMGiBtW method makes about twice what the PttM method does per batch but since I am the type of person who would rather drive 50 miles out of my way to avoid 5 minutes of stop-and-go traffic can you guess which method I prefer?

So, as it turns out, I have tried the Bali Blue Moon three or four different ways now and the result has always been a different.  Coffee is truly like wine tasting in that there is much to be explored in each cup if only we will take the time to go spelunking.  Please, the next time you have a cup of coffee consider exploring your cup and be determined to experience it fully.

7 Pounds of Pure Joy...

Yes, a baby would meet the description but no - it's not a baby of which I write.  I am talking about the 7 pounds of coffee orders that I roasted and filled today.  It took all day as I am working on efficiency practices and such but the whole time I could not help but be thankful for the orders that are coming in.  There are a lot of people who want FRESH coffee for this Thanksgiving's festivities.


Speaking of my efficiency efforts, I have created an online form that I can send to people when they request coffee.  Take a look and make suggestions for improvements if you like or just order some coffee.

Bali Blue Moon

Click For Larger

Just South-East of Vietnam in the Flores Sea comes the Bali Blue Moon.  Highly regulated and hand-washed this bean looked very promising.


While I roasted I noticed that there was very little chaff.  It smoked a little on the initial heat-up and then it did not smoke again until the end of the roast.  I read that this coffee was better when the bean was roasted to a Full-City Roast so I took it in to the Second Crack when the flecking was quite evident.  The beans looked very good and dry except for a couple that showed signs of oiling.


I brewed with the syphon pot which uses a slightly higher than normal grind/water ratio.  The coffee I would say was strong because of this but not so strong that bitterness became a factor.  

On a scale from 1 - 10 I rate this coffee a 9 - Right up there with the Peaberry.  The aroma is fruity like a sweet-and-sour sauce and very pleasing to the nose.  The flavor was solid and smooth as it boasted of a cocoa-bean note as well as a mellow tone.  The brightness of this cup was medium though it was quite complex and deep.  The body of this cup was buttery and weighed on the pallet long enough to let you know it was there and lingered on the tongue like a fond memory.

The "Holiday Stash"

I am pleased to announce a new product...


Would you like to shine during these holidays as the champion of good coffee?  Of course you would.  Many people will serve coffee and call it good, but will they actually serve fresh coffee and then explain why it is fresh?  Not likely.  


This holiday season you will serve single-origin fresh-roasted coffee and delightedly watch people's eyes light up as they gasp in delight.  Someone may faint, but that reaction is a highly rare reaction and should not dissuade you from serving the best.


Presenting the "Holiday Stash" that you may serve to your guests after dinner or during dessert.  


As many people will flourish that they are breaking out the best wine for the occasion, you may flourish the fact that you are not serving just any old blend of coffee that your bought at the grocery store.  Sure, that store-bought stuff might be tasty, but coffee from Anchor Bay Roasts is in a league of its own, because it is all-natural and freshly roasted just days before you brew it.


For just $17.50 (includes S&H), you can serve three 12-cup pots of liquid heaven and watch your guests experience single-origin fresh-roasted coffee for the very first time.  It is a great way to honor your guests this year.

Looks Can Be Deceiving & The Label...

Sumatra Iskandar Premium  & Yemen Mocca Sanani

Can you see the difference in the bean quality?  


It is quite remarkable to look at a batch of both and see the uniformity of the Sumatran verses the unkempt look of the Yemen.  The Sumatran is a quality coffee and certainly lives up to its name of Premium but the Yemen certainly has a chocolate note to it that draws the observant taster back time and time again.  It would be easy to be lured to the Sumatran coffee because of the beauty of the beans but that would be a mistake.  Good as it is the Mocca coffee is very pleasing and has an aroma that takes me back to grandma's stove as she let the homemade chocolate pudding cool.  


Both are very pleasing coffees in their own rites and both need to be experienced to be understood.


The Label...  


I've been all over the place with the development of the label but I have finally landed at this configuration.  

The X and the YELLOW text are not part of the label

LINE 1: This is the disclaimer that I am required to have under the Cottage Food Law 
LINE 2: Company Name
LINE 3: Tag Line
LINE 4: Contact Info
LINE 5: Coffee Type | Date Roasted | Weight | How many cups the bag makes
LINE 6: Website Address

NEW Easter Egg...

The winner of the October Easter Egg is Darlene L. from Chesterfield.  Darlene will be getting a pot of Sumatran Iskandar Premium.  This is a hand-washed bean that is both wet & dry processed and its flavor is truly premo.  I am betting that her toes are going to curl at the first sip. ;-)

There is a NEW easter egg on the web page.  Go to www.anchorbayroasts.com to find it and you too could win FREE coffee.