2 Huge Truths About Coffee Flavor – And 1 Giant Lie (Part 3 of 3)

2 Huge Truths About Coffee Flavor – And 1 Giant Lie (Part 1 of 3)

2 Huge Truths About Coffee Flavor – And 1 Giant Lie (Part 2 of 3)

If you have been reading all of the posts in this series (see links above) then you know already that coffee shouldn’t taste the same when it’s grown in different areas – it is just not likely.  Coffee from different locations will necessarily taste different because there are too many variables (such as soil, water, mulching, climate, and sun) for two crops from two different locations to ever taste the same.  If you can taste any coffee and tell which of the national chain roasters has roasted and distributed it, then you taste a branded flavor that they have added – and not the pure coffee itself.  Sorry, that’s just how it goes.  People who drink their coffee black should be able to easily recognize the coffee that they are drinking as coming from this chain or that one.  If you travel across the country and get a black coffee from your favorite brewer and it tastes like it did a thousand miles back home then you have to wonder – How is this possible?  Well, the reality is that it is not likely – unless some sort of signature flavor has been added to the beans.

This then is the Giant Lie of Coffee:  what you think is simply plain black coffee is often just the cheapest bean at the market flavored with the coffee roaster’s branded signature flavor.  For a purist like me, this matters.  Does this make me mad?  No.  Do I still get my coffee from my favorite chain while I am on the road?  Yes.  So why then do I bring it up?  Because I want you to love your coffee for just the coffee itself, and this can be hard to do unless you get fresh-roasted, single-origin coffee with nothing added – not even raosting oils that accidently flavor the beans.

So the next time you have coffee (maybe even now as you read this), I invite you consider how pure and natural the coffee is that you are drinking.  If it matters to you, then I invite you to join me, and together we can seek to experience the most perfect natural-tasting coffees from around the world.

2 Huge Truths about Coffee Flavor - And One Giant Lie (Part 2 of 3)

(Click here for Part 1 of 3)

Roasting...

There is a whole range of possible coffee roasts, from green to charcoal.  The possibilities are just about endless.  Every kind of coffee bean responds best to a particular variety of roasts in order for the best natural flavor to be released, and like with wine tasting, the fun is in tasting them all to determine what we like best.  For now though, I want to tell you how roasting affects the flavor and caffeine content of your coffee.

When coffee beans are green they possess all the flavor qualities that God has grown into them(see part 1 of this blog series).  As the green beans are roasted, the natural flavor is cooked out and traded for the flavor of the roast.  This trade-off is good, because a weakly roasted bean is often a bit bitter and sour, and the roasting process corrects this and brings about a very good brew.  This is where the Roast Master needs to become well-versed in his coffee types, because there is a point where a single-origin coffee bean is roasted so much that all anyone can taste is the roast and not any natural flavor of the bean– so any old bean would have worked.  The Roast Master becomes worth his salt when he learns which bean needs to be roasted to which level in order to bring about the best flavor.

There is another important facet to the level of roasting, and that is the caffeine content.  As a coffee bean is roasted, its caffeine content begins to diminish.  So, the darker the roast, the less the caffeine.  This means that people who get espresso coffee for the caffeine kick are actually getting less caffeine than what is in a regular cup of lightly-roasted coffee.

I don’t know why, but most of us assume that when a coffee is roasted darker, it has more flavor and more caffeine, but this is not the case.  I guess it is like a Filet Mignon steak.  If you really want the steak to melt in your mouth and have the best flavor, you need to have it cooked rare to medium-rare.

In the next part of this blog post, I want to bring out the lie of all lies for those of us who love coffee, so check back in a day or two.

2 Huge Truths About Coffee Flavor – And 1 Giant Lie (Part 1 of 3)

There are 2 huge realities concerning the natural flavor of coffee and here they are…

Location, location, location…

The first reality about coffee flavor is the bean itself, because each coffee bean is from a specific crop, and each crop comes from...you guessed it...a specific location.  Just as fine wine connoisseurs know wines by the specific grapes that were used to produce it, so also fine coffees are known by the beans that were used to brew the coffee.   For instance, Yemen’s coffees are known for their dominant mocha notes, the Jamaican Blue Mountain is known because of its perfectly balanced flavor and smoothness, and the Bali Blue Moon is known because of its a dominant fruitiness.  The Bali Blue Moon has developed its dominant flavor trait because it is grown between tangerine trees, and the fruit that falls from those trees is what mulches the soil in which this coffee grows.  

After considering the location where the bean was grown, we take a look at the weather in that location.  That’s right, the weather impacts the flavor of coffee beans.  Each crop of coffee has grown with a very specific amount of moisture in the air, rain fall, sunlight, and ambient temperature.  All of these “acts of God” will shape the development of the flavor from each crop of coffee that is grown.

Then, after God has had His way with growing our coffee, mankind gets our crack at influencing the flavor of our coffee through processing, roasting, and flavor additives.  Processing is a topic of another post, and please don’t get me started on flavor additives.  However, in the second part of this blog post I do want to talk about a couple of basic realities concerning the roasting of coffee.  So please stay tuned…

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ADDENDUM:  The flavor of your coffee is determined by a variety of factors (the water, freshness of the bean, and the ratio are big – see past post - but today I was speaking of the innate flavor of the bean itself.  

2 Things About Coffee...

Someone asked a couple of questions through the Anchor Bay Roasts website and I am not exactly sure who it was or how to respond to them directly so I will just use the questions as fodder for my blogs.


The first question:  "What is the best way keep coffee fresh and warm after it has been brewed?"


My answer to this depends on whether the coffee is for an individual or a group such as at an office or a church.  If for an individual I suggest getting a small french press and only making coffee as you will drink it - not leaving any coffee to sit that will need to be kept fresh and warm.


However, if this is coffee for a group I suggest an airport pot.  It is a little more costly than your average pot but it does a better job keeping the air out and the heat in.


The second question:  "Do I have a variety of different blends?"


I do not make any blends.  I am a purist and stick with single-origin coffee exclusively.  Early on I had tried my hand at blends but I now stick with single origin coffee alone.  However, when I roast I often have coffee left over that I simply throw into a jar and mix together.  There have been some of these blends that have been phenomenal (that would have made me rich) however, I can never reproduce these blends and don't try. 


Finally:


I know that this question was not asked but it is so often asked I will answer it now.  Some people will ask me if I make a French Vanilla (or other other such flavor) flavored coffee?


No, I do not make ANY flavored coffee.  I give reasons why in a previous blog but simply put - you can use any cheap coffee from Wall-Mart and add those flavored creamers and save yourself some money.  The reason that flavor is added to coffee in the first place is because it is bad coffee to begin with.  I tell my enthusiasts that if they ever drink Anchor Bay Roasts coffee and it is not naturally flavorful and good then they should find me and spit it out all over me.


Anyhow, those are my answers and I hope they help...

Flame-Roasted Artisan Coffee...

I am happy to present a new product that I call Flame-Roasted Artisan coffee.  This is a single-origin bean but it is roasted by hand-and-flame only.  There is nothing electrically driven or heated in this roasting process - it is just me versus nature, in the age old way of cooking that our great-grandparents had mastered, attempting to roast a perfect coffee.


I roasted a test batch of the Indian Monsooned Malabar and sampled the product.  WOW!  This roasting method produces a raw and rich coffee as many of the beans roast to perfection while others are less roasted retaining the intrinsic flavor of the bean.  This coffee is certainly roasted just as as our elders used to know, love, and enjoy.


I presently (12/27/2011) have 9-6C packages prepared as samples for people who want to try the brew.  These packages are FREE while they last for anyone who wants to come and pick one up.  The only string is that I want you to tell me your opinion of the product after you have tried it.  These are available to people on a first-come-first-serve basis.  Please shoot me an email if I may expect you.  

Honestly...

The coffee that I roast is not for everyone - It is expensive and it is not at all convenient.  I know it, you know, and even my 7 year old knows it.


But then again, a Lexus or BMW is expensive and those companies are bold enough to expect their owners to go through the inconvenience of firing uncle Wilbur's Backyard Auto Care service so that they might have their cars properly maintained in their further expensive Service Centers.


As I think about it, I do individually roast single-origin coffee fresh per customer, I do package each order in proper ratio to each customer's specific brewing style, and I do spend a bunch of time roasting each small batch order because I will not make or sell in bulk.  So I guess that while my coffee is more expensive than the stale stuff in the grocery store and more inconvenient than simply tossing a bag into your cart, at the end of the day there are still quite a few people who prefer to drive a Lexus or BMW.


So no, the coffee that I roast is not for everyone.

anchorbayroasts.com

Do I Sell Flavored Creamers?

I was asked this while talking with someone about doing a coffee demonstration for them.  While I was not offended nor insulted I just told the client honestly, "If you are going to add flavoring to my coffee, you might as well save yourself some money and buy something inexpensive at the grocery store."


When I say this, I am not trying to be catty or snobbish but the reality is that the coffee that I sell is not cheap and if someone is just going to put flavoring in it anyway they can save themselves a few bucks and add the flavor to cheaper coffee -   The result would be the same.


The point of Anchor Bay Roast is to help people to experience the coffee that they drink - not the flavors that they add.  Coffee, especially freshly-roasted unadulterated single-origin coffee, has a wonderful flavor and many wonderful characteristics to experience in it.  Tasting coffee (properly called cupping) is akin to wine tasting in my world.  Each cup is to be recognized as a unique experience but helping people to experience their coffee is impossible if they put additives in the coffee that I prepare and serve to them.


Lots of people do not really believe me when I tell them this but good coffee does not need creamer, sugar, and or other flavors to be added because God already put all the flavor necessary in the beans that He created.  All we need is good coffee - And good coffee is often most difficult to come by.

Sulawesi

Kalossi

I just roasted the very last of my Sulawesi. What I discovered was that I like this bean roasted to just into the Second Crack. I have been roasting it very dark as I prefer a French Roasted coffee but this bean seems to exhibit a flavor not noticeable when dark roasted.

When roasted just into the Second Crack this coffee smells rich when ground and its flavor possess a hint of sweet-wine flavor. Have fun with your own roasting experiences and let me know how they turn out.

Marcala (Organic)

Honduras

When the first rays of sunlight caress your face and you smell nature before any deer have awoke to take the day's first drink from the lake - you will only then most intimately know this coffee. It's aroma can only be described by feeling and its flavor can only be realized with the methodical rhythm of Argent's Hold Your Head Up. This is a coffee that demands to be experienced and begs to be beheld.

I sure wish I sold this stuff so that you too could experience the very best of God's glorious creation.

An Experience Experiment - Pt. 1

The next couple of posts come about because of a reader's request. Van (the reader) wanted to know what happened to the flavor of coffee based upon the brewing method. So, I put my 7th. grade science class thinking cap on and devised the following science experiment. (I hope you are reading Mr. Kawalski)

• HYPOTHESIS: The same exact coffee brewed by different brewing methods produces differing results. (Mr. Kawalski should be proud)

THE STANDARD METRIC:

1. COFFEE: Bolivean - CIAPEC (100% Organic)
2. ROASTED: Full-City+
3. WATER/COFFEE RATIO: 5 oz. (liquid) : 1 Tbsp. (ground)
4. WATER: Filtered by Brita

TOOLS:

• Green Beans
• Popcorn Air-Popper (coffee roaster)
• Coffee Grinder
  
• Weight Scale
• Pyrex Liquid Measure
  
• 1/2 Cup Measuring Cup
• 1 Tbsp. Teaspoon
  
• Knife
• Sauce Pan
• French Coffee Press
• Drip Coffee Maker
• Percolator Coffee Maker
• 4 - Coffee Cups
• Filtered Water
  

Tomorrow I will begin to describe the variables of the experiment. Stay Tuned...