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...

Keeping Your Coffee Fresh - The Freezer Myth

In a previous post I had written "...and the freezer method of keeping coffee fresh is little more than a mythical hope."  This is a bold statement since it offends the sensibilities of my beloved grandmother and most everyone else that I know.  However, it is true so please allow me to explain.

Stepping through the process of our coffee...

Coffee begins to stale the moment that it is roasted and comes into contact with the air.  This is why whole beans stay fresher longer than the pre-ground stuff - less area of the bean comes into contact with the air.  Big coffee producers know this and spend oodles of money to make sure that their roasted beans are packaged as soon as possible after roasting.  Since coffee "de-gasses" for a while after roast the beans are packaged in special bags that have one-way valves that allow the gas out from the inside and not allow the air in from the outside.

So now we have our favorite 12-ounce package of premium roasted coffee that we picked up in the store for $10 (that is $13.33 a pound) we bring it home and throw it into the freezer to keep it fresh.  Then over the next few weeks we remove the package everyday to scoop out a couple of table-spoons into our pot and then wrap the bag back up and put it back into the freezer to keep our coffee fresh.

Here's where the science becomes mythical.  

Every time that the package is opened to get some of the coffee out we are at the same time allowing the moist air in.  Then we wrap it up and put it back in the freezer.  So while the freezer is busy keeping our coffee fresh the moist air has been invited into our bag every day that it is opened and the exposed coffee begins oxidizing again.  It is a Catch-22.  How in the world are we expected to get our coffee out of the bag without opening it and exposing it to the air?  Unless we are Houdini we can't.

The myth is further propagated because we assume that the coffee that we buy at the store is fresh to begin with - but if you know anything about 'stock rotation' then you know that the freshest stuff is not in the front of the line on the grocery shelf.  In my estimation, coffee begins to go off after just 14 days.  Not Cinderella off but more like how spices on the spice rack lose that certain something over time.

My solution to the staling problem is two-fold.  

First, I only roast as much coffee as I (or an enthusiast) will consume in a 14-day period of time.  This causes some people to not become one of my enthusiasts but I am protective of having people drink the coffee that I roast.  I would rather not sell than sell something that will sit on a shelf (or in a freezer) for weeks and than have the the enthusiast notice that Anchor Bay Roasts is "not really all that special".

And second, I bag each pot of coffee individually by weight.  This means that you only ever open a bag of coffee that you are going to use in that sitting and all the rest of the coffee is free from exposure to the air thus keeping it fresh.  The freezer is not necessary because it is in its stored in its own bag enveloped by it own natural gasses and it will be consumed sooner rather than later.  This packing process is more expensive in supplies and labor but it really is the better solution.

Some will disagree...

Yes, there are some people who will disagree with me and that is OK.  I admit that I am a bit of a snob where coffee is concerned and a little zealous in the pursuit of fresh coffee.  I like Single Malts while others are happy with Canadian Club, I like Dom. Romane Conti 1997 and others like Mad Dog, and I like a Rare to Medium-Rare Fillet Mignon while others like Well-Done Hot Dogs...

Yes, good taste really is in the taste-buds of the consumer.

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

Coffee Roasting Demonstration

Since I am scheduled to begin supplying the fresh-roasted coffee at our church (VOX Church) I am going to be doing a coffee demonstration this Sunday and feature the Indian Monsooned Malabar.  I plan to roast and brew so that people may watch the process and sample the freshest coffee this side of the equator.  If you're not doing anything on Sunday come on out and taste the goodness.  (learn about VOX)

It's Official!

That's what he told me after he drank the last pot of liquid heaven that I roasted for him. "You have officially now become my coffee provider."

Our pastor at church is a budding coffee snob. Many months ago I gave him a gift of roasted coffee and now that's all he wants. Also, I have been asked to roast the coffee for the church so the VOX can have the freshest and best coffee for their guests. So, I've been learning about the legal side of roasting coffee as a business - you know, getting the food inspector involved and everything. But as intimidating as it was to get the Michigan Department of Agriculture involved, the most daunting task has been figuring out how to price the stuff. Without going into all the details I have landed on a position. What I provide is unique in that the coffee that I sell is #1 - Fresh and #2 - Small-batch/hand-roasted.

When I say that what I sell is fresh, what this means is that every batch that I sell just came from the roaster. Coffee stales two-weeks after roasting so this means that the coffee that you buy from the store is most likely already stale. People never really notice this because they have never had fresh before. And when I say that I hand-roast a small-batch I mean that when the large stale-coffee providers roast coffee they will dump a 50# bag of green beans into a computer-controlled-commercial roaster where I only roast 2/3 of a cup of green beans at a time. Roasting good coffee is more of an art rather than a science and coffee is finished cooking when the beans declare it - not when the timer dings. Each cup of blessed nectar is (and should be) it's own spiritual experience.

So now, it is official. Under the rules of the great State of Michigan's Cottage Food Law I have begun selling my fresh roasted coffee to my friends and family for $.875 per ounce which equates to just $14.00 a pound. I compared this to the coffee that is for sale in the local grocery store and I saw a 12oz. bag of char-bucks for almost $10.00 which equates to about $.833 per ounce. Is there cheaper coffee to buy than mine - yep. Is there better coffee than mine? Maybe, but my pastor and the people of VOX Church will be hard pressed to locate it.