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.  

Coffee Like a Great Lake - Improve Your Coffee Part 3

I remember a television show when I was a kid called "That's Incredible" where a guy said that he could identify each of Michigan's Great Lakes by the flavor of the water.  The man claimed that each of the Great Lakes were notable because of the impurities in their water.  And when he was given samples in a blind taste test - sure enough he identified them - 5 for 5.

I say all that to point out that the water that we make coffee with should be filtered-water.  I first learned this lesson when my brother-in-law made coffee using filtered water and I noticed a significant difference in the taste.  Then I really noticed a difference when I used water gathered in a snow storm in my Michigan Snow Coffee trial - it was not good.  It was because of both of these experiences that I can honestly say that you can improve the taste of your coffee by improving the quality of the water that you use.  If you doubt me just make your coffee with

Michigan Snow Coffee

Well, since I have heard good things about Colorado Coffee I decided to take a stab at making some Michigan Snow Coffee. I set out a large stainless steel mixing bowl during the snow flurries that we had yesterday and today and then tonight I had better than a quart of raw, untreated, water from the Michigan sky.

I brought the water inside and poured into a glass Pyrex container. I inspected it for contaminates and found that the water was perfectly clear without anything that even whispered that it should be filtered. So, I poured it into my aluminum pot, added 5 tablespoons of Maxwell House grounds and boiled it for 5 minutes. I then poured the coffee through a filter to remove the grounds and viola - Michigan Snow Coffee was served!

The brew was the color of brown tar nicotine - which is a vulgar thought but a good descriptive tool. It was not a clear and clean brown but almost solid as it looked quite viscous however the body had no discernible functionality. The flavor reminded me that I should have filtered the water before using it to brew with. The dominating sensation was that of a metal in the nose. The metallic sensation reminded me of well-water that was straight from the ground - a tad bit rusty.

As I thought about how this Michigan Snow Coffee might be considered "good" (like the Colorado Coffee) I figure that I would have to create an experience much like hiking the trail by the Colorado River. I figure if I can get people to pay me $2000.00 to spend a week in my home (lodge) and make the last night a hike along the St. Clair river with a sleep in a tent during the Winter, my customers would find that my Michigan Snow Coffee would be the best thing that they had ever tasted. So if you are ever coming to the Anchor Bay area and have $2000.00 to spend, please call on me and I will give you the works - even Michigan Snow Coffee.