The Wonders of Water

One of the most misunderstood aspects of obtaining a good coffee extraction is the importance of water quality. I don't mean water that is just biologically safe,but water that has the right total dissolved solids and right amount of hardness.Without the hardness coffee just does not extract properly,leaving much of the flavor in the grounds. I'm not exactly sure of the science behind this phenomena. I do know that reverse osmosis ,distilled and soft water for filter drip coffee will not produce the quality in the cup that we demand in our business. Folks that use water processed with reverse osmosis,distillation, or soft water will never achieve the dimension or richness of flavor that is produced by brewing with a five to 10 grain calcium hardness water. When I ask a new customer what roast level they prefer I also ask what type of water they are using to brew their coffees at home . This helps me guide their coffee choice. If people are brewing with softened water they will choose a dark roast 96% of the time. Interesting. People with a naturally mildly hard water prefer my medium to light roasted coffees. What is going on here? Simply, people are picking roast styles based on their ability to extract flavor with the residential water type they have available.

Erroneous Urban Coffee Legends and stuff

Erroneous urban coffee legend #1 There is less caffeine in a dark roast than a medium roast. The answer to this question can be found by asking yourself another question "What is the sublimation temperature of caffeine?" The answer is 459.3 degrees F. This my friends is very, very dark and a highly unpalatable roast level.I have only one coffee I roast to this temperature and it is done only for those customers who enjoy this level of dark roast. The answer to the caffeine content is also impacted by the coffee varietal which helps to cloud the concept further as different hybrids have differing levels of caffeine content. To those wishing a tasty decaf coffee they are in the process of genetically engineering a coffee to be decaffeinated with the hopes of maintaining it's varietal flavor characteristics.

The Emperor has no clothes

Just returned from New York City. I must say I was rather disappointed in the cosmopolitan coffee scene. I know that there are regional differences in coffee tastes,but what I found was almost tragic. A bright note was the level of skill displayed with latte art. I had a beautiful cappuccino made with two delicate hearts. The milk was foamed perfectly with dense microbubbles and the espresso was a beautiful reddish brown. The flavor of the three shots of espresso was totally overwhelmed by the small amount of steamed milk. At another location I witnessed open displays of roasted coffee in burlap bags that they were dispensing from, again this was visually striking. I can't imagine how bad the coffee would be or how the New York State Department of Health could condone allowing a food product to be so available for cross contamination.I purchased a cup from another coffee shop that used clovers for their single cup brewing, they also had decided to start roasting for themselves. The cup was hideously over extracted and the roast very undeveloped leaving me thinking about green apples mixed with hay. Are these folks tasting what they are brewing? I actually had a nice cup at Owens Daily Roast. I applaud their entrepreneurial spirit,perhaps with time and experience the quality of the product will get better.

The Enemies of Coffee

Yes,coffee has enemies! Actually your coffee begins it's degradation process as it leaves the roaster. As previously mentioned coffee will lose 50%of it's more volatile aromatics within the first five days after roasting. Volatile aromatics equate to flavor and the loss is easily identified by cupping the coffees in a sequential manner as they age.Some of the most important degradative enemies of coffee are oxidative reduction,hydrolysis,application of heat and exposure to ultraviolet radiation. As coffees are exposed to oxygen they undergo a process that results in rancidity, this is most easily identified in coffees in grocery stores,variety stores and small volume coffee shops with low turn over. Oxidative rancidity presents as a sweetly pungent aroma that is definitely not present in freshly roasted coffees and takes 8-10 days if coffees are in whole bean form. This will not make you sick as would be the concern if this occurred in your meat or eggs,hpwever it does signal a substantial loss in quality. Coffees which have experienced oxidation will be remarkably muted in flavor when compared to it's fresh counterpart, in fact it may be difficult to even identify it's true origin at this point. This information is provided to help you be a better consumer .I would never buy a coffee from a coffee shop chain,grocery store,variety store. Never,ever would I buy coffees out of bins or these large bell jars that are so popular as displays.

What does freshness mean?

Freshness is perhaps as important in coffee as it is in your vegetables. I am referring to freshness in coffee as days after roasting until brewing and consumption. The reality is quite amazing. Perhaps 80% of what you taste in coffee is the result of aromatics that we recognize as aroma and fragrance. Our minds as wonderous as they are change the stimuli from our olfactory nerves plus the 20%of info from our tongues and change this into flavors. After roasting coffee will give off 50% of its most volatile aromatics in the first five days and 90%after 14 days. In our experience at our roastery cupping coffees as they age yields some impressive results. We have found that every day after roasting the coffee is changing itis loosing flavor with each passing day. Because of our addiction to quality in the cup we will not sell coffees over 3 days post roasting-that is out of our retail location. Our internet business protocol is roast and ship the same day to insure maximum quality and flavor. So my friends think and drink fresh!!