Scott Lush's Coffee Blog

Do you have a favorite coffee?

Mine is coffee from Indonesia and the surrounding islands.

(Which isn't to say that I give preference to Indonesian coffee at ROASTe.com...like a parent, I love all my children)

We're carrying a lot of blends including Breakfast Blends which begs the question "What are Breakfast Blends anyway?"

If like me, you assume it's a higher caffeine coffee to help you wake up in the morning, then you're, well, wrong.  

Breakfast Blends contain the same caffeine levels as other coffees.

A big round of applause please for Latitude 23.5 in Sarasota, FL.

It's the newest gourmet coffee roaster to join ROASTe.com.

Nothing makes the noses turn up of artisanal coffee roasters than the names of the large national private label coffee roasters.  It's companies like Royal Cup, Paramount Coffee, Dillano's, and Magnum Coffee, among others.

They're usually invisible to you and me because they're private label, behind the scenes.  They'll be at Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds, your corner cafe, and your local high-end restaurant.  But they're not out making a name for themselves with the coffee drinker, like you and me.

The hottest new thing in coffee is...chocolate.

Here at the Fancy Food Show in New York, chocolatiers were as excited about ROASTe.com as are coffee roasters.

The reason is that chocolatiers are increasingly pairing their chocolates with coffees.

Hi from the Fancy Food Show in New York City!

Mixed in among the hundreds of vendors of charcuterie, smoothie drinks, chocolate, and every manner of food and beverage at America's largest food show were many coffee & tea suppliers.

And one trend is clear: here come the Italian espresso brands.

I attended a fascinating talk given by a green coffee expert at Dillano's Coffee.  (They're a large national wholesale and private label roaster).

He said something amazing:  there are 150 different steps between sprouting a coffee plant and when it arrives in your cup. By comparison, wine has only 120 steps.

Each of those steps is a place where things could go wrong. Or where they could impart flavors.

When we have over 100 -- and someday 500 -- coffees for sale on ROASTe.com, how do you choose the right coffee?

I've tried over 125 different coffees and I'll explain how I choose.

What type of grind should you buy from ROASTe.com's roasters?

They've definitely made many types of grinds available-- whole bean, drip grind, espresso grind, fine, medium, etc. 

Here's my suggestion based on drinking over 100 different coffees so far this year:

Buy WHOLE BEANS.

 Launching ROASTe.com, I just got back from the annual SCAA show.

For the coffeegentsia, that's the biggest annual trade show of the Specialty Coffee Association of America.

They had the World Barista Championship going on.  Totally incredible.  Competitors from around the world.  Iceland, Spain, Poland, US - all top baristas making amazing coffees and pairing them with desserts.

Here's what I saw -

Considering how much gourmet coffee I go through, I've calculated how inexpensive it is.

Would you believe that you can brew at home the best coffees in America for over 85% less than a latte at Starbucks?  That's just 40 cents a cup.

How do you describe that cup of coffee in your hand? What words?

Wine connoissors have their own lingo, using crazy terms like apricot and plum. How about us, coffee drinkers?

Well, there is the Coffee Taster's Flavor Wheel distributed by the Specialty Coffee Association of America. It lists over 100 terms to describe coffee ranging from piney and cedar to thyme and lemon.

Every once in a while a coffee grabs you by the palate and says "Notice me!"

IronBrew's Gold is one of them.

I'm always trying to reduce the amount of sugar in my diet. Maybe you are too. Coffee is one of the places where I use the most sugar. (That and the huge piece of pie that I have most nights...). So I have been experimenting with artificial sweeteners.

This coffee from Paradise Roasters is AWESOME.

It highlights exactly how gourmet coffee from a high quality coffee roaster from a single-origin farm differs from your corner Starbucks or supermarket Maxwell House.

You've got to see this new video on CNN about Latte Art.

For those who don't know, latte art means creating designs on the top of a latte.

And there is a whole segment of professional baristas that take tremendous pride in their latte art and are pushing the art form.

Did you know that a small farmer in rural Colombia might get paid $1 a pound for his coffee beans? By the time it reaches us it may sell for $12.00 a pound. Why the difference? Middlemen and powerful distributors. That's something that Fair Trade sets out to remedy.

Why does Starbucks serve 33 million customers a week but Folger's supermarket revenues have dropped 15% in the past decade?

Because Gourmet Coffee rocks.

Scientists give out annual Nobel Prizes. Bankers give a Banker of the Year award. Sports leagues give an MVP award. Guess what Coffee Baristas give as an award for their best and brightest?

Something tasted wrong in the espresso made at the European Commission's headquarters in Brussels. And an EU archivist found out why.