ROASTe Blogs

I remember a few weeks ago reading blogs about adding flavor and about coffee creamers. Yesterday I downloaded a book for my Kindle on DIY coffee creamer. I am not always a fan of creamers but this looked like fun so I tried making two of the thirty recipes listed. 

I am a big fan of almond (I have used almond extract as perfume in the past) so tried the Almond recipe first.

One teaspoon almond extract

3/4 cup of Half and Half

1/2 cup of powdered sugar 

Someone recently asked me which coffee they should buy when shopping at their local supermarket. They wanted to know if I would recommend a brand. It sounds likie a simple question, doesn't it? However, it is really pretty complicated.

So, let's start with "Who" is on the shelves. 

It should be obvious, as the name of the coffee company is usually printed in large letters on the bag. However, the Brand name very often does not tell you who actually sourced and roasted the coffee.

Chamie asked "What's your favorite roaster up to?" recently. I don't know to be honest. I do know what I have been up to recently - roasting with a heat gun and a metal bowl. I saw this method being discussed for a while but never gave it much thought till a heat gun went on sale at Harbor Freight for only $8.99.  I pay up to three bucks for a popcorn popper at Goodwill so adding a few bucks to that wouldn't be that bad.  

What do our favorite coffee roasters get up to when they're not firing up beans for our enjoyment? Well, if it's Dean Cycon of Dean's Beans, it could be just about anything... and it will almost always be fun. I'm on the Dean's Beans mailing list to keep up on new coffees and good deals, and because every once in a while, they send out something cool, like this video of Dean getting down with a group of their coffee partners in Papua New Guinea:

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A couple of days ago, I posted about the TextSpresso machine developed by the tech and coffee geeks at Zipwhip -- you remember, right? The ultra-cool coffee machine that makes an espresso when you send it a text -- and prints your name on the crema? Here's a follow-up video with a lot more detail for all you guys that were drooling over having this baby at work:

Back in my coffee geek days, I would get pretty doctrinaire about coffee preparation. That water's not hot enough! That grinder produces way too many fines! And so forth.

I was really excited to see P.T.'s back here on Roaste, about two weeks ago and took no time to make an order with them. P.T.'s is one of those roasters that is held in high regard and so it's great to be able to pick up some of their coffees here. That being said I immediately went for Southpaw Espresso.

returns.

I've more or less been away from coffee from the past few months, and it's nice to bring it back into my daily ritual. My first cup was stale pre-ground Starbucks Blonde in a papered Aeropress. It was delicious. But so is everything to the hungry (thirsty?) man. Hunger is the most delicious sauce.

This is actually in response to two posts that I have read in the past few days one here on roaste written by Gazy and then another written by James Hoffman. They both are just talking about the prices of coffee and the impact and low price for it really.

Before I continue writing about the coffee growers, please allow me to divert a little to talk about the price of coffee.
A few days ago, there was a blog here, which reflected concern about the relatively high current price of coffee.
Let me give you a glimpse of how the price of coffee has developed, from the exporter’s point of view. Then you find the price of coffee in the shelves and draw your own conclusions.

I know it’s been said many times, but it’s worth saying again: coffee tends to bring out the best in people. As with any blanket statement, there are exceptions—some to be found on coffee-related forums among those afflicted with lastworditis. Still, as a rule, coffee drinkers are people whose company I truly enjoy.

Last night I placed two gift orders here to repay kindnesses shown to me by vendors. Aside: I chose the same coffee for both since it’s my favorite all-around bean of 2012, at least so far; care to guess what it was, by the way?

Maybe someone can help me. I had attended a coffee cupping some 6 months ago, what an eye opening experience. One of the charcteristics that came through with one of the cuppings was the smell / scent of fermenting grain. I have brewed beer in the past and it reminded me of the smell created in the fermentor, when the yeast is consuming the available sugars and converting them to alcohol. Is anyone familiar with where that smell might come from in coffee? Is it simply a product of the process or is it impacted by the variety and roast level as well?

Over this Easter weekend I was out visiting family, judging by the traffic on the freeway this evening I wasn't alone. Something that I really struggle with is whether or not to bring coffee with me, when I visit people. Coffee to me is a really personal thing that in some ways is almost like bring milk, it's just a staple in lots of homes. So I can be uncomfortable bringing coffee because it's like telling someone the milk they drink isn't good enough, but the fact of the matter is that it's not.

Coffee and mustard may not sound like go-togethers, but tonight's Easter ham. glazed with an apricot, coffee and mustard glaze was a big hit. In fact, I caught both boys licking the spoon after they stirred the glaze. This one was an improv -- I just added ingredients to taste, but it was so good that I know I'll be playing with it again to fine-tune the measurements so I can write a real recipe for it. In the meantime, here's the general recipe if anyone wants to give it a try.

Here I'm taking you from the Caribbean shores to the south of Colombia, very close to the border with Ecuador in the Departamento (Province, State) of Nariño, a little over 1000 Km (almost 650 miles) in a straight line.

Building an Espresso Shot with an HX machine: Nuova Simonelli Musica: a Video

The official household coffee roaster

About a week ago, I posted about the Congo coffee over at The Captain's Coffee and mentioned that I'd be picking some up when my paycheck came in. Well, it took me longer to get around to it than I'd planned (yay, procrastination!), but I just popped back to place my order for 2 pounds of Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kivu 4 Special Prep at the below-cost price of $2.65/lb. It's been a while since I've roasted my own, but I'm looking forward to firing up the retro-inspired popcorn popper and filling the house with roasting smoke and blowing chaff.