Gourmet Coffee Beans

Here is a great article my brother sent me that puts a chill on any thought of opening your own coffee shop or service business.

I opened a charming neighborhood coffee shop. Then it destroyed my life.
By Michael Idov

You know that charming little cafe on New York’s Lower East Side that just closed after a mere six months in business—where coffee was served on silver trays with a glass of water and a little chocolate cookie? The one that, as you calmly and correctly observed, was doomed from its inception because it was too precious and too offbeat? The one you still kind of fell for, the way one falls for a tubercular maiden? Yeah, that one was mine.

The scary part is that you think you can do better.

I never realized how ubiquitous the dream of opening a small coffeehouse was until I fell under its spell myself. Friends’ eyes misted over when my wife and I would excitedly recite our concept (”Vienna roast from Vienna! It’s lighter and sweeter than bitter Italian espresso—no need to drown it in milk!”). It seemed that just about every boho-professional couple had indulged in this fantasy at some point or another. Read full article.

We have written about this in one of our other blogs and now a recent article is on the news wires about the Kopi Luwak beans from Indonesia. When I first heard of this I thought it was an urban legend but it turned out the be true. I found this on the menu of a South Beach restuarant and the price was $57 for a single cup of coffee!

Would you pay $175 (101 pounds) for a pound of coffee beans which had passed through the backside of a furry mammal in Indonesia?

Apparently, some coffee lovers wanting to treat themselves to something special are lapping it up.Kopi Luwak beans from Indonesia are rare and expensive, thanks to a unique taste and aroma enhanced by the digestive system of palm civets, nocturnal tree-climbing creatures about the size of a large house cat.

“People like coffee. And when they want to treat themselves, they order the Kopi Luwak,” said Isaac Jones, director of sales for Tastes of The World, an online supplier of gourmet coffee, tea and cocoa.

Despite being carnivorous, civets eat ripe coffee cherries for treats. The coffee beans, which are found inside of the cherries, remain intact after passing through the animal.

Civet droppings are found on the forest floor near coffee plantations. Once carefully cleaned and roasted, the beans are sold to speciality buyers. Read full article.

Naturally High Quality and Extra Care Results in a Gourmet Coffee - Most Kona coffee is graded Prime or better because of the climate, the careful hand-cultivation, and the wet-method processing used throughout the region.

Like fine vintage wines, our 100% Kona coffee is a distinguished coffee flavor that is farmed meticulously. The end result is a coffee with a delicate yet flavorful and with a rich aroma - a product that is famous among coffee drinking societies throughout the world. This excellent quality has made Kona coffee one of the two most highly valued coffees in the world.

Kona Coffee Growing Region
Kona is the very special coffee grown on the dark volcanic lava rock slopes of Kona, with enviable consistent quality. Kona, on the west coast of Hawaii island (also known as The Big Island), has produced coffee continuously since the early 1800’s. The Kona name only applies to beans grown in North and South Kona, and Hawaiian Kona Coffee that is grown elsewhere in cannot be called Kona coffee.

The Perfect Climate
Coffee requires a very specific combination of sun, soil, and water and is successfully grown in only a limited number of locations round the world. The bright sunny mornings, humid rainy afternoons, and mild nights create perfect growing conditions for exotic plants to flourish. The coffee plants thrive on the volcanic rocky land, and mild frost-free temperatures.

Small Independent Farms
The Kona region contains approximately 600 independent coffee farms. The majority are small, usually three to seven acres in size and mostly are family owned.

Hand-Picked, Meticulously Cultivated Coffee
Coffee cultivation is more labor intensive in Kona than in most other areas. From August to January, the Kona coffee farmer is only focused on bringing in the red ripe coffee cherry beans, processing the cherries into coffee beans, and preparing for the sale or storage of their coffee. Hand-picking is a meticulous process than insures that only cherries at peak maturity are harvested. Since the cherries do not ripen at the same time, the trees will be picked several times throughout the season.

Pride of Production
Many Kona coffee farmers sell the fresh coffee cherry to Kona processors, but there is a recent movement for farmers to mangee the rest of the production up to roasting.

Ever ordered decaf coffee during dinner then stared at the ceiling as you tried to force yourself to sleep? Well you are not alone. An ABC news investigation turned up high levels of caffeine at Starbucks and McDonalds.

Government guidelines say coffee cannot be considered decaffeinated unless it has 5 milligrams of caffeine or less per 5-ounce cup. But an ABC News investigation revealed that some servings of decaf coffees contained as much caffeine as espresso.

ABC News ordered 33 5-ounce cups of decaf coffee coast to coast and tested their caffeine levels at the Sanipure Food Laboratories in Saddle Brook, N.J.

“We should see caffeine levels in brewed decaffeinated coffee somewhere between 1 and 5 milligrams per 5-ounce cup,” said Sanipure’s Ron Schnitzer.Some Starbucks decaf coffee turned out to have high amounts of caffeine. Read full article.

Costa Rican coffee is my personal favorite coffee. Maybe because I am from Costa Rica but after tasting many fine coffees from around the world I still prefer Costa Rican coffee. Yes Kona coffee and Blue Mountain coffee are excellent but something about the aroma and rich flavor always bring me back to Costa Rican.

Costa Rica coffee is full-bodied coffee with a deep, pungent flavor, excellent acidity, and a hint of smokiness. Beans grown in Costa Rica are the result of a unique combination of climate, elevation and soil. Just right - you can taste the special care that goes into every cup.

Costa Rica produces excellent coffee. The volcanic altitude and temperate climate create the ideal growing conditions. It is full-bodied with the excellent acidity typical of the best high-grown Central American coffees. The flavor is deep and pungent with a hint of smokiness lying just below the surface. Costa Rica has a sunny, tingling acidity with a milder flavor. The complicated washed-method of fermenting and drying the coffee cherries creates this juicy tartness and clean refreshing finish. Volcanica Coffee has an exclusive relationship with farmers and cooperative in Costa Rica to bring you the best of the best. It is grown by a number of small farmers, and the finest beans are selected to produce the coffee the best coffee.

Okay after using Blogger for one year, many posts and many people who had our blogs on RSS Blogger I have decided to switch over to WordPress. I have heard some many folks rave about this program so I finally made the jump.