Gourmet Coffee Beans

A “coffee industry problem” is that a true cup of
coffee is 6 oz. but the majority of coffee makers use
4 oz. The correct measurement is 1 tablespoon for each
6 oz. then adjust to taste. To get there you need to
measure your water with a measuring cup and measure
your cup with a measuring spoon. After you do this a
few time you can figure out exactly how much water and
your grinder settings for a great cup of coffee.

I have a Capresso coffee maker that I bought last
month and just went throught this process to fine tune
how I like my coffee. For the 10 cup water level I use
the the 4 1/2 cup grind setting with the grind set two
notches below the mid-point.

Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. is testing a coffee-flavoured gum, known as Doublemint Kona Creme, in 7-Eleven stores across the country. Available for about 99 cents in 17-stick packs, the gum is an offshoot of the company`s Wrigley`s Coffee Gum, reported by the Chicago Sun-Times.

Coffee Gum, which has garnered a niche market since its introduction in China last year. Consumers shouldn’t look to this for a caffeine fix. I purely is a a coffee flavored gum.

Hawaii is the only state where coffee is grown in the USA. There are 6,500 acres of coffee on Hawaii’s five major islands that produce 7 million coffee beans. The largest producer is Kauai and the most famous is Kona.

The trees arrived in 1825 after the Governor of Oahu, Chief Boki, acquired them in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

I got an XM Radio a few months ago as a present and boy do I love it. I held off on getting one because I am a cheapskate and did not want to commit to paying $12.99 per month.

XM is a true example of the long tail. You a have a selection of over 150 of radio stations to satisfy every nearly every taste. It even include a Starbucks Cafe channel that plays the eclectic songs you would never hear on commercial radio (or would want to hear) but I guess some people enjoy listening to it while sipping on gourmet coffee.

My fav stations are Fred, The Message and BPM. On Fred you get to hear the great new wave/punk songs that we lost from the eighties, The Message has a good selection of contemporary Christian to lift you up and BPM has a good selection of dance club cuts to get your feet tapping.

Now when I switch base to terrestial commercial radio I am surprised to hear so many commercials that interupt (and pay) our listening.

My only complaint is the traffic station. The reports are fairly genric and just report “an accident on I-95 near…” and since the reporter is obviously in some XM office out of the area they have nothing to actually help the driver navigate around the situation and any other important details that the local Metro Traffic reporters offer.

Hawaii maybe the only state that grows coffee but the comonwealth of Puerto Rico should not be forgotten. Their production is much more limited and the majority is consumed on the island leaving little to export.

During a cruise last year I picked up a bag of roasted beans at a supermarket in San Juan. They were not the freshest sitting in a large uncovered wooden barrel. The taste is flavorful but much harsher than neighboring Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee. Still if you get a chance to sample it it is worth the while.

We added a Mother’s Day Coffee Gift Box now available at Volcanica Coffee. The coffees included are:

• Volcanica Gran Reserve - Kona Peaberry Coffee
• Volcanica Gold - Kona Coffee
• Volcanica Reserve - Costa Rican Coffee
• Volcanica Original - Costa Rica Coffee

These exotic coffees are packaged in a nice white gift box with crinkle paper. The price has been reduced from $99.99 to $79.99 for Mother’s Day and includes free shipping.

After a little research I decided to get a Capresso Coffee pot for my home. This replaces my Mr. Coffee machine that kept breaking glass carafes due to the thin glass.

I decided to splurge and buy a quality coffee machine that had a carafe container so the coffee would not spoil if left a while after brewing. The Capesso MT500 makes a perfect cup of coffee and looks beautiful on the kitchen counter as well. It brews fast at a perfect temperature (just below boiling point).

I would have liked to find a pot that makes 12 cups but these do not exist in a carafe version by any manufacturer. The 10 cups it turns out is perfect for my daily needs.

The carafe is made of stainless steel inside and out, meanining it does not have a glass themos inside. I had another coffee maker with a glass thermos carafe which imploded one day while I was washing it. It is a big expensive at $169 compared to $30 top $40 for a decent Mr. Coffee maker.

I am very pleased with my Capresso so much that I plan to promote it and sell on the Volcanica Coffee website as an affliate for another company. I have no plans to start stocking coffee makers as this is a specialty and away from selling gourmet coffee.

I became dissanchanted with my recent Mr. Coffee pot. It worked fine, had nice features and brewed a decent cup of coffee but the glass carafe broke easily.

The first carafe broke after we had it for three weeks. I found the original replacement on the Mr. Coffee website which cost $20 with shipping. Then that one broke after just two weeks. Upon closer inspection I noticed that the glass was much thinner than my previous coffee pots.

Now I calculated that the original price of the Mr. Coffee machine was $39 plus the replacement put me at $59. Add on another replacement and then I would be at $79 and counting for future breaks! I decided to take it back to the store and get a refund and invest in a quality coffee maker. I will write about in one a future post but the one I bought was a  Capresso MT500 with stainless steel thermal carafe. I love it so far

To produce one pound of roasted coffee beans about 2,000 hand-picked coffee cherries are needed. There are two beans per cherry. A coffee picker harvests about 150 pounds of coffee cherries or about 30 pounds of roasted beans per day.

Hurricane season is around the corner. As you gather your supplies add a coffee press to the list. Without electricity your coffee maker is out of commission but you can still boil water on your propane grill and brew your coffee in the press.

The other dilema is you need to plan and grind your beans before the storm arrives unless if you have a generator.