Tasting... when you can't taste a thing.

Over the weekend I found myself with an awful head cold, every bit as severe as it proved—thankfully—short-lived. Now a cold most any time is an inconvenience. This time it was distressing. The coffee delivery man had just left some excellent beans on my front porch, and doggone it, I was really looking forward to giving them a taste. And the simple truth was I couldn’t taste a thing. Zero, Zilch. Nada.

So I brewed some coffee anyway.

I brewed a “regions of the coffee world” sampler, really: Centrals, Indos, a winey African or two. Even a couple of real stinker coffees that I forgot to throw away. And just for kicks and grins, I set up a blind tasting—six coffees, labeled A through F—so I wouldn’t know what was in each cup, but I could look each up later.

I couldn’t smell anything. Not a thing! No fragrance of just-ground coffee. No aroma of brewing coffee… nothing. I couldn’t discern flavors: no berry or cherry, no raisin or grape or plum… not even any of the farmyard funk in a Sumatra that I’d dissed just a day or two prior.

Just when I was about to give up entirely I realized that, while I couldn’t smell and I couldn’t taste, there were still sensations to be found. So I settled myself a little bit and focused on what was there…

Acidity. That little tingle on the tongue and soft palate—which on any other day would probably be zinging with at least some of the coffees I was tasting—was still present, if something of an echo of its usual self. And so by focusing on acidity alone I separated higher acid coffees from their lower acid counterparts.

Body. The sensation of weight or movement in a brew—that was pretty easily determined, too. There were a few chewy coffees in the bunch, and some that were quite light… and so within the groups of high acid and low acid coffees I further arranged them by their apparent weight.
Sweet & Sour. While the coffee was hot I was pretty much oblivious to any sensation of sweetness, but as the coffee cooled I was able to note some differences. And I arranged the cups again.

In the end my continuum (and the revealed coffees) looked something like this:


Now while I happen to think the results track pretty darn well—with the particular coffees that were on the table, anyway—I won’t be holding my nose during my next cupping session. Unless, of course, that pesky flavor is obfuscating something else.
More: coffee tasting coffee cupping

Source: Coffee & Commentary

Keeping it Fresh!

If you are like most people you probably get your coffee beans and think “How do I store these wonderful beans?” There are many different ideas on what you should and should not do with your coffee to store it. Over the past few years everything from freezing to packaging has been considered. What should you put the beans in? Where should you put them? How long can I store them? Is storing ground coffee different from storing beans?

(According to a wonderful article at the National Coffee Association of U.S.A. NCAUSA), Inc the best way to go is “airtight and cool”. Preserving the freshness of your coffee can be difficult. The freshness gets depleted very fast when it is subjected to excessive air, moisture, heat and light. So, you need to get your precious beans in airtight glass or ceramic containers. Once you have your coffee in the right container, put it in a cool, dark place. Remember, any place near the oven or a window will get quite warm, so try to avoid putting the container there.

Some Interesting Coffee Facts

Some Interesting coffee research:

* In the July 6, 2005 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, an article of substantial impact was printed. It concludes that habitual coffee consumption is associated with substantially lower risk of type 2 diabetes. Given the major toll that diabetes is taking on the US, this finding takes on significance. Interestingly, where coffee consumption is higher, the prevalence of newly detected hyperglycemia is lower – especially hyperglycemia after a meal.

* Research over the years has had conflicting conclusions on the effects of coffee in humans. The reason, it now turns out, is that there is a difference between the acute and the continuing use of coffee. In the same way that hearing a shout in a quiet room brings a different response from that in a noisy environment, coffee can have a different effect in someone who uses it regularly versus one who rarely uses it. Generally, the negative effects are short-term effects in individuals who have not been regular users.

* In a study of coffee and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), it was noted that, although caffeinated coffee was unrelated to development of RA, drinking 4 or more cups a day of decaffeinated coffee more than doubled the risk of RA. Unfortunately, the study did not include information on the method of decaffeination of the coffees consumed by its participants. As this study was a large scale study, the proportions are probably a reflection of the general market where 80% of decaf is chemically-processed with methylene chloride, ethyl acetate or other chemical means. The most likely explanation for the negative effects of decaf would be the chemicals used.

Source: coffeeandcaffeine.com

Arabica vs. Robusta

What is the difference between Arabica and Robusta coffee?



While both widely cultivated, Coffea Arabica (Arabica) and Coffea Canephora (Robusta) display marked differences. The beans are different. The plants are different. And consequently, the use varies as well.

Arabica is grown at higher altitudes. Its cultivation demands great care, and it can be likened to the finest grapes grown at the world’s leading vineyards.

Robusta, as the name suggests, is a hardier plant, and it displays greater resistance to climate and weather conditions, diseases and heat.

Perhaps the most significant difference rests in the cup.

Arabica is distinctly milder and more aromatic. It possesses fewer sharp and bitter tastes than Robusta, and it is therefore considered the superior species by those who cultivate specialty coffees, single estates and varietals.

Robusta is renowned for its higher caffeine content, which is why Italians began using it for espresso.

The coffees are also botanically different. Arabica’s greater complexity derives from its 44 chromosomes – twice the number of Robusta. An Arabica bean is flatter and more elongated; in addition, and the furrow on its flat surface is elongated. It is relatively deep green in color before roasting, sometimes with a bluish tinge.

The Robusta bean is more convex and roundish. The bean’s furrow is straight, and it is pale green with grey or brownish tinges.

Arabica is the more expensive of the two, another factor in why Robusta is sometimes used in blends.

Drinking coffee saves liver from alcohol damage

Drinking lots of coffee saves the liver from alcohol damage, research finds

Drinking as little as one cup of coffee a day could help protect you from liver disease caused by alcohol, according to research published today.

People who drink one cup of coffee are 20% less likely to have alcoholic cirrhosis than those who abstain from doing so.

And the protective effect increases with the more coffee you drink: People who drink two or three cups a day are 40% less likely to contract cirrhosis, while those who drink four or more cups are 80% less likely to suffer the disease.

Drinking tea had no effect, suggesting the ingredient that protects against cirrhosis is not caffeine.

Source: Guardian.

Taste Review - Costa Rican Strickly Hard Bean

Costa Rican coffee beans are graded by the hardness of the bean. This is determined by the altitude at which they are grown. "Strictly hard bean" (SHB) indicates coffee grown above 3,900 feet, "good hard bean" (GHB) at 3,300 to 3,900 feet, followed by "medium hard bean" (MHB) grown at 1,600 to 3,300 feet.

Costa Rican coffees grown in the Atlantic area carry that fact in their names, as in High Grown Atlantic which is favored by the European nations. You'll find all Costa Rican coffees are Arabica beans. Here's their "market names" – Tarrazu, Tres Rios, Cartago, San Jose, Curridabat, San Ramon, Heredia, Montes de Oca, Naranjo and Sabanilla. Of the coffee grown in Central American, Costa Rican coffee is the strongest and perhaps the best to blend with any other coffees. Now keep in mind that there are much lesser grades of Costa Rican coffee beans, but they are sold specifically for "blending" with much of the higher volume "commercial" blends.

Costa Rican Strickly Hard Bean can be ordered from Juice and Java

Source: Coffee Wholesale USA

Review - Nicaraguan Maragogipe

Origin: Nicaragua

Notes:
Maragogipe is a botanical variety of the arabica species that produces extremely large beans. The beans that make up this splendid coffee are not pure Maragogipe, however, but come from a hybrid tree that is a cross of Maraogipe and another variety, caturra. This hybrid is variously called pacamara, or, in the case of this version, created by the Byron Corrales family of the Matagalpa district of Nicaragua, mara-caturra. Curiously, this hybrid, whatever it is called, produces a much more complex and aromatic cup than either of its parents, the Maragogipe or the caturra. Thanksgiving offers the mara-caturra in both light and medium roast styles. The lighter roast better preserves this coffee's startling nuance. One of the country's groundbreaking socially and environmentally progressive roasters, Thanksgiving has aimed to combine coffee quality with social and environmental responsibility long before the latter preoccupations became fashionable.

Blind Assessment:
Extraordinary, luxurious coffee, lushly sweet yet vibrantly acidy, with ripe, opulent fruit tones and delicately intense floral high notes. Utterly free of bitterness or astringency. Perfectly roasted, and as extravagantly complex as the very finest East Africa coffees. Nominator David Lubertozzi of Berkeley raves about its "amazing body and milk- chocolateyness," and confesses he enjoys it even better cold than hot -- always a sign of an exceptional coffee.

Who should drink it:
Almost any way you drink this one you should enjoy it, but it would make an excellent choice for lovers of moderate dark roasts who want to experiment with a light-to- medium-roasted coffee that is naturally sweet and free of the sharp sourness many coffee drinkers justifiably associate with light roasts.

This coffee can be purchased from Juice and Java.

Source: coffeereview.com

Boutique Coffee - Comumbia La Virginia

The following article relates to specialty boutique coffee sold from Columbia.

Andrew Barnett’s Ecco Caffe is a boutique coffee roaster in Santa Rosa, California. I don’t know if he’d care for that description—boutique —but it fits. Andrew’s got an exceptional palate; more, he’s got damn fine culinary instincts and a rep as one of coffee’s nicest guys. (Let’s see him dodge that one!)

But this isn’t about Andrew, really, it’s about Olga Laura and her family coffee estate, La Virginia. La Virginia, in the Huila region of Colombia, has the great good fortune of volcanic soils, fresh spring water for washing and fermenting its coffee, and sunshine enough to patio-dry. This triple threat offers the potential for great coffee… that, and meticulous management makes the coffee of La Virginia a grand cru, one which handily bested every coffee save one for top price in this years Colombia First Harvest Cup of Excellence.

Andrew’s take on roasting is hugely respectful of the coffee; this one’s just this side of Full City—no evidence at all of 2nd pop or surface oils—and ideally suited to this bean. Ground, the coffee effuses chocolate candy sweetness, enveloped by orange blossoms and ripe summer fruit, virtually none of which is dimished as it brews. In the cup its acidity dances gracefully in counterpoint with a golden, honeyed sweetness, subtle cocoa undertones and an astoundingly rich and creamy body. As the cup cools its honey tones give way to flavors of sun-kissed summer grapes, still warm from the vine… at once sweet, tart and juicy.

Highly Recommended.
Available now at Ecco Caffe... and I wager it won’t be available for very long.

Source: Coffee & Commentary

Basics of Coffee Tasting

Experienced tasters follow a strict routine ritual when tasting.

They deliberately slurp coffee and swirl it all around the surface of the tongue and mouth. They want to obtain the full experience of the taste, the unique combination of sensations in the nose and on the tongue.

For all intents and purposes, our sense of smell and sense of taste are inseparable. Without our sense of smell, our taste sensations are limited. The tongue detects 4 basic sensations: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. Most of what we experience as taste depends upon our sense of smell.

The tasting experience begins before you brew – with the grinding. When you smell ground coffee, you experience the first impression of its flavor – its Fragrance.

Aroma refers to your first encounter with a coffee when it’s brewed – literally, the first contact of water and coffee.

Is it True? Dispelling common coffee myths.

Is it true that coffee tastes best when it's stored in the refrigerator?

The National Coffee Association suggests the best way for keeping a reasonably small amount of coffee fresh is in an opaque, airtight container just large enough to accommodate the beans. The four things that you're keeping the beans away from are air, moisture, heat and light. So not only are the beans in the refrigerator exposed to the cold, and moisture, but they're picking up odors from last nights leftovers too!

Is it true that espresso has more caffeine than regular coffee?

A total misconception. It would take possibly three or four single shots of espresso to equal the caffeine found in a 12-ounce cup of coffee. So if it's a caffeine buzz you're looking for - you're better off getting your fix from a regular cup of Columbian coffee.

Is it true that espresso is a specific type of bean?

Nope. Espresso is not a bean; it's the end result. Espresso is produced through a pressure brewing process - with your espresso machine. It's the retailers and coffeehouses that are trying to convince you otherwise. You can take any type of coffee bean - Kona, Kenya AA, Blue Mountain or Columbian and brew delicious espresso. The better the bean - the better the espresso!

Is it true that espresso is a specific blend or roast?

Roasters peddling beans know a good thing when they see it - so many of them are catering to the particular palates of espresso lovers. While there's no specific type of bean that "makes" espresso - there are certain blends or roasts that do taste and perform better when brewed as such. This is why so many roasters and importers have created their own "Espresso Roast."

Is it true that drinking coffee has some health benefits?

Like most things, drinking coffee in moderation is key. In recent studies, coffee consumption has been linked to reducing the risk of liver and colon cancer, Type Two Diabetes and Parkinson's disease. That's because coffee contains tannins and antioxidants that are good for the heart and arteries. The caffeine in coffee helps reduce headaches and reduces the risk of asthma attacks because it improves circulation within the heart. However, drinking five or more 5 ounce cups of coffee increase nervousness and cause an increased heartbeat. Pregnant women, those with heart conditions and anyone with stomach ulcers are usually advised against drinking large amounts of coffee.

We hope this helps clear up some the ambiguity that surrounds espresso and was helpful and informative. Remember, believe half of what you see and none of what you hear. Or was it half of what you hear and none of what you see. Either way, knowing is half the battle according to GI Joe.

Best Coffeehouse Patio in Denver... and the rest too

What are your favorite Denver coffee house patios? Here are a few to get us started:

- Monkey Bean: Huge, nicely landscaped patio with tables, and hammocks
- Caffe Sanora & Hooked on Colfax: Sit down and watch the uniqueness that is Colfax
- St. Mark's: Always bustling sidewalk patio
- SML: Not a patio per say, but it feels like it when both garage doors are open
- Paris on the Platte has a streetfront patio, and a small patio area hidden in the back

What others do you like? What do you think of those listed above?

Tea Quote

"When all is complete deep in the teapot, when tea, mint, and sugar have completely diffused throughout the water, coloring and saturating it...then a glass will be filled and poured back into the mixture, blending it further. The comes waiting. Motionless waiting. Finally, from high up, like some green cataract whose sight and sound mesmerize, the tea will once again cascade into a glass. Now it can be drunk, dreamily, forehead bowed, fingers held wide away from the scalding glass."

-Simone Jacquemard, Le Mariage Berbere

SCAA: Coffee Done Right

Every year, the Specialty Coffee Association of America invites members of the industry, as well as passionate consumers, to attend their annual conference and celebrate one of the most popular beverages in America. Held in Atlanta, or "Hot 'Lanta" as it was affectionately called by the Allman brothers, this year's show was as big and beautiful as the city itself.

I feel it would be remiss not to mention a bit about the Georgia Congress Center, which is where the whole event took place. You have to understand that this is not your run of the mill conference center. On the same sprawling campus sits the Olympic Centennial Park as well as the Georgia Dome, so your first glimpse is impressive to say the least. Even though we took up what seemed to be a small corner of the Congress Center, we had actually taken over an entire building. Spanning 2 floors full of breakout rooms, 150,000 square feet of space for skill building workshops, and a show floor that was over 200,000 square feet, I think it's safe to say that the conference was massive.

The first day of the show was dedicated solely to tea. It was great to see the coffee and tea worlds coming together and acknowledging the sisterhood of their industries, and as a member of the SCAA, it was an eye opener to see the similarities and differences in these two worlds. For every coffee house, there is a tearoom; for every barista, an infusiarista (a term I am hereby coining); but diametrically opposed to coffee's "get-up-and-go" persona, is the laid back "take your time and enjoy it" feeling that the tea industry is based on.

The Coffee Crisis

Since coffee is commodity like oil, it traded in the same way oil is, on the exchange, and by contract. While other methods of buying coffee do exist, the reality is that the contract price on the exchange sets the standard.

And the reality of the coffee commodity market is that prices are frighteningly low. So low that farmers cannot make a living. A common estimate is that to grow coffee generally may cost US$0.90 a pound. But the price on the market recently has stayed about US$0.68 a pound.

And prices have plunged lower than this during the last three or so years of this world-price depression known in the trade as the “coffee crisis.” Worldwide, estimates hold that as many as 25 million people have been hurtled into poverty by the coffee crisis. That’s equal to the population of the entire state of Texas.

For example, in Colombia, coffee sent the farmer’s children to college for decades. But now, it hardly pays to grow coffee. In fact, many farmers have either cut back their trees to wait for prices to bounce back, or are looking at bankruptcy and the loss of lands that have been in their families for many years.

In these cases, the farmers may even consider just abandoning the land altogether. That’s sad enough, but what happens to the coffee workers and their families when this occurs?

In Nicaragua’s Matagalpa coffee region, aid workers have estimated that as many as 20,000 former coffee pickers and workers have lost their jobs, homes, and income. Now they live under plastic tarps along the roadside and beg for food, according to reports by press agencies like Reuters.

In Colombia, according to press reports from papers as diverse as the Washington Post and the Financial Times, farmers have looked to save their lands and the jobs of their skilled workers by converting their farms to the production of illegal drugs. The slopes on which coffee grows are also the perfect environment for opium poppies – the basis of heroin – as well as coca, the basis for cocaine.

Nestor Osorio, the head of an important coffee group, the International Coffee Organization (ICO), told the press in April of this year that he personally saw aerial photographs of former coffee farms replanted with coca. News service Knight-Ridder reported this month that Andean cocaine production had increased by 6,500 acres.

But these aren’t abstract facts. We see the results of the coffee crisis in these profound and unexpected ways here in our own country. In the United States, our government has spent billions in Colombia fighting the war on drugs. Obviously, the coffee crisis is an important component to be considered in this complex situation.

Increases in illegal drugs in our communities isn’t the only way the coffee crisis affects us unexpectedly. International aid organizations estimate that the economic losses from the coffee crisis have cost as many as 500,000 agricultural jobs in Central America and Mexico.

Particularly in the Mexican coffee region of Huatusco, job losses have been severe, forcing men to leave their families and cross illegally into the United States to search for work. Many desperate coffee workers have silently melted into our underground economy.

But not everyone survives the dangerous trip. Last year the story of 11 such men found dead in a boxcar in Iowa made headlines. Those coffee workers who have made it north may never go home again, leaving families permanently separated. Thus the new term used in Mexico: “coffee widow.”

Rituals of Making Espresso

Making espresso for your coffee drinks - cappuccino's, lattes, mochas, etc., requires that you understand the process or Ritual as I call it. The visual clue that tells us that we have achieved Java Heaven is called the "crema". The crema is that golden marbleized foam that covers the top of the espresso. Without waxing poetic which is often done in this business, the crema is simply nirvana. It's the foundation of the coffee culture that you have joined and the reason why you're reading and why I'm writing this "Understanding" segment. I know this may sound intimidating, but if you spend a little time learning you will be able to teach those Starbucks kids a thing or two in short order. The reason this is so important is because it is too easy to make a bad cup of coffee. With the proper knowledge you can break the mystique and brew high quality espresso in no time at all. So, grab a cup from that good old Mr. Coffee, sit down and read everything you need to know on brewing better coffee.

The Ritual

Extracting espresso is part "Art" and part "Science". The "Art" is understanding the nuances of your coffee, grinder and espresso machine. The "Science" is applying specific variables to the coffee roast, fineness of grind, tamp pressure, brewing temperature & pressure and time. The best method to learn how to make espresso is to begin with the science aspect. Identify the necessary variables and then apply the art aspect to fine tune the extraction (brewing). We break this mystique when we teach people everyday on how to "dial in" or "calibrate" their espresso machines.

Gather ’round all you clowns.

Create lovely hot beverages! Use simple ingredients! Requires simple tools! Here’s a list of the few items you need:

- A device that produces steam
- Some way to control the steam output
- A stainless steel milk pitcher
- Several clean towels
- An hour or two of undisturbed study
- Three or four 8-ounce clear glasses
- Some food coloring
- Five or six gallons of milk
- Optional (but strongly recommended) thermometer
- Optional (but highly desirable) carton of cream or half ’n’ half

You can heat milk carefully in a microwave or by stirring it constantly in a pan on top of a stove. For efficiency, speed, texture, and taste nothing beats steam heating. And nothing beats an espresso machine for this operation.

Steamed milk definitely tastes better than milk heated any other way. It is sweeter because your tongue reacts instantly to the decreased surface tension. Steaming the milk can be a drudge or one step on your path to culinary glory. It’s serious chemistry, too. In addition to violently and rapidly heating the liquid, steam alters the physical characteristics of milk proteins in a process called denaturing. Changes are taking place on a molecular level in the milk but the results are cosmic. And, of far more interest to you and me, steam-denatured milk can become something quite fascinating — something cold milk simply cannot. Steamed milk can be inflated, built up into a swollen, lofty lattice. That is, it can be turned into an extraordinarily cool thing: foam.

Rarest Coffee?

It sounds like an urban myth of some sort. You can’t keep yourself from laughing the first time you hear of it. As strange as it may be, Kopi Luwak is not an urban myth but in fact one of the rarest and most costly coffees in the world.

Kopi Luwak gains it's legendary status from the way it is “processed”, as opposed to its origin. There is a small cat-like animal called the Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) found in Indonesia that reside in the coffee trees. Civets were considered pests because they constantly ate the ripe red coffee cherries of the trees. Just like the rest of us, what Civets eat, Civets digest and excrete. One fine day some rather bored locals gathered the expelled beans to find them still intact and wrapped in their thin layers of cherry mucilage. We’re not too sure how the story goes from this point but they decided to roast these beans.

They found that the Civet’s stomach enzymes added uniqueness to the flavor of the coffee. This process of natural fermentation using stomach acids and enzymes has a different effect than the typical fermentation with water. We personally have yet to try it, but those that have, described it as having a heavy caramel taste, gamy flavor and a musty and jungle-like aroma.

Because of this “process” it obviously takes a long time to collect enough beans to roast. It can be found priced upwards $300 a pound and seems to have become more of a novelty coffee. If you do ever get a chance to taste it you just might be able to appreciate its uniqueness and rarity. Or not. Either way, we’d love to hear what you thought of it!

Golden Rule Tips

1. Think of it as a scientific experiment! Don't vary more than one variable at a time. If you are going to change your grind setting keep the tamp pressure and coffee amounts consistent. Then you will know that it is the grind that is effecting the change in extraction time.

2. Coffee Amounts: Generally fill the portafilter basket, so that it is loosely full, slightly under the basket rim.

3. Tamp Pressure: If you are not sure what 30lbs. of pressure feels like, get out the bathroom scale. Place a paper towel over the scale, unless your feet are really clean, (yuck!), and place the portafilter handle with basket in it on the scale and press down with your tamper until the scale reads 30lbs.

4. It's all about what you want! Everyone's taste is a bit different. These are just guidelines. Every coffee is a bit different, so the required grind and pull will vary slightly.

With your own grinder:

1. If you get 2 to 2.5 ounces in 10 or 15 sec's, your shot is fast. Try making your grind setting finer. Remember this is an experiment! Only change your grind setting, keep the coffee amount and tamp consistent.

2. If you get 2 to 2.5 ounces in 35 sec's, your shot is slow. Try a coarser grind. Remember consistent coffee amount and tamp.

Without your own grinder:

If you do not have your own grinder, then obviously you can't vary your grind setting. So, the next best thing is to vary tamp pressure. If the shot is too quick, tamp harder. If the shot is too slow, tamp lighter.

Coffee Tasting - Kenyan Mtaro Full City Roast

This article is a review of Kenyan Mtaro Full City Roast, and the new coffee blend.

Jason Anderson and Sharon Grossman, husband and wife co-proprietors of Coffee Emergency, launched into the specialty coffee trade a scant two years ago and quickly made a splash. Code Brown—their signature espresso blend—wowed the Coffee Geek espressorati; no mean feat, that. It’s all the more remarkable given the fledgling company was still working its way out of the nest… they’d just revved up a mobile espresso van and were still roasting their coffee in tiny batches on a gas grill. (Something not altogether unlike like this.)

I get the impression that these folks haven’t let their early success go to their head. Their web site is spare and simple; so’s their shop. Just the same, they continue to pile on the accolades, and recently received a whopping 93 from Kenneth Davids for their Colombian Inza Cauca.
Jason and Sharon submitted three coffees for review: a lovely little Nicaraguan number, a new, limited-edition espresso blend and an eye-opening bean from Kenya. I’ll get to the the others in subsequent reviews (soon, I promise!). Right now, let’s visit Africa.

Coffee Emergency’s Kenya AA Mtaro is a well-developed Full City roast; it offers no evidence of visiting 2nd crack at all save for a few spots of oil, clearly migrated since its August 1 roast. (Each of the three bags I received is very clearly roast-dated and heat-sealed in a laminated valve-bag. Good start!)
This is a classic Kenya coffee: sexy, musky, sensuous. Just ground it effuses jasmine and fine tobacco, while it whispers of sandalwood and worn saddle leather while brewing. In the cup it offers wine-dark fruits, but at its center its flavors lean toward savory—I taste brandied tomato—joined with a persistent but low-toned brightness. Its body is pleasingly round and supple, its finish is clean, semi-sweet and tastes of cedar.

In short, while I’m altogether happy to drink this coffee, I could as well dab some behind my ears and call it a fine cologne. Kenya AA Mtaro is a savory, complex and rewarding cup, and a welcome counterpoint to the too-many lemon-bright Kenyan coffees on the market today.
Recommended.
Available at Coffee Emergency.

Source: Coffee & Commentary

Coffee Factoids

Serving Justice One Cup at a Time.

Five years ago, some butt-kissing law clerks walked into a Newark, NJ coffee shop and had a special blend whipped up for their boss, Samuel Alito, Jr., in honor of his birthday. The blend, dubbed "Judge Alito's Bold Justice" wasn't too popular with anyone but the judge until his recent US Supreme Court nomination - at which point everyone jumped on the Alito bandwagon and this little coffee shop had more business than it could handle. Listed on the shop's website as a "mix of Columbian, Java and New Guinea with a bit of espresso," we can only hope that Judge Alito is a bit more knowledgeable and coherent when it comes to the law than this particular shop is about coffee, espresso, and the "blends" they peddle.

Will the Real Jamaica Blue Please Stand Up?

In an effort to weed out impostors, the Coffee Industry Board of Jamaica has been using Jamaican natives living in the US to “mystery shop” coffee branded as Jamaica Blue Mountain. After purchasing the coffee from either online or brick and mortar stores, the coffee is shipped back to Jamaica for authenticity testing. Anyone producing “fake” Jamaican Blue had better watch out – the Jamaican government is planning to prosecute any violators. Source: TimesArgus.com

Folgers in a Half Shell.

The same week that Folgers announced its New Orleans plant was back in full operation, some other news broke that's had us wondering if they shouldn't have inspected the facility a little more carefully before resuming production. Marge of Ainsworth, Iowa brewed her pot of Folgers the same as every other day, but November 6th's pot tasted a little, well, reptilian. Upon further inspection of the vacuum-sealed bag, good ole' Marge found a 2-inch turtle in her grounds, fully intact and yes, dead. After calling Folgers (whose apparently un-PR savvy customer service department informed her that it was probably from the New Orleans plant), the apparently unfazed Marge put "Mr. Turtle" in her freezer as a souvenir and switched to tea, stating, "It's safer because it's in a bag." Given her chosen memento of the event, it seems that Marge too was in the bag.
Source: KCRG TV-9 News and Reuters

Stand Aside Pepsi and Coke, Here Comes Coffee

The National Coffee Association released a report stating that daily coffee consumption in the US has increased from 49% in 2004 to 53% in 2005. Which age group saw the highest increase in coffee guzzling? 18-24 year olds, of which an all time high of 26% are daily coffee consumers. Source: Reuters

Coffee Picking Cons

Once one of the world’s largest coffee exporters, Puerto Rico is trying to reclaim its former success by jump-starting its coffee production. The commonwealth has identified its largest problem to be a lack of willing coffee pickers, most of which have moved to factory or construction jobs that are less strenuous and pay more. To solve the problem, Puerto Rico’s agriculture secretary has proposed using minimum-security prisoners as coffee pickers – a venture that Puerto Rico will begin testing this fall. Source: The New York Times

Effects of caffeine on human health

Caffeine is probably the most frequently ingested pharmacologically active substance in the world. It is found in common beverages (coffee, tea, soft drinks), in products containing cocoa or chocolate, and in medications. Because of its wide consumption at different levels by most segments of the population, the public and the scientific community have expressed interest in the potential for caffeine to produce adverse effects on human health. The possibility that caffeine ingestion adversely affects human health was investigated based on reviews of (primarily) published human studies obtained through a comprehensive literature search. Based on the data reviewed, it is concluded that for the healthy adult population, moderate daily caffeine intake at a dose level up to 400 mg day(-1) (equivalent to 6 mg kg(-1) body weight day(-1) in a 65-kg person) is not associated with adverse effects such as general toxicity, cardiovascular effects, effects on bone status and calcium balance (with consumption of adequate calcium), changes in adult behaviour, increased incidence of cancer and effects on male fertility. The data also show that reproductive-aged women and children are 'at risk' subgroups who may require specific advice on moderating their caffeine intake. Based on available evidence, it is suggested that reproductive-aged women should consume

Tips & Tricks: Wet Your Coffee Pod & Heat Your Brewer

We get questions over email all the time regarding our best tips and tricks for Single Serve Coffee. We have what we think is one of the best tips you can use with coffee pod based brewers like Phillips Senseo, BUNN My Cafe, Krups KP1010 Home Cafe, simplehuman coffee pod brewer, or other coffee pod based single serve coffee brewer
- Wet Your Pod Before Brewing.

It's really that simple. If you have an instant hot dispenser or even a little cool water, moistening the pod will improve the overall extraction of the coffee. Some pod brewers like the Grindmaster pre-moisten the coffee pod before brewing, but most don't have this feature.

Another trick is to take the pod holder and simply run hot water over it. This achieves a moist coffee pod when you place the pod in the holder and a better overall extraction due to the seal the wet pod will make over a dry pod.

We also recommend heating up the brewer and running some water through it to heat up the brewing area. In any of the brewers we test, we always run an ample amount of water through the machine prior to making a cup of coffee and we don't just do this for coffee pod based machines - this trick will work for all single serve coffee machines.

Trust us. A moistened pod and a hot brewer will make a much better cup of single serve coffee coffee.

Coffee Tips

Arabica coffee is known for a more "refined" flavor than Robusta.

There are 25 species of coffee in total.

The two major exporters of coffee are Brazil and Colombia.

Coffee only grows in the tropics.

Eighty countries produce coffee.

There are four basic flavors: sweet, sour, salty and bitter.

You taste sweetness on the tip of your tongue, sour on the sides.

Coffee tasters sample an average of 300 coffees a day — it's called "cupping."

Thirty percent of the world's coffee comes from Brazil.

Recommended: find a store where they roast the beans onsite.

To ensure freshness, only buy two weeks' worth of coffee at a time.

Experts agree: freezing coffee in a sealed container is okay occasionally, but not ideal.

Make coffee within minutes of grinding the beans.

A French Press can make one to four cups at a time.

Good coffee: two tablespoons coffee grounds to six ounces water;
adjust to taste. Too much water will ruin the coffee.

Coffee Search

Your source for coffee and espresso tutorials, reviews, and original java related content.

From bean to machine, coffeeresearch.org comprehensively covers topics ranging from coffee preparation and espresso brewing to more advanced subjects such as coffee chemistry and agriculture.

Our intention is to improve coffee quality through education and research. This 300 page coffee Web site was developed as a platform to share our passion for specialty coffee.

We recommend beginning your journey learning about coffee by learning about the agriculture of coffee since the harvesting and processing of coffee plays a major role in how coffee should be roasted and brewed. After learning about the coffee plant, we move to coffee grinding, brewing, and roasting. Once you have a grasp on the basics of single origin coffees, explore our espresso section.

The espresso section brings together the agriculture and coffee sections by drawing a link between preparation methods and flavor profile. Blending espresso is an art form that necessitates a complete understanding of coffee harvesting and production methods.

The final sections about coffee science, coffee politics, and the coffee market are more detailed views of the coffee world. The market section gives coffee consumption statistics as well as coffee production statistics. The politics section gives an overview of current social issues of coffee including fair trade coffee, organic coffee, and bird safe coffee.

Pour yourself a cup of joe and enjoy our library, coffee photo galleries, and original coffee training videos.

BREATHE EASY Promotes Respiratory Health

Breathe Easy ® is a good tasting herbal tea that temporarily relieves nasal congestion and stuffy nose associated with the common cold, hay fever, sinusitis, and other upper respiratory allergies, restoring freer breathing through the nose.

Breathe Easy ® promotes normal respiratory tract health by reducing mucus and helping to keep the nasal passages open.* Breathe Easy combines eucalyptus, fennel, and licorice; herbs that have been found to have beneficial effects on upper respiratory tract health. Their effects are complemented by the addition of "Bi Yan Pian**," a traditional formula for upper respiratory tract health, widely recommended by practitioners of Oriental medicine.

Contents: licorice root 300 mg, eucalyptus leaf 285 mg, bitter fennel fruit 255 mg, Bi Yan Pian dry aqueous extract (8:1) 120 mg. Proprietary blend: peppermint leaf, calendula flower, pleurisy root, and ginger rhizome.

**Bi Yan Pian is a traditional Chinese herbal formula, extracted in pure water and then dried into granules, made from a mixture of xanthium fruit, magnolia flower bud, siler root, forsythia fruit, wild chrysanthemum flower, schisandra fruit, platycodon root, fragrant angelica root, anemarrhena rhizome, schizonepeta herb, and Chinese licorice root.

Directions for use: Brew Well to Be Well™ For maximum benefit, medicinal tea must be properly prepared. Pour 8 oz freshly boiled water over a tea bag in a ceramic cup. Cover cup and steep 10-15 minutes. Water temperature, covering your cup and steeping time greatly influence the yield of beneficial components that will end up in your teacup! Gently squeeze the tea bag to release the remaining extractive. Drink three cups daily or as needed. Adding honey may enhance benefits, especially in dry climates.

Warning: As with any drug if you are pregnant or nursing a baby seek the advice of a health professional before using this product. Do not exceed recommended dosage. If nervousness, dizziness or sleeplessness occur discontinue use and consult a doctor. If symptoms do not improve within seven days or are accompanied by a fever consult a doctor. Do not take this product if you have heart disease, high blood pressure, thyroid disease, diabetes or difficulty in urination due to enlargement of the prostate gland, unless directed by a doctor.

Drug Interaction Precaution: Do not use this product if you are now taking a prescription monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI- certain drugs for depression, psychiatric or emotional conditions or Parkinson’s disease), or for 2 weeks after stopping the MAOI drug. If you are uncertain whether your prescription drug contains a MAOI, consult a doctor before taking this product. In case of accidental overdose, seek professional assistance or contact a poison control center immediately. Keep this and all medicines out of the reach of children.

Safety Sealed: Each tea bag is individually sealed for freshness and tamper evidence. Do not use if cutting line on tea envelope imprinted with “TAMPER EVIDENT–MOISTURE PROOF” is torn or missing.

Juice and Java Lounge

About Us

The Juice and Java Lounge was first established in early 2005 and is dedicated to providing an outstanding cafe experience to all visitors.

We have three main passions:

1. Outstanding, gourmet roasted coffee

2. Outstanding juices and smoothies, teas and other cold drinks

3. Fresh, healthy foods

Coffee
After an exhaustive search, gourmet coffee roastery ‘The Coffee Roaster’ was engaged to supply our new cafe with all coffee and coffee related products. ‘The Coffee Roaster’ was selected because of their track record within the coffee industry, their roasting methods (most importantly in relation to roasting consistency), and finally, their attention to detail regarding all aspects of the espresso business.

As well as making outstanding ‘in-house’ coffees at our cafe in Surry Hills, we also sell bags of gourmet coffee there and more recently via this website. Our bulk coffee business is growing rapidly as more and more coffee lovers discover the outstanding quality and consistency of our gourmet coffee.

Juices and Smoothies
Our passion for healthy fresh juices come from owning and operating a successful juice and smoothie bar at some of Sydney’ busiest organic food markets. Such is the freshness and vitality of Sydney’ produce that we are able to provide a range of delicious juice combinations which taste fantastic and carry outstanding health benefits.

Our smoothies and ice crushers are also made with top quality fruit and are 100% natural, containing no add sugar, syrups, or other additives. Furthermore, our range is continually expanding so watch this space!

Healthy Food
We are currently developing a range of healthy foods to compliment our coffees and juices. Again, the emphasis is on health, vitality, consistency and quality.

It is our goal at Juice & Java Lounge to always provide a quality cafe experience for our clients and to consistently improve and develop our skills and products to ensure we are at the cutting edge of the gourmet coffee and juice markets in Australia. We have discovered the joy of truly ne coffees and juices and look forward to sharing that experience with you.

Calming Tea

Daily Stress Relief
Calming tea is a safe and time-tested Ayurvedic formula designed to ease stress and tension, encouraging a state of relaxed alertness without drowsiness. This healing formula contains Organic Chamomile (Matricaria recutita), an herbal nervine that supports, soothes and rejuvenates the nerves. Known for its mild, apple-like flavor, Chamomile has been used as a calming agent for centuries and is widely regarded for the way in which it helps compose the mind and cool the body. Organic Lemon Grass is also included in this formula, as it is a popular antispasmodic and mild anti-irritant.

Our blend is complemented with Bacopa Leaf (Gotu Kola), a healing nerve tonic that helps promote blood flow, supports the nervous system and has been shown to boost the memory. A favorite nervine of Western herbalism, this leaf is also known as a cardiotonic that scientific studies have shown to be particularly effective in boosting cognitive functions and calming over-active children.

We have also included Organic Hibiscus Flower, which helps cool the body, and Organic Fennel Seed, which aids in calming the muscles, improving digestion and calming flatulence and stomach troubles.* Calming tea will help you stay calm throughout the day and is also great for children.

Coffee Jokes

A lady came into the kitchen, sat down at the table, leaned forward, put her head in her hands and said to her husband "Honey, I feel terrible! My head hurts, my back's killing me and my left breast just burns and burns." He said "I'm gonna help you, Dear. I'll get you some aspirins for the headache, I'll rub your back with Myoflex for the backache, and if you'll sit up and get your breast out of the coffee, it'll stop burning!"

Coffee Break

It's not you. It's not your product or service. It's not even the restroom, though that's close. If there's one thing that your business couldn't survive without, it's--without question or argument--coffee.

Can you imagine what would happen if you refused to let your employees sip coffee at their desks or, if not there, in the company break room? You would likely be strung up to the ceiling fan and left to spin the day away, while your employees went off to sip mocha lattes and plot your ruin. Your business would curl up and die. As well it should. Coffee and the workplace have had a symbiotic relationship for some time now.

The first coffee break as we know it likely happened around the turn of the 20th century. Howard Stanger, a professor of management and marketing specializing in industrial relations and business history at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, says it was in 1900 when the Larkin Company, a hybrid soap manufacturer and mail-order company, began giving employees free coffee to drink in break rooms. As far as he knows, this is the earliest example of an official coffee break.

Like many businesses of the time, entrepreneurs were concerned that their female employees not be subjected to their brash male co-workers and the harsh conditions in the factories. Since women couldn't completely be shielded, "companies often tried to create domestic spaces where they could take a break," says Stanger. "In photographs, you'll often see [break rooms] decorated like a middle-class home." Offering coffee in these refuges was an amenity that would lead to future amenities, like health benefits and pension plans in the 1920s.

Today, of course, coffee at the workplace dominates much more than a few minutes a day, because people appreciate the drink for the same reason their counterparts did 100 years ago, observes Stanger: "They drank it for the caffeine jolt, the warmth and the comfort."

Bean There, Done That

A timeline: Great moments in the coffee/work relationship, from the bush to the break room.

850 A.D. First known discovery of berries containing caffeine. As legend has it, an Ethiopian goatherd named Kaldi noticed his goats were friskier after eating red berries on a shrub. After trying them himself, the goatherd realized he felt happier, too. Kaldi had just created the world's first coffee break.

1475 The world's first coffee shop opens in Constantinople.

1600 Coffee reaches Europe. The first coffeehouse opens in Italy in 1654.

1674 Not everybody is consuming the drink. In London, the Women's Petition Against Coffee declares: "Coffee leads men to trifle away their time, scald their chops and spend their money."

1901 Instant coffee is invented. Offices across the world slowly, but surely, recognize what this means for them.

1920 With Prohibition in effect, martinis during business meetings fall out of favor, and coffee sales take off.

1971 The first Starbucks opens in Seattle, launching a chain that currently boasts more than 8,000 locations worldwide.

1972 Mr. Coffee enters the market, inventing the automatic drip process. It becomes a staple in office break rooms everywhere.

1999 Over 81 million Americans drink coffee in their workplaces, according to a Gallup Poll survey; 52.3 million obtain it from their offices.

Tea Creation

In one popular Chinese story, Shennong, the legendary Emperor of China, inventor of agriculture and Chinese medicine, was on a journey about five thousand years ago. The emperor, known for his wisdom in the ways of science, believed that the safest way to drink water was by first boiling it. One day he noticed some leaves had fallen into his boiling water. The ever inquisitive and curious monarch took a sip of the brew and was pleasantly surprised by its flavour and its restorative properties. Variant of the legend tells that the emperor tried medical properties of various herbs on himself, some of them poisonous, and found tea works as an antidote. Shennong is also mentioned in Lu Yu's Cha Jing, famous early work on the subject.
A Chinese legend, which spread along with buddhism, Bodhidharma is credited with discovery of tea. Bodhidharma, a semi-legendary Buddhist monk, founder of the Chan school of Buddhism, journeyed to China. He became angered because he was falling asleep during meditation, so he cut off his eyelids. Tea bushes sprung from the spot where his eyelids hit the ground. Sometimes, the second story is retold with Gautama Buddha in place of Bodhidharma) In another variant of the first mentioned myth, Gautama Buddha discovered tea when some leaves had fallen into boiling water.