Damen Choy: the Coffee Expert asked:


You may not know this, but unless you buy your coffee direct, the coffee beans used to make the morning cup of coffee that you love so much have probably been in the hands of half a dozen middle men. With so many stages involved in getting the coffee to your distributor, the quality of the beans suffers. Here’s a fresh idea – eliminate the middle men and get your coffee direct from the distributor.

Save Money when you buy Coffee Direct

Surprisingly enough, when you buy your coffee direct you may actually be able to spend less for coffee than you do at the supermarket. In the normal distribution process, each middle man takes his cut. By purchasing coffee in bulk from a distributor, you can save money over the long haul. Buying in bulk means purchasing up to 25 pounds at a time. When you buy this amount, you start to see some real savings.

Get Fresher Beans when you buy your Coffee Direct

There’s no way to tell how long coffee has been sitting on the supermarket shelf, and after a few months the flavor starts to fade and grow stale. Buying whole beans doesn’t always solve this problem, since the beans many pass through several warehouses before you buy it. Only when you buy coffee direct from a distributor are you guaranteed to get fresh and flavorful beans. Your taste buds will tell you the difference.

Buying Coffee Direct Tips

* What kind of coffee do you enjoy? There are many types to choose from, including dark, light, robust and mild. Consider the location where the coffee is grown. This could be Sumatra, Kenya, Columbia or even Hawaii. Once you’ve narrowed down your search, check the Internet to find a distributor in your community. Contact the distributor and buy your coffee direct.

* For the best tasting coffee, brew it as soon as possible after it’s roasted. Find a local coffee roaster and buy your coffee direct. If there are no roasters in your area, check the Internet to find out about having fresh roasted coffee shipped to you.

* For the best tasting coffee, invest in a grinder so that you can grind the freshly roasted beans that you buy.

* Buy only the amount of coffee you expect to consume within one month. This way you will always be brewing fresh coffee beans. After a month, most beans begin to lose flavor.

If you really love coffee, follow these tips and you’ll soon be enjoying the aroma and taste of the freshest cup of coffee you’ve ever had. Buy your coffee direct and get freshly roasted beans. You’ll be glad you eliminated the middle men and shortened the time from tree to cup.



Kansieo.com

michelle faber asked:


Tips for Finding Perfect Premium Coffee…

There is coffee and THERE IS COFFEE! You likely know about the generic quality coffees you find at the supermarket, using the inferior Robusta beans. And, in contrast, there is the alternative: the coffee regularly termed Gourmet Coffee you buy direct from roasters around the country. Popular large volume roasters, like Starbucks as well as most of the the smaller roasters dispersed about town, essentially utilize this far better grade, high altitude, shade grown Arabica bean.

That being said, and broadly known by all nowadays, how can you siphon out the crème de la crème of gourmet coffee beans to purchase?

To begin with, let’s hone in specifically on taste. Nowadays, coffee has become a “drink of experts”…

evolved into an art of reflection! We’ve begun to savor our coffee…flavor identify and define the subtle hints and nuances, as well as the qualities that identify the bean’s continent of origin. You as a coffee drinker, can begin to explore and experience the undertones of your coffee’s region, but better yet, begin to revel in the independently specific flavors of the bean defined by the specific hill and farm where it’s grown.

Coffee Cupping: Defining Coffee by its “Underlying Flavors”

There are, nowadays, a limited number of coffee roasters that independently test their coffee beans for taste observations and aromas. These beans are graded and assessed just like fine wine. This activity is called Coffee Cupping or Coffee Tasting. Professionals known as Master Tasters are the assessors. The procedure involves deeply sniffing a cup of brewed coffee, then loudly slurping the coffee so it draws in air, spreads to the back of the tongue, and maximizes flavor.

These Master Tasters, much akin to wine tasters, then attempt to measure in detail, every aspect of the coffee’s taste. This assessment includes measurement of the body (the texture or mouth-feel, such as oiliness), acidity (a sharp and tangy feeling, like when biting into an orange), and balance (the innuendo and the harmony of flavors working together). Since coffee beans embody telltale flavors from their region or continent of their origin, cuppers may also attempt to predict where the coffee was grown.

There is an infinite range of vocabulary that is used to describe the tastes found in coffee. Descriptors range from the familiar (chocolaty, sweet, fruity, woody) to the conceptual (clean, vibrant, sturdy) to the wildly esoteric (summery, racy, gentlemanly).

Following are a few key characteristics as defined by Coffee Geek. (http://coffeegeek.com/guides/beginnercupping/tastenotes)

Key Characteristics

Acidity:

The brightness or sharpness of coffee: It is through the acidity that many of the most intriguing fruit and floral flavors are delivered, and is usually the most scrutinized characteristic of the coffee. Acidity can be intense or mild, round or edgy, elegant or wild, and everything in between. Usually the acidity is best evaluated once the coffee has cooled slightly to a warm/lukewarm temperature. Tasting a coffee from Sumatra next to one from Kenya is a good way to begin to understand acidity.

Body:

This is sometimes referred to as “mouthfeel”. The body is the sense of weight or heaviness that the coffee exerts in the mouth, and can be very difficult for beginning cuppers to identify. It is useful to think about the viscosity or thickness of the coffee, and concentrate on degree to which the coffee has a physical presence. Cupping a Sulawesi versus a Mexican coffee can illustrate the range of body quite clearly.

Sweetness:

One of the most important elements in coffee, sweetness often separates the great from the good. Even the most intensely acidic coffees are lush and refreshing when there is enough sweetness to provide balance and ease the finish. Think of lemonade…starting with just water and lemon juice, one can add sugar until the level of sweetness achieves harmony with the tart citric flavor. It is the same with coffee, the sweetness is critical to allowing the other tastes to flourish and be appreciated.

Finish:

While first impressions are powerful, it is often the last impression that has the most impact. With coffee the finish (or aftertaste) is of great importance to the overall quality of the tasting experience, as it will linger long after the coffee has been swallowed. Like a great story, a great cup of coffee needs a purposeful resolution. The ideal finish to me is one that is clean (free of distraction), sweet, and refreshing with enough endurance to carry the flavor for 10-15 seconds after swallowing. A champion finish will affirm with great clarity the principal flavor of the coffee, holding it aloft with grace and confidence like a singer carries the final note of a song and then trailing off into a serene silence.

Coffee Buying Caveat

Buying coffee simply by name instead of by taste from your favorite roaster (in other words buying the same Columbian Supreme from the same ”Joe’s Cuppa Joe Roaster”) definitely has its pitfall! According to Coffee Review, “Next year’s Clever-Name-Coffee Company’s house blend may be radically different from this year’s blend, despite bearing the same name and label. The particularly skillful coffee buyer or roaster who helped create the coffee you and I liked so much may have gotten hired elsewhere. Rain may have spoiled the crop of a key coffee in the blend. The exporter or importer of that key coffee may have gone out of business or gotten careless. And even if everyone (plus the weather) did exactly the same thing they (and it) did the year before, the retailer this time around may have spoiled everything by letting the coffee go stale before you got to it. Or you may have messed things up this year by keeping the coffee around too long, brewing it carelessly, or allowing a friend to pour hazelnut syrup into it.”

Your savvy coffee-buying alternative is to look for roasters who buy their beans in Micro-Lots- smaller (sometimes tiny) lots of subtly distinctive specialty coffees. According to Coffee Review, “These coffee buyers buy small quantities of coffee from a single crop and single place, often a single hillside, and are sold not on the basis of consistency or brand, but as an opportunity to experience the flavor associated with a unique moment in time and space and the dedication of a single farmer or group of farmers.”

Coffee Review: Coffee Ratings

And finally, look out for the very small community coffee roasters that will submit their coffees to be 3rd-party evaluated by Coffee Review and other competitions for independent analysis and rating. Coffee Review regularly conducts blind, expert cuppings of coffees and then reports the findings in the form of 100-point reviews to coffee buyers. These valuable Overall Ratings can provide you with a summary assessment of the reviewed coffees. They are based on a scale of 50 to 100.

http://www.coffeereview.com/about_us.cfm

Bottom line for a certain premium purchase: To find the coffee that will ascertain most flavor satisfaction, seek out beans that been independently reviewed and rated. This approach will, without a doubt offer you the advantage of being able to choose the flavor profile suits you best in a bean. What’s more, it gains you certainty in quality due to its superior rating. The higher the rating, the better the flavor. True premium coffees start from the upper 80’s. By finding a roaster that consistently rates within the 90’s will ultimately buy you the best java for your buck!



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Selome Araya asked:


Every day in the early hours of the morning, the farmers of the Oromia region head out to the coffee plantations in the Ethiopian highlands for a day’s work. Often walking barefoot for miles to arrive, the farmers use their bare hands to pick the coffee beans off of steep mountains in high altitudes and a blazing sun. For these farmers and their families, coffee farming is the only means to earn a living in one of the poorest countries in the world. They earn less than a dollar a day.

Halfway across the world, sleepy office workers line up at the Starbucks on 14th St. in New York City, ready to pay three dollars for their first jolt of caffeine. Starbucks, with over 11,000 stores worldwide and annual earnings of over $7 billion, receives much of its coffees from countries like Ethiopia.

Since its founding in 1985, the company has promoted fair trade as part of its corporate image. Starbucks has courted its politically correct customers with “Fair Trade” Ethiopian coffee in lovely cut out packaging. But the relationship between the corporation and the farmers is more complicated than it appears. Recently, there has been a growing controversy over whether or not Ethiopian farmers and the Ethiopian economy are receiving fair treatment from the multinational corporation. This debate has sparked a fervent campaign by fair trade organizations, workers’ unions, and the Ethiopian government, who are publicly challenging the ethics of the company.

Conducting Business Responsibly

Starbucks maintains that it enjoys a positive relationship with coffee farmers. With their “commitment to social responsibility”, Starbucks developed an integrated approach to coffee sourcing with C.A.F.E. (Coffee and Farmer Equity Practices), a set of socially responsible coffee-buying guidelines. This sustainable strategy is said to improve working conditions for farmers, helping them earn more while protecting the environment.

Starbuck commits itself to paying premium prices for all of its coffee and attempts to purchase coffee that is certified as Fair Trade Coffee. “Starbucks global purchases of Fair Trade Certified coffee totaled 11.5 million pounds in fiscal 2005, making it the largest purchaser of Fair Trade Certified coffee in North America” the company stated in a brochure. “In addition to paying premium prices for all of our coffees, our investment in social development projects and providing access to affordable loans in coffee growing regions has been recognized for its leadership within the industry,” Starbucks said in a press release statement in October 2006.

Trademark Blocking

However, Ethiopian farmers believe they are receiving the short end of the stick in this relationship. While Starbucks continues to generate billions of dollars each year, Ethiopian farmers and their supporters believe that Starbucks does not wish to see them or their country, reap comparable profits.

Oxfam International, a British human rights organization, claims that Starbucks tried to block the Ethiopian governments’ attempt to trademark the names of coffees grown in its Harar, Yirgacheffe, and Sidamo regions, denying the impoverished country possible revenues of up to $80 million. The U.S. National Coffee Association (NCA) attempted to block trademark efforts, and Oxfam accused Starbucks of being behind these efforts. Although Starbucks denies this claim, Oxfam spokeswoman Jo Leadbetter says there is validity in their claim. “We have heard from a number of sources that actually Starbucks was involved in alerting the U.S. coffee association to block these applications and that it ‘stinks of corporate bullying,’” Leadbetter said.

According to Oxfam, for every cup of coffee sold at Starbucks, farmers in Ethiopia only early about $.03, receiving a very small portion of the profits that their coffee generates from consumers. “Ethiopian coffee farmers often collect about 10 percent of the profits from these coffees. The rest goes to the coffee industry players that can control the retail price, the international importers, distributors— and roasters like Starbucks,” Oxfam stated on its Make Trade Fair website. In response, OXFAM has launched a fair trade campaign to support farmers like the ones in the Ethiopian highlands. “Starbucks has engaged in some positive initial steps in helping coffee farmers living in poverty. I don’t understand why they won’t take the next step and come to the table to discuss Ethiopia’s proposal in good faith,” stated Seth Petchers, Oxfam America’s coffee program manager.

Ethiopia coffee industry

Ethiopia, known as the birthplace of Arabica coffee from its Kaffe region, depends on the production of coffee for its economy. Coffee production is so important to the agriculture-based Ethiopian economy that 50-60% of its export trade comes from coffee income. The industry employs one out of every four people. An estimated 15 million coffee farmers and their families depend on coffee for their survival.

Coffee is also a central element of Ethiopian culture, with traditions that date back to the 10th century, when the first tree was domesticated in the south-western highlands of the country. Coffee is so important to the daily routine of life in Ethiopia that “coffee ceremonies” happen daily throughout the country. A third of the national production is consumed domestically.

Starbucks’ potential impact on the Ethiopian market

Should Ethiopia be successful in trade marking its beans, it will enable the country to control the use of its beans in the market, giving its farmers a larger portion of the retail price. “Securing the trademark for its Sidamo, Harar and Yirgacheffe coffee beans could have allowed the country to increase its negotiation leverage through control of the names and ultimately (derive) a greater share of the retail price in the global market,” Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The potential benefits for the Ethiopian market are enormous, according to Hailu Fitsum, the Second Secretary of Trade Investment at the Ethiopian Embassy. “When producers can grow and prosper by not only improving production and quality but also by building up the value of their intellectual property portfolios, then everybody in the coffee industry – including partners in retail and distribution as well as consumers – reap benefits.” Fitsum adds that in a case like Ethiopia’s, “Stronger negotiating power would enable millions of coffee farmers and traders to prosper and invest in the future of these fine coffees.”

Ethiopia’s Position

Tadesse Meskela, the representative for the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union in Ethiopia, agrees with Fitsum. According to Meskela, Starbucks sells the coffee for $14.00 per pound, but only pays $1.20 per pound, which does not even cover the cost of production.

However, Mr. Meskela explained that the coffee farmers’ issue is also with the World Trade Organization, not only with Starbucks. In a telephone interview, he said, “The WTO controls a huge amount of the profit trade and a change needs to be made in international trade laws. The price we [farmers] receive is very low and it’s lower because of unfair trade laws.”

Meskela is working hard to save his 74,000 impoverished coffee farmers, and he is on a mission to find buyers who are willing to pay a fair price for their coffee. Meskela is also the main character in Black Gold, a documentary that juxtaposes the experiences of the coffee farmers with that of the consumers who purchase the product on the other side of the world. “This film highlights the vulnerability of coffee farmers and the disconnect that exists between poor farmers and huge profits. Oxfam seeks to correct the imbalances of power at the root of unfair trade,” stated Petchers.

Starbucks’ Position

In response to Oxfam’s campaign, Starbucks has launched a counter-attack. “We have never filed an opposition to the Ethiopian government’s trademark application, nor claimed ownership to any regional names used to describe the origin of our coffees,” the company said. Dub Hay, Starbucks Senior Vice President of Coffee and Global Procurement told BBC radio, “We have not been involved in trying to block Ethiopia’s attempts. We did not get the NCA involved; in fact it was the other way around. They were the ones who contacted us on this.”

While Starbucks denies being behind the trademark-blocking process, the company doesn’t think that trade marking is in the best interest of the farmers and the Ethiopian economy. “Were trademarks to be implemented — roasters might shy away from buying the coffees for fear of becoming embroiled in complicated legal disputes. Or worse, they may buy the coffees and just market them without the trademarked names. Letting the high quality beans go to market without a geographic identification would completely undermine the value of the brand,” Starbucks said in a statement.

The Ethiopian government also asked Starbucks to sign an agreement that would enable Ethiopia to have ownership of its coffees. However, Starbucks refused to sign such an agreement, as the company believes that if Ethiopia were to trademark its products it would be excluding itself from the market. According to Hailu, this is grossly offensive. “The only way this statement could be accurate is if Ethiopia completely mismanages the trademarks once they have been acquired, and I would hope that Starbucks is not assuming that Ethiopia is not capable of managing the Intellectual Property assets related to one of its most important exports,” Hailu says.

As an alternative to trademarking products, Starbucks suggests the development of geographic certification programs. Through the certification programs, a country can be identified as the origin of a product. Starbucks says these systems are more effective than registering trademarks for geographically specific names, such as the regional names the Ethiopian government is trying to trademark. The trademark signifies the manufacturer of a good or product while certification identifies that the product meets quality product standards. Alain Poncelet, Starbucks’ head of Green Coffee Purchasing told Spiegel Online, the German online newspaper, that his company “is all for Ethiopia ‘protecting its regional names,’ just not through trademark.”

This position is not receiving much press, however. The company received over 70,000 phone calls and faxes from concerned consumers showing support for the farmers. But does such negative publicity have any affect on the house-hold name and billion dollar company? “Probably not,” says a Starbucks employee in New York City who spoke on condition of anonymity. “People are so hooked on coffee that they are not going to be affected by something that is happening so far away. The only people protesting Starbucks are a minority of activists. Everyone else just thinks about their own problems.” The employee also spoke highly of Starbucks treatment of its employees. “They treat their employees better than most corporate companies and they give a lot back to the community,” he said.

Power positioning

As Meskela pointed out, the struggle between the coffee farmers and Starbucks doesn’t just address the issue of trademark rights. It also highlights the way coffee farmers are almost entirely left out of the trading industry between governments and corporations. The issue addresses the reality that farmers in “developing” countries don’t have much bargaining power in the international trade sector.

Senait Assefa, a resident of New York from Ethiopia, believes that strengthening the position of coffee farmers in the international market should be the focus of the efforts, not Starbucks. “The coffee producers should band together to control the supply of coffee in the international market, thereby enabling themselves to dictate their own terms (similar to how oil producing countries manipulate the price of oil by reducing or increasing production & supply)”, said Assefa. However, Assefa admits that this might not work. “While oil is a resource only few countries are endowed with, almost anybody can grow coffee,” she added.

Although coffee is a crop that can grow in different regions, the high quality of Ethiopian coffee is what makes it so unique. As Ethiopian farmers continue to work hard to produce such fine quality coffee, their position in the international trade market is just beginning to receive worldwide attention, thanks to the tireless work of Meskela and others. While the battle to trademark their coffees continues, the coffee farmers are also left to struggle with trade laws that make them invisible in the chain of international players.



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R. L. Fielding asked:


Techniques for brewing coffee range from the practical to the artful. When purchasing a coffee maker for your home, you’ll want to select a machine that matches your own coffee brewing style.

Is drinking coffee a languid morning ritual or something you do on-the-go? Do you prefer an uncomplicated cup of black coffee or an espresso with a light crema layer? To help you decide on the ideal brewer for your lifestyle, here is a rundown of popular coffee machines, from single cup Keurig coffee makers to the more elaborate espresso makers:

Drip Coffee Maker

You can’t get more traditional in your approach to coffee brewing than by using a drip coffee maker. Introduced for home use in the 1970s, these machines work by letting water pass through coffee grounds held in a paper filter or plastic filter. The clear, light-bodied coffee then collects in a brew pot.

Drip coffee machines range in size, but typically brew eight to twelve cups at a time. Many models have a heating element which keeps the pot warm. Coffee left sitting in the heated pot for too long may develop a burnt or bitter taste.

Benefits: Ease of use. Brew multiple cups in a single pot.

Drawbacks: Moderate brewing time. Need to clean up used grounds and coffee pot.

Single Cup Coffee Maker

Single cup coffee machines are among the newest trends in coffee brewing. These machines use individual portion packs of coffee to brew one cup at a time. Simply fill the water reservoir, pop a portion pack of your favorite coffee in the holding chamber, and press the brew button. In under a minute, you’ll have a fresh cup of gourmet coffee.

While the most common type of portion pack is the coffee pod – a paper filter containing coffee grounds – some brands of single cup coffee maker call for the use of their own proprietary portion packs. For instance, single cup brewing systems from Keurig use K Cups and those from Tassimo use T-Discs.

Prices for single cup coffee makers range from less than $50 to more than $300, depending on the size and model. Many models can brew tea and hot cocoa as well as coffee. Some high-end models are capable of producing coffee with a crèma layer. A single cup coffee maker is a great choice for someone who’s always on the go.

Benefits: Quick brewing time. Minimal clean up.

Drawbacks: With the exception of some high-end models that take loose ground coffee, you must use portion packs.

Percolator

Coffee percolators are a type of drip brew coffee maker. Highly popular in the early twentieth century, percolators have resurfaced as a nostalgia item in many homes.

What distinguishes percolators from standard drip brewers is the way water moves through the percolator chambers – boiling first in the lower chamber, bubbling up through a vertical tube, then percolating down through the coffee grounds before re-circulating. This process gives percolated coffee a unique taste. If heated for too long after the percolating process completes, the coffee may develop a bitter taste.

Benefits: Characteristic “perking” action. Non-electric and electric versions available.

Drawbacks: Slow brewing time. Diminishes natural flavor of coffee beans.

Espresso Machine

Espresso machines offer coffee with a more European flair. The machines operate by forcing hot water through finely ground coffee beans. This process results in espresso’s characteristic crema layer. Espresso typically has a thicker consistency than drip brewed coffee and contains more sediment from the coffee grounds.

The flavor of espresso is much more concentrated than drip brewed coffee, making it the perfect base for lattes, mochas, macchiato, and cappuccinos when mixed with varying amounts of frothed milk. While espresso is higher by volume in caffeine than drip brewed coffee, the customary small serving size means that most espresso drinks contain less caffeine than a mug of coffee. This is a true luxury item.

Benefits: Trendy. Quick brewing time. Produces a variety of espresso drinks.

Drawbacks: More complicated to operate. Espresso flavor degrades quickly after brewing.

Remember, not all coffee makers are created equal. Once you’ve decided which type of coffee machine best suits your lifestyle, making a purchase becomes a matter of deciding your price range and desired features. It helps to read consumer reviews posted on the Internet before choosing a particular model. If you take your time and research all the options, you’re sure to find a coffee maker that will perk up your mornings for years to come.

About CoffeeCow

CoffeeCow.com goes to great lengths to provide the highest quality products, the fastest service, and the deepest discount prices you will find on Keurig K-Cups, coffee pods, and a wide selection of related coffee supplies. Developed by coffee professionals with over 35 years of experience in fulfilling any coffee service need, CoffeeCow offers all the coffee conveniences for your home or office. Visit http://www.coffeecow.com for more information.



Kansieo.com

Aaron Matthews-Morgan asked:


Coffee Brewing Methods range from popular Espresso or French Press methods to lesser used methods like Turkish. Here we explore the four most popular Coffee Brewing Methods: Espresso, French Press, Drip Filtration and Mokta or Stovetop method.

Espresso

Probably the most popular of the Coffee Brewing Methods in recent times is making an Espresso using a machine. Super hot, pressurized water is forced through fine ground, tightly packed coffee. The pressurized infusion process ensures that the water stays in contact with the coffee grounds long enough to draw out much of the coffee ground flavor. The water then finds a path through the coffee grounds. And the coffee commences to pour into your cup. When the water finds a path through the coffee grind it is referred to as the ’shot being pulled’ through the group.

The sign of a good espresso, using fresh coffee beans, is the richness of the crema. Crema is the hazelnut foam that sits on the surface of the coffee. This is produced by the pressurizing process and the oils of the coffee bean. Oils break down with time, and so a rich crema will be produced using fresh beans. And if you didn’t catch it when I started talking about Espresso, use a fine grind. Using a course grind allows the water to ‘brush past’ the grind rather than infuse with it. Using a course grind will still produce a good coffee, but it will taste more like a coffee produced using a Drip Filter coffee brewing method rather than true Espresso coffee.

French Press

One of the simplest of all Coffee Brewing Methods is the French Press or Plunger. This is probably the easiest way to make great coffee! The French Press works by directly mixing ground coffee with near boiling water. The coffee flavors get drawn out into the water and then the press or plunger is depressed, separating the exhausted coffee grind from the brew. While the process has a similar taste to the Drip Filtration style, the French Press can extract more flavor from the coffee grind by extending the brewing time. Manual infusion requires you to get your timing right. If you let the brewing process run too long you may end up with a bitter coffee. Conversely, if you brew too quickly you will have a weak tasting coffee.

One more point, use a course grind. You don’t want fine ground coffee escaping through the metal filter and into the brew. A dusty cup of coffee is not an experience worth having.

Drip Filtration

Let’s start with the Drip Filtration style. Drip Filtration is probably the most popular method of all. The Drip Filtration machine works by spraying hot water across ground coffee that is held in a conical shaped filter. The hot water then slowly moves through the ground coffee. Once the water reaches the bottom of the conical filter, it drips into a container beneath it.

The most widely used conical filters are made of paper, while expensive stainless steel or gold conical filters are also available. When buying paper filters, be sure to use oxygen bleached paper. Chemically treated papers may affect the taste of your coffee. Another point to be aware of with paper filters is that you may also have some of the flavorful coffee oils trapped by the paper filter. It is the oils that produce the rich crema when you make an espresso. The grind is also important with Drip Filtration. If the grind is too fine, you may clog the pores of your filter. You can avoid this by using a course grind (read about grinding here).

Finally, if you do not expect to drink the full pot of coffee, either by yourself (all that caffeine….) or with friends, beware the constantly heated coffee. It loses its flavor and may even become bitter. And the golden rule….never reheat coffee.



Mokta Pot/Stovetop

The Moka Pot style is also known as a Stovetop coffee pot. Moka pot’s come in several sizes including 2, 4 or 6 cup capacities. The Moka Pot a simple 3 piece pot. The water reservoir is at the base, with a coffee basket in the middle and the brewed coffee ends up in the top.

The coffee brewing method is very simple. The pot is placed on a stove top which heats the water in the lower reservoir. As the water reaches boiling point, the steam rises and the water starts to push upward through the coffee grounds. This continues to travel up the central funnel and seeps into the top chamber where it comes to rest. The process finishes when the coffee stops moving into the top chamber. This should only take a few minutes to brew depending on the cup size of the Moka pot.

The grind should be a fine grind, similar or finer to that used in an Espresso machine. If you want to fill the coffee basket the way traditional Italian drinkers do, then heap the coffee grounds high in the coffee basket and ***** the two pieces together. Don’t worry about compacting the coffee. When the top half of the pot is screwed on, the grounds will be compacted by the filter screen. You should end up with a dry, compacted puck of coffee grounds at the end of brewing.

So there you have it. The four most popular Coffee Brewing Methods.





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Stephanie Larkin asked:


best coffee beans available all over the world, roast them to perfection, season with an advanced social conscience and a mission to help change the world, flavor with a very savvy sense of marketing and business and you might end up with one of the most successful specialty coffee businesses in the world. Ask the founders of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, the specialty coffee business that started as a small café in Waterbury, Vermont back in 1981 and recorded nearly $350 million in sales in fiscal 2007.

The road to success for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has been a series of excellent business decisions coupled with right-place-right-time social policies. The Green Mountain label stands for excellent coffee combined with a mission to make a difference in the world. That mission imbues everything that the company does, from sourcing their coffees to point of sale and beyond – the company even uses recycled/recyclable packaging materials. Mission and social responsibility aside, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters owes its success to one factor – the amazing flavor.

The Green Mountain brand is built on high quality specialty coffees. The company began as a small café in Vermont, with a commitment to serving specialty coffees roasted on premises. It wasn’t long before restaurants and shops in town started asking to serve Green Mountain’s coffee. When skiers who had tried Green Mountain’s specialty coffees while on vacation started asking if they could order coffee and have it sent to their homes, the company added its mail order business, and things just grew from there. These days, you can buy Green Mountain Roasters specialty coffees in your supermarket or order it online, sign up for Café Express to have Green Mountain coffee delivered to you automatically, drink Green Mountain coffee at many of your favorite restaurants, and buy Green Mountain coffee pre-packed into Keurig K-cups – Green Mountain sells the most varieties of coffees in K-cups of any of the Keurig partners.

The connection with Keurig is not the first strategic market placement decision that’s paid off for Green Mountain. Many avid fans got their first taste of Green Mountain’s specialty roasts at a most unexpected place – local convenience stores like 7-11 and Store 24, Gas-n-Go shops and other on-the-run coffee pickup spots where the last thing you expect is excellent coffee. As the various convenience stores have expanded their repertoire to include self-service coffee bars – and the technology for making good coffee has improved – Green Mountain has often been the coffee served.

Who Is Green Mountain Coffee Roasters?

Why not ask the company themselves? According to their press releases:

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters was ranked No. 1 on the list of “100 Best Corporate Citizens” in 2006 and 2007, and has been recognized repeatedly by Forbes, Fortune Small Business, and the Society of Human Resource Management as an innovative, high-growth, socially responsible company.

Is the coffee really as good as all that? With the fastest growing sales in the industry, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters stands by quality as a watchword. They send coffee sourcers throughout the world to taste and test the crops at coffee plantations in Africa, Asia and South America, bringing back the best that they find. Unlike the biggest chains that must be able to buy in large enough volume to supply hundreds or thousands of stores with any variety they choose, Green Mountain has no issues with selling limited edition coffees, often as single origin coffees.

Green Mountain Coffee Sourcing

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is also popular with “socially conscious” consumers who love the company’s environmentally and community-friendly policies. The company makes every attempt to source directly from growers around the world, and is one of the leading buyers in the Fair Trade coffee market. Green Mountain buyers work directly with coffee growers whenever possible. It is their commitment to high quality coffee and improving the world that has spurred the roasting company’s success.

Favorite Green Mountain Coffee Blends

If you’ve never tried Green Mountain Coffee, one of the best ways to get a real feel for the brand’s variety of flavors is to order one of the company’s variety samplers. If you’d rather pick and choose your own sampler pack, here’s a list of all-time favorite Green Mountain Coffee Blends.

Breakfast Blend – The #1 all time favorite and best seller, lighter roast, rich taste and medium acidity

Nantucket Blend – Exotic blend, full-bodied with a hint of floral and fruit, bright acidity and complex flavor

Dark Magic – An extra bold dark roast specially blended and roasted for espresso

Wild Mountain Blueberry – Seasonal flavored coffee that has become one of Green Mountain’s most popular coffees ever

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Brian Jenkins asked:


There are many excellent reasons why a company would choose to provide coffee for its employees, customers and clients, but can you really save money using a coffee service? When you count in all of the costs associated with providing coffee for your business, you may be pleasantly surprised to find out just how cost-effective it can be to use a coffee service for your office coffee needs. Take a look at some of the obvious, and not so obvious, cost benefits of using a coffee service as opposed to providing the same coffee and machine on your own.

The Cost of the Coffee Machine



When considering the cost of the coffee machine, be sure to evaluate your office’s needs in terms of cups of coffee served per day. If you’re making more than two or three pots of coffee a day for your office or company, chances are that a coffee maker designed for use in a home kitchen just won’t do. While you may not need a coffee machine designed for restaurant or coffee shop use, you do need one that will handle higher traffic than the typical kitchen coffee maker or you’ll be replacing the coffee machine every few months. A coffee maker that can handle the typical office or business traffic will easily cost you upwards of $150-$200, while a top-of-the-line coffee machine or a coffee vending machine can easily run into the thousands of dollars.

By contrast, most office coffee service companies provide a high quality, professional coffee maker for free as long as you contract to buy a minimum amount of coffee and supplies through their service.

The Cost of Coffee through an Office Coffee Service



Office coffee service companies tend to buy their materials from coffee suppliers in large quantities. These companies are usually able to get a discounted price for the coffee that they buy. In general, you won’t pay more for coffee bought through an office coffee service than you would if you bought the coffee at your local supermarket or through a coffee subscription service. There are, however, many other ways that you’ll see savings when you buy coffee through a coffee service.

- Coffee ordered from a coffee service is delivered directly to your office on a pre-determined schedule. That means that no one has to spend time shopping for coffee and no one has to run out in the middle of the day to buy coffee because you’ve run out.

- Generally, the coffee service will deliver coffee packaged in pre-measured pouches just right for making one pot of coffee. That helps you control the amount of coffee that’s used per pot, potentially saving you money on every pot of coffee.

- If you choose a single serve coffee system, your potential savings are even greater. Because your employees will be making coffee to order, one cup at a time, you won’t be pouring old coffee down the drain because it’s become undrinkable.

In addition to the savings you’ll get by choosing a coffee service, you’ll also be serving better coffee. You won’t be brewing up ground coffee that’s gone stale in the can or the bag because your coffee will be in vacuum packed pouches or cups until just before you brew it.

Save Money on Supplies and Equipment through an Office Coffee Service



Your coffee supplier will also offer a range of coffee making equipment and supplies to mix with your coffee. That means that you won’t be paying supermarket prices for cream, milk, sugar and creamer for office use. Similar to the coffee, you’ll be able to purchase office coffee supplies through your coffee service in individual serving packets, which is both more sanitary and more economical. You won’t be throwing away cream or milk that’s gone bad in the refrigerator, or running down to the store to pick up another quart of milk before a big meeting.

Those supplies also include napkins, coffee cups and stirrers. Disposable coffee supplies are optional, of course, but could be an enormous boon if you regularly serve coffee to clients or customers.

Save Money on Repairs, Service and Replacement



One expense that’s not often counted when you’re calculating the cost of providing coffee at the office is the cost of maintenance. A coffee machine requires regular maintenance and cleaning in order to continue making good coffee. A broken coffee carafe often means buying a new coffee maker because it can be difficult to replace the carafe with the right size.

When you use an office coffee service, your service provider takes on the responsibility for maintaining and servicing your machine on a regular schedule. If your coffee machine malfunctions, the coffee service will replace or repair it, often within 24 hours so that you’re not left without a functioning coffee machine for your employees and customers. Depending on your contract with the coffee service, those replacements may be at no cost to you, or at a very nominal cost.

An office coffee service isn’t right for every office, but if your company provides coffee for employees or for customers and clients, it’s an option well worth exploring. If you’re considering using an office coffee service, the points above can help you make a realistic analysis of your possible savings.



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