Plate Lunch: What I learned at Public Brewing School

Plate Lunch: What I learned at Public Brewing School: "How do you like your coffee? I like my first cup in the morning brewed in a French press. A French press, also known as a press pot or cof..."

Coffee and the Simple Life

The other morning while I made coffee I took a good look at my coffee pot and decided it had seen better days.  It's plastic casing is dull and the lid on the carafe doesn't fit tightly.  The most advanced feature on it is the timer.  As a coffee roaster, I almost feel obligated to have the latest and greatest coffee brewing apparatus... but I don't.

Coffee for my Conscience

Recently while looking for a Guatemalan coffee to add to the current offerings I ran across the Guatemala Nahuala. Its from Cooperative Nahuala in Quetzaltenango region of Guatemala on the Nahuala River Basin. Founded in 1978 it's a small co-op of about 126 farmers, formed to help the farmers connect with overseas buyers which ultimately results in providing them with higher wages. The Cooperative is 90% organic, consistently invests back into their communities and focuses on improving its coffee quality and crop yields. Cooperative Nahuala has initiated a reforestation project in the Ixtacapa River area, planting more trees, creating a better environment, inviting more native species to live in the region; creating healthier soil in the area. The Cooperative has provided training to all of its members in organic production and implemented diversification projects, encouraging producers to sell honey and organic bananas to the local market so they aren't completely dependent on coffee and help stabilize the community. To top it off, they also manage a very successful composting project that allows the Cooperative members to purchase fertilizer at a reasonable prices. I was sold and brought Guatemala Nahuala.

Several days later at an outdoor market a woman stopped, picked up a bag of our new Fair Trade Organic Guatemalan coffee and began asking questions about how it was roasted, She told me she was well acquainted with the some of the she coffee farms or "fincas" there. She was in Guatemala some years back as a volunteer with Doctors Without Borders and lived there for several months. She said there were many smaller co-ops and farms that operated much like Cooperative Nahuala but couldn't afford Fair Trade Organic certification. We lamented about the inequities of all systems and the politicalization of all things, even coffee.

Her story served as a reminder that a lot of sweat, love and pride create the beans that I roast to create the hot liquid heaven in my cup. It served as a reminder of how connected we all really are; that no life goes untouched by another life even down to the most basic levels of existence. I take a lot of things for granted and often act with such a sense of entitlement. Sometimes I need to be reminded to be thankful for simple things.

Thank you Cooperative Guatemala Nahuala.

Coffee: Good to you Bad For You?

So a guy comes up to me while I'm selling coffee and says...."you have any tea"? I tell him no and he tells me that I should, because there is a seismic shift towards tea drinking, large enough to create entire continents and I need to get with it.  I was waiting for him to tell me 'all the cool kids are doing it'.  But he went one better (or worse).  He said  "People are switching to tea because it has less caffeine". It was time to dispel the tea myth.  Here it goes: Tea contains more caffeine than coffee by dry weight.  A typical serving contains much less caffeine than coffee because tea is normally brewed much weaker.   His muttered response - as he walked away - was the 'adult' equivalent of 'so what'. To me that's what you say when you have nothing to say but - you want the last word.  Whatever.

Caffeine in general is so ninja, the average person doesn't realize that it's in a lot of stuff  - coffee, tea, many cola drinks and over the counter medication.  Yet coffee always  gets accused of being villain because caffeine is most commonly ingested through coffee.

If you are one of those people who drink several cups of coffee daily, you probably wonder what all that coffee is doing to you. ROFL!  Yeah right! If you're one of THOSE people you  probably don't care!  But seriously, is coffee really bad for you, or is drinking coffee just a harmless vice?  Can it be possible that coffee is actually good for us?  Look at the results of some recent research:  .

• There are nutritional advisers who claim that coffee makes us age faster, wears out our adrenal glands, and wreaks unspeakable damage to our cells.

• In some older people, coffee or tea can improve memory and alertness enough to partly offset the effects of aging. 

• Other researchers claim that coffee, especially if it's freshly roasted and ground, is full of antioxidants, and therefore good for us.  Most doctors say that drinking one or two cups of coffee a day is probably not harmful.  And of course there are others who say we ought to avoid caffeine altogether.

•  Caffeine gives brain cells a temporary boost .  But the amount required to improve mental performance is not very high.  Even half a cup of coffee will be enough to give your brain a boost that lasts several hours.  Which is precisely why many of us drink coffee, especially the first thing in the morning.

For those that are wondering where I'm going with this, here it it is, the definitive response to the raging coffee vs. tea question: Drink the d@%n coffee!

Avoid excessive consumption of coffee ( or anything else for that matter). What's excessive? Depends on the individual.  If  four cups of coffee a day makes you  jittery, nauseous, suffer insomnia, kick the dog, cuss out your boss and walk of your job or demonstrate and other extreme behaviors, you should probably cut back on the caffeine. Seriously. You really should.

If you don't suffer from any of the above by your fourth cup....carry on!

 

www.shop.dreamcoastroast.com

Coffee as a Second Language

Coffee cafes have evolved into an entity separate and seemingly above a place to get a cup of coffee.  You just don't just order "  coffee".  Uh Uh.  You order  a "coffee drink". And there's an entire language you need to know in order to do it.

First you place your order with the person at the register who then tells another person - the barista what you want.  The barista is a person who makes and serves coffee drinks as a profession, hence why he doesn't take your order and ring you up. You also need to speak fluent coffee or the barista won't understand what kind of coffee drink you want.  Don't assume that ordering coffee in a coffee cafe is simple. Below is just a partial list of the how many different ways they can alter your cup of coffee:

• Espresso Con Panna: An espresso shot with whipped cream.
• Caffe Americano: Single shot of espresso with 6 to 8 ounces of hot water added.
• Cafe Breva: Cappuccino made with Half & Half instead of whole milk.
• Dry: Espresso with a small amount of foam and no steamed milk.
• Shot in the Dark: An espresso shot in coffee cup, then rest of cup filled with drip coffee.
• Latte: espresso and steamed milk.

Don't be scared.  You can have coffee if you 'don't know the lingo'.  It's like going to foreign countries where you don't speak the language.  Point to the board and say "uhmm" a lot.  Give brief descriptions like "the one with a lot of milk" (latte) or the one that's really strong but has whip cream on it(espresso con panna).  Most cafes are bi-lingual or at least have an interpreter on hand...someone who understands the layman's lame terms for fancy (and not so fancy) coffee drinks.

Here are a few more terms.  These are not really common on the average menu but using them will probably make you feel snobbish and elitist if you're into that sort of thing.

• Frappe: Coffee drink made with ice cream and milk.
• Ristretto: A restricted shot of espresso (called a short pull). During the brewing process, less water is allowed to pass through the coffee grounds. The makes for an especially intense flavor.
• Lungo: An extra long pull. During the brewing process, twice as much water is allowed to pass through the coffee grounds.
• Chairo: Espresso drink made "clear" by adding more milk.
• Caffe Mochaccino: Cappuccino with chocolate syrup.

Also you need to tell the barista the size of the coffee drink you want. If you look on the menu, small, medium, and large will probably not be there. Your size choices are usually short (8 oz), tall (12 oz), grande (16 oz) and venti (20 oz).

Ordering "Black, cream & sugar" is probably going to get a strange look from the friendly barista. Ordering a drip coffee drink is not the fashionable thing these days. You should probably pull the non-barista to the side and whisper your order .  If they have an ounce of decency they won't share your shame with the rest of the patrons and will be instrumental in helping the barista understand that it is important to treat the coffee challenged as equals.

Once you get your coffee drink, you just can't take a taste and say "Good coffee". One must first comment on the aroma (or bouquet), then the tone or appearance of the coffee drink. After the first taste, one can judge the body or weight consistency of the coffee drink. Next you need to describe how the coffee actually tasted. Was the coffee bitter, briny, buttery, spicy, sweet, stale, or even chocolaty? If all went well in the coffee preparation, and if you chose a good blend of coffee, this particular coffee drink could be considered mellow or full and well balanced.


 Me personally? I just go in and order my coffee however I want it, describing it however I want to and just look at them all like "what"?  Apparently the only thing coffee cafes want more than everyone using the proper lingo is everyone's money.  Just sayin.

Coffee Rehab

Recently a friend called me to say her co-worker really liked my coffee. “She’s decided she can use it for her rehab”. Naturally I wanted to know what she was talking about. She explained how her co-worker loves her coffee drinks…she visits her local cafe twice-a-day. Alas, her money’s getting funny and her change is getting strange so she’s looking to save a few bucks. She figured she could save $60 a month by cutting back to one café visit a day. She chose to eliminate her morning visit and brew her first cup of the day at home, using good, fresh roasted coffee to ease the pain of ‘withdrawal ‘. “So that makes DreamCoast Roast ...well, like methadone, right"?  Wow. 

Well if you’re trying to kick the café habit, brewing premium fresh roasted coffee at home is a start but don’t stop there! You can create tasty café style coffee drinks at home. Here are a few things you can do:

• First use premium fresh roasted coffee from your local café, specialty grocery stores or online. Check for a roast date on the bag (a good roaster will have one on theirs). Since coffee starts getting stale immediately after roasting try not to purchase any whole beans more than two weeks old and any ground that’s more than a week.

• Brewing at home opens up a world of possibilities! One of the first ‘gourmet’ coffees I tried was from the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia. It was the Harar and it changed my life (well that may be an overstatement but you get my drift). I expanded my palette's  repertoire to include other African coffees like Yirgacheffee and Kenya.  If you only like coffees from certain regions try different estates and area's of the region for variety.  Variables like altitude, rainfall and farming methods can provide variety while staying with the familiar.

• Substitute sugar with flavored syrups (vanilla, hazelnut, coconut and raspberry are good ones). Or use pure maple syrup, turbinado sugar, or agave sweetener, an all natural sweetener low on the glycemic sugar index. You can find them at the grocery store. You may have to go to a health food store for the agave sweetener.

• Grind up a little whole cinnamon or nutmeg with your coffee beans or add ground spices to coffee before or after brewing for a little extra ‘kick".  Someone told me the other day they put habanero peppers in their coffee!

• If you add milk, heat it before adding it to your coffee. Scald it if possible. It just tastes better!

• Are you in love with the froth on your cappuccino or espresso?  You can froth at home too! Check out this link. It covers everything you want and need to know about milk frothing. Frothing milk

• Do you usually get pastries with your coffee at the café? Stop by your local bakery at closing time.  They often discount items and get something for them versus throwing them out and getting nothing.  Warm it up for a few seconds the next morning in the microwave to freshen it up….just like most cafes do!

Decent coffee drinks can be made at home without totally sacrificing quality and taste. No it's not exactly like the cafe. Write your name on your cup.  Maybe that will make your experience more authentic.

Darlene
DreamCoast Roast
www.dreamcoastroast.com

Burgers, Diet Drinks and Lattes

Recently, I had lunch with a fellow Weight Watcher friend--not as in the organization but as in quite literally watching our weight.  These days, we mostly watch the weight climb.  At any rate, over a thankless feast of broiled lemon chicken with brown rice, salad and low cal dressing, etc., my calorie-counting buddy begins once again to lament nonstop about her failure to lose more weight. "I am doing EVERYTHING.  No midnight snacks, following the diet plan, eating only the recommended meals, no substituting ingredients, aerobics, yoga and strength training 5 times a week," she droned on. At this point I had tuned her out to focus my attention on the New York Style cheesecake covered in a mountain of cherries in front of the lady at the table next to mine. I fantasized about snatching it and running, wondering if I could make it to the front door.  I decided that the door was too far away to reach before somebody stopped me.  I tuned back in to my weight watching friend’s woes just in time for her to suggest that we get coffee at the cafe down the street.  We paid our check and left.  The cheesecake stayed behind.
We arrived to the café and approached the counter.  ‘The usual?” suggested the cashier.  As my friend nodded, I noticed that the barista (a term I use loosely) has already started the order.  Curious, I asked her what the usual was, which happened to be a large latte with whole milk, a double shot of vanilla syrup, and whole milk foam. "I love their lattes. I come here twice a day.”  Yikes.  "Dude", I say slowly.  "Do you know how many calories are in that latte you just ordered"?   "What? What are you talking about?” she cried, visibly alarmed.  "It's milk and coffee". So I broke it down for her just like this:
Between the foam and the milk in the latte you’ve got about a cup of milk.  That’s 150 calories.  Two tablespoons of vanilla syrup is 80 calories, which accounts for at least one shot.
"So what you're saying is that I'm drinking almost over  500 calories of coffee a day???” she screamed.  "Yep,” I replied.

I’d like to take this opportunity to raise one of my pet peeves: people who go to drive-thru burger joints, order the works and then PROUDLY order a diet coke. Really??? Why mind the calories now? The damage is done.  Just go ahead and get the regular coke.

Fortunately, all is not lost. You can shave calories off your favorite café and preserve the taste by substituting fat free milk and sugar free syrup, which comes in a large variety of flavors.  If you are watching your weight, be mindful of watching your favorite coffee drinks too.  They may be the very thing that sabotages you—even more so than New York Style Cherry Cheesecake.

DreamCoast Roast Custom Roasted Coffee  

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Coffee: The Forbidden Fruit in Your Cupboard

Count your blessings coffee lovers. Five hundred years ago, you’d be considered a stone cold criminal.  Long before cigarettes, obnoxious cell phone users, and loud music with filthy lyrics, it was actually none other than coffee that was public enemy no.  1.  Coffee was not only condemned, but outright banned in many countries before becoming the adored treat that it is today.   And being caught with it would have landed you in hot water. 

Coffee met its first opposition not far from where it was cultivated, in the Middle East and Northern Africa.  Not unlike modern Western culture, coffeehouses were the it place to be in the 16th century.  So much so, that Mosques eventually had fairly shoddy attendance, compared to coffeehouses.  By the year 1511, the governor of Mecca had had enough.  He ordered all Meccan coffeehouses to be closed and even paid off two notable doctors to endorse false propaganda about coffee’s health risks.  Around the same time, a crusade to ban coffee in Islamic law was kicked off.  The effort would continue for close to a century.   Coffee received a short-lived justice when the Sultan of Cairo (an avid coffee drinker) decided that no such ban should be made without his approval.  The ban was overturned, and the governor was sentenced to death in the year 1512 for embezzlement.  Sadly, coffeehouses were once again closed by Sultan Murat IV of Cairo during the Ramadan of 1532.  They remained closed until the very end of the century.

Coffee was met with an equal amount of delight and doubt when it reached Europe in the 17th century. The first person said to have brewed the coffee in England was Nathaniel  Conopios, a Balliol College student from Crete.  He was quickly expelled from the University for his “mischief”, but his brewing practices spread like wildfire.  After its popularity had grown, a group of Christian clerics urged Pope Clement VIII to once again prohibit the bean, insisting that it was, of course, the work of the Devil.  The Pope decided that he could not rightfully ban coffee without tasting it first.  After tasting the controversial and delicious beverage, Pope Clement VIII determined that not only was it not the work of the Devil, but that it should be baptized as a Christian drink.  King Charles II of England banned the big-bodied bean just before Christmas of 1675, out of fear that its effects of liveliness and alertness were certain to incite a revolt.  The King got the revolt he was looking for when mass protests ensued in response to the ban.  He reversed his decision on January 8th of 1676.

Over the centuries, coffee has been dogged out, expelled, and dragged through the mud.  Yet it has proved time and time again that it is a hallmark of flavor, sociability, and intrigue, and deserves its place in society.  We coffee drinkers are the descendants of the ancient creed of “give us our coffee and no one gets hurt.”  Brothers and Sisters let us continue to carry the torch.

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