Investing in Great Coffee

How often do you have the opportunity to invest in coffee? My guess is....not very much. Today I want to talk about a chance for you to help an awesome coffee roaster grow. Bee Coffee Roasters are roasting some of the best coffee I've had the pleasure to sip. I've written about them before, and last year they made the cut of one of my favorite coffees of the year.

Whether they are serving coffee in their two locations in Indianapolis, at various farmer's markets and festivals around the city, or in a fine local restaurant, BJ and Andy are producing something very wonderful and special. To be able to grow though, they need your help. Starting today they have announced a Kickstarter campaign to purchase a larger roaster.

The new roaster will help them better serve their current customer base, and be able to expand. Their goal is to raise $45,000

For more information on this campaign go to....

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/271817300/roasting-the-next-chapter

They have some wonderful thank you gifts. More than the gifts though, you will be able to say you helped a good coffee company spread good coffee around.

Charlie

Coffee Review: The Fresh Market's The Fresh Market Blend

The Fresh Market is one of a type pf grocery chain which sells organic and local items, a la Whole Foods. There's one near my work, and occasionally get coffee there.  For the record there is a lady in their coffee department who is always trying to get me to try coffees, but I've tested her coffee knowledge, and I find it could use some fine tuning. Yesterday she told me I would really love The Fresh Market Blend. I asked her what it was a blend of. She said, "Oh it's got lots of good dark and light roast coffees."

As I scooped some into the bag, yes, I saw light colored beans, and sweaty dark roasted beans. She got the description right. This morning I made a pot. Let's see......

There is a lot of mocha in this coffee. In fact, that's about all I taste. Since I don't know the beans' origins, I can't tell if this is typical or not.

To say this is a mellow cup of coffee is an understatement. If coffee were a bunch of guys passing around a joint, while munching on pot brownies, this would be that mellow.

On our Cher Scale of Strength, this is a 1 out of 10. It barely rates a lift of the hand to try to slap Nicolas Cage.

I do like the taste of the coffee. This mocha coffee has a nice flavor. I just wish it was a better, stronger coffee.

Charlie

New Journey to Rhode Island

Last week I learned we are about to pick up and move to Providence, RI. In my other life, I will managing a new running store. So in addition to learning about a new running community, I will get to explore New England's coffee world. This is very exciting.

Already I have reached out to folks in the area and asked them about coffee in Providence. New Harvest Coffee Roasters is one which came up again and again.

http://www.newharvestcoffee.com

Another coffee roaster mentioned to me by some folks was Mills Coffee Roasting Co.

https://www.facebook.com/MillsCoffeeRoasting

The good news is not only will I try them and get to know them, I'll be close to Boston, where I can explore the coffee world there as well. In fact I have all New England to sample.

Looking forward to the new adventure.

Charlie

Coffee Review: Julian Coffee Roasters Pacific Rampage

As I make my way through the coffee roasters in the Indianapolis area, one coffee roaster I've wanted to try is Julian Coffee Roasters of Zionsville, IN. The problem has been I didn't know where to find it. I do now. Fresh Thyme Market sells their coffee. I saw it yesterday, and I was pretty anxious to sample their coffee this morning.

I purchased their Pacific Rampage Blend. This is a dark roast blend of Indonesian, Central and South American coffees. According to their website, Julian describes it as their darker roast, bittersweet chocolate.

Dark roasts can have a burnt taste. This coffee didn't. In fact, I thought the taste was not burnt, but a bit spicy. I certainly got the bittersweet chocolate. I just didn't expect a spicy taste as well. This is a surprising coffee.

How strong is it? Again this is a surprising coffee, you would think this dark roast would be a strong one. On our Cher Scale of Strength this is 7. Imagine Cher in her last movie "Burlesque" bossing around her dancers. She's roaring, but really this is no slapping Nicolas Cage in the face.

Now before you think this is a bad thing, I don't. A dark roast doesn't have to slap you silly. In fact, I prefer those that don't.

I said this was a surprising coffee, and it is. It's a darned good coffee, In fact one of the better ones I've had since my heart attack. I was impressed. This is the kind of coffee which makes me want to try more of their coffees. Now that I know where to get it I will.

For more information - www.juliancoffee.com

Charlie

Pumpkin

Don't get me wrong....I love pumpkin. I love pumpkin pie, pancakes, bread, you mix in a bit of pumpkin, and I'm all over it. Except in coffee. I can almost hear some of you scream, "I love my Pumpkin Spice Latte!" I'm not talking about that, but if you want to check nutrition on it, we could.

I'm talking about pumpkin infused coffee. At my Local Fresh Market, I saw a special on "Real Pumpkin" infused coffee. I don't even know what that means. I do know one thing, it means pumpkin flavored coffee. I now have an image of someone opening a can of pie filling and mixing it with beans. Ugh....no thanks!

This morning, admittedly I got bad convenience store coffee. Whatever they labeled the pot, it wasn't it. Instead I had Pumpkin coffee. Yikes that was bad, bad coffee. I'm all for a cup of bad coffee to slap you awake, but this was beyond bad. I think all that was missing was the crust and cool whip for this coffee. Still, I know that appeals to some of you.

Flavored coffee mystifies me. I don't care how you make a latte. I do care about the simple cup of coffee though. I imagine Juan Valdez scratching his head at what we do to his coffee beans.

Of course I know what's coming.....Gingerbread Coffee! Nooooooooooooooooooooo!

Charlie

Review: The Coffee Brake Tanzanian Peaberry

This week we've been sipping a Tanzanian Peaberry from The Coffee Brake. I've written about this Indianapolis roaster before. If you can call a roaster a regular guy's roaster, The Coffee Brake is it. There is nothing fancy about this place, but they have pretty good coffee. This is definitely a place to grab and take a coffee on the way to work.

I think this Peaberry is a bit unusual. I say so, because the beans didn't look like a traditional Peaberry. They were much larger. Initially I wondered if the bag was mislabeled, or these were some enhanced beans. Peaberry beans are usually pretty small, because there are two little seeds within a cherry, hence the pea-sized name.

I gave it a chance though. African Peaberries usually has a more tea-like taste. This didn't. I take that back, it was faint, not the overriding taste. The roast on this was a darker medium roast. I found caramel notes in it, and a darker cherry taste to it. I liked it, but I thought this was odd for a Peaberry.

Whatever coffee this was, I liked it. Mark thought it was great. I'll say it was pretty good.

This is a stronger coffee. On our Cher Scale of Strength, this is an 8. I like to use the image of Cher shaking Sonny, and telling him he's too short. That's a strong coffee.

The Coffee Brake is on 62nd and Allisonville in Indianapolis.

Charlie

Sweet Maria's

A good many folks who read this blog know Sweet Maria's, but for the rest of us, this is an introduction to what may be a coffee roaster's best friend. Simply put, Sweet Maria's is where you go if you are interested in roasting coffee, coffee products, any information about coffee,  or just all things coffee.

I first heard about the company from my friend Kris, who roasts coffee at home. Over the years, Kris has been kind enough to give me coffee she roasts, and I will say it is always good. Sweet Maria's sells green coffee beans to coffee enthusiasts, businesses, and anyone who may dabble in roasting coffee. As I looked through their website, I saw they are currently selling 60+ varieties of green coffee beans. Sweet Maria's gives plenty of detail about the profile of each bean, and what you can expect flavor wise as you roast. They also advise what kind of roast brings out the best flavor, or makes a great espresso.

Want to get started roasting, Sweet Maria's sells roasting equipment. Air Popcorn Poppers, Drum Roasters, a stovetop popcorn roaster, whatever machine you want to try, they seem to have it. Have to say though, after looking through the poppers, I don't think I want to stand by my stove and crank a popcorn popper to roast coffee.

Figured out your Mr. Coffee no longer cuts it? You can discover a plethora of brewing options. French Press, Hario, Chemex, Bee House Dripper, and yes, some amazing drip coffee machines are all available for you.

Ok, so you have your green beans, your roaster and the amazing brewing product, but you aren't sure what to do next? No problem, Sweet Maria's has a library online you can use to answer almost every question you may have. Included in all the resources are videos. This one I found most interesting....

http://www.sweetmarias.com/library/video/heres-what-first-crack-looks

Yes, I've not witnessed first crack, but this gave me a great view of it, and really some of the art and science of coffee roasting.

Sweet Maria's see themselves as not just the average coffee website:

"We are more than just another online store, we are a virtual coffee university. Simply put, we really like what we do."

If you haven't checked them out, so so. This should be one of your first stops in learning how to roast coffee.

http://www.sweetmarias.com

Happy Roasting!

Charlie