Coffee On a Budget

Sometimes you can't get the $18 a bag coffee, and that's ok. You then need to decide what coffee you will get, and how to brew it. These days a good many of us think the K-Cup is the way to go. It's actually wasteful, expensive overall, and not fresh. Is that really a value? No.

First get some whole bean coffee. Today we are drinking Eight O'Clock Coffee. For the $4.99 I paid, it isn't bad. The key is I got it whole bean. The hope is this is much fresher coffee than the ground. Remember, once coffee is ground, it's getting stale at light speed.

Grind your coffee, and figure your brewing method. We use French Press most of the time, and feel that brings out a lot of great flavors, more so than automatic drip. Chemex would change the flavor considerably. If you have all three, try each one, and see the difference.

Again I go back to the bean. A good many of us get a canister of ground coffee. Your throwing money away by doing that. For less than $20 you can get a decent grinder, and grind the coffee yourself. Trust me, your coffee on a budget will taste much better if you do this.

Charlie

A Lover Not a Snob

A few weeks ago I was talking to someone referred to me as a "coffee snob." I try not take offense, but I do. I know coffee snobs. Those are the people who thumb their nose at coffee that somehow doesn't meet their standards of what good coffee is.  

In my mind a snob is not interested in passing on their knowledge in a relatable way. They try to show off what they know. At parties or gatherings I get asked a lot about coffee, but I make it clear I am a student of coffee, and don't know as much as I would like to. I'm always learning. 

One thing I've learned is what I like in a coffee and what I don't like. What I don't like....I don't buy. I will from time to time malign Dunkin Donuts Coffee, and I most likely won't buy coffee from White Castle, but I will try all kinds of coffee. The ones I love, I will buy and buy again. What I love...I share.

In the last year I have shared my love for coffees from I Have a Bean, Bee Coffee Roasters, Stone Creek, Just Coffee, Hubbard and Cravens, my guys at JJ Coffee Roasters, my good friend Kris, and many more. The point is I want people to know there is more to coffee than Folgers or Maxwell House, and it is soooo good. 

That isn't a snob, that's a coffee lover.

Charlie

Starbucks and Education

This week Starbucks made news when it announced a educational tuition plan for their employees. Much has been discussed about what Starbucks will pay and what their employees may have to pay. I'm not going to debate the merits of the program, because I don't know enough about it, nor do most of the pundits on both sides of politics aisle.

I do want to talk about about the thought behind it. In an era of layoffs, cutbacks and obscene profits because of those actions, I applaud Starbucks for what appears to be an investment in their people. According to Starbucks employees who take advantage of this are not obligated to stay with the company. This makes it even sweeter to me. I imagine though, a good many people will stay with the company, especially if they see this benefit for what it is - an investment in them.

I wish most companies had programs like this. I also wish more employees would take advantage of such programs. Education is expensive, and I think whatever help a person can get towards that education is a valuable resource.

It's easy to fault Starbucks for many things, but what they do better than most large companies is put their money where their mouth is. They work with coffee cooperatives in coffee growing regions to support schools, clinics, and other vital programs the communities need. They have made an effort to work with American companies, employing Americans to make ceramic ware to sell in their stores. They are good neighbors in their communities and work with area non-profits.

This educational program is a good step. While I wish there more educational choices for the employees to use, I think there is a lot of value in getting into a school(online or brick and mortar) and bettering yourself and your chances for better work opportunities.

I raise my coffee mug to Starbucks!

Charlie

Coffee Review: Stone Creek Coffee Costa Rica 2014

As regular readers know, I have a love of Costa Rican coffee. I've spent time in the Terrazu region, and been on several of the farms down there. So I'm always happy to try a new coffee from the region. Stone Creek Coffee is offering Costa Rica 2014 as a seasonal coffee. This coffee was a featured coffee at the 2014 U.S. Barista Competition. Impressive, but how does it taste?

Stone Creek says this coffee has notes of fig, almond and peach. To be honest, that didn't sound promising to me. Other than Fig Newtons, I'm not a fig guy. No worries, the fig taste in this is slight. The nuttiness comes through more with this coffee than you would expect from a Costa Rican coffee. I normally get nutty flavors in Indonesian coffees. So this surprised me.

This is a darker coffee for a medium, which gives it a richer taste and flavor. This is a very different coffee from the Bolivian coffee we tried earlier in the week. The barista at the cafe told us this would work great in the French Press, and she was correct. This is a terrific French Press coffee. This coffee is a job well done by the roasters.

This is also a coffee that smacks you around a little, if you need the wake up call. On our Cher scale of strength, I would give this an 8. This is like the argument between Cher and Olympia Dukakis' characters in Moonstruck, after Cher comes home from a night with Nicolas Cage.

By now you know that I think the world of the coffees Stone Creek produces. Chicago gets a lot of ink the coffee press about being a coffee location in the Midwest, but let's not ignore their neighbors to the north. Milwaukee is on the coffee map, and Stone Creek is helping putting it there.

www.stonecreekcoffee.com

Charlie

Coffee Review: Stone Creek Coffee's Bolivia Cima Del Jaguar

Last weekend we visited the Stone Creek Coffee Roasting Facility, and as I noted earlier, loved it. We wanted to bring some coffee home that we hadn't tried. Two jumped out at us. One was a Costa Rican coffee, and the other is the one I would like to talk about today - Bolivia Cima Del Jaguar.

The Bolivia is a light roasted coffee. Typically I'm not a light roast drinker. I find some lighter roasts don't have enough flavor for me. Because Stone Creek has had a great run of excellent coffees, I thought I would put that run to the test with this coffee.

First some background on the coffee. From Stone Creek:

"This coffee comes from a farm named Cima del Jaguar (SEE•ma del HA•gwar), in the highest region of Caranavi. The farm is approximately 1700-1900m above sea level. As you can infer from the name, this region is also known for the wild jaguars that live there. Braulio Luoque Yana owns, runs, and lives on Cima with his wife (Aida) and three children. (Braulio, Aida, and Braulio’s brother Eulogio are all coffee farmers)."

Bolivian coffee is not well known. To this point, the only Bolivian coffee I think I've had has been from Trader Joe's. I liked that coffee well enough, but would this be steps above that? This is a different coffee. Stone Creek says it's flavors are Date, Cacao Nibs, White Grape and Cranberry. Sounds like an interesting flavor combination. 

I took a deep inhale when I opened the bag. What a terrific aroma! It was as if someone had roasted fruit on the grill, and not too grilled, but just right. 

On the first sip I get a strong Date essence. It's a surprisingly rich taste I didn't expect. The longer taste of the coffee brings out more of the fruity nature of it. This is a Summer coffee to be sure. The fruity nature of the coffee just tastes like Summer. 

This is a decently strong coffee. No, it won't slap your face and wake you up. It's another coffee I've had where it slowly builds to wake you up. If you want a slow wake up morning, this is the coffee for you. On our Cher Scale, this is 5. This is Cher trying to rally the girls to save the club in Burlesque. 

Stone Creek has done a terrific job with this coffee. They have searched an area not known to be quality coffee, and found a gem. This coffee was a second place in a recent Cup of Excellence competition. Kudos to them for getting their hands on it and sharing it with the rest of us.

www.stonecreekcoffee.com

Charlie

Stone Creek Coffee Roasters Tour

As usual readers of this blog know, I discovered Stone Creek Coffee Roasters at CoffeeCon in Chicago, and have loved every coffee I've had from them.  This weekend we were in Wisconsin for a family gathering. Nothing ends a terrific weekend, like a quick stop in Milwaukee to tour the roasting facility/kitchen/headquarters for Stone Creek Coffee.

Mark and I got to join the tour, as they take you through a brief history of coffee, and the building which houses Stone Creek. In the past the building has been a Boston Store, Palmolive Soap fixtures and an antique store.

After the history lesson, we were taken downstairs to where the green beans are stored. Each of these bags contains about 160 lbs of green coffee beans. What I didn't know was how fragile coffee beans can be. These bags are designed to maintain the purity and flavor of the coffee. If it weren't for the protective bags, let's say the coffee was near gasoline, it is possible fumes could get into the coffee and alter the taste of the coffee.

The beans don't have to travel far to the roaster, it's upstairs. The Dietrich Roaster they use is an incredible piece of machinery to behold.


Of course this is where the magic happens.....what's so cool, is that you can smell it happening, and it's what I imagine Heaven smells like....well...Coffee Heaven.

Our next stop was the cupping and class rooms. This is where coffees are cupped, either coffees Stone Creek roasts, or other coffees that want to become Stone Creek coffees.  Our guide was kind enough to make espressos for anyone who cared for one. Duh...of course we wanted one. Mark and I both tasted notes of caramel. Quite yummy.


This marked the end of the tour, but not the end of our visit. We explored the cafe, and had to try something. We both chose a Boston Latte. This is one heck of a terrific drink. We also sampled some pastries. Might I suggest their scones!

We did shop...and boy did we shop. We got two very different coffees. One is a Bollivia Cima Del Jaguar, which is one of their Lab Series coffees. The second is Costa Rica Seasonal 2014. We will be drinking these coffees during this week, and I will be reviewing them.

I encourage folks to visit Stone Creek, take the tour and try their coffees. I think you will be very pleased you did. Mark and I had a wonderful time at Stone Creek, and our love affair with this company continues. Hmmmm.....I wonder if they do weddings at Stone Creek???

Charlie

Dark Roast or Cigarettes?

This morning we had the last of the Just Coffee Ugandan Pride. We needed another cup of coffee and breakfast. We had Einstein's Bagels and their dark roast coffee.

When you get coffee at a place that doesn't have coffee in the name, I think it's safe to assume the coffee is not that great. Einstein's likes to promote their coffee as "Darn good coffee." Their specialty is a Hazelnut, which smells great, and that's it. I got us the dark roast.

How to describe this coffee? First of all they serve it way too hot. WAY too hot. It's about 10 minutes before you can really drink it. Until then it's baby sips, worrying your tongue will burn. The taste, once you can drink it always takes me back to the 1980s when I briefly smoked Dunhills. Yes, I went through the don't I look cool smoking at the gay clubs. I didn't. This coffee tastes like I took a pretty big drag of a cigarette, then swallowed coffee, all at the same time. Sounds tasty right?

Sometimes beggars can't be choosers, but I almost would rather have had Dunkin Donuts' coffee this morning.

Charlie