Essential items for a Complete Home Roasting Kit

The following tools and implements should be part of any home roasting kit. Home Roaster – Obviously one need a home roaster to roast coffee beans at your home. There are many types of home roasters to choose from that fit any price range. You have choices ranging from a manual home roaster to an electronic drum roaster. Resourceful people I’ve known even have used an air popcorn popper with success. Digital...

Cuban Coffee

With its natural climate and geography, Cuba has the potential to produce some of the world’s best beans. Cuba started planting coffee in the mid 18th century. By 1820, Coffee was one of Cuba’s largest cash crops. At its peak coffee production just before the 1956 Cuban revolution, Cuba exported 20,000 tons of coffee. After the revolution the quality and quantity of Cuban coffee rapidly declined....

Neapolitan Brewing: How to brew coffee with a Neapolitan Flip (or Drip maker)

A Neapolitan coffee brew maker is usually a single serving device. Many people confuse the Neapolitan Flip brewer with a stove top espresso maker.  Unfortunately you cannot make espresso drinks with this type of brewing device. The Flip Brewer, also commonly referred to as a Drip Maker, does not use steam to extract coffee under high pressure like an espresso machine. It works just as it’s named,...

What to Consider when Buying Coffee.

Buying coffee is more difficult that it use to be. With the maturation of the coffee industry in countless countries, the world wide web bringing us more information, and all the new breeds of specialty coffees; buying coffee can be as confusing as purchasing for your first home.  It seems that there are as many coffee cultivars as good cheeses or good wines. To help you navigate this bevy of choices,...

The Basic Coffee Roasts Defined

There are literally hundreds of roast varieties to suit the many flavors, beans, and  consumer preferences. However, there are several standard roasts that consumers are familiar with that have become standards. The below lists should be a starter guide for every discriminating coffee drinker. New England Roast You’ll fine a New England roast in diners, donut shops, and most breakfast establishment....

Mexico

Mexico is one of the top 10 largest producers of coffee in the world. Most of the coffee is grown in southern end of the country away from the northern border of the United States.  For those who love organic coffee, Mexico is one of the largest producers of organic coffee as well as participating in many of the ethical coffee movements. Among the most familiar to American consumers is the Fairtrade...

How to Test the Freshness of Roasted Beans

To make sure you are getting the fresh coffee, try the steps below. 1.      Grind the roasted coffee beans 2.      Place the beans in an open-drop filter 3.      Pour freshly boiled hot water over the ground coffee 4.      Observe the coffee. If you have stale coffee, the grounds will stay flat during brewing. Fresh coffee will swell or gently rise. This is due to the release of...

What the words on an Espresso Menu mean.

Below are many of the names and terminology you will find at local coffee house or caffe. Caffe Mocha – this was my favorite drink of childhood and you will often hear it referred as Mocha. A traditional mocha is one-third espresso, one-third hot chocolate (real hot chocolate, not the syrup), and one-third steamed milk. The Caffe Mocha is like a chocolate cappuccino and can be made into different...

What Coffee Grades and Varieties mean

Like any subject, coffee has a language of its own. Understanding a few key ideas and terms will help you find great tasting coffee and avoid a lot of the marketing tactics associated with buying coffee. Coffee Grades You will here many connoisseurs, planters, and specialty houses talk about coffee grades but a lot of the common talk is just marketing. The key thing to remember as a coffee consumer...

Making Italian Cappuccino

When you think of Italian coffee, the first images that come to mine usually involve a delicious, frothy, cup of cappuccino.  This quintessential Italian breakfast often involves the cappuccino served with a sweet pastry. Cappuccino’s have developed a huge following outside  of Europe in South America, South Africa, and Australia. Following the rise of upscale coffee houses in the Pacific...