Friday, September 28, 2012

keepin' it fresh



Coffee beans are taken from a live plant so storage for the beans after they are roasted is important to ensure that the freshness remains and that you are preserving the flavor of the particular coffee. We often are asked what is the best way to store coffee, and we hear a lot of ideas people have some up from storing it in the freezer, refrigerator, and even zip lock bags. So I want to share what we have found that works best to keep your fresh coffee fresh. :)
First let's start by recognizing that anything that you would buy at the grocery store or even at Starbucks isn't going to be fresh. Sorry guys, but it isn't. To get the best flavor from your coffee, you should brew it within two weeks of roasting, and immediately after grinding. In fact, after coffee is roasted the flavors really start to enhance 3-5 days after the roasting process, bringing the heightened characteristics of each individual origin of coffee out in the bean. Coffee from Tanzania don't have the same characteristics as beans grown in Kenya and Colombian doesn't have the same qualities as Guatemalan, they are all different. If you can't grind it everyday because you don't have a grinder, etc ...
Here are some tips for storage:
1. Buy your coffee whole bean, if possible. Invest in a grinder to truly ensure that you are keeping your beans fresh. Only grind what you needs to make the coffee you want to drink, whole bean coffee stays fresher longer. :)
2. Pick an airtight canister, not glass or clear, but something that you can seal tight. No sunlight should be able to hit the beans, so store it in a cabinet or pantry. Anyway you choose and whatever container your choose it needs to be stored at room temperature.
3. We NEVER suggest freezing coffee. The reason being is because coffee often picks up the flavor of things around it, especially if it's already ground, and the moisture from the freezer/fridge will only dehydrate it and hasten the flavor decay.
4. The fresher the better!! Only buy what you need for the week, we are always open and have coffee :), but that will help decrease the chances of you being stuck with yuck!

Here are some good canisters that we have around the shop ...


vacuum seal canister



vacuum canister set

glass (only for cabinet)


Friday, September 21, 2012

new fall, new flavors

 
We will be offering a few new flavors this year ...
Peanut Butter Cup
&
Very Berry Blue
are coming next week.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

V-60 pour over.

We now have the Hario V-60!
 
v-60


This new brewing mechanism is sleek & swank!
The Hario is similar to the Melitta manual system, with its cone shaped brewer and filters and the concept of pouring the water over the grounds. With the Hario, its all about how you pour the water over the grinds. The Hario has grooves on the inside to help guide the water in a circular motion around the cone, never dumping more water then what it takes to saturate the grinds. You always want to preheat the cone with hot water and get the paper filter wet before you put the grinds in it. You want a consistent pattern when pouring ...
 
 
You will not be disappointed at the quality, because it definitely makes a great cup of coffee.

Friday, September 7, 2012

cowboy coffee.


Whether or not you were a frontiersman, a rancher, farmer, townspeople, or pioneer in early American History coffee was a staple in everyday life. Whenever the Chuck wagon wasn't hitched up to discover new territories coffee was brewing over and open fire awaiting daylight to start traveling further. Coffee then didn't come in cans and wasn't roasted until they needed beans, so to keep the roasted coffee fresh for the trail they coated the beans in egg whites and sugar to ensure the freshness of the beans. If you wanted coffee in the Wild West you certainly had to work at it, it was a process of thinking about travel and where you could get green beans and then roast them yourself., coffee was a true luxury for traveling several miles during the day. Cowboy Coffee was made in several different things; kettle, cans, soup pots ... whatever would work to sit over an open fire. They would put the grinds and water into the receptacle and a heat it to taste, typically the recipe was 1.5-2 grams of coffee to every ounce of water and the grinds would steep till they were done. After the water boiled and the coffee was done steeping usually they allowed the coffee to cool and the grinds to settle to the bottom. Similar to the French press concept, but without the fancy press and the ability to concentrate the grinds to the base of whatever they had to use. Cowboy Coffee is just as much a part of a cowboys life and our country's history as gunfights at high noon and gunslingers.

vision is the art ....

Vision is the ART of seeing what is invisible to others.
-Jonathan Swift
 

close up of adding beans
 
different angles ... so gorgeous.
A Russian artist and sculptor, Arkady Kim, recently created the world's largest coffee mural. It weighs 397 pounds, is made out of 1 million coffee beans, and spans 30 square meters.
"Awakening" took a team of 5 people 12 days to complete this massive coffee mural. The artwork was on display to the public until July 1 at Moscow’s Gorky Central Park of Culture and Leisure.
 




entire mural.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

chicory the Cafe Noir.

on the roadside
If you drive the Kentucky highways or interstate you'll see little periwinkle flowers lining that roadside or maybe even a field of them from county to county. Those little flowers are Chicory,a native plant to Kentucky, it usually grows in late summer throughout the fall. The history of brewing chicory dates back to ancient Eygptian time, however, is more commonly associated with  and became popular to us through French culture, especially popular in New Orleans. :)
chicory plant
The French traders and as well as new colonists to North America brought chicory in its dried root form, willing to move their lives to a newly discovered continent but not their acquired taste for chicory brewed. One historical and cultural example of chicory's use as a coffee substitute is found in New Orleans. Due in part to its influences from French culture, New Orleans was a major consumer of coffee prior to the Civil War. Then, in 1840, coffee importation to the New Orleans harbor was blocked. Taking a cue from their French roots, locals began to use chicory as a coffee substitute. Today, chicory remains a popular coffee replacement or coffee flavoring in New Orleans, and 'New Orleans Coffee' typically refers to chicory coffee. New Orleans coffee vendors often blend their coffee with up to 30 percent chicory root. At Coffee Times we have a New Orleans Blend, blended with French Roast, Vienna Roast, and chicory and this blend is delightful- just like brewed chicory alone. It adds a punch to your morning, wakes you up with its intensity and flavor and provides a great 'coffee-like' substance to enjoy if coffee isn't around. To make chicory root into an edible substance, the root is pulled up from the ground, washed, dried, roasted, finely cut and then steeped or brewed. Chicory's roasting process gives it a roasty flavor roughly akin to that of coffee, and is part of the reason why chicory is a popular coffee substitute, as well as a fairly common ingredient in coffee recipes. Typically, chicory is brewed with coffee at a 1 to 2 ratio (1/3 chicory, 2/3 coffee).







New Orleans coffee (a.k.a. “Cafe Noir”) has a distinctive chocolate-caramel flavor, intensely dark color, thick consistency and lower-than-usual caffeine content thanks to its secret ingredient, chicory. According to New Orleans locals, it’s what makes New Orleans coffee worth writing home about.

Ingredients:

  •  tbsp. drip-ground coffee (It doesn’t have to be great quality – a little bit of salt will lessen the bitterness of cheaper coffees.)
  • 2 tbsp. chicory
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 4 c. filtered water
  • Sugar to taste
Preparation:
Set up your drip-style coffee maker so you can add water into the filter manually. (For most coffee makers, this means rotating the brewing basket to the side and placing the pot underneath.)
  1. Place the coffee, chicory and salt (optional) into a filter in the brewing basket.
  2. Bring the water to a boil.
  3. Add enough water to moisten the grounds and chicory, and then pour about 1/2 cup of water into the filter.
  4. Wait for the water to drip through, and then add another 1/2 cup of water. Repeat until you have brewed all 4 cups.
  5. Serve immediately, or keep hot with your coffeemaker until ready to serve.
  6. (Optional) Add sugar to taste.
  7. (Optional) If you prefer milky coffee, you can pour equal parts New Orleans coffee and scalded milk into your cup for traditional New Orleans-style Café au Lait, or you can just add half-and-half to taste.