Well ladies and gents, this is my very first post on coffee as a coffee roaster.
So why did I create this blog? Because family and friends asked me to. They want a place to go and read about good coffee. I like talking about coffee because I roast my own coffee beans. And I like giving out tips so people can make their own good coffee. This blog here is going to be the information repository. Onward with the story.
A long time ago, at a place far far away, in the cold snowy winter night somewhere in Idaho, I was sitting in a hotel sipping coffee. Fresh snow prevented any escape from the confines of the four walls. Here I was, reading articles online, and what can be better than a warm cup of coffee in your hand.
Hotel was generous with the coffee packs for coffee makers. The packs themselves were labeled 100% Colombian. However, the end product left a lot to be desired. No need to beat around the bush; that black coffee tasted bland like cardboard. Flat. Burnt. Ashy.
I flipped the coffee package around front and back; didn't see any manufacturing date or expiration date. That's odd, I thought, coffee is a food product. And all food product have expiration dates. Even the infamous Twinkie and Spam have expiration dates. Curious, I fired up Google in my quest to find answers. First place to visit was wikipedia. And then I read you can actually roast your own coffee at home. Roasting your own coffee was a common practice up until 1920s - 1930s. Then Folgers and other commercial roaster took over, selling the products you see in modern grocery stores.
So why go through all the trouble to roast your own coffee? Because I can get the freshest coffee possible - immediately out of roaster. Through experience, coffee freshness makes all the difference. An average fresh roasted coffee taste better than stale expensive coffee. Fresh roasted coffee tastes great within a couple weeks. Then all the subtle flavors start to disappear due to oxidation process. Air and therefore time is the greatest enemy to great coffee. Coffee is a food product. The same common sense on other food also applies to coffee. In other words, would you like a piece of New York steak freshly grilled or a couple days stale? I hope your answer is freshly grilled. Coffee is the same deal. Fresh is better than stale. Fresh roasted is better. Freshly brewed is better.
Here is some home work for you. When you go to the grocery store, look for coffee. And see which ones have roast date or manufactured date. Probably the only date you'll find is expiration date. We'll discuss that in the next post.
