Few more questions

[Miha]

Dear Coffee Lovers,

Firstly we would like to thank you for all the help that you gave us so far. As we mentioned couple of times we are starting an online coffee business and with your knowledge we will improve our service.

We found a trustable coffee supplier who makes coffee blends and this week we are going to meet him and check the quality of his coffee beans.


We have three more questions for you, guys.

We would like to know what is better, coffee blends or just single sort of coffee beans - what are the main differences?
We are going to see the production/roasting process and we want to know on what we have to pay attention to?
Last but not least. Why even quality coffee producers mix up Arabica and Robusta if is Arabica way better?


Thank you for your help,
Miha

 

[CoffeeJunky]

Miha,

1. Single origin beans are great but by blending you can create something extra ordinary. I can compare that to fusion food. Japanese and French cuisine alone would satisfying enough but making it fusion, you can create something extra ordinary.
2. I would want to see very clean operation, see how they handle the beans, but this is not my area. I am hoping Eldub or Topher can give you more on this
3. The reason for it is because of sometime there are different need for the coffee. Typically Robusta beans have more caffeine then arabica. But mostly because of the cost. Many roasters out there would blend two beans to create cheap and acceptable solution of flavor.

I hope this helps

 

[CoffeeLovers]

You know blends of coffee are not advisable because there is a tendency that they mix cheap beans from multiple areas. Unlike the single sort of coffee beans, you can assure the best quality coffee in your area.

For profit sake, the coffee producers mix up Arabica and Robusta.

 

[eldub]

coffeelovers: I find your advice to be strange at best. (In this thread as well as the one with the guy asking for suggestions on beans to roast.)

All of our blends are made from single-origin offerings. There is a difference between the mass produced products you seem to be most familiar with and the artesian roasted beans of this third wave of coffee in which we live.

 

[PinkRose]

Hey Eldub,

I'm curious, and I'm too tired, to research it so I'll ask:

What's the third wave of coffee in which we live???

Rose

 

[eldub]

Here you go, Rose...

Third Wave Coffee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Third Wave of Coffee refers to a current movement to produce high-quality coffee, and consider coffee as an artisanal foodstuff, like wine, rather than a commodity. This involves improvements at all stages of production, from improving coffee bean growing, harvesting, and processing, to stronger relationships between coffee growers and coffee traders and roasters, to higher quality and fresh roasting, at times called "microroasting" (by analogy with microbrew beer), to skilled brewing.
Third Wave Coffee aspires to the highest form of culinary appreciation of coffee, so that one may appreciate subtleties of flavor, bean varietal, and growing region – similar to other complex culinary products such as wine, tea, and chocolate. Distinctive features of Third Wave Coffee include direct trade coffee, high-quality beans (see specialty coffee for scale), single-origin coffee (as opposed to blends), lighter roasts of the beans, and latte art. It also sometimes includes naked portafilters, and revivals of alternative methods of coffee preparation, such as vacuum coffee (sometimes called "siphon") and individual drip brew.
The term "Third Wave" was coined in 2002, and refers chiefly to the American phenomenon, particularly from the 1990s and continuing today, but with some roots in the 1980s, 1970s, and 1960s. Similar movements exist in Australia, New Zealand, and Scandinavia. More broadly, Third Wave Coffee can be seen as part of the specialty coffee movement.

 

[PinkRose]

Thank You!

 

[CoffeeJunky]

Eldub,
I wish you could give advise on what to look for when you are visiting roasting plant.


As I have stated above, the blend of coffee can bring something you never expected. I know of some roasters have their own blend recipe they wouldn't share with anyone else.
It is that good sometimes.
I think when people are more educated about coffee, we as group, who cares about the quality of cup of coffee will be noticed.

 

[eldub]

I really like some of our blends and have always been willing to share recipes. (Maybe I need to change that practice.)

We have a group that meets most Tuesday mornings to help me evaluate roast levels and blend ratios. It's a fine feeling when evaluating potential blends and one really stands out as superior to the others.

As far as evaluating roasting facilities, I guess it depends on what you are looking for. All of our beans come from specific co-ops or estates of identifiable regions. (No generic offerings from any country.)

I get a kick out of the larger facilities around here that tout consistency as a reason to do business with them
and to stay away from small roasters. Our coffee profiles may change a bit from estate to estate and season to season but they are consistently good. Commodification may allow consistency but in the world of wine, jug wine is the only consistent product on the shelf. The third wave of coffee is all about bringing the best out of every bag of beans.

 

[CoffeeJunky]

I really like some of our blends and have always been willing to share recipes. (Maybe I need to change that practice.)

We have a group that meets most Tuesday mornings to help me evaluate roast levels and blend ratios. It's a fine feeling when evaluating potential blends and one really stands out as superior to the others.

As far as evaluating roasting facilities, I guess it depends on what you are looking for. All of our beans come from specific co-ops or estates of identifiable regions. (No generic offerings from any country.)

I get a kick out of the larger facilities around here that tout consistency as a reason to do business with them
and to stay away from small roasters. Our coffee profiles may change a bit from estate to estate and season to season but they are consistently good. Commodification may allow consistency but in the world of wine, jug wine is the only consistent product on the shelf. The third wave of coffee is all about bringing the best out of every bag of beans.

People, look up and read what Eldub wrote and see what the true micro-Roaster attitude should be like.

I think more and more I get to know the coffee, i get more humble and admire people like eldub.
If someone roast each different beans same way, I don't think you can achieve the best quality coffee. Also the weather humidity and other factors can effect the beans.
I guess more experience you have, you will recognize how you should handle different types of beans.

 

[Miha]

[FONT=lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif]We would like to thank you all for your help. We really appreciate all the knowledge that you are sharing with us.

[/FONT]

 

[CoffeeJunky]

If you have any further questions and we appreciate if you can share some of the decision you made.

Good Luck

 

[Miha]

Thank you CoffeeJunky,

at the moment we are really struggling to get a high quality coffee beans. We were a bit disappointed about the coffee examples that we got from supplier that we found (or maybe we just don't know how to make a good cup of coffee).
We are considering to buy green coffee beans and roast it with the local roaster.

 

[CoffeeJunky]

Miha,

Who is your supplier and what make you think you can't brew good cup of coffee?

When are you choosing your coffee to serve to your customers, I would highly suggest to visit the supplier at their location and try their coffee and see how they prepare their coffee.
Also, it would be good to roast your own but asking someone else to roast your bean might be little too early for your business.

Where are you located? I might be able to recommend you a company.
Also search your area and know your competition.

CJ

 

[Miha]

We visited a supplier in Italy and coffee that he served us was made on espresso machine and it tasted really, really good! Then we tried to make a cup of coffee by ourselves with macchinetta and the taste wasn't near as good as the taste in roastary.

@CoffeeJunky: We would like to know why do you think it's to early to ask someone else to roast our coffee?
We are from Slovenia, EU (Italy is our neighbour) and it would be really great if we could get a supplier from Europe.

We don't know how to thank you for all the help and advices you give us. Thank you very much!