Did You Ever Have Good Coffee? October 19th, 2006
Did you ever have a really good cup of coffee?
I’m not talking about a cup of Folgers or Maxwell House, or some of the abysmal stuff made from dried powder “crystals” in little jars. I’m not even talking about a cup of Community Coffee from Baton Rouge.
I’m talking about a cup of coffee brewed at the right temperature from freshly roasted coffee beans…
It’s a steep hill, down which you will quickly roll, if you ever try the good stuff. If you’re lucky, you may find a local coffee shop that buys green coffee beans and roasts the beans that they use and sell. You might last a while, buying the good beans on occasion or for those special mornings or evenings.
Woe unto thee, however, if you ever decide to roast your own coffee. You’ll never be the same…
Some people “justify” the expense of premium quality green coffee beans because they can save money. Sure, you can save versus buying fresh-roasted beans at $7 per half-pound.
But, when you roast your own, you immediately step from having $2/pound coffee, all or most of the time, to $6+/pound coffee all the time.
And, you have some of the finest coffee imaginable!
Whether you roast in a special hot-air coffee roaster like an iRoast or a FreshRoast, or using an old hot-air popcorn popper, or a heat gun and a stainless steel bowl, or even a stainless drum in a gas grill (my way), you’ll have fun roasting good coffee and the pleasure of naturally flavorful fresh coffee.
As I write this, I’m sipping on a cup of El Salvador “The Juan Francisco Project” coffee beans from this year’s crop from the 2006 El Salvador “Cup of Excellence” competition. Thank goodness that Tom Owen, my coffee supplier (Sweet Maria’s), got some of this fine bean.
I bought 5 pounds but it tastes like I’m going to have to buy some more.