Mocha Joe's Roasting Co.

The Fine Grind - Guatemala 'Chajul'

2012-01-24T15:32:00.003-05:00

This week's coffee: Guatemala 'Chajul'

This past weekend I recieved a note from my friend Eric, who had ordered a pound of our coffee online. He told me that he had decided to go with one of our lighter roasted, Full City selections, the Guatemalan 'Chajul' Organic/Fair Trade. As Alexander roasted up a fresh batch, for Eric and a plethora of our wholesale accounts, I realized that I hadn't brewed up the Guatemalan in at least two weeks, and I was dying to taste it again.

The Brew

The standard brew, here at the shop, for tasting coffees is done in a Melitta cone brewer. This is a low-tech method that requires a Melitta cone, a two cup pyrex pitcher, non bleached coffee filter, and 33 grams of Full City coffee ground at a 'drip' level (more coarse than espresso, more fine than French Press). Once I had all of my tools and ingredients, I began to boil my water. Here at Mocha Joe's, we boil the water to 198 degrees, as we have found that this brings out all of the flavor without scorching the grounds.

While I waited for the water to boil, I threw on some good coffee tunes – Leonard Cohen's 'Chelsea Hotel', and googled Guatemala for some fun facts. For instance, did you know that the name Guatemala comes from a Mayan word for 'land of the tress'? I sighed and thought of how much I'd like to put Guatemala on the list of countries I've been to on my travels.

I heard the water boiling, and checked it with my old-school mercury thermometer – I was close to 198, so I dumped my grounds into the Melitta cone and, once I reached temperature, I poured.

It's important on the initial pour to cover all of the grounds evenly and let the water slowly work it's way through the coffee. Only pour once, then wait for the grounds to expand and foam a bit, this is called 'the bloom'. After the bloom, and once all of the initial pour has gone through, pour again and continue until you reach 2 cups.

The Tasting

The first flavor that I tasted was a subtle dark chocolate with a touch of caramel, alongside a bright and tingly mouthfeel. As it began to cool, the fruity acidity of the brew jumped out at me. The fruit flavor was, at first, hard to place, but then I realized it actually tasted like coffee fruit. For anyone who has never had the chance to taste a coffee cherry, you can always come and snag one off of our coffee tree here in the roasting shop. The taste, to me, is like a cross between a nectarine and a sweet Michigan cherry.

I decided to finish my cup on the porch, overlooking the scenic Connecticut River and the majestic Mount Wantastiquet. I gazed out, inhaled the crisp Vermont winter air and sipped the next bit of coffee. At this point I noticed heavy chocolate and nut flavors coming out. The diversity of flavor from when I first brewed it was astounding. Great coffees, such as this Guatemalan, can have dramatic flavor changes as they cool and this one had gone from chocolate to fruit, and then did a complete 360 back to chocolate, but now with a hint of macadamia nut. The last sip was sweet and savory and left a brilliant flowery and nutty aftertaste.

Final Notes

This 100% Organic and Fair Trade selection consistantly pleases the pallate and is ideal for those who want a medium bodied, light roasted, Central American brew. This is an ideal morning brew which would be complemented brilliantly by a chocolate filled croissant.

Kudos to my pal Eric M. in Michigan, for picking a great coffee and inspiring me to brew it again!

-Ari Reis

January 2012

Introducing... TEA!!!

2011-11-02T11:12:00.000-04:00

Hello to all of our mail order customers in cyber-space! After making an announcement in the Fall of 2009 that we were considering adding a tea line to our product mix, I am pleased to announce that as of this week, in the Fall of 2011, we have indeed added a tea line to our product mix! We at Mocha Joe’s feel that it’s important to take time to make important decisions. It’s never a good idea to rush into things.

In order to choose a tea company we tasted A LOT of different teas from A LOT of different companies. We tasted black teas, green teas, white teas, yellow teas, and flavored teas. We tasted herbal teas, blended teas, single origin teas, and rooibos teas. We tasted yerba mate, matcha powders, and chais. We infused in paper filters, fancy teapots, and gold mesh filters. In milk and in water. With sugar and without sugar. No wonder it took us so long!

After much (and I mean much) deliberation, we have decided to partner with Rishi Tea, a company with an excellent reputation that we feel shares our vision and our values. Their teas won blind tastings on our cupping table again and again. Rishi carefully selects and sources some of the finest teas from the most talented artisans in the world. These farmers and their families have been harvesting and processing teas for generations, and Rishi’s commitment to honoring the wisdom of ancient tea production, while introducing modern, efficient manufacturing processes has allowed many of these artisans to keep their traditional methods alive. Additionally, most of their teas are certified organic, kosher, and Fair Trade, which is important to us, and we know is important to you.

We have tried a lot of Rishi’s offerings and have chosen a group of products that we feel really stand out, either for their excellent quality, their unique flavors, or (more often) both. I personally am a big fan of both the “Iron Goddess of Mercy” Oolong, a sweet, light bodied black tea, and the Sweet Matcha powder, which makes a really great latte, as well as an interesting ingredient in many foods, from cookies to cocktails. All of these teas come in attractive retail tins or pouches, and make excellent holiday gifts – just don’t forget to order some for yourself as well!

Coffee Travels - An Import/Export Infographic

2011-08-03T15:36:00.003-04:00

Thanks to r/coffee on Reddit for all the help!

What Happens After Coffee Is Exported From Its Country Of Origin?

2011-01-31T11:42:00.000-05:00

So in the last couple of Nicaragua blog posts about coffee farms, Beneficios and transportation, I wrote about what happens before the coffee even makes it to the roasting shop. In the next couple of blogs, I'm going to take a look at what happens when the green coffee gets to Mocha Joe's. Coffee is almost always transported on a cargo ship. This can cause a lot of problems if the transportation doesn't happen quickly. Sometimes coffee will get stuck in a shipping container at some port and the humidity can damage the quality of the coffee because coffee has traditionally been stored and transported in natural fiber bags, such as burlap or jute. Most of the time there is no problem with these natural fiber bags and most coffee is still packaged that way but when there is a problem, a whole shipment of coffee can be lost.

Natural Fiber Bags

One way of addressing this problem is the use of GrainPro SuperGrainbags. These "hermetically sealed" bags create a low oxygen and high carbon dioxide environment, so that the coffee can be as fresh as possible when it reaches the United States and can be stored for a significantly longer period of time without organic degradation. GrainPro and other special bags have saved many coffee shipments from spoil and eliminate the "baggy" quality of some cups of coffee that have been sitting too long. They are usually used inside the traditional natural fiber bags.

GrainPro Bag Inside A Natural Fiber Bag

Once the coffee makes it into the United States, it is often stored in special facilities with controlled climates. A lot of smaller roasters don't have the space to store the amount of coffee they import or even the means to import coffee on their own. Companies like Cafe Imports get the coffee into the United States and store it in their warehouses. Coffee Roasters can either purchase coffee currently available in the warehouse or place an order for a future shipment. I honestly don't know much about the export/import process but it does involve a lot of bureaucracy, legalities, logistics and documentation. Coffee import and storage companies are a must for coffee roasters that don't have the tools necessary to do it themselves.

Our green coffee arrives by truck and we unload it by hand. We usually get a couple of bags of each coffee at a time and store it in our roasting shop. That's one way that we make sure that the coffee we roast is always fresh and constantly rotating. Next up, sample roasting, cupping and production roasts!

"Burning Down the House" or, Firefighting 101

2011-01-28T13:37:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, I experienced the right of passage for all coffee roasters. I have crossed the threshold from simply a man loading and roasting coffee and now feel confident calling myself a real coffee roaster. I have fought, and beat, my first fire.

For members of the roasting industry, this is old hat. Fires are less a matter of if and more of when you’ll experience one. For everyone else, well, its a fire. And fires are scary. Here’s how it happened.

Our fantastic old Probat broke a belt yesterday. This too, is a more common than not occurrence. I dumped the beans I was roasting and Jackie, Jocelyn and I surveyed the situation. After deciding that, ‘Yeah the belt is broken. The machine should cool down and we’ll put on another belt,’ I began to shut the old girl down. When I opened the chafe collector to vacuum out the excess, I saw it. The collector was filled with smoke and swirling embers. I called out for Jocelyn, in an initial freeze of panic. The next thing I knew, Jackie and Jocelyn were in the first stages of fighting a fire raging in the air ducts. If you ever find yourself fighting a roaster fire, pray that its the day of a morning snow storm. Jocelyn valiantly got on the roof and started throwing snow down the white hot pipes. Which did a great job of putting out the fire, in combination with the water Jackie and I used to fight the fire indoors. A note on using snow to fight a fire: it actually won’t completely melt, leaving you with pipes packed with icy, creosote-y, pretty gross snow. And somehow, that snow needs to come out. After poking at it, trying to scoop and vacuum it up (hooray for wet/dry shop vacs!) we finally settled on pouring boiling water down the pipes from the roof. Success came, in a steamy, stinky fashion.

To say the fighting a roaster fire is fun is foolish and tempts fate. It was exasperating, smelly, ridiculous and exciting. After the fire was out and clean up had begun, it was possible to take a few steps back and laugh at the whole situation. Yes, roaster fires happen. You can’t know how to fight one until you’re in the middle of it. Sure, I knew where the hose was and I knew to turn off the gas and open the windows, but in the moment, you see a whole different picture of immediate problems that need to be taken care of.

Coming into work today, you’d never know we had a fire yesterday. But now, I have my first fire story. It won’t be my last, but I’m sure it’ll be the most memorable. Until the next one comes along.

Stay strong.

Alex

Pairings: Food and Flavor

2011-01-21T16:18:00.002-05:00

One of the best ways to really begin to understand coffee and the myriad of flavors found in any specific roast or origin, is to taste. When I was a barista, one of the biggest thrills I got was recommending a pastry that brought out flavors in a specific coffee and watching the customer put these ideas together. Today, in the roasting shop, we tasted some of our favorite coffees of the moment with some delicious snacks from The Brattleboro Co-Op. Easy, delicious and educational - coffee pairings are a great way to spend an hour or so with friends.

We chose four different coffees and the referred to the descriptions we had developed previously for use on our website. We stuck to one or two flavors per coffee . . .

Guatemalan Guaya’b, the flavors we paired for were chocolate and 'red fruit' (in this case, we used cherries)
Nicaraguan Maragogype, we chose the apricot and plum notes to match with this coffee
Nicaraguan Cattura, cherries were chosen for munching with this stellar bean
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, this African coffee is known for its bold lemon flavor, we also tasted apricots

There are plenty of website out there that talk you through the act of tasting and pairing. I'm not much a stickler for following somebody else's rules so we just sipped our brews and nibbled our snacks, discussing what we noticed. By and large, the Ethiopian was the stand out. Back in my barista days, this was true as well. Give a customer a piece of lemon shortbread and a cup of Yirgacheffe (or Sidamo, for that matter) and they'll be talking about it for a week. Its like they were made for each other. In our case, the apricot was what really shone through with this particular coffee. The Guatemalan as well, was a super star. We chose a 72 % Cocoa Supreme Dark chocolate bar to taste with it. Generally, I'm a milk chocolate person, but I didn't find this overwhelming - all I needed was a tiny bit to really enjoy the flavors from the coffee.

With the Maragogype we took a risk. There are no plums to be found in January in Vermont, so we paired with a Plum Nectar. Foolishly, we didn't check the ingredients before buying the bottle and it was only after we had everything set up that we noticed it was not pure plum. This may have had some effect on the pairing. What came across in the tasting was not that the Maragogype tasted like a plum necessarily, but it reminded us of biting into a plum. There's a big difference there, when you take into consideration the tartness of the skin versus the pure sweetness of the fruit. The apricot was a good match, once again. With the Caturra we discovered something similar; that the fruit taste in the coffee was not necessarily cherry flesh. After some discussion we decided it was closer to the tartness of a dried cherry. With our fresh cherry pairing, the idea came through but it wasn't exactly spot on.

I can't recommend this exercise enough. Pairings are so much more accessible to the every day coffee drinker than a traditional cupping and you get to snack while doing it. A win / win situation all around.

Cheers!
Alex

Nicaraguan Infrastructure Is Keeping The Country From Developing

2011-01-13T16:31:00.000-05:00

The drive was long and treacherous. Many of the roads in Nicaragua are deteriorating and littered with deep pot holes, showing signs of governmental neglect. Cars need to constantly swerve all over the road to avoid hitting the sections of pavement that are collapsing in on themselves or missing entirely. When we reached the last stretch of paved road, we began a journey up incredibly steep dirt paths, twisting along the sides of mountains. The car bounced almost constantly. I don't think a vehicles suspension system lasts very long in these parts. At some points the roads were so steep that we moved along at a snails pace, in first gear, inhaling the scent of burning clutch.

Cars in Nicaragua cost significantly more than in the United States because everything needs to be imported. The majority of them are in terrible shape, break down a lot and need constant repair because of the awful roads. The Nicaraguan government doesn't seem to be doing anything about this huge infrastructure problem. Most of the major highways that we traveled on were okay, especially near the Beneficios, but within the city of Matagalpa and in the mountains that wasn't the case. This makes it incredibly difficult to transport coffee from the farms to the Beneficios. What would be a 30 minute drive on good roads can turn into an hour or an hour and a half in Nicaragua. These problems have slowed the growth of Nicaragua's exports in coffee, cocoa and goods.

Frequent power outages and unstable energy are also huge problems in Nicaragua. Many places, especially in the mountains, do not even have electricity and if they do, it is a recent addition. The power goes on and off a lot, sometimes very quickly. Since electricity has been slowly added into these regions, the electrical wiring is also dangerously set up. There seems to be an increase in attention to "green" energy sources because Nicaragua could pull a lot of energy from sources like geothermal, hydroelectric, solar and biomass, but raising the capital necessary to improve the energy infrastructure has been difficult.

Like much of Central and South America, Nicaragua also has major problems with their water. We couldn't drink the tap water on our trip and went through tons of bottled water. This, along with geographical positioning, poverty and a disorganized health care system, has raised major health concerns for the country. Running water was rare up in the mountains and hot water seemed to be a luxury everywhere. This is another problem that can not be addressed due to the poverty of the nation and the difficulty in getting international loans.

I'm sure there is much more too these problems than I am aware of, but this is what I've found out from my own observation and talking to people. I do know that Nicaragua has been devastated by a series of natural disasters, had a huge hyper-inflation problem, got involved with the IMF and has had several corrupt Presidents and elite families influencing their politics. As interest in the exports of the region increase and foreign investment resumes, it is likely that they will slowly improve their infrastructure to keep up with demand but even so, usually a small percentage of people reap the benefits while the majority see little improvement. That is one reason why Direct Trade coffee projects in Nicaragua are better for the people. They are trained well, earn higher salaries and see a real re-investment in their communities, from improvement in education, water and energy to donations of education, medical and technological supplies.

Nicaraguan Coffee Processing and the Beneficios

2011-01-11T17:24:00.002-05:00

The day after visiting the Gold Mountain Coffee Growers farm, we went down to check out the "Beneficios." Along the side of a well-maintained highway are dozens of these coffee processing facilities. More than half the coffee in Nicaragua is cultivated and processed in Matagalpa, which is why it is called the "coffee capital" of the country. Gold Mountain Coffee Growers uses "Beneficio La Pita" and "Beneficio Sajonia," two high-quality mills that utilizes the newest technology, minimizes water use and maximizes coffee bean quality. We took a short tour before cupping some coffees with the manager, to see what the coffee beans go through between the farm and export.

Amee and Alberto Walking Up To Beneficio Sajonia

The first thing we noticed while walking up to the Beneficio was the huge amount of coffee that was drying outside. Before the coffee can be processed at all, it is spread out in the sun to dry. The organic coffees are in a separate location from the conventional coffees and we got a chance to take a look at both. It seems that there is much more conventional coffee than organic. Once the coffee is dry it becomes easier to remove the husk and expose the green bean. The husk is really just a sort of parchment-like encasement around the coffee bean but it is important to remove it from every bean.

The organic coffee was in elevated drying stations.

Alberto explains the drying process to us.

This is a coffee bean with half the husk removed.

After baking in the sun for a while, we went inside to see what else goes into processing the coffee. On the top floor of the mill the dried coffee is dumped into these giant machines that remove the husks. There are bags of coffee stacked up all over the place, on both floors of the Beneficio. The coffee is then mechanically sorted by size and moved to conveyor belts where women hand sort the beans for quality control. The defective or low-quality beans are removed and either sold on the local market or to cheaper coffee roasters like Folgers or Maxwell House. The highest quality beans are packaged and sold to specialty coffee roasters.

Coffee Processing Machines

Stacks and Stacks of Green Beans

Sorting Coffee Beans by Hand

After touring the facilities, the manager was kind enough to do a small coffee cupping with us. We tried three different coffees on their own and also in combination with one another. It was a short cupping and since Amee and I do not speak a lot of Spanish, Alberto had to help us talk about the coffees. Such an enormous amount of work goes into just getting the green beans to us in the United States. Not to mention the amount of work we do to treat those beans with respect and roast them well. That is why specialty coffees cost more than mass produced, low-quality coffee. We get the best beans and that coffee you get in a can is everything that has been rejected throughout this entire process. Then our roasters work their artistic magic to coax the best flavors possible out of each batch.

Cupping at the Beneficio

That's all for this installment, say good bye to the Beneficios and next time I will be writing a little bit about Nicaraguan infrastructure and the great difficulty that farmers have to work through just to move their coffee from the farms the coffee mills.

A Parting View

Gold Mountain Coffee Farms and the Community

2011-01-10T16:13:00.003-05:00

During our trip to Nicaragua we spent one very long day learning about coffee farming and agriculture with the staff of Gold Mountain Coffee Growers. High in the mountains of Matagalpa is a small community working to produce amazingly high quality, specialty coffee. It all started when we stumbled into our taxi in the early morning and left the city of Matagalpa. 1,200 meters above sea level, after a bumpy ride up the worn, dirt roads of the mountain, we reached the home of Elidio and Aleyda.

The Home of Elidio and Aleyda

It is there that Gold Mountain Coffee Growers removes the pulp from the coffee cherries, cleans the coffee and converts the pulp into compost. We'll get to that later though, let's start at the beginning. Coffee plants are grown in "nurseries," which here seems to mean collections of sprouting plants under the protection of shade. When the plants are big enough they are planted in rows between banana trees or other trees that can provide them the shade necessary to survive the scorching heat of the summer sun. Both altitude and shade are essential for healthy coffee plants. As we traveled up the mountain we could see the quality of the coffee plants improving with altitude and we could also see how the plants suffered under the heat of the sun when not properly shaded.

View From High In The Mountains

Gold Mountain Coffee Farms passion for coffee really shines through in their plants. The leaves are a luscious green and every plant seems vibrantly healthy. They cares deeply about the ecological sustainability of the mountain and protecting the biodiversity of the region. The community they work with is well trained and professionally supervised which leads to some of the highest salaries in the area. In addition to that, a lot has been reinvested into the community, like support for local schools including donated computers and educational supplies, improvements in power and water, access to medical supplies and connecting small producers with international markets.

So Many Coffee Cherries!

After a long hike up the side of the mountain, passing community plots of land growing cabbage, passion fruit, bananas and other produce, we reached the coffee plants. It was the peak of the picking season and the plants were covered in ripe coffee cherries. The cherries are picked by hand and the people are trained to pick only the best cherries. Because of their commitment to quality they receive some of the highest salaries in the region. We picked some coffee ourselves and it was time consuming, hard work. And this was just the beginning of the journey a coffee bean goes through before reaching your cup...

Amee and her basket of picked coffee.

There are no roads leading to the coffee farm, just paths. The coffee is carried down to the nearest road by people or horses and measured to determine how much the pickers are paid. Then the coffee is loaded up into the farms old truck and transported back to the home of Elidio and Aleyda where it goes through the de-pulper, which strips the fruit off the coffee bean. The pulp is re-used as compost and the bean is washed in fresh mountain water. The bad beans float to the top and are skimmed off, while the good beans are then packaged and sent off to a "Beneficio" for further processing.

Amee and The Horse "Rojo."

The De-Pulper

Drying and Sorting Trays

The work day was very long, with picking starting just after sunrise and the final bags of coffee cherries making their way through the de-pulper around 9pm. Aleyda was kind enough to cook us a delicious lunch and dinner while we visited. She also runs a small local market for the community out of her house. Towards the end of the evening, many people came through to buy food from her store, there were kids playing in the driveway and it seemed like a very important hub for the community. The amount of work that goes into coffee farming is tremendous and will forever change the way that I think of my daily cup of coffee. Next up, the coffee makes it way to the "Beneficio" for the last part of processing before being exported out of the country.

A Roasters Journey, part 2

2011-01-07T13:18:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year! After a couple of weeks of holiday madness, I’m back with the next post in my series on learning to roast here at Mocha Joe’s.

I was lucky enough to have a skilled guide on my roasting journey. After the month or so I spent immersing myself in the literature surrounding the world of roasting, I was introduced to Joe Motika, former Roastmaster and current Coffee Consultant. Joe’s knowledge and palette are legendary here, there was simply no better man for me to learn from.

I’m a versatile learner, if I say so myself, but some how I had gotten the idea in my head that there would be a series of steps that I follow precisely every time I roasted. Sitting together at the Probat, dropping roasts and watching the curve on our Roast Illuminator software, he would gracefully adjust the heat at just the right moment. When were those moments? At what time exactly would I need to add or decrease the heat? How could I standardize this process? The most important thing I learned from Joe was that that is a load of bullocks. Tip #3 for New Roasters: You can set target times and get an idea of the window of time when the first pop should occur but every single roast will be different. Every day. After the first day or two of sitting together and watching Joe move through the production list, he threw me into the thick of it. He made sure that I had access to him if an emergency arose but for the most part, he’d walk away and let me figure it out on my own. This when I came to love Roast Illuminator. There’s a great article floating around, that I can’t seem to find a link to, by Willem Boot regarding the arc of your roast. Totally worth the time it will take you to track it down. No matter what mistakes I made in those early days, the more time I spent with the software the easier it became for me to anticipate these missteps and correct them in the next roast. Being able to print the graphs of the roasts after the fact and discuss them with Joe was great as well. I would set aside a small portion of the beans from every batch I roasted each day. Joe would come in at the end of the week and we’d taste both the good and not so good products of my labors. When I did make mistakes, it was easy for Joe to grab the graph and point out exactly where I went wrong.

Once I had the mechanics of the machine under my belt, the biggest challenge I faced was believing in myself and my ability to create a quality product. Tip #4 for New Roasters: OWN THE ROAST! Joe told me this just about every time we cupped and compared the coffee I had been roasting. Once I started owning the roast, that’s when I began to create something delicious, satisfying and truly worthy of being called specialty coffee. What is owning the roast? Its confidence to know when the bean wants to pop. Its knowing the profile of the bean, what tastes you want to develop and what you want to play down. And most importantly, its the self assurance that this roast will taste delicious and that no matter what happens in those 14 + minutes of fire and motion, that you can handle it and bring those beans exactly back to where they need to be. There’s a “fake it ‘til you make it” aspect to this. There’s no way that anyone just starting off has all this knowledge. You will make mistakes. I made a lot. In my second week I roasted almost 40 lbs of Sulawesi to a Vienna Roast, when it should have been another coffee all together. When you’re working with a commodity like coffee, that can sell for so much, that seems like BLACK GOLD sometimes, there are lots of moments you can beat yourself over. Tip #5 for New Roasters: Its not worth it. Learn from your mistakes and move on. Once the beans are in the cooling tray, once they’ve reached first pop, you can’t go back, you can't change it, all you can do is make sure to not make the same mistake twice.

Now that I’ve been roasting on my own for a little more than three months, looking back is a bit a of blur. The way we have things set up here, Jocelyn and I switch off roasting every other day. When its my day, especially now that its January in Vermont, I relish saddling up to the roaster. Shedding layers as she warms up the roasting room and going through the rhythm of the day is just about the best part of my job I can think of. As I said before, I’m by no means a master, its questionable whether I’m even a journeyman at this point but I know that each and every batch I drop makes me a better roaster. The same will happen for you. Roasting is fulfilling on so many different levels, no more so than being able to hand a customer or a friend a pound of coffee that you roasted yourself and being able to say, “I made this for you.”

Cheers.

Alex

A Roasters Journey, part 1

2010-12-17T14:22:00.001-05:00

This is the first post in a short series I'll being writing exploring my training and education as a Roaster here at Mocha Joe's. While I'm by no means a master roaster, I'd like to think I've started down the road to becoming one.

When I was hired to roast coffee for Mocha Joe’s a little over four months ago, I was on cloud nine. I had been working in and out of the coffee industry since I was just a budding drip coffee drinker. Over the past eleven years, I worked for low brow and mid brow espresso bars, corporate drive thru caffeine pushers, bakeries and restaurants that had coffee on their menus but little appreciation for the product as whole. Mocha Joe’s would be a whole new world in the industry for me. At my previous position, managing the outstanding Baked. in Brooklyn, NY I had my first real opportunity to explore the world of wholesale roasting, through Stumptown, who had just opened their first East Coast roastery right up the street from Baked. At this point, my focus had been on crafting excellent beverages and maybe trying to get customers to purchase a pound of whole bean from our retail shelves. So, when I had the chance to tour their new facility, I pretty much glossed over the more technically aspects and focused on their shiny espresso machines and fancy West Coast attitudes. I wish I had paid a bit more attention.

Fast forward to the end of this past August. I had just moved back to New England in a terrible job market and I was hoping to find a job that would actually fulfill my artistic tendencies. When Jackie got back to me, my heart soared. I knew I had the potential to take the years of experience I had selling coffee and put that energy into actually creating it. I had no idea what I was in for.

Coming to MJ’s the first couple days felt a bit overwhelming. Even though I considered myself pretty educated in terms of coffee culture, there was a feeling of information overload. I didn’t even start roasting until I had been here for at least a month. I’m glad for that. In that time I read everything I could get my hands on. Tip #1 for New Roasters: DO THIS! READ READ READ! You might not retain everything but at some point, that knowledge is going to kick in exactly at the right moment. More on this later. I can’t recommend ROAST Magazine enough. I’ve read every issue at least twice. Between synopsizes of Countries of Origin to Q & A’s with other roasters, there is just too much good information to pass up. If you aren’t already a member, Barista Exchange is another great resource. I’m less of a poster and more of a lurker, but the wealth of discussion there answered a lot of my questions early on. I really can’t stress this enough. Explore the internet as much as you can before you even saddle up to your roaster. Which, you’re probably doing. Right. Now.

I was lucky enough to be surrounded by great folks here at MJ’s, most of whom had experience roasting on our Probat UG22. Tip #2 for New Roasters: Ask too many questions. If you read something that doesn’t make sense, ask. If you don’t understand what an afterburner is (I had no idea), ask. Don’t try to be the smartest kid in the room, just try to absorb as much information as you can. Of course, this really only applies if you’re working for someone else. Over the course of that first month, I spent the majority of my time packaging beans for orders. This was a great primer for when I finally got to run the roaster. Seeing well done roasts, getting an idea for what good oils look like or the difference in color between a Full City roast and a Vienna roast was invaluable to me. Even now, if I’m questioning the look of roast before I pull it, I’ll grab a handful of beans from a previous day and compare (thanks Jocelyn, for this tip). Of course, once you get a feel for roasting you’ll develop your own style and standards but in the beginning if there is a standard to hold yourself up to, it helps alleviate some of the uncertainty that you’ll be feeling.

Next Week: Encounters with Joe, owning the roast and the value of tracking your roasts.

Cheers.

Alex

Six Common Coffee Myths Revealed

2010-10-08T12:21:00.004-04:00

I've heard a lot of myths about coffee floating around, some that I thought were true before I started working for Mocha Joe's.

Is coffee really the second largest traded commodity in the world? Are French Roast coffees "fresher" than Light Roasts? Can you use less coffee and grind it finer? Is Fair Trade and Organic coffee higher quality? Does Espresso have to have Robusta beans? Can coffee really cure a hangover?

Out of curiosity, I decided to look a little deeper and this is what I found:

Coffee is the second largest traded commodity in the world, second only to oil - The truth behind this one shocked me while I was doing research. Everyone in the coffee industry seems to repeat this myth without really knowing where it comes from or being able to point to the data. Maybe coffee is the second largest traded commodity, but not necessarily, it all depends on how you look at it. Mark Pendergrast, the author of "Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World," explored this myth after realizing he did not provide a citation for it in the introduction to his book. His thoughts are definitely worth a read if you are interested in coffee culture and he can address this myth much better than I can. Basically it depends on if you are looking at the monetary value of the coffee or the quantity of coffee being traded and whether or not you take into account futures contracts. There is also the question of how we figure out commodity value, since coffee is roasted, looses weight during the process, is re-sold to cafes who then brew it and sell it again, etc.

Oily French Roast coffees are fresher than Light Roast coffees - My guess is that this myth came about because French Roast coffees look shiny, oily and fresh. Coffee geeks already know the answer to this question but it is a common misconception. Light roast coffees don't have the same oily look on their exterior and often appear dried out. Two coffees, one French and one Light, can be roasted on the exact same day and be just as fresh but look entirely different. When looking for coffee freshness, you want to see if the roasting company provides a roast date on their bags or bins. Its also usually a safe assumption that a specialty coffee roaster is roasting in small batches on a daily basis and their coffee will be fresher than the big name coffees you find on your supermarket store shelves. There is a lot of varying opinion about how long coffee stays good for. Some people think you should use all your coffee within three days. My opinion is that it tastes bests a couple of days after its been roasted and you should use up your pound of coffee within a week. If you don't drink a pound of coffee a week, try getting 1/2lb. bags. Alternatively you can go to your local cafe or co-op and get your coffee in whatever quantity you think you will use for the next week. That way, you can get as much as you think you will be able to drink before its best flavors starts to fade.

I can use less coffee if I grind it finer or my coffee will taste better if I use more of it - You taste the results of this myth all the time, at gas stations, cafes, restaurants and at home. Both usually result in an over-extracted, bitter tasting cup of coffee. Bitter doesn't necessarily mean strong. Ratios of coffee to water are very important. You can see my more detailed explanation here but most of us can't weigh out our coffee at home. A lot of coffee and coffee brewers come with a handy little 7gram spoon. A good rule of thumb is to use two of those spoonfuls to every 8oz of water. Unfortunately, measuring by volume instead of weight isn't that accurate. French roast coffees weigh significantly less per volume than light roast coffees, but you can either work with what you got or invest in a cheap digital scale and make your coffee much better. There is a correct ratio for optimum extraction. After you get that ratio down, then you can get a tasty, strong cup of coffee by grinding a little bit finer, instead of just getting a bitter punch in the mouth, unless you really like that sort of thing.

Fair Trade and Organic is higher quality and tastes better - Fair Trade and Organic coffees are often more expensive and I think that people generally believe that they will taste better than other conventional coffees because they cost more. This isn't always the case, some of the best coffees that I have tasted were not Fair Trade or Organically certified. I've tasted some great conventional coffees and some great Direct Trade coffees. Price and certification does not equal quality, they only mean that those coffees were produced following specific rules and that everyone in the chain decided to purchase the rights to use that certificate. A conventional or Direct Trade coffee could be organic or meet Fair Trade requirements but it just doesn't make sense for those involved to purchase the certificate. The best way to find a good quality coffee is to find a great micro-roaster, with a good reputation and start trying different coffees. Keep a record of what you try and you might find that you like coffees from a certain region (or a particular farm) better than other coffees. You'll discover the differences between roast levels and be able to determine what kind of roast you prefer; Light, Medium or Dark. It takes a little experimentation but if you don't have the time, ask your roaster what they like to drink. If they are coffee nerds like the rest of us, they will be all too happy to let you know what the new killer coffee is.

Espresso must have Robusta beans to get the right body and crema - I hear this myth a lot when working with cafe owners and baristas. Its just not true and its easy enough to prove, just pull some shots with the regular, single-origin coffees that you have. I've tried a lot of single origin coffees pulled through an espresso machine. I think its a good way to taste those coffees in a different way and it really seems to amplify a lot of their flavors, giving me a new perspective on their flavor characteristics. Its actually pretty rare to get a coffee that doesn't have a good body and crema when pulled through an espresso machine. Even when its not an espresso blend, there are still plenty of the oils present that are essential for a good crema.

Coffee can cure a hangover - This one is just for fun. Coffee can certainly help wake you up in almost any circumstance but it won't cure your hangover and could potentially make it worse if you don't make sure to also re-hydrate yourself. Coffee can increase the potency of some painkillers like Asprin though. So if you have a cup of coffee with that morning Asprin, it might help get you up and running a little bit sooner.

Green Coffee Bean Defects - An Up Close Look

2010-10-05T14:07:00.001-04:00

A whole lot of work goes into hand sorting specialty coffee. You wouldn't believe the kind of green bean coffee defects that make their way into substandard coffees. Specialty coffee is all about minimizing defects so that you can taste the real flavor characteristics of your coffee. The low standard coffees that you will find in a can (and often also a bag) at your supermarket are full of these defects. I recently took some close up pictures of some common defects found in green coffee beans:

The SCAA (Specialty Coffee Association of America) has specific standards for grading coffee beans:

Specialty Grade Green Coffee (1): Specialty green coffee beans have no more than 5 full defects in 300 grams of coffee. No primary defects are allowed. A maximum of 5% above or below screen size indicated is tolerated. Specialty coffee m ust possess at least one distinctive attribute in the body, flavor, aroma, or acidity. Must be free of faults and taints. No quakers are permitted. Moisture content is between 9-13%.

Premium Coffee Grade (2): Premium coffee must have no more than 8 full defects in 300 grams. Primary defects are permitted. A maximum of 5% above or below screen size indicated is tolerated. Must possess at least one distinctive attribute in the body, flavor, aroma, or acidity. Must be free of faults and may contain only 3 quakers. Moisture content is between 9-13%.

Exchange Coffee Grade (3): Exchange grade coffee must have no more than 9-23 full defects in 300 grams. It must be 50% by weight above screen size 15 with no more than 5% of screen size below 14. No cup faults are permitted and a maximum of 5 quakers are allowed. Moisture content is between 9-13%.

Below Standard Coffee Grade (4): 24-86 defects in 300 grams.

Off Grade Coffee (5): More than 86 defects in 300 grams.

Grading Information from coffeeresearch.org - For more info I highly recommend checking out their website and the SCAA website.

Brazilian Daterra Estate Sweet Blue Espresso

2010-10-01T14:07:00.000-04:00

Next to our regular espresso blend we also offer a very special Brazilian Daterra Estate Sweet Blue Espresso that is Rainforest Alliance/Utz Kapeh Certified. You might occasionally taste it being used in Mocha Joe's Cafe so I'd let everyone know a little more about it.

World renowned Daterra plantations are located in the Cerrado & Mogiana regions of Brazil. The high altitude, stable temperature, and defined rainy season create perfect conditions for sustainable Arabica coffee farming.

Daterra's uniqueness lies not only in its environmental philosophy: protection of wildlife, water resources, and native forests, but also in its social responsibility, promoting labor rights. Daterra agricultural and worker treatment practices are certified by Utz Kapeh. Sweet Blue Espresso is a special blend of red bourbon, yellow bourbon, and caturra varietal beans picked at two different stages of ripeness.

Sweet Blue Espresso has strong floral aromatics, a beautiful amber crema, comforting initial espresso 'bite', and impressive chocolate and spiced fruit notes. Sweet Blue is excellent as a straight shot or blended with your favorite espresso drink.

Direct Trade Nicaraguan Maragoype - Our Featured Coffee

2010-09-27T11:34:00.001-04:00

Featured Coffee

Nicaraguan "Maragogype" - $15.50 / lb - Part of our Direct Trade Project!

Pronounced “Mara-go-hee-pay,” this Nicaraguan coffee varietal is unlike any other. Sourced by Jackie and Jocelyn during their trip to Nicaragua, this distinctive specialty coffee is 2-3 times the size of your typical bean. In addition to its freakish proportions, this exquisite lot is full of complex flavors reminiscent of biting into a fresh plum – an initial sensation of pleasant tartness followed by a deep, fleshy sweetness, and a clean, agave nectar finish.

Part of our Farmer Direct Trade program, the Maragogype comes to us from the Santa Isabel Cooperative, a 136 member coop located in Tuma La Dalia, Matagalpa. Santa Isabel focuses on fostering coffee quality with farm level improvements, including credit access for woman farmers. All of Santa Isabel’s coffee is grown above 4,000 feet in a forest micro-climate unique to the Tuma La Dalia area. This is a small lot, direct from the farm, so get it while you can.

Mocha Joe's Roasting Co. Website

Third Wave Coffee - Rise of the Specialty Coffee Movement

2010-08-11T13:08:00.000-04:00

The Third Wave of Coffee is the movement towards high-end specialty coffee that aims to treat coffee as an artisan ingredient rather than a commodity. Third wave coffee includes direct trade beans sourced from individual farms, single-origin roasts as opposed to blends and lighter roasts that bring out the distinct flavors of each coffee. Specialty coffee is micro-roasted by highly skilled coffee roasters and special care is taken when brewing that coffee in small, independently owned cafes.

Photo by Benjamin Zeman

The first wave of coffee generally refers to increased coffee consumption in America, due mostly to the advertising efforts by major brands like Folgers in the late 19th century and Maxwell House in the early 20th century. Coffee was considered a commodity beverage to be used for its caffeine content and hadn't yet been elevated to the level of fine artisan products like wine. Thanks to Starbucks, throughout the 70's and 90's things began to change. People started hanging out in coffee houses more often and espresso became a popular drink. Starbucks managed to expand the market and popularize coffee as more than a commodity beverage. The third wave of coffee was a direct reaction to the over-roasted and poorly brewed coffee found in many cafes during the second wave. Small artisan roasters began to roast lighter and pay more attention to every step of coffee production. They focused on growing methods, sorting for defects, storage, shipping, roasting and brewing to get the finest possible product.

Photo by Benjamin Zeman

Specialty coffee roasters often work directly with the farmers to increase the quality of their coffee and increase the wages they receive for what they produce. There is a distinct focus on improving not only the quality of the coffee beans but also the lives of the farmers who produce those beans. In a way this direct trade effort goes well beyond the popularized Fair Trade movement. The wages that farmers make are much higher because the quality of their product is much better, not because they are part of a farmer cooperative or certified as Fair Trade. It could be argued that going beyond Fair Trade is actually part of the Fourth Wave of coffee.

Photo by Benjamin Zeman

Its hard to describe a movement that is still being defined but the fourth wave of coffee seems to include many of the characteristics of the third wave but taken to a new level. Not only do roasters have a direct involvement in the farms producing their green beans but there is also a direct involvement in the brewing process. The advancement of brewing and espresso technology like the Slayer Espresso Machine and the ExtractMoJo system allow for more precise coffee brewing. There has been a dramatic improvement in creativity, technique and overall Barista talent. Barista culture has exploded and is now seen as a highly skilled profession, with events like the World Barista Championship drawing large crowds and national TV coverage. I think the future of the coffee industry will mean more direct trade, more involvement and investment at the farms, bettering the lives of the farmers, using and developing more advanced technology, better brewing techniques and an increased presence of highly skilled Baristas.

Mocha Joe's Roasting Co. and the rest of the Specialty Coffee Industry will continue to raise the bar and produce the best quality coffee product that it can. For all us coffee lovers out there, that's a really good thing!

Inexpensive Hand Crank Coffee Grinder

2010-07-14T13:53:00.001-04:00

GSI Outdoors Java Grinder

by GSI

Check out this inexpensive hand crank coffee grinder suggested by Cool Tools. In some earlier posts I talked about grind consistency and how it's always better to choose a burr grinder over a blade grinder. Electric burr grinders can be expensive but this hand powered burr grinder costs only around $20 and you can bring it anywhere. I haven't gone camping in a long time but I used to bring my French Press with me so I could still have my morning cup of coffee. I would grind my coffee before leaving because I had no way of grinding my coffee without any electricity. This is a small and elegant solution to portable coffee grinding. Whether you are at the office, at a hotel or visiting a friend, you can bring along everything you need to make a good cup of coffee. I can't wait to try it out!

- By Benjamin Zeman.

Espresso Machine Cleaning and Maintenance

2010-06-24T13:07:00.003-04:00

Some of you out there might own a cafe and a nice (and expensive!) espresso machine. In my time working as a Equipment Tech for Mocha Joe's Roasting Co. I've found that many other companies will sell an espresso machine and then disappear. At Mocha Joe's we think that part of installing a new espresso machine is teaching people how to properly clean and maintain it, as well as being available for repairs in an emergency. So in the spirit of clean and tasty espresso shots, here is my general list for cleaning and maintaining your machine:

This is the Espresso Machine we use in our Cafe - Nuova Simonelli "Appia 2-Group"

Espresso Machine Maintenance

After Every Shot:

1. Using a damp cloth, wipe off the screen and the steam wand arm. Briefly open the steam wand arm to purge it.

2. Clean out the porta filter and group head with a group brush and run water to purge the group head.

At The End Of Every Night:

1. Using a damp cloth, wipe off the screen and the steam wand arm.

2. Remove the screen and dispersion plate then use your group brush to clean underneath. Use a damp cloth to wipe the area underneath the dispersion plate and inside the gasket groove.

3. Using the blank porta filter, back flush the group heads with water only.

4. Remove and clean the drip tray.

5. Clean the residue out of the drain underneath the drip tray and replace the drip tray.

6. Remove the tip of the steam wand arm. Submerge steam wand arm in Cafiza for 15 minutes. Wipe down and purge the steam wand arm for 30sec.

7. Disassemble the porta filters. Fill a container with hot water and Cafiza. Soak the all porta filter parts, the screens, the dispersion plate and the steam wand arm tip in the solution for at least 30 minutes. Do not soak the rubber handle from the porta filter.

8. Rinse all the parts with clean water and scour with a green scrubby, then rinse again. Reassemble all parts.

9. Wipe down and clean the exterior of the machine.

Once A Week:

1. Back flush the group heads once using Cafiza and then again with hot water only. Run the pump five times in 15 second start/stop intervals. Then follow your regular nightly cleaning routine.

Once A Month:

1. Check the water filtration system and see if the water filter needs replacement.

2. Check your screens to see if they need to be replaced.

Admittedly, everyone seems to have different cleaning methods and yours can be adjusted, depending on how much business you do. I'm sort of a neat freak, so I always go for the top-end maintenance methods. If you aren't a high traffic cafe, you could use hot water on a nightly basis and leave all the Cafiza soaking for one day of the week. It all depends on how much coffee grime and build-up you notice. Just make sure that when you are using Cafiza you limit contact with any rubber gaskets or handles, the Cafiza will wear them down more quickly. You can purchase Cafiza from your supplier or order it directly from Mocha Joe's. We also offer hands on more detailed training on cleaning and maintaining your espresso machine. Also, all water filtration systems are different, some need to be changed on a regular basis and some only once or twice a year. Know when you need to check your filter and write that date on your system. Water quality is incredibly important to good tasting coffee and espresso.

If you keep things clean your espresso will taste much better and your machine will last much longer!

- By Benjamin Zeman

From the Roastmistress Volume 1: Coffee Tasting Vocabulary

2010-06-21T16:56:00.003-04:00

Jackie Cupping Coffee In Nicaragua

Learning to taste and talk about coffee can be intimidating. Generally, when professionals talk about coffee, they say things like, “medium bodied with razor fine acidity, chocolately mouthfeel, and hints of blackberry and sweet cream.” How do you get all that from a single cup of coffee? Learning to articulate what you taste begins with learning some basic coffee vocabulary. Saying, “this coffee tastes like the bottom of my soggy running shoes,” is totally legit! But since not everyone goes around licking soggy running shoes, coffee speak can translate that sentiment into something more objective: “Heavy bodied with an astringent mouthfeel--hints of fresh earth and cut grass, lightly fecal.” Here are some basic coffee terms that not only should help you talk about coffee like a snob, but also find coffees that you will like based on someone else’s description:

Body

Body describes the weight of the coffee in your mouth. Think about drinking a glass of milk. Skim milk is thin and light on the tongue—almost like water. Whole milk, on the other hand, is much thicker and weightier. Body can be thought of in this way. Some coffees have weightier feeling on the palate, while others are crisp and refreshing.

Mouthfeel

Body and mouthfeel are subtly different. While body refers to the general weight of the coffee, mouthfeel refers to the texture or tactile sensation that drinking the coffee gives you. Sure it’s heavy bodied, but is it syrupy? Oily? Buttery?

Acidity

Acidity can be kind of a deceptive term because coffee is not an acidic beverage. In fact, the term acidity is kind of falling out of fashion in favor of the word “brightness.” Acidity is a desirable characteristic in coffee that is generally attributed to coffee grown at higher altitudes. Acidity is not the same as sourness, as it is NOT a flavor. It refers to the tactile sensation of biting into a fresh orange or ripe grapefruit.

Sweetness

Exactly what it sounds like. Sweetness can be a fruity like berries, syrupy like caramel, or floral like a gardenia.

Flavor

This is a pretty straightforward concept. What does the coffee TASTE like? Let your imagination run wild. Any taste you can think of is a valid flavor. Green peas? Ripe cherries? Hazlenut pastry? Marzipan? Horses? Go for it.

Cleanliness

Clean is a word that is used to describe a coffee that is free of defects. Defects are many and include things like mold, heavy fermentation, or metallic flavors. To determine whether or not a coffee is clean, it is helpful to think to yourself, "is there a weird flavor that is obscuring the actual taste of the coffee?"

Learning these concepts can help you to become a more confident connoisseur and be more successful in purchasing coffees that you enjoy.

-by Jackie Billings, Roastmistress and Business Manager

Home Brewing - The Manual Drip Method - Melitta and Chemex

2010-06-17T12:39:00.003-04:00

Chemex and Melitta are examples of the manual drip method. They are the very definition of a clean cup of coffee. The coffee is placed in a cone shaped filter and the water is poured through the coffee grounds. The coffee slowly drips into your cup or container as it brews.

Melitta

Melitta Manual Drip Coffee Maker

There is a ongoing debate about paper vs. permanent filters. Permanent filters are more environmentally friendly because they are re-usable, but paper filters more effectively trap bitter sediments. The choice is yours, but I prefer paper filters because of the difference in taste. With the manual drip method you will notice a brighter, crisper, cleaner cup with a more pronounced acidity. It is truly delicious and if you want to taste the difference you will soon be able to get coffee brewed with a Chemex right in our cafe.

You can check out my other post How To Brew Good Coffee At Home for more information about grinding your coffee, temperature and water to coffee ratios. Your coffee grind is an important factor with the manual drip method. Coffee ground for drip coffeemakers should be much finer than what you would use for a French Press, since the water in the French Press is in direct contact with the coffee for a much longer period of time.

Chemex

Chemex Manual Drip Coffee Maker

To brew your coffee follow these simple steps:
1. Boil your water and let it sit while you prepare your coffee so that it can come back down to the proper brewing temperature.
2. Grind your coffee, measure it and place it inside the paper filter.
3. Place your paper cone filter in your drip coffee maker.
4. If you are using a Melitta you may need a container to brew into, place the Melitta on the container.
5. Saturate the coffee grounds with water. You can use a chopstick to make sure there are no dry lumps in the coffee ground.
6. Pour the rest of the water in and let it drip!

The manual drip method is just as easy as the French Press and great for home brewing. The major difference is how much of the coffee grounds you want filtered out of the final cup. Sometimes I like to brew French Press in the morning and Melitta in the late afternoon. Melitta has a more tea-like body and consistency and is well suited to that pick-me-up later in the day. The French Press is more of a direct kick with a thick, more earthy body to it. Let us know, which do you like better?

- By Benjamin Zeman

Home Brewing - The French Press

2010-06-17T12:05:00.002-04:00

The French Press has to be my favorite home brewing method. It's relatively easy to get a really good cup of coffee when brewing at home. Some people don't like the coffee particles whirling around in the cup but I love it. If you want a really clean cup of coffee, the French Press is not for you, I would suggest trying a Melitta or Chemex instead.

In my post, How To Brew Good Coffee At Home, I talked about the basics of water temperature and water to coffee ratios. Keep those consistent and you shouldn't have a problem. With all home brewing methods, it all comes down to the way your coffee is ground and how long your brew time is. If you want a really consistent grind that doesn't have a wide spread of small to large particles, you need a burr grinder instead of a blade grinder. Those tiny dusty particles will pass through the metal filter of a French Press and you will get a whole lot of coffee sludge in the bottom of your cup. For me, some coffee particles are okay, but there is a point where there is too much. Not to mention, you will get a pretty uneven extraction.

The French Press requires a slightly coarser grind than you would expect from an electric auto-drip brewer or a pour-over like the Chemex. If you want to get an idea of what the coffee grind should look like, you can bring some of your coffee to the cafe and they will grind it on our preferred French Press setting, then you can try and replicate that at home using your own grinder. Boil your water first and let it cool back down to the 195-202 temperature range. While your water is cooling, grind your coffee and put the measured coffee grounds into the bottom of the French Press. By the time you are ready to pour the water in, it should be at about the right temperature.

French Press by Bodum

Now comes the important part, don't forget to use a timer!

Pour in about half the water and start the timer as soon as it hits the coffee grounds.
Make sure to saturate all the grounds and let the coffee bloom for 2 minutes.
At the two minute mark, use a chopstick or something to stir the coffee very briefly, maybe about 3-6 stirs.
Quickly pour the rest of the water in the French Press and wait until the 3 and a half minute mark.
At 3 and a half minutes, take about 30 seconds to push the plunger down and you have your coffee!

It's a pretty simple process, it's all about timing and adjusting your grind for the strength that you want. Remember, if the coffee tastes to weak make the grind a little finer and if it tastes too bitter make it a little coarser. I would suggest pouring the coffee right away because there is still contact between the water and coffee grounds, so they will continue to extract. The French Press is awesome, easy to use and nearly indestructible. If you love coffee, give it a try and tell us what you think.

- By Benjamin Zeman

How To Brew Good Coffee At Home

2010-06-16T15:35:00.010-04:00

If you've read some of my other blogs, you can see how much time and technology

goes into the brewing process at our cafe. Without commercial brewing

and grinding equipment it can be hard to brew a really good cup of coffee at home,

but it's not impossible.

The first thing you want to do is take that cheap plastic electric drip-brewer and throw it in the trash. Brewing your coffee in these things is an incredibly easy way to ruin your coffee beans and get a nasty, bitter cup of coffee. Their major problem is that they do not brew at the optimal temperature for coffee and people tend not to clean them. The one exception I know of is the Dutch-built Technivorm Moccamaster which costs about $300 and is officially certified by the Specialty Coffee Association of America. There are several methods better than that old auto-drip for brewing your coffee if you can't afford a Technivorm, ranging from inexpensive pour-over's like those made by Melitta, to the more expensive French Press or Chemex. There are also, of course, many other brewing methods, but I've found these to be the easiest. Water is an incredibly important part of brewing coffee. I highly recommend using a water filter on your faucet or one of those filter containers that you can stick in your refrigerator. Quality water makes quality coffee. The water temperature should be between 195-202 degrees but 198-200 degrees is optimal. If you want to get technical you could grab a thermometer and check the temperature of your water but when I'm at home I usually just let the water boil and then let it sit for a minute to come back down to the correct temperature range. Alternatively you can pour it from your hot water kettle into another vessel to drop the temperature sufficiently. Just make sure not to use boiling water when making your coffee.

Next you want to make sure you are using the correct amount of coffee beans to brew your coffee. If you are measuring your water before brewing and start with 8fl oz, then you want to use 13.9g of ground coffee. If you are pouring your water in until you get 8fl oz of brewed coffee, then you want to use 15.8g of ground coffee. Burr grinders are more expensive but better than blade grinders because you have more control over the fineness or coarseness of the grind. We have quality burr and blade grinders for sale in our cafe. You can also get your coffee ground at our cafe if you don't have a grinder at home. If you follow the brewing instructions for brew time and keep the ground coffee to water ratio the same, the only thing you should need to adjust is the grind setting. If your coffee tastes too bitter and over extracted, make the grind a little coarser. If your coffee tastes weak and watery, make your grind a little bit finer.

If you'd like to learn more, I have blogs on both the Manual Drip Method (including the Melitta and the Chemex) and the French Press. I hope your home brewing goes well and tastes delicious. If you have any questions, leave a comment!

- By Benjamin Zeman

An Introduction To Coffee Tasting

2010-06-11T12:56:00.004-04:00

Cupping In Nicaragua

It wasn't until recently that I learned how to really taste the coffee that I drink consistently throughout the day. You don't have to be a coffee nerd or elitist to appreciate the subtle flavor characteristics of a delicious cup of coffee. Admittedly, I used to think of coffee as having only one of two flavors, good or bad. To be honest, my first cup of coffee each morning still goes down pretty fast and I don't think about it very much. All I want when I roll out of bed is a quick mental jump start to bring me back from sleep and into full consciousness. My second cup is usually sipped and savored at a nice relaxing pace. I love identifying specific flavors and enjoying the subtleties that are hiding throughout the overall taste.

I made the move from french roast to light roast because the darker a bean is roasted the less you can taste the natural characteristics of the bean. I do still love french roast for its strong, robust flavor and deliciously enticing smell, but I can taste more variety in a light roast than a french roast. I'm still a novice when it comes to tasting coffee, on a professional level, here at Mocha Joe's, but I do enjoy when I notice a tasty chocolate, caramel on my own and then I find the more experienced tasters are in agreement.

Whether you taste sugars like molasses or honey, chocolate, fruit, citrus or nuts, each artfully roasted coffee can provide you with a totally different experience. No two coffee's are alike and it can be incredibly fun to find out why you like your favorite coffee so much. When tasting coffee by yourself or with friends, there are no rules. What you taste is what you taste, all it takes is a little thought to identify each flavor on it's own and think about how all the flavors work together.

What is your favorite coffee and what flavors can you taste in it?

- By Benjamin Zeman

Why Does Our Coffee Taste So Good At Our Cafe?

2010-06-07T15:18:00.005-04:00

You may have noticed a change for the better when it comes to each cup of freshly brewed coffee in Mocha Joe's Cafe in downtown Brattleboro, VT. You also may have noticed Pierre and I spending a lot of time in the cafe with computers, fancy equipment and lots of coffee cups spread out in front of us. Have been wondering exactly why we were so wired and what it is that we were doing there?

Below is a poster we have put up in the cafe (on the back of the espresso machine as you are standing in line) that explains why coffee tastes so much better in Mocha Joe's Cafe than the coffee you get anywhere else:

Click on the image to see a larger version.

If you are interested in a more detailed explanation of the ExtractMojo software and Digital Refractometer you can read about it in my other post Brewing Better Coffee with the ExtractMoJo Software. If you have any questions or want to know more, please leave a comment!

- By Benjamin Zeman

Brewing Better Coffee with the ExtractMoJo Software

2010-06-07T14:12:00.005-04:00

ExtractMojo is a piece of software by VST Inc. that helps you brew amazing coffee. Used in conjunction with a Digital Refractometer, that is made specifically for coffee and espresso, the ExtractMojo software can help set up Gold Cup standard brews and diagnose brewing problems. The ExtractMojo software is based on American standards from the 1950's. It's basically a way to set brew parameters and map them out so that you can get the best possible brew out of your coffee. This is one of the many reasons that Mocha Joe's coffee tastes so good at our cafe and other locations.

ExtractMojo Software by VST Inc.

VST Inc. has a specially made Digital Refractometer that accurately measures the TDS% of your brewed coffee. You can then enter the information into the ExtractMojo software and graph the coffee Extraction to see where you land on the chart.

Digital Refractometer from VST Inc.

As far as I understand it, this Digital Refractometer reads the speed of light traveling through the brewed coffee to measure the refractive index and how it relates to your coffee extraction. It's pretty technical to think about but it's also pretty easy to use.

I basically think of the software and coffee chart as a map. If I'm visiting a new place I want to know where I am, so I can figure out where I want to go. The software helps you plot your current location on the map and then determine how you want your coffee to taste from there. Before using this software we would set up new cafes by taste alone and after testing those accounts using the ExtractMojo I found a common theme. A lot of the cafes that carried our coffee would use less coffee grounds and then compensate for it by over extracting during the brewing process, leading to a strong and bitter brew. It seems to be fairly common to use less coffee with a finer grind to try and get a strong cup. Now that I'm familiar with the taste produced by this problem, I find it almost everywhere. Most of the time the coffee tastes good but it isn't very consistent, so one brew would be okay and next would be much different. I was new to Mocha Joe's Coffee Roaster's when we first purchased the ExtractMojo software and decided to start from scratch at each of these cafes, using the same brewing parameters for every set-up.

ExtractMojo makes it a lot easier to set up a new cafe or fix problems at an already existing one because there is one primary variable to deal with. The ratio of coffee to water stays the same, the water temperature stays the same and I adjust only the grind to get the best possible extraction. I can create my brew recipes, save them in the software and replicate them at all the cafes that we provide coffee. I have figured out specific brewer settings for brew time and other parameters that I use across the board. For me it's all about keeping things consistent and starting out strong, so if any changes have to be made they are little nudges in one direction or the other, not giant leaps.

Jocelyn Roasting Coffee at Mocha Joe's - Photo by Deb Lazar

So much work and artistry go into the coffee roasting process, it would be a shame to improperly brew the roasted beans. You can have excellent coffee beans, roasted incredibly well and mess it all up in the last step of the process. We want people to taste the same excellent characteristics of each coffee roast at every location brewing our coffee. Consistency and quality in the brewing process is the only way to let the artistry of coffee roasting really shine through in the final product, an excellent cup of coffee.

- By Benjamin Zeman

Mocha Joe's Coffee Is Now Available In Boston!

2010-06-04T15:36:00.008-04:00

Mocha Joe's Coffee Roasters are proud to announce our arrival in the Boston area! After a whirlwind weekend brewing our finest Ethiopian and Salvadoran coffees at Boston's D2E: Down To Earth Sustainability Trade Show held at the Prudential Center in Downtown Boston, we had the chance to meet with the fine people of the Harvest Co-Op in Cambridge. Because both of our businesses are interested in providing the finest fairly traded goods to our customers, it was a natural decision to offer two of our finest coffees at this great Co-Op.

Both our top selling Dark Roast, Organic/Fair Trade French Roast Peruvian, and our highly coveted Organic Ethiopian Yirgacheffe can be found in the coffee aisle, so be sure to stop in a grab a pound of either (or both) for only $11.99!

- By Ari Reis