The Interested but Uninitiated Coffee Drinkers

I have decided that the blog audience I am trying to connect with are the interested but uninitiated.

I went deer hunting yesterday. I knew most of the time would be spent sitting in my tree stand, so I decided to download a number of podcasts from coffeegeek.com. Mark Prince does a really good job educating the general public about the specialty coffee industry and the grand world that exists out there beyond Starbucks. I really appreciate what he is doing for the industry. In his podcast 64, he breaks down what he sees as the coffee drinking population: 80% consisting of Folgers/Maxwell House/etc. drinkers; 3% coffee aficionados who strive for only the best; 7% those who have tasted good coffee but feel its not worth the effort; 10% who have heard of good specialty coffee, are interested, but have never tasted it – the interested but uninitiated.

I won’t address the 80%. But first, the 3% who are aficionados are real coffee perfectionists. These are the purists of coffee. They have the educated, delicate palates that are able to distinguish all the subtleties of coffee, that culinary coffee has to offer. I hope one day my palate will be that fine.

I am in the 10% of the interested but uninitiated who have heard of the “heavenly cups of black gold” but can’t say that we’ve actually had a face to face with God yet. My interest was peaked by reading God in a Cup. But to be real honest, my palate is not yet fine nor educated. I’m more like a two-year-old who is able to experience and enjoy life, but is too limited in experience and in vocabulary to explain what is so great about life. My two-year-old can say, “Mmm,” when she has a piece of candy in her mouth. But have her explain anything more than that, I’ll only get a cute grin or a response like, “Barney?”

So I am going on this coffee journey to let my palate experience what coffee has to offer. Along the way I hope to pick up the vocabulary that will let me help others be educated as well. For the near future, I’m not aiming for the stars. If I can just get to one or two steps beyond Starbucks at half the price, I’ll be happy.

If any of you out there would like to experience the same or have suggestions let me know.

Coffee History (2) – Ethiopian Coffee

What is currently being posted under “Coffee History” is from Uncommon Grounds.

Ethiopian coffee drinking involves ceremony and ritual, providing an ideal setting for socializing. It typically takes about an hour. While guests sit and chat charcoals warm inside special clay pots. Green coffee beans, taken from the host’s trees, have already been sun-dried and husks removed. Just prior to making a fresh brew of coffee, the green beans are washed and the silver skins removed. Frankincense thrown on the coals fills the room with a rich aroma. The green beans are poured onto a disk heating on the open fire and the beans are stirred as they roast. After a few minutes the beans turn a cinnamon color then crackle during the “first crack.” Once golden brown the beans are removed and ground to a fine powder in a mortar. The coffee grounds are placed into a clay pot of water, heating on the coals, along with cardamon and cinnamon.

Everone’s mouths are watering as the aroma of the coffee fills the room. The rich liquid is poured into little 3 oz cups with some sugar. Mmm, good coffee! (OK, so I haven’t actually tasted coffee made this way, but I can just imagine the exotic smells and flavors.)

The French Press — An Unadulterated Cup of Coffe

Thanks to a friend and coworker who let me borrow his Bodum French Press Coffee Maker, I tasted my first cup of coffee as promoted by the book, God in a Cup.

What’s the verdict? The French Press makes a cup of coffee that is unadulterated — it just slaps you in the face! It’s kind of like seeing a closeup shot of a TV personality, who has not gone through makeup, in HD. Get the picture? Your jaw drops, “Oh man, is that what you really look like?” The true character is revealed for better or for worse.

Over the last 6 weeks I have been drinking 8 O’ Clock coffee. I bought whole beans from Giant Eagle. It was on sale “buy one get one free.” So I bought two 2lb bags — one light roast, the other dark roast. I’ve been brewing my coffee in a Cuisinart Grind and Brew Coffee Maker. Well the 8 O’ Clock coffee has had a disgusting chemical after taste.

I decided to try the 8 O’ Clock coffee in the French Press. The good news is that the French Press definitely pulled out the flavor of the coffee beans with an intensity that made me no longer taste the chemical after taste (Do you think 8 O’ Clock coffee comes from China?). The bad news is that one of the flavors that attacked my taste buds was dirt. The coffee actually tasted like the beans had been dried on a dirt floor.

So here is my conclusion: If we were living in the 50’s where all available coffee was bad, then just drink cowboy/percolator coffee that burns the coffee anyway until we’ve got a good cup of black mud filled with a strong dose of caffeine.

The 70’s has allowed us enjoy drip coffee, thanks to Mr. Coffee. Even Maxwell House and Hills Brothers tastes better drip than percolated.

Having lived through the 90’s, Starbucks has shown us that there are better beans than Maxwell House and Hills Brothers. But we’ve got to find a way to keep us that standard without paying $2 a cup.

So here we are in the 21st century. This is post-Starbucks. The French Press has opened my eyes to a new world of coffee. Imagine a world of unadulterated coffee. Unadulterated — for better or for worse. I like the prospect of attacking and at the same time educating my taste buds with the subtleties of coffee. How delicate will my palate become? I don’t know.

Time to begin the adventure.

Best Cheap Cup of Coffe

So I’m starting a new blog about making the best cheap cup of coffee ever.

I just read God in a Cup. Great book! For those of you out there that like to read books (I know we are a minority) and like coffee, this is a great book to read. It has challenged my coffee taste buds.

This book appeals to the elitist in me. It begins by talking about a coffee (La Esmeralda from Panama) that sells wholesale for $130 per pound! This book speaks of a world that is trying to push coffee into the status of vintage wine. For the socially conscious, the coffee dealers in the book also intend to have people buy coffee at premium prices then share those profits with the poor indigenous farmers in Central and South America and in Africa.

So in this blog I am going to carry out an experiment. I don’t know if I have the palate to appreciate fine, vintage coffee. But I would like to see if I can upgrade my coffee standards without getting too outrageous with the price — since we are now in the 21st century’s Great Depression, it would be a little irresponsible to drink coffee at $150 per pound — only a modern-day Marie Antoinette would say, “Let them drink Starbucks!”