Through the combined efforts of JumpinGoat Coffee Roasters and Ken Landers, the San Rafael Sustainable Coffee Initiative (SRSCI) is off the ground and running. With the goal of restructuring the current seed-to-cup value chain that exists in coffee farming, the SRSCI aspires to positively impact the lives of the Costa Rican coffee farmers, implementing the four pillars of sustainability: social, cultural, economic and environmental. With current co-op methods ineffectively aiding the farmer, the SRSCI is laying the foundation for direct trade from the San Rafael coffee farmer to the consumer. The astonishing facts of the current value chain demonstrate a net profit for some Costa Rican farmers of $0.39 (39 cents!) per one pound of coffee. Compare this to the average $250 net profit the coffee retailer receives for the SAME one pound of coffee. JumpinGoat Coffee Roasters and the SRSCI believe the consumer should have the choice to go directly to the source, the Costa Rican farmers themselves. The San Rafael Sustainable Coffee Initiative opens this window for choice, offering direct communication with the farmer, direct purchase and revealing a world of possibilities for the consumer and the farmer that do not exist in the current market. JumpinGoat will be returning to Costa Rica with the Costa Rica Eco Tour scheduled for January 2011 to further investigate coffee at its source, the SRSCI’s venture in coffee sustainability measures and how to accomplish this with the other local coffee farmers. Coffee and non-coffee industry personnel are encouraged to join.
JumpinGoat Coffee Roasters is on a mission. Dedicated to providing the highest quality roasted coffee, exceptional service and the guidance of coffee business plans, JumpinGoat is traveling to Costa Rica to experience the origin of coffee, before it is roasted and even before it is picked. JumpinGoat will explore a hands-on approach to the cultivation of the coffee cherry – walking, talking and working with the local farmers and even harvesting discussions and instruction, as the following trip in January will result in actually picking the berries from the trees. Aspiring to expand knowledge on social and cultural sustainability with applications to coffee shop business plans, JumpinGoat departs Friday, April 30th, destination TheCommon Cup Community Coffee House and Roastery, Monteverde, Costa Rica.
Serving as host to this JumpinGoat adventure, Ken Lander, administrator of The Common Cup, offers the opportunity for coffee entrepreneurs/enthusiasts to participate in the full seed-to-cup process, learning not only a great deal about coffee, but also discovering the values that a non-profit community coffee house can offer. The Common Cup believes in social sustainability, giving 40% of proceeds of the retail sale back to the community for educational and beneficial social services. JumpinGoat is interested in this value system, hoping to garner and amplify these concepts. “JumpinGoat Coffee Roasters seeks to embody as many appreciable aspects of sustainability as possible in our coffee business plan,” stated Forrest Graves, owner of JumpinGoat, and continues, “We have a responsibility to our patrons and supporters to provide coffee that is manufactured with a conscience.” As a motivated and ambitious business owner, Graves looks to introduce several pillars of sustainability, including social, economic, environmental and agricultural. JumpinGoat believes in this mutually beneficial relationship and heads to Costa Rica to view the fruition of The Common Cup and its joint venture with local coffee producers firsthand.
The excitement continues to build as JumpinGoat anticipates direct interaction with the local farmers, experiencing seed-to-cup personally – planting, harvesting, processing, milling, grading, sorting, exporting, cupping, roasting, grinding and brewing. This trip is about “getting your hands dirty” and really understanding the life of the farmer and the method to which coffee is prepared and managed. Face-to-face communication with the producers, navigating the slopes of the mountainside, studying the coffee plant in its natural habitat, observing the cherry in developmental stages and coffee farming at its roots – that’s what this adventure is.
Looking forward to the experience of coffee farming one-on-one and studying the cooperative ideals, JumpinGoat predicts a successful and entertaining endeavor. The wisdom gained from this venture will be abundant. No doubt, the knowledge shared with up and coming coffee businesses and followers of JumpinGoat will be received well. Mr. Graves advocates sharing his coffee business knowledge and promotes these efforts in his coffee roasting business plan training.
JumpinGoat Coffee Roasters invites you to attend the January 2011 JumpinGoat Costa Rican Adventure Tour, as Forrest Graves travels back to Monteverde, leading the tour group along this coffee quest. Explore the coffee world of Costa Rica and witness for yourself what this expedition holds. JumpinGoat would like to extend this invitation to everyone, whether you have a lingering interest in coffee or have expert knowledge in coffee affairs. Follow JumpinGoat Coffee Roasters throughout this adventure as we continue to update their progress and look for upcoming information regarding the January 2011 trip. Travel arrangements for this Costa Rican tour can be made effortlessly with the help of VIP Travel in Cleveland, Georgia. With lots of adventures foreseen, this is going to be one great trip.
Back to the daily grind, coffee grinding that is. The number of people who understand the variations in coffee grinding is surprisingly low. So here’s a crash course on the basics of coffee grinding and why the consistency of the grind is so important.
For starters, your “perfect cup” of coffee highly relies on how your coffee is brewed and correspondingly, your brewing method is interrelated to the fineness or coarseness of your coffee grind. Brewing methods include your average “Mr. Coffee” auto drips, French presses and espresso machines among many. The general grinding consistencies are coarse, medium and fine, although there are mid-level grinds, such as medium-fine and super-fine, etc. Different brewing machines expose the ground coffee beans to heated water for varying amounts of time and you must therefore “match up” the brewing technique with the coarseness of your grind. For example, a French press requires a coarse grind secondary to sediment and design, whereas the usual auto drip coffee machines work best with a medium to fine grind. The more the coffee bean is ground (i.e., fineness) the more surface area is exposed to the hot water. Keep this in mind, as this is just one of the elements in coffee grinding that dictates the consistency vs. brewing method relationship.
The following is a short description of each grind which may help in your coffee grinding endeavors: A coarse grind is chunky with obvious fragments, kind of like potting soil; a medium grind is similar to rough sand; a fine grind is smoother still and has a texture comparable to salt or sugar; a super-fine grind is very much like powdered sugar or flour with maybe a slight bit of grit still felt; a Turkish grind, one step past super-fine, is as near to a flour consistency as you can get.
Coffee grinding methods include the usual blade grinding and burr grinding machines which you can purchase through multiple outlets. If you want to try coffee grinding without these machines, you can try chopping, pounding and even roller grinding. Some suggestions that have been thrown out there about how to “do-it-yourself” include crushing the coffee beans with a hammer, using a rolling pin and even mortar and pestle. A simple blender goes a long way in coffee grinding as well, although you will not be able to achieve a fine or super-fine grind with most blenders.
Given a little bit of time and experience (or should I say “experiments”) your coffee grinding knowledge will translate well into your coffee cup. With the unending “do-it-yourself” tactics and/or coffee grinding machines, we’ll leave it up to you to decide exactly how you want to grind your coffee bean. Here’s to each cup getting better and better!
Sometimes referred to as Jamaica’s “black gold”, Jablum coffee has secured its standing in the coffee world as one of the finest coffees you can drink. Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is Jablum coffee. The name literally speaks for itself, as the coffee is grown on the slopes of the longest mountain range in the Caribbean, the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. Jablum coffee is known for its well-balanced attributes and striking taste. The prevailing reputation is that no other coffee harmonizes the elements of body, aroma, low acidity and flavor into one cup like the Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee. So what makes Jablum coffee so unique and so distinct? The answer lies in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica and the climate surrounding the growing coffee plants, as well as the great care and tradition the farmers put into their crop.
The Blue Mountains are home to the island’s highest point, Blue Mountain Peak, which crests at 7,402 feet. From this peak you can view both the North and South coasts of the island. The climactic diversity the island and mountain range offer is perfect for producing coffee. The well-drained and mineral-rich soil is welcoming to the coffee plants and highly favorable for yielding growth. As well, the abundant rainfall, generous sunlight and higher altitudes of the mountain range contribute to the development of the coffee berry. It is always cool and misty and yet never cold. The towering trees and lush vegetation of the mountainside offer vital shade to the growing coffee tree. The coffee berry cultivated in the Blue Mountains will take longer than others to mature and the longer length of time is allegedly for the berry to fully evolve its characteristic rich flavor and aroma. The Jablum coffee bean itself is a blue-green color and exhibits a sensational aroma.
Once cupped, the highly sought-after flavor, aroma and taste are apparent. The distinguishing body and sweet flavor complement the mild acidity and provide an exceptional cup of coffee. The Jablum coffee is so exceptional that author Ian Fleming’s super spy, James Bond – Agent 007, would insist on drinking only Jamaican Blue Mountain with his breakfast. Now that’s an endorsement!
Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is much more than a few paragraphs on a page and can only be appreciated by inhaling the bold aroma and experiencing the perfect combination of elements first-hand. Only then can you fully grasp the greatness of Jablum coffee.
For those of you who have already tried or who are thinking of trying home roasting of your green coffee beans, the Behmor 1600 coffee roaster may be for you. Go ahead and get rid of those old popcorn poppers and heat guns or whatever concoction you’ve rigged for roasting and try something better! The award-winning Behmor 1600 coffee roaster was designed to enable anyone the means to roast green coffee beans from the comfort of their home. The design is simple enough to appeal to your everyday-Joe who is interested in trying home roasting and yet advanced enough for the more roaster-savvy enthusiast. According to Joe Behm, the inventor of the Behmor 1600, he wanted to create an affordable, user-friendly home coffee roaster that anyone could use. The end result is an indoor machine that can efficiently roast 1/4, 1/2 or 1 pound of coffee with minimal noise and smoke.
With any home coffee roaster, they come in all sizes, shapes and price ranges. The Behmor 1600 coffee roaster tends to resemble an older model microwave or toaster oven and generally this unique look (for a coffee roaster) can be a little misleading. However, once reviewing the easy-to-use functions and actually trying it out, you’ll be impressed with the results. With built-in profiles, and self-explanatory keypads, the roasting process is simplified. As well, the access door window allows you to view the development of the bean as it progresses. The roaster was designed to produce a lighter roast profile or something in the range of a medium or medium-dark roast (also known as Full City or Full City Plus). The maximum roast darkness is 10 seconds beyond the second crack. Since the bulk of home roasters use high quality green beans and tend to prefer lighter roasts, this limitation isn’t generally an issue; however, if you prefer a really dark roast, you may need to consider a different method of roasting than the Behmor 1600 coffee roaster. For the adventurous spirit, in some cases, you can roast 1/2 pound at the 1 pound setting in order to achieve a darker roast, but be prepared to reap the repercussions of experimenting!
The advantages of home roasting are vast. The concept of drinking the highest quality of coffee at an enormous savings in cost is probably the most notable. Then of course, you’ve got the freshness, the quality control, the convenience and the environmental benefits that home roasting offers. For those of you interested in home roasting, whether just starting out or already accomplished roasters, the Behmor 1600 coffee roaster is a great way to go.
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