Preparation Time: 3mins
Total Prep Time: 3mins
Creamy, chocolatey and delicious, what more can you say!
Ingredient List:
- 2 tablespoons white chocolate sauce
- 2 tablespoons cold brewed coffee
- 1 cup whole milk Ice Whipped cream (to serve)
Instructions:
1. In a large jug, combine the chocolate sauce with the cold brewed coffee and milk. Stir to combine.
2. Add the ice.
3. Pour into a mug and top with whipped cream.
Each coffee-growing region, from Kenya to Colombia, is defined by its climate, the prevalent plant varieties, and the processing methods used—all elements that significantly affect the final flavor.
Experts mostly agree that basic attributes can be pinned to certain regions, within which there are, of course, innumerable possibilities. So, here is your absolute basic guide to which regions produce which kinds of flavors. Don’t get too attached, though: the more you taste the more you’ll realize that there are plenty of flavor surprises to be found.
Central America
As a group, Central American coffees are known for balance. Think cocoa flavors, a fruity background and a soft sweetness with varying levels of acidity. This area has been producing commercial coffee crops for a while, and reputations for quality vary from country to country.
Guatemala:
Guatemala is renowned for specialty coffee, consistently supplying top-notch beans with a wide range of flavors. Really good Guatemalan coffees have a moderate body and are bright, clean and powerful, with a taste range that includes chocolaty, spicy and smoky as well as delicate, floral and buttery.
Mexico:
Mexican coffee is known for being light-bodied and mild; it’s naturally sweet, so good for darker espresso roasts. There isn’t a particularly strong focus on specialty coffee in Mexico yet, so well-processed beans aren’t always easy to find.
Panama:
Somewhat ignored for a while, these days Panamanian coffee has a bit of a “next big thing” aura around it, with a lot of attention being given to the intensely floral “Geisha” variety of coffee bean produced there. Specialty coffee farms in Panama are known for having some of the more fair labor laws and wage standards in the region, producing bright coffees with strong fruit and floral notes. these days PanamaNIAN coffee has a bit of a “next big thing” aura around it.
South America
Long synonymous with the coffee industry, particularly the big-hitting Brazil, coffees from South America have been more generally described as having a clean mouthfeel and lively acidity, and for being slightly sweet. Though long the home of massive commercial coffee crops, there are plenty of smaller farms in South America shifting the focus to specialty.
Bolivia:
Bolivia is producing some wonderful specialty coffee that is often delicate, bright and sweet with subtle fruit flavors. They can also develop more nutty and chocolaty roast flavors.
Brazil:
Brazil is the biggest coffee-producing nation in the world, with huge commercial crops as well as some excellent, quality single origins. Top Brazilian beans are known for their power, subtle flavor variations and balance, so they’re great for blending and produce a mild, clear, lowacid coffee, with possible milk chocolate, cherry and sassafras flavors.
Colombia:
The Colombian coffee industry has been particularly well run for a long time, with a strong federation of growers (and excellent marketing). Because of this, their coffee is particularly consistent in quality and is, for the most part, very clean tasting, balanced and big-bodied, with a range of flavors that at its finest can be cane-sugar sweet with tropical fruit notes.
Peru:
Grown at high altitudes, Peru’s best coffees are notably bright. They’re clean and mostly wet-processed, acidic with touches of fruit or floral. These coffees are often lively and rounded, rather than overpowering. Though recently, some specialty coffee suppliers have struggled to find highquality beans in Peru
Africa and the Arabian Peninsula
This region is coffee’s natural homeland, and thought to have some of the most exciting specialty coffees around. These distinctive beans have sweet flavors ranging from mellow and wine-like to zesty and citrusy.
Ethiopia:
Ethiopia, the home of Coffea arabica, has a special place in the coffee industry. Wet-processed Ethiopian beans tend towards clean, floral flavors, while the dry-processed beans are thicker and have a distinctively rich and complex flavor profile. Ethiopian beans are a particular favorite of many coffee-lovers, and knowing that some of this coffee comes from the oldest coffea trees in the world only adds to this country’s cred.
Kenya:
Kenyan coffee, known for its acidity, has an excellent reputation for both its industry practices and quality. At its best it produces a complex coffee that is particularly fruity, with berry tones, a sharp, full body and rich fragrance. Also, some spice, sweetness and wine-like qualities are possible.
Rwanda:
Rwanda has long been a large producer of coffee, but these days it’s an interesting case of a specialty coffee industry booming in the wake of huge (and tragic) cultural and industrial shifts. The top specialty coffee in Rwanda is more balanced and less fruity than Kenyan but still has an acidic kick, with floral characteristics and sometimes a tea-like finish.
Yemen:
If Ethiopia is the home of the coffee plant, Yemen is the home of the coffee industry. This is the country that brought coffee to the rest of the world, and its current crops are known to have a distinctly rustic, musklike sweetness. Unfortunately there isn’t an enormous amount of care taken in the coffee picking and processing here, so it can be a challenge to find a high-quality cup
Islands
In the coffee world, the “island” category generally includes Hawaii and the Caribbean. Beans from this area are rich and full-bodied, with nutty and earthy flavors, smooth in acidity with a slightly dry finish. These coffees are often preceded by their reputation as being the best in flavor and quality, however as the coffee-tasting culture shifts towards more experimentation, good Hawaiian and Jamaican beans become just two of a wide range of interesting flavors on offer, rather than crowning the top of the list.
Hawaii:
Jamaica:
You may have heard Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee pitched as the world’s best, above even Hawaiian Kona. Unfortunately, what some coffee producers sell as “Jamaican Blue Mountain” isn’t quite that; rather, trading on the trend, it might be just a small amount of Blue Mountain blended with cheaper beans. Jamaican beans are mild and full-bodied, complex but balanced. Considered glorious by some and flat by others, you’ll need to taste some and decide for yourself whether true Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee deserves its reputation—and hefty price tag
Asia and Australia
As always, it’s hard to generalize about these completely different nations, but Asian coffees—from India to Indonesia—have a reputation for being dense, exotic and a little earthy.
India:
India’s first coffee crop came from beans smuggled out of Yemen in the late seventeenth century, and it now exports many wet- and dry processed coffees with a wide variety of flavors. One interesting variety is India’s “monsooned” coffee: the beans are stored in a warehouse open to the monsoonal winds, which causes the beans to double in size and develop a golden color. Known to have a strikingly musty, smoky, low-acid flavor, it’s worth trying if you’re after something quite different.
Indonesia:
These beans are known to be dark, rich and savory—almost meaty. They’re full-bodied with a mild acidity, but with long-standing, diverse growing styles used on different islands, flavors can range from fruity, earthy and musty to bright and floral. Here, there is also focus on semi-dried coffee, which makes for a uniquely clean, balanced cup.
East Timor:
Timorese coffees have a lot of feel-good benefits to them, since most of the sales directly benefit the organic farmers’ co-ops, rather than exporters. Beans are known to be rich and deep, often featuring notes of leather and tobacco.
Australia:
Australian coffee is generally quite mild, has a medium to low acidity and is sweet and chocolaty. Their beans aren’t really big in the specialty market right now and are sometimes accused of having a lack of complexity.
Preparation Time: 5mins
Total Prep Time: 5mins
Dessert and a hot drink all in one cup, what’s not to love?
Ingredient List:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ ripe banana (peeled, mashed)
- ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon 16
- ¼ teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup hot strongly brewed coffee
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon icing sugar
Instructions:
1. First, melt the butter in a small saucepan.
2. Add the mashed banana along with the cinnamon and vanilla and simmer for 60 seconds, while occasionally stirring.
3. Remove from the heat.
4. Add the brewed coffee, heavy cream and icing sugar to a food blender. Next, add the banana mixture and process until silky smooth.
5. Serve immediately as this will not give it time to settle.
The perishable nature of coffee and tea ingredients, more so than any other retail beverages, requires precision timing for deliveries in order to ensure optimum product quality. Coffee and tea retailers are highly dependent upon their chosen suppliers doing what they say they are going to do.
The range of suppliers of renewable products as well as equipment will depend on the scope of your particular coffee and tea shop, but of primary concern will be the suppliers of your espresso equipment, including your espresso machine, grinder, brewer and tea-brewing equipment.
Choosing the most reliable suppliers of coffee and tea-making equipment is, therefore, central to the future success of your business. Any delay in supplying the necessary machines and equipment, or in servicing malfunctioning equipment, can cost you dearly. So take time to source suppliers who will work with you; you need purveyors of both renewable products and equipment that are aware of the bigger picture. When making initial contact with potential suppliers, try to:
Approximately six to eight weeks before the scheduled opening date, it will be necessary to contact all the local suppliers and meet with their sales representatives. Make certain each sales representative understands that quality products are your top consideration.
Competition is fierce among both sales representatives and suppliers. Let each know you are considering all companies equally. Never become locked into using only one purveyor. Shop around, and always be willing to talk with new sales representatives. Important points to consider when choosing coffee and tea suppliers include:
You should supply them with a list of the products you will be purchasing, with estimates as to the amount of each item you will be using every week. Emphasize to the sales representative that price is certainly an important consideration, but not your only one, when selecting a supplier. Point out to the sales representative the other concerns you have about using their company. Indicate that you do intend to compare prices among the various companies but would not necessarily switch suppliers due to a one-time price undercutting.
Loyalty is important to sales representatives; they need to expect that order from you each week. But at the same time, let them know they must be on their toes in order to earn your business. Most companies offer a discount for bulk purchases. Keep this in mind when comparing prices and suppliers. Choosing a supplier is often a difficult task, with so many variable factors to consider. Begin to analyze these problems in terms of the overall picture, and your purchasing decisions will consistently become more accurate.
Preparation Time: 5mins
Total Prep Time: 10mins
Ingredient List:
- 1-2 shots espresso
- 6 ounces whole milk
- 1 teaspoon chocolate syrup + more for drizzling
- 1 teaspoon caramel sauce + more for drizzling
- Whipped cream (to serve)
- Fleur de Sel (to garnish)
Instructions:
1. First, make an espresso in the usual way.
2. In a small pan heat the milk.
3. Combine the warm milk, along with the chocolate syrup and caramel sauce.
4. Add the espresso.
5. When hot, pour into a coffee mug.
6. Top with a dollop of whip cream, drizzle with additional chocolate syrup and caramel sauce and garnish with fleur de Sel (sea salt).
7. Serve.
When we visualize chemistry, it is quite common to picture a laboratory with test tubes and various pieces of equipment.
Mix the contents of two test tubes together and bam! Something new is created! Rule number one about chemistry:
if chemicals aren’t in the same space physically, then they can’t react with each other. Rule number two: sometimes, chemical reactions need a little help getting going and being sustained.
This help can come from external energy (heat, typically) or an enzyme (a molecule that facilitates chemical reactions without being used up in the reaction and without requiring much, if any, energy to push the reaction forward).
Roasting coffee satisfies both those rules. The bean itself is the laboratory and the cells that make up the bean are the test tubes. The cell walls and the material within the cells comprise the raw ingredients of all the chemical reactions that take place during roasting.
Roasting provides the energy source that begins and sustains the chemical reactions. While there are enzymes of all sorts in the cells, their role in the creation of what we know of as coffee is poorly understood. Most likely, enzymatic reactions don’t play a significant role in producing the coffee we know and love.
Actually, a coffee cell is more than just a test tube—it is also a pressure cooker. Plant cell walls are thick and durable. Thus, when the contents strive to get out, they cannot do so easily.
When the cell becomes heated up from roasting, some chemicals change from liquids to gases and some new gases are formed. These gases will take up more space than they did as liquids or solids, so they push against the cell walls, creating pressure, just like a pressure cooker. While the cell walls eventually break from the pressure (more on this later), the increased pressure conditions do help shape the roasting process.
Preparation Time: 5 mins
Total Prep Time: 10 mins
A gourmet coffee made with caramel and brown sugar foamed milk and topped with whip cream. A beautifully fragrant and totally comforting coffee.
Ingredient List:
The best way to do this is to keep a written record of the assignments that need to be completed, who the assignments are delegated to, and when they must be completed. Allow plenty of time for assignments and projects to be accomplished.
Delegate responsibilities whenever possible, but above all else, keep organized! Maintain a collective composure, and deal with people and problems on a level and consistent basis, and you will be off to a great start.
First Priorities Suggested items that must be completed well ahead of opening date are:
1. List the shop’s name and number in the phone book and yellow pages.
2. Order and install an employee time clock or appropriate software.
3. Allow shipping and lead time for nonperishable items: Coffee- and tea-making equipment including espresso machine, grinders, dosers, drip brewer, boilers, tea brewers, milk steamers, frothers, display equipment, etc.
4. Develop a list of all construction projects. It should include who is completing them and when they will be completed, plus a list of materials needed.
5. Set up a large calendar on the wall with deadlines, when deliveries will be expected, construction projects finished, equipment installed, meetings, and, of course, the opening date.
6. Contact the art galleries or artists’ groups in your area. They may be able to supply you with artwork to be displayed in the shop on a consignment basis.
Additional Pre-Opening Activities—Payroll
Several people will be on the payroll before the opening date. You will need the assistance of personnel to assemble chairs, do odd painting, hang picture, and do anything required to be ready for the opening date. Many of these temporary employees may be used for various jobs in your shop after opening.
A time clock certainly should be used during this period for better control. Overtime must be monitored carefully and, if possible, avoided. This will require a great deal of organization of assignments and scheduling. Many of these jobs will be boring and tedious.
Compensate these employees well for their efforts. Having a free espresso would certainly be greatly appreciated! In most beverage outlets, an internal bookkeeper calculates and prepares the payroll. We highly recommend the use of QuickBooks computer software, Peachtree or other competing software for payroll processing. Additionally, QuickBooks will be very useful in other parts of your business and in your business planning.
QuickBooks is located online at www.quickbooks.com, and Peachtree at www.peachtree.com. However, like many companies, you may prefer to use a computerized payroll service or your accountant. Using a computerized payroll service is highly recommended.
Pre-Opening Promotion
The most important part of your specialty beverage business venture, along with location and sufficient capital, is marketing your products and services. Your marketing and promotion plans for your coffee, espresso, and tea shop are an important part of your business plan. There is a definite distinction between promotion and advertising. Promotion involves creating an interest in a new project, usually at little or no cost.
As soon as possible, put up the new shop sign or a temporary sign explaining briefly the name of the new establishment, the type of beverage outlet, hours of operation, and the opening date. People by nature are most interested in what is occurring in their neighborhood; give them something to start talking about. This is perhaps the best and least expensive promotion you can do.
Described below are some pre-opening promotional ideas:
Coffee comes from the seed of a coffee plant, which is processed and then roasted according to various specifications. The best coffee in the world comes from the Coffea arabica plant, which grows at high altitudes throughout the equatorial regions of the world.
Originally discovered growing wild in Ethiopia in ancient times, this plant was taken to Yemen by the Arabs and cultivated there as early as the sixth century. In the early 1700s, the Dutch began cultivating descendants of these original plants in Java, and from that time on, the cultivation of the C. arabica plant spread to many areas of Central America, South America, and Africa.
Another species of coffee plant, Coffea robusta, is also grown commercially (primarily in Africa), but this plant is used mostly for the lower grades of coffee that are on the market today. Depending on where in the world your coffee is grown—from Indonesia to Central and South America to Africa and the Middle East—it will have its own distinct taste and body. Coffee from Java, for instance, is earthy tasting and full bodied, while beans from Costa Rica produce a lighter, more tangy cup of coffee.
Columbian and Brazilian coffees are more middle-of-the-road types, providing a mild taste that can easily be blended with other beans. Coffee from Kenya, on the other hand, has a strong, winy taste. Indeed, coffee from various regions of the same country will have its own unique flavor, depending on such factors as altitude, rainfall, and soil quality—and coffee from different plantations within the same region will even taste different from each other. Therefore, today’s specialty coffee wholesalers and retailers send coffee tasters all over the world in search of the best-tasting coffee crop from each region.
After the green coffee beans are shipped to the United States, they must be roasted. This involves heating the beans at around 400°F for about 5 to 15 minutes (depending on the temperature), while rotating them in large bins. Most beans are light or medium roasted, producing a light- or medium-brown color and mild taste. Viennese or dark-roasted coffee produces a darker brown bean and an almost burnt (yet tangy) taste. The darkest roast (called espresso, Italian, or French) has a dark brown to almost black color and a burnt to charcoaly taste.
Coffee beans can also be blended to create desired effects. The combination of Mocha (a mild bean from Yemen) and Java, for instance, has become synonymous with the coffee drink itself. Other blends use a variety of different tasting beans from various parts of the world, along with a variety of roasts. Hence, an excellent morning-coffee blend might include a majority of Viennese roasted beans, along with half as much Mocha and a little bit of espresso roast just to spice things up. A good after-dinner blend, on the other hand, might include 50 percent Mocha-Java along with 25 percent each of Colombian and Costa Rican. The proliferation of specialty coffee shops over the last few years has produced another new trend—that of flavored coffee beans.
Thus, you’ll find names such as Vanilla Nut, Chocolate Almond, and Irish Cream labeling bags of specially weighed and packaged coffees at your local shop. Of course, you can always add flavorings or extracts to regular unflavored coffee after it’s brewed, as the recipes that follow will indicate.
Conversely, you may wish to use flavored coffees in any of the following recipes, being careful not to mix tastes that don’t go together well. In recent years, the quality of decaffeinated coffee has been rising significantly —at least on the gourmet level. Whereas in the past, lower-quality beans were commonly used for decaffeinated varieties, today there is no reason why you can’t find a good-tasting decaffeinated coffee at a specialty coffee shop or elsewhere.
There are two basic types of decaffeination processes: one uses a solvent (most commonly methylene chloride) that clings to the caffeine and is then flushed away; another (the Swiss water process) uses repeated flushings of water to wash away the caffeine. The first process is generally acknowledged to produce a better-tasting cup of coffee (with virtually no chemical residue), while the Swiss water process is becoming increasingly popular because it uses no chemicals.
Preparation Time: 5mins
Total Prep Time: 5mins
If you need a quick pick me up then this peanut butter, protein-packed mocha is the way to go.
Ingredient List:
- ¼ cup skim milk
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder 10
- 1½ teaspoons organic peanut butter
- 8 ounces freshly brewed hot coffee
- 1 packet stevia sweetener (optional)
Instructions:
1. In a large glass bowl, whisk the skim milk together with the cocoa powder.
2. Transfer the bowl to the microwave and microwave for 30 seconds.
3. Whisk well until incorporated.
4. Add the peanut butter, stir, and if necessary return to the microwave until melted. Pour the mixture into a mug.
5. Add the hot coffee, sweetener and serve.
TOTAL TIME: 8 HOURS
SERVINGS: 16
INGREDIENTS
- 1 pound Ground Coffee go for the good quality!
- 8 quarts Cold Water
- healthy splash of International Delight Sugar Free Fat Free Toasted Hazelnut Creamer per submitting I employd Approximately two tbsp per tall glass
- sweetener of your choice if you want
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a big container (I employ a big tupperware), Beat ground coffee with water. OverLay and allow to sit at Approximately 25 °C overnight either for a minimum of 8 hours.
- Rain the liquid through a cheesecloth lined strainer in a pitcher. You’ll want to Put the grounds that collect in the strainer to get the last amount of liquid through. Discard the grounds.
- Place coffee liquid within the refrigerator and allow to cool down.
- Serve top ice and Beat in creamer to your liking.
- (you’ll also Place sweetener supposing you want! I prefer my coffee a bit on the strong side so I thought this wAs plenty sweet with Simply the creamer...but dress yours up the way you love it!)
- Enjoy!
IS THE OLIVE OIL REALLY FROM ITALY? IS THE SPARKLING WINE REALLY FROM CHAMPAGNE? IS IT TRULY MANUKA HONEY? THE REASON WE WANT TO KNOW THESE THINGS IS BECAUSE THESE PRODUCTS ARE ALMOST ALWAYS MORE EXPENSIVE THAN THEIR ALTERNATIVES.
Thus, if we’re going to pay more for them, we want to be sure we’re getting exactly what we pay for (the issue of whether they taste as good as they’re supposed to is a topic for another section). How do we prove the product is what it claims to be? Is the coffee really from Kona, Hawaii? In a perfect world, rare, special, or expensive coffees would taste so different that we’d be able to verify their origins upon tasting them.
But, being able to taste with that level of precision is difficult and it requires extensive knowledge of coffees from all over the world. Moreover, every coffee grown within a particular place must have a shared and globally unique taste. Well, these prerequisites are never all met simultaneously, so, using taste to confirm the origin of a coffee will never work. Alternatively, a government can establish rules and laws for packaging and labeling and expect its citizens to follow them. Most governments do this and they do their best to enforce them with the limited resources available to them.
However, there are always clever miscreants, and a government’s power doesn’t exist past its borders. What is needed is an objective, product-based method for determining where a coffee was grown. All one has to do is discover the right chemical or combination of chemicals that will fingerprint a growing location.
If every fingerprint is unique, then one just has to analyze any sample, match it to a fingerprint, and voilà! Sounds easy, right? The actual lab work is usually fairly easy but discovering a fingerprint is incredibly tricky. Many scientists, including this author, have worked on this problem. Nobody has figured it out yet.
There are two big hurdles to this problem. One is settling on the right fingerprint and the other is being able to properly analyze the data to ensure everything works correctly. Scientists have tried all kinds of different analytical techniques and markers to build the fingerprint: near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), solid phase microextraction— gas chromatography—time of flight mass spectrometry (SPME-GC-TOF-MS), brewed coffee volatiles, stable isotopes, elemental content, molecular compounds, and who knows what else! The aim has been to find a very quick, cheap, reliable method that can detect the right markers.
Most of these methods and chemical markers suit this purpose well and much of the data is very promising. The data is promising because many of these methods allow the detection of many signals or markers rather than a small handful. They can be 2,000 reflectances of light at different wavelengths, hundreds of volatile compounds, or dozens of molecules. The more markers one has to create a fingerprint, the more likely that fingerprint will be unique. Moreover, the current state of computer power and statistical software packages allows for adequate analysis of all the data, so building a fingerprint and testing its efficacy is relatively simple.
So, where’s the problem? The problem is twofold. One, there are never enough samples in a dataset to build a truly robust fingerprint. Two, any given bean is, well, complicated! Large datasets are important for statistical power and simply being able to paint the right picture. The statistical analysis used in origin discrimination work requires many samples for the analysis to work well.
Many studies do the analysis with too few samples and the numbers crunch well, too well, really. The end result is too perfect because so many markers are being used to describe a small set of samples. The data is overfit. Painting the right picture is just as important. If you want to be able to tell a Hawaiian coffee from a Costa Rican coffee from a Rwandan coffee, you need many samples from each location to capture the variation from that location. Now, with eighty-plus countries in the world growing coffee and each country having many individual regions, acquiring enough samples to paint the big picture is daunting.
As for coffee being complicated, there are just so many things that influence coffee’s chemical composition. These include, but are not limited to, year of production, the genetic makeup, the climate in which it grew, the nutritional health of the plant, the fertilizer regime, ripeness at harvest, cherry processing method, storage of green coffee, age of the green coffee, roasting, blending, and freshness.
In order for a geographic fingerprint to work, it must be able to account for all these compositional influences every year across many locations! I believe we have the knowledge and capability to build a geographic indicator system. It may never be perfect but it probably could be effective a very high percentage of the time. All we need are time, manpower, and adequate resources. In the meantime, how do we know where the coffee in our cups is actually from? Trust. Trust in all the people whose hands touched that coffee and belief that they acted with integrity.
COOK TIME: 5 MINS
TOTAL TIME: 10 MINS
SERVINGS: 2
INGREDIENTS
INSTRUCTIONS
1. In a big blender, Beat coffee, almond milk, ice, and creamer.
2. Top with whipped cream and caramel supposing desired.
3. Enjoy!
Coffee character : A rich, medium bodied brew Good for : Its simplicity—it’s easy to use and can make up to six cups at a time, so it’...
