Something "New" in the neighbornood

I was thrilled to find a coffee roasting business opened up just around the corner from me. New Day Coffee Roasters opened at the start of this year and I stopped by last week and purchased some of their Dark Night Blend and had an interesting talk with the owner. It turns out he live right near me and is growing Cab Franc in his back yard . I like to patronize local businesses and hope he succeeds. The coffee I had been using is Members Mark (Sam's Club) whole bean French Roast, which I like (black, shiny beans). The Dark Night blend is very dark, but not shiny and makes a fine cup of coffee - nice aromatics. Currently, Russ (the owner) only has coffee, but will soon be stocking coffee makers, mugs and cups. I like the idea of having a coffee roasting business nearby and if you have one near you I urge you to patronize their business.

CoffeeRoaster.jpg

Howie, if is his only roaster, I'll bet he outgrows it very quickly. If that happens advise him just to get one or more just like it, in lieu of getting a bigger one. That is the way Green Mountain grew, and now they are huge, but still use the same size roasters.

We've bought locally roasted coffee for some time now. I like it better than Peets or Starbucks and it's nice to support a local business. Must be really great to have it right around the corner, though!

Roasting coffee beans and growing cabernet franc in the backyard, made me think of coffee with bell pepper tastes. Any takers?

Congrats, Howie! You'll soon be so addicted to freshly roasted coffee that you'll never be able to go back to the other stuff. I'm a bit perplexed about the "not shiny" comment, though: properly roasted beans are supposed to be shiny, as the roasting process brings the oils out of the bean. If they're not shiny, they haven't been roasted quite enough, but then they wouldn't be dark, either.

Mark Lipton

Congrats, Howie! You'll soon be so addicted to freshly roasted coffee that you'll never be able to go back to the other stuff. I'm a bit perplexed about the "not shiny" comment, though: properly roasted beans are supposed to be shiny, as the roasting process brings the oils out of the bean. If they're not shiny, they haven't been roasted quite enough, but then they wouldn't be dark, either.

Mark Lipton

The following article confirms what an old friend, a Cuban, who's uncle was a coffee importer, told me many years ago - Espresso roast is roasted until it is very dark brown; Italian roast is roasted until it is black; French Roast is roasted until it is black and shiny from the oils.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_roasting
So the coffee I purchased is not French Roast, but more like Espresso Roast, and quite tasty.

I visited the local coffee roaster again a few days ago and purchased green coffee beans (Flores Island - $5/lb.) and roasted them in my hot air corn popper. 15 minutes gave an excellent French roast - very dark brown and shiny - and a great cup of coffee.

Howie,
I agree with the others, once you have fresh roasted, you can never go back. For several years now we have bought our coffee at a place in Bowling Green, Ohio. For some reason, I got lazy and failed to order it shipped directly for a time. I paid the price having to drink whatever was available, mostly stale and burnt beans. So, I went back to my favorite roaster, Grounds for Thought. They actually roast to order and ship out immediately. The prices are so reasonable, that even with shipping, it is less expensive then the plonk I could buy at Starbucks. Those who do not have a local place, but want to experience the joys of fresh roast might want to check them out.
http://www.groundsforthought.com/roasterorder.html

Cheers!
JuliaB

PS. I may have to try the hot air popper sometime..lord knows I don't like it for popcorn!