Our Gourmet Coffee Flavors

Our flavors are Columbia Supremo beans roasted to perfection, flavored, and packaged to order. You can't beat the taste, quality, richness or freshness.
Purchase your gourmet coffee today right HERE

Here's our flavors in alphabetical order: Not all of them are listed yet in the website so make sure to indicate your flavor of choice in the memo box at checkout

Amaretto, Almond, Banana Foster, Blackberry, Butterscotch,

Chocolate Almond,Chocolate Hazelnut, Choc Raspberry, Cinnamon Praline,

Cinnamon Graham Cracker,Coconut, Double Nut Fudge, Egg Nog, English Toffee,

French Vanilla,Harvest Spice, Hawaiian Hazelnut, Hazelnut, Honey Nut Praline,

Irish Crème, Jazzy Java, Jungle Nut, Kalhua Crème, Macadamia Nut,

Mexicali Crème, Mudslide, Raspberry, Pina Colada, Pumpkin Spice,

Swiss Chocolate, Strusel Cake, Toasted Almond, Vanilla, Victorian Caramel,

Vanilla Hazelnut, Viennese Cinnamon.

The Java Dilemma: Saving on Coffee in Tough Times

How You Can Skip the Coffee Shop and Make Great Coffee at Home

The weak economy can be a buzz kill -- just ask one of the nation's most prominent coffee retailers.

Starbucks Corp. last week reported a 97 percent drop in fourth-quarter profits, a decline blamed in part on fewer U.S. consumers getting their caffeine fix at the popular coffee-shop chain.

If you're among the Americans cutting back on their coffee-shop java, chances are you've at least considered getting your caffeine fix at home instead … and doing so, experts say, doesn't necessarily mean sacrificing your taste buds.

"If you get a decent coffee maker and decent coffee, you can make great coffee at home and save money and enjoy it," said Jack Groot, the president of the Midwest Barista School and JP's Coffee & Espresso Bar in Holland, Mich.

So exactly what is a belt-tightening, amateur "barista" to do? ABCNews.com talked to Groot, coffee consultant Ed Arvidson and Consumer Reports' Robert Karpel to find out.

Plain Coffee

Achieving satisfaction from your standard cup of joe starts with great coffee beans. Beans from a roaster or a coffee shop will likely be more expensive than grocery-store coffee but they'll be fresher, Groot says. Expect to pay between $9 and $15 a pound.

Next, consider investing in a coffee grinder. This, too, is a matter of freshness. Groot says that buying coffee beans and grinding them yourself will ensure that grounds you ultimately use in your coffee will be fresher than a retailer's ground coffee.

Experts agree that burr grinders -- devices equipped with grinding wheels -- are superior to blade grinders, which as the name indicates, use metal blades to chop beans. A burr grinder, Karpel says, will run you between $60 to $250. Arvidson, a senior consultant for Bellissimo Coffee InfoGroup, says a decent grinder will cost at least $100.

And finally, after you've ground your coffee, it's time for the final step: the coffee maker. One of the most important things to look for in a home coffee maker, Karpel says, is its ability to heat water to the proper temperature -- between 195 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cuisinart coffee makers, Karpel says, have been rated highly by Consumer Reports subscribers and cost about $80, while Groot recommends machines made by Bunn, which run about $100 to $130, and Capresso, which are in the $170 to $200 range.

Read the rest HERE

Attention Bakeries: The Potential for Hot Coffee

Quick quiz: What costs 24 cents to make but is in such high demand that you can sell it for $3 a cup? Answer: specialty coffee.

Bakeries are catching on to this fast, as more incorporate beverage programs into their business. Increasingly, bakeries are finding local roasters to supply them with unique blends or working with national suppliers that can offer optimum value.

Specialty coffee is defined as a coffee that has no defects and has a distinctive flavor, according to the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA). And demand for specialty coffee continues to heat up.

From 2001 to 2006, specialty coffee sales in the United States rose from $8.3 billion to $12.3 billion, according to SCAA and Mintel Group data. That marks nearly a 50 percent jump. There are now more than 15,500 coffee cafes in America, averaging $550,000 in annual sales.

Bakery chains like Dunkin’ Donuts have become so enamored with coffee that they seem to be more about beverages than baked goods nowadays. Dunkin’ Donuts sells 2.7 million cups of coffee every day, making it the No. 1 retailer of coffee by the cup, according to the company.

And don’t just sell coffee. Market it. Retail bakeries like La Bonbonniere Bake Shops in New Jersey boost their morning sales with breakfast specials: one donut and a small cup of coffee for $1.50, or a muffin and small coffee for $2.50. Never forget the power of a meal deal. Make it simple for people to order, and they usually will trade up for something more.

According to the SCAA, specialty coffee offers a unique flavor because of the micro-climates that produce it, similar to the slight variances you will find in the flavors of fine wines. Roasting presents the next opportunity to define your coffee as truly special. Every roaster has the potential to express itself in a signature way.

Another tip is to hire a local coffee expert for advice on your beverage program. Porto’s Bakery in Los Angeles worked with an award-winning barista in Los Angeles for ways to improve the quality of their beverages. Beverages now account for 10 percent of total sales at Porto’s Burbank location.

The following are relevant statistics from the SCAA about the specialty coffee business, to help you understand the common terms and examine the opportunity to add or enhance your beverage offerings.

****Definitions****:

Barista – a person who is a master of the espresso machine and makes coffee as a profession

Cappuccino – a classic blend of coffee and steam milk, named about the brown robes of the Capuchin monks

Cupping – the process used by coffee tasting specialists to judge and evaluate coffee beans

Espresso – a dark, rich, full-bodied coffee made when finely ground Italian or dark-roasted coffee is processed with a special machine that forces a small amount of water at high pressure through a special filter

Green coffee – unroasted coffee

Organic coffee – certified by independent agencies as organically grown, processed, stored and roasted

****Statistics****:

Americans drink more than 300 million cups of coffee each day, with 75 percent of those being home-brewed.

16 percent of American adults consume specialty coffee on a daily basis, up from 13 percent in 2002.

63 percent of American adults "occasionally" consume specialty coffee.

The vast majority of the world’s coffee is the Arabica species.

It takes about 42 coffee beans to make an average serving of espresso.

Espresso contains less caffeine than a regular serving of drip coffee because the water is in contact with the grounds for only 20 to 25 seconds and extracts less caffeine.

70 percent of U.S. adults consider coffee quality and convenient location as the most important characteristic of their favorite coffeehouse.

Getting the Coffee Straight from the Beans

Good Information here!

by Johnathan Bakers

There are do many different types of beans and the plants will fall in three different categories. The Arabica, first known on the Arabian Peninsula and the Robusta that contains about two times the amount of caffeine in every cup. This is going to be something to wake you up in the morning for sure.

These beans are going to be different that of wine because of the thing called coffee berry that is decided not because of the fruit but due to the bean that is found inside it. A bean is aged perfectly, roasted and then ground and brewed. Coffee is going to be as it has never been before with this type of bean, you could use it with your cappuccino maker.

The beans are actually going to be found in two different ways. There will be green and the red with the red having the most in smelling power of oil and the much lower acid amounts. This is used to make the higher quality coffees. One of the biggest deals in the life of bean is when it leaves the shelf from the time it was plucked.

Beans are usually picked from the hands of people and this means that there are only a few baskets done a day. They have to separate the red and the green and it is something that is a big job requirement. This is due to the huge impact on the outcome of the coffee.

Having good cappuccino is going to depend on the way that the bean is picked. The fruits can be soaked, scoured, and rubbed by machines. After this, the beans are going to be washed and removed from the part that is still there. This is going to be known as the fermentation period and will bring about beans that are dried in the sun over a large concrete or rock. This will go on until at least twelve percent is determined to be water.

The beans are then going to be displayed by their size and color and done more so by a machine. Some of the beans are going to be thrown away and others will be polished to take the skin off. For some of them, the beans are going to be aged for three to eight or nine years and the others are going to be ready for roasting in one year. This will make your cappuccino makers happy!

With the 400-degrees Fahrenheit that these beans are roasted at, they will grow to at least twice their dried out size. They may crack and even change color as the green goes to brown because the oils from the inside are being released. The oil will give the different types of coffees their true and delicious taste that we love so much.

There are so many different types of techniques that have been found for the roasting part. The beans from the Java and Kenya are usually going to be barely roasted and produce a delicious flavor for coffees. Once the roasting is done the beans, will then produce a carbon dioxide for a few days and this will make the beans because rid of their gasses? Airing or packing them in the semi-permeable bags that is made for shipping only does this.

The result is going to happen a few weeks from now. They are going to be ground where there will be differences in styles and results. In some of the cases, the burr grinders are going to crush up the beans to a size that is normal like a granule. With the others, the choppers are going to be used to chop up the beans so small with a tinier result. There is also Turkish coffee that will be made with the pounding of the beans to almost powder. This will be done with mortar and pestle.

The deciding taste is the brewing. This will be where there will be a variety of styles and ways for each brewing company. All of the good differences will be in one of four degrees and they are boiling, pressure, gravity and steeping. With boiling, the water is hot and ran through the actual grounds as they are going to be filtered out. With the pressure type, this will be espresso for most, they are going to be lightly boiled and the water will force the grounds through with the intense hot pressure. The gravity or what is also known, as drip brew will have hot water dripping onto the coffee grounds that are inside filters. This is typical for most people because they are going to want to use the coffee makers that are easily bought today. Also steeping is going to be much like the method of having tea with tea bags. This is even though the bags are a lot larger than others are.

This is going to be a long journey from the places that coffee comes from but the coffee beans are going to make it to your kitchen from the jungle. Many love a great drink. With the new ways of research and the actual health benefits from the coffee consumption, increasingly love it all the time. It is a great way to have a little picked me up anytime of the day or night. There are many flavors to love and so many will want to try increasingly.

Roast Styles

Everyday alchemy, coffee roasting coaxes golden flavor from a bland bean. Unroasted beans boast all of coffee’s acids, protein, and caffeine—but none of its taste. It takes heat to spark the chemical reactions that turn carbohydrates and fats into aromatic oils, burn off moisture and carbon dioxide, and alternately break down and build up acids, unlocking the characteristic coffee flavor.

A note on flavor: Describing the tastes of different roasts is as subjective as putting a wine into words. In both cases there’s no substitute for your own personal taste, so sample away!

Light

Aliases: Cinnamon roast, Half city, New England

Roaster Watch: After about seven minutes the beans “pop” and double in size, and light roasting is achieved. American mass-market roasters typically stop here.

Surface: Dry

Flavor: Light-bodied and somewhat sour, grassy, and snappy

Medium

Aliases: Full city, American, Regular, Breakfast, Brown

Roaster Watch: At nine to eleven minutes the beans reach this roast, which U.S. specialty sellers tend to prefer.

Surface: Dry

Flavor: A bit sweeter than light roast; full body balanced by acid snap, aroma, and complexity

Dark

Aliases: High, Viennese, French, Continental

Roaster Watch: After 12 to 13 minutes the beans begin hissing and popping again, and oils rise to the surface. Roasters from the U.S. Northwest generally remove the beans at this point.

Surface: Slightly shiny

Flavor: Somewhat spicy; complexity is traded for rich chocolaty body, aroma is exchanged for sweetness

Darkest

Aliases: Italian, Espresso

Roaster Watch: After 14 minutes or so the beans grow quiet and begin to smoke. Having carmelized, the bean sugars begin to carbonize.

Surface: Very oily

Flavor: Smokey; tastes primarily of roasting, not of the inherent flavor of the bean

Roasting 101

The earliest method was by roasting the green coffee in a heavy pan over charcoal fire (some hard-core cowboys still roast this way). Late last century, a new process was introduced where beans were spun in a hot air chamber heated by natural gas; this system is still the most widely used to date. With the birth of the computer technology has evolved and when coupled with light heating (as with Halogen) temperatures can now be maintained within +/- 1ºC.
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The chemical make-up of the coffee bean changes during the roasting process: water dissipates in the bean and a series of chemical reactions change sugars and starches into oils, which give coffee much of its aroma and flavor. When roasted the coffee bean doubles in size and the caramelization of the sugar turns it from green to brown.

The color and appearance of the roasted bean depends on how long it has been roasted for. The longer it is roasted, the darker the roast. Coffee is usually roasted for about 10 to 20 minutes at temperatures ranging from 400ºF to 425ºF (204ºC to 218ºC).

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The secret to developing the aroma and flavor of coffee is found in the roasting of the coffee beans. The length of time, as well as temperature of the roast, are crucial in producing a quality cup of coffee, as well as determining which characteristics will be emphasized or muted. If roasting is too short, the oils won't be brought to the surface and the coffee will have a nutty flavor and lack consistency.

Dark roasted beans contain less acid, have slightly less caffeine than lighter roasted beans and have a shorter shelf life, due to the amount of oils on the surface. In darker roasts, it is the roast's smoky, pungent, burnt taste that dominates overtaking the bean's natural flavor. Many times the dark roast's burnt taste will mask beans that are low in flavor and quality. Contrary to popular belief, a dark roast does not equal a richer, stronger cup. Roasting plays no part in determining the strength of a cup of coffee. It is the amount of water and coffee to be used when brewing that determines the strength.

Lightly roasted coffee beans have a sharper, more acidic taste than darker roasts. The coffee suffers less heat exposure, which maintains the bean's qualities. Because flavor is revealed, light roasts are used with higher quality beans.

Several roasting levels have their own characteristics and may be suitable to different tastes or specific uses; they are the following:

LABEL	APPEARANCE	COLOR	CHARACTERISTICS
Cinnamon Roast	light roast, light cinnamon tone		Pronounced nut-like flavor, high coffee acidity
American Roast	Medium roast, chestnut hue		Pronounced caramel like flavor
City Roast	Medium roast, medium brown with no surface oils		Full coffee flavor, with some loss of acidity
Full City Roast	Chestnut brown, slightly darker than the City Roast		Full coffee flavor, good balance of acidity and sugar
Vienna	Dark brown, with traces of oil on the surface		Dark roast flavor
French Roast	Dark brown, nearly black, oily on the surface		Bitter, smoky taste and pungent aroma
Italian	Dark chocolate brown, oils on the surface		Burnt flavor
Espresso	Dark roast, used specifically for espresso machines		Burnt flavor that is strong and sweet

Roast Descriptions

• Light Roast (light city/cinnamon roast): Cinnamon color, intense aromatics, good body, lively acidity
• Medium (city) Roast: Brown in color, increased body, nutty aromatics, complex flavor. Most of the natural flavors of the coffee are experienced at this roast level.
• Medium Dark (full city) Roast: Deeper shade of brown, oils appear on surface of each bean. Slightly smoky, flavor is rich and full.
• Dark Roast: Darkest roast - also known as Espresso, Italian & French roasts depending on the Roaster: Beans are fully coated in oil and have a strong carbony flavor.

The Roast Process...

The way in which coffee is roasted undoubtedly affects the taste. If the coffee is roasted too quickly or at too high of a temperature the exterior of the bean will be scorched. If the coffee is roasted too slowly the flavor of the beans will be diminished. Individual roasters develop a range of methods to deal with these challenges, all with the same objective: To transfer heat to the coffee bean, initiating a series of chemical reactions that prepare it for consumption. Most roasting methods include the following six phases:

1.	Drying Cycle: This is the first phase of the roasting process, when the temperature of the beans rises to 100 degrees centigrade. Also in this phase, the beans change from a bright green color to a pale yellow.
2.	First Crack: When the beans reach 160 degrees centigrade, complex chemical reactions begin to occur causing a cracking sound.
3.	Roast Initiation: The beans swell to 140 - 160% of their initial size. Elements within the beans begin to caramelize, giving the beans their brown color.
4.	Pause: In this phase, the audible cracking ceases, but the reactions continue. The time of this silence will depend on the amount of heat applied by the roaster.
5.	Second Crack: The progressive dehydration of the beans has made them brittle. As a result, more cracking can be heard. It is at this stage that elements in the bean begin to carbonize, producing the burnt characteristics of extremely dark roasts.
6.	Stopping the Roast Once the optimal amount of roasting time has elapsed, the beans must be cooled quickly. This is usually accomplished by introducing large amounts of cool air or water.