Everyday you hear interesting things online, and Starbucks announcing they were selling instant coffee and decaffeinated instant coffee was a surprise. I mean, my Great Aunt Sara used instant coffee. I remember when I was little going over to her house for dinner.
My parents who are avid coffee drinkers (are you really surprised?) would never have coffee at Great Aunt Sara's. My father, before my mother shushed him, would always mutter in the car about foul black water masquerading as coffee.
But amazingly enough the instant coffee market worldwide is over $21 billion dollars in value. Guess that's the reason Starbucks wants in. The new decaffeinated instant coffee has been sold in little tubes you pour in your cup since November 2009, so it looks like it isn't going away.
You can buy a single serve packet in a box of 3 for $2.95 or 12 packs for $10.95. I'm just sorry Great Aunt Sara isn't here to try it out. Guess I'll have to ask my Dad.
Not the usual grind,
The Coffee Guy
Filed under coffee news by 
If you are fortunate enough to live in in an area with local coffee roasters, then you may be able to have a unique experience. Each batch of coffee has its own special character. Part of the character is the coffee bean itself, part is the coffee roaster, and the final part is the skill of the person who roasts the coffee.
When offered the opportunity for cupping at your local coffee roaster, take it. It will be a learning, coffee drinking experience like no other. In cupping you get to experience the coffee as a green bean, once roasted as a roasted bean and finally the end result—a brewed cup of coffee.
Some describe cupping as being similar to wine tasting. When listening to people describe their cupping experience the words are quite similar. I look at cupping as a way to sample the roaster's expertise as an artisan. At no other moment will a person be able to see, smell and taste a particular type of coffee in such detail.
Enjoy the opportunity as you get to experience the coffee roaster's expertise.
Not the usual grind,
The Coffee Guy
Filed under coffee, coffee news, coffee roaster by
Kopi-Luwak-Producer
In addition to being one of the perfect places to grow coffee, Sumatra is home to a little creature called a Paradoxurus or luwak (Asian palm civet). The little creatures are especially fond of coffee cherries which cover the coffee beans. According to Wikipedia the luwaks are skilled in picking the sweetest and most ripe coffee berries.
After making their coffee berry selection, the luwaks eat the coffee berries. The coffee beans ferment in their stomachs and then exit in whole coffee bean form. Supposedly the pass through the luwak's insides eliminates the bitterness commonly found in coffee.
Locals collect the beans, clean them and then lightly roast the beans. Needless to say, the amount of coffee is limited so the coffee is expensive from $100-600 per pound. Wikipedia estimates only 1000 pounds are found and roasted each year. Not every local coffee shop is apt to carry this exotic coffee. The taste is supposed to be earthy, musty with caramel or chocolate.
As the supply is limited chemically treated coffee has been developed to reproduce the Kopi Luwak coffee taste. I'm not sure if I want to try either the original or simulated Kopi Luwak coffee experience.
Not the usual grind,
The Coffee Guy
Filed under coffee news by
