Well, to quote thedailygreen.com:

Many of the beans you buy are grown in countries that don’t regulate use of chemicals and pesticides. Look for the USDA Organic label to ensure you’re not buying beans that have been grown or processed with the use of potentially harmful chemicals.

Go a step or two further, and look for the Fair Trade Certified and Rainforest Alliance (or Bird Friendly) labels to ensure that your purchase supports farmers who are paid fairly and treated well. And look for shade-grown (Rainforest Alliance- or Bird Friendly-certified) varieties for the trifecta; that way you know the coffee is being grown under the canopy of the rainforest, leaving those ancient trees intact, along with the wildlife – particularly songbirds – that call them home.

Read more: http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/Dirty-Dozen-Foods#ixzz1AO3MO2SQ

• Fresh Roasted Coffee Beans
• The Business of Freshly Roasted Organic Coffee … A Visit to A&E Roastery
• Green Bean Coffee Review: Sweet Maria’s Ethiopian Coffee

If your repertoire for cantaloupe is limited to slicing and eating on a plate consider the following:

• Cantaloupe Based Organic Fruit Salad (made with Cantaloupe, Strawberries, Pineapple, Blueberries and Banana)
• Cantaloupe Ice Pops (made with Cantaloupe, water, sugar and mint leaves)
• Cantaloupe Martini (made with pureed cantaloupe, water, sugar & lime mixed with Vodka & Midori)

Not only are there many foods we haven’t tried but many different ways to serve the foods we now love. Go ahead, be fearless. Laugh at your mistakes and delight in your successes.

If you’re not using fresh roasted organic coffee beans then your coffee is unnecessarily sub-par. .. How do I know this? Simple chemistry and the nature of the beans. Here’s the skinny:

• Roasted Coffee Looses Most Of It’s Aromatics About 1 Week After Roasting: One of the largest contributing factors to the complexity and fullness of freshly roasted coffee comes about due to the presence of volatile aromatic compounds. After about one week these will deteriorate to an unacceptable level. This is one of the reasons instant is so bad, it virtually has no aromatic compounds left.
• Sealed, Vacuumed-Pack, Nitrogen Protected Etc Will Not Solve The Problem: Big Coffee will roast beans and have an expiration date 6-7 mounts out. Your coffee will still get stale no matter how it’s packaged, all they can do is somewhat slow it down. … Don’t believe the hype.
• Buy From A Roaster Who Ships The Same Day They Roast: One of the reasons I like Cafe Valverde is that they do just that. Is the 1-2 days shipping an issue? No. The reason being that right after roasting the beans need 1-2 days to degas the residual carbon dioxide still left in the beans. So when they get to you they’ll be ready for brewing. I’m lucky Joan & Nelson from Cafe Valverde roast right up the street. When I had a “coffee emergency” (about to run out soon) they took my order and roasted on the same day. Good people, good coffee.
• Consider Roasting Your Own: Just like there was a revolution in home baked bread about 10 years ago now there is a similar thing occurring in the coffee world. People are purchasing the green coffee beans and roasting at home. My friends at Cafe Verde tell me this is growing rapidly and they are shipping the beans all around the world (including to the base in Antarctica). By the way, the green coffee bean side of their business is called Invalsa.

This is such an important topic that we have launched a new blog called EnCoffee that deals strictly with coffee & espresso, it’s enjoyment and creation. Join us if you want to take a journey and learn more of  this wonderful, friendly and satisfying world. It’s similar to the culture of wine but for me even better since I can enjoy coffee at any time of the day and actually have the option to craft the product by roasting my own beans. Please share post this with a friend. Cheers!

Related Coffee Posts at EnCoffee:

• Welcome to EnCoffee
• Roasters Coffee. Fresh is Best
• Coffee Cup for Gourmet Coffee
• Coffee Accessories: Scale for Roasting

So I’m told that they are the only USDA Certified Organic Coffee Roaster in New Hampshire. Thank God we have at least one up there. And, being a processor you need to do more than just purchase organic green coffee beans. As part of the organic standard they are required to be certified USDA Organic by undergoing an annual audit.  … But the fact that they are organic means more than just producing awesome aromas and having to close your eyes while savoring their blends. Much more. You see, for coffee the environmental and health  considerations are ratcheted up a notch from where they usually are. I know, I know, coffee as compared to other organic foods has low residual levels of pesticides since it’s the internal bean that’s consumed (and some feel that the high temps of the roasting process destroys anything left… although I haven’t

seen the before and after chemical analysis to know if this is true or just a combination of speculation & wishful thinking). The big issue really is that coffee is basically a third world crop where growers tend to raise their families in intimate proximity to the farm. Also, the rules for pesticide and herbicide usage can get pretty loose and fancy-free in some of these countries. .. So.. we have a direct exposure issue and then there’s the run off … and then there’s the potential drinking water supply issues etc etc. Definite issues in every case? No. A definite concern? Absolutely. .. This just isn’t a visual I feel comfortable with. Anyway, with coffee, more so than with most products, I feel that I’m doing the world as well as myself a favor by going organic.

So much for the “malarkey theory” of organic food.  … Now what about the the coffee in and of itself? First, we need to know how fresh is fresh and does it make a difference? Well this morning I sauntered down to the corporate coffee cafe and took a peek at a pound of French Roast. Noted that the expiration date is a mere seven months from now. This of course would make Justin and Emeran just about pass out (my father would say what’s the rush). These guys, like every coffee connoisseur, states that after a week forget about it, it’s morphing into instant.  … A week vs. seven months. … But they do qualify this statement by saying that the coffee changes, evolves, as soon as roasting is complete. First, in a universally good way.. you need to give the newly born roasted beans about 24 hours to degas and otherwise settle down before they can be truly appreciate in their full coffee flavored purity. But they continue to change, age and as a general rule, get as my old friend Ray Kavanaugh would say, “not-good”. But like anything there are exceptions .. Justin mentioned that one coffee he found tends to become better with age to his palette.. but I doubt he was talking seven months worth of aging.

In addition to these post birth from the roaster issues, there are also considerations beyond the organic pedigree for the prenatal green coffee beans. For instance, Emeran mentioned how the industry is continuing to evolve where in the past it was generally assumed that a one year shelf life for the green beans were acceptable where now things are beginning to turn where three months is starting to become the more prevalent standard of excellence. And then of course there’s the trend towards micro-lots where they will separate the better grade high altitude coffees form the the other “not so good” beans instead of bagging everything together was was traditionally done. … And, even the bags themselves. Where jute tended to be used exclusively is now giving way to the use of so called “GrainPro” Bags  which help maintain freshness.

But getting in the finest beans (Emeran generally looks at cupping data to make her choices…BTW her staff recommended the Brazil Blend for it’s ashy notes.. Awesome! So good I finished the bag before taking the earlier pic) and keeping them fresh is only part of the beautifully complex world of coffee roasting. Since coffee is a natural product it will obviously not only vary by grower and farm but also season to season from such things as a particular year’s unique climate (here wine has the upper hand where a vintage from 2007 could be excellent … with green coffee, after three months… not a pretty picture). So the raw materials of the roast, the green beans, are a constantly moving target and  it takes a bit of artistry to combine and roast them to achieve a consistent and almost decadent product. Making a low end product is easy.. High end is hard. And high high end with ingredient variations like coffee… now we’re starting to drift into artistry. And I’m not being dramatic. It literally takes years of apprenticeship before one is considered a Master Roaster. In fact, one business in the next town over makes it known to new roasters that they would like to see at least a ten year commitment to the company before starting out. … These are important people you want in your bunker .. And here’s a small snippet as to how they go about their craft. .. When fresh beans arrive Eneran & Justin will roast small batches and after a day taste test the coffee. Depending upon the attributes found they will make their adjustments in order to produce a consistent flavor and aroma profile for the various blends.  And for those not yet introduced to the world of coffee tasting.. there’s an entire vernacular to learn and understand … they’ll mention taste notes such as chocolatey or blueberry (that’s right blueberry) … if you’ve ever heard a wine tasting described you’ll know what I mean. According to Emeran coming into a coffee shop and asking for French Roast is like going into a bakery and asking for bread. .. Indeed. .. A word of caution to the uninitiated. Get into the world of freshly roasted coffee at your own risk. By this I mean that you really don’t know how bad your current on the shelf for seven months coffee is. But once you learn, it will ruin you for life.  .. Take my father. He has been drinking this horrible mass marketed $2.99 a pound stuff forever. .. And he’s happy with it. It’s a disaster but he doesn’t know any better so he’s satisfied. .. That’s one hand. … On the other, however, is that I really don’t see him savoring his coffee. He just chokes it down and calls it a day. A nice piece of home-baked chocolate cake … this he savors.. 

So bottom line is that if you haven’t as yet taken the plunge I highly recommend that do and pick up some really fresh roasted coffee. It has a depth and complexity you’ll never find in the cheapo or even the corporate specialty coffees. Fresh is best in coffee, it truly is. And looking at the price, I can buy Corporate French Roast for about $11 a pound or purchase freshly roasted beans from someone such as A&E for just about the same money (with shipping & handling it may or may not be pricier, and if so, not by much). To me this is a total no-brainer. Superior product for the same to a few cents more per cup, no pesticide issues, feeling the love, etc etc. .. And if you were wondering, my father did ask Justin (seriously he did) if he got his coffee from the poo of some animal (if you don’t know what I’m talking about rent the movie ”The Bucket List” or read this New York Times Article, BTW Justin said no) …  I think he meant this as a good thing, a gourmet thing, but who knows. He has been known to slide in a zinger under the radar to avoid detection.  . .

Hope you enjoyed this post and that it gets a few people interested in the Fresh Roast Revolution. If you think this is any good please pass it along to your friends or family members who insist of torturing you with the black coffee swill of the past. Spread the word about Organic Test Kitchen.com  …  Best, Theo

Related Links:

• Organic Test Kitchen Post “Organic is Natural but Natural is not necessarily Organic… smoke and mirrors labeling“

What exactly is the Chemex? Well if you look at it closly and remember your high school chemistry class it is basically a modified Erlenmeyer Flask. Apparently, a Mr. Peter J. Schlumbohm developed the thing. He took the flask design and added a funnel area to allow air to sneak past the coffee filter and vent as it filled with brewed coffee. Very simple, very basic. … I love it.

And one the the things I love best is that it’s all glass. I have done testing and no matter if water contacts a heating tube of a drip coffee maker, stainless steel or whatever it leaves an aftertaste which in all likelihood are oxides which naturally form. Anyway the cleanest way to handle water to brew coffee is with glass (that is Borosilicate Glass designed to handle high temperatures, otherwise it will shatter and potentially cause significant injury from broken glass and scalding water…don’t go there, use only glass designed for the purpose).

Anyway with the Chemex you simply place a paper filter with organic coffee grinds on top, pour the heated water on top of the grinds, it drips through and wah-lah. .. Coffee, only the coffee and nothing but the coffee. No this or that muscling in to mess up the taste. .. One tip though .. right before adding the filter and brewing I add some heated tap water swish it around and toss it to preheat the Chemex. I find that this helps maintain the hot coffee temperature which I like, otherwise the cold Chemex will suck some of the heat from the brewed coffee. .. A bit more work than a coffee maker but worth it. Enjoy!

Shopping List:

• 1 Cup of No-Fat or Low Fat Vanilla Flavored Yogurt
• 1 1/2 Cups of Mixed Fresh Strawberries, Blueberries and Pineapple (make sure you get a real pineapple and not open a can of something that was grown over 2 years ago)
• 1 Cup of Soy Milk
• Note that all ingredients as well as the glass jar of your blender should be refrigerated prior to making your smoothie. You want it cold but you don’t want to be adding ice and watering it down (a “not-good” kind of move).

Recipe:

• Add 1 Cup of Non-Fat or Low-Fat Vanilla Flavored Yogurt to a prechilled blender jar.
• Add 1 Cup of Soy Milk.
• Add 1 1/2 Cups (doesn’t have to be exact, this isn’t rocket science) of a mixture of whole blueberries, quartered strawberries and big chunks of pineapple (don’t skip the pineapple, it’s critical)
• Put the lid on the blender and hit the pulse button a few times waiting a second between pulses so the chunks can settle down to the blades (now I don’t like things over blended, there’s a tendency to force too much air into the smoothie and that will reduce it’s flavor impact. And, like the food processor it will seem that you should have more mix time (because if we’re honest it’s fun to click on this powerful machine and watch it do it’s thing)… but trust me, less is best. A few pulses is all you really want or need..)
• Pour a glass and then put the blender jar back into the fridge until you are ready for seconds .. fyi: finish this off in a single setting since you don’t want things hanging around.. remember fresh is best. This recipe will make about 32 fluid ounces (about 2 1/2 glasses). This is just right for me and is terrific after coming home from the gym. If you want less, of course just cut back on the recipe but be even more careful not to over-blend.

Enjoy!

 Now one of the greatest mistakes you can make regarding cooking with water is to open the tap. “The safest water supply in the world” blah blah..Yeeeah.. Well it may be the safest compared to the rest of the world but that doesn’t mean it’s the best you can do for cooking. First, have a taste of your own version of the safest water in the world. Probably makes you gag unless you chill it to the point where it numbs your taste buds. … I do a lot of work in industry and have seen what they have to add to the water supply to make it safe. And the #1 noticeable thing of course is chlorine. You can taste it and smell it. .. And then there’s this soup of residuals ranging from sex hormones to antidepressants that’s in most municipal water.. Well aside from making you frisky and happy this has to contribute in some way to the water just tasting horrible. And horrible is not something we want in our cooking. Save the sex hormones and open a bottle of wine instead.

 All this being said, I’ve recently switched to Poland Springs Water. What prompted this was a conversation I had with a gentleman who was one of their chief engineers. Since many of the fancy-schmantzy water companies have been know to pull their water from a municipal water supply I asked him what the deal was with Poland Springs. And he assured me that there was a natural aquifer and that the water runs underground down the side of a hill after which it’s captured, filtered and bottled.  Look up on their website and I found the analysis looked awesome. Especially for the absence of aluminum which I definitely do not want to be drinking.

 But what about taste? I think it tastes fantastic and there’s no comparison against a municipal water. But from here I took it to the next step and compared it against a lower cost spring water bottled in New Hampshire and marketed under a supermarket brand. The results were that the Poland Springs beat this out too. Also, when brewing coffee the Poland Springs version kicked butt vs. the store brand spring water. And as an added endorsement, Ralph the Beta-Fish seems to have much more energy and get’s more PO’d at his reflection since his water has been changed over to Poland Springs. By the way, it’s sad to say that I’m not receiving anything from these guys..not an ad, not even a bottle of water so this is as unbiased as it gets.

 Cost. Went to BJ’s Wholesale Club and paid about 88 cents a gallon for Poland Springs. This verses 50 cents for the store brand. How many cups of coffee can you get out of a gallon of water and how much more per cup is it?…You can figure it out but we both know it’s not much at all. So drink up my friends but do it right. And without even trying it I know that a scotch and water will step up with the right water (just imagine adding a drop of chlorine to a 20 year old scotch and water..think about it if you’re a tap water guy or girl).

 Some related links are given below. For your own sake share with any friend who dares to serve you a lousy coffee or mixed drink due to cheaping out on the water.

Related links:

• Safest Water Supply in the World ..
• PDF of Poland Springs Water with Chemical Analysis

 This is West Soy’s brand. One of those beverage products that comes in a box that needs no refrigeration.. And this is nice especially if you’re roughing it with a backpack in the middle of nowhere. It has this plastic tab kind of thing with a foil seal underneath. Just flip back the tab and then peel back the foil and you’re good to go. And after you’ve quaffed your first serving the plastic tab reseals the whole darn thing.

 Nutrition: For a 1 Cup Serving we’re talking 130 calories, 8g protein, No Cholesterol, 3.5g fat and 18g carbs. Not bad. But what about taste? Not too bad.. To be honest I was expecting this to be a total taste disaster. But no. Not bad.. You can taste that Soy-ish taste a bit (you know that subtle flavor of tofu). So ok the taste is acceptable but for me not good enough to want to drink this stuff by the glassful. And this being the case we decided to play around with it a bit.

 The first test was a very basic smoothie. Took four strawberries and quartered them. Tossed them into a blender. Poured a little of the soy milk in. Pulsed it to sort of smooth it out but to still leave some chunks that will give a little flavor zing when you chew them. .. The results.. Awesome. It came out thick, creamy and delicious. Nice!

 The second test was to make some gluten free pancakes. So took out this mix that someone gave me (to poke fun at me for being gluten free) and made some up with this soy milk.. And these were good as well!

So the bottom line we give this product a thumbs up and it’s a recommended buy. .. See you guys in three weeks..(kidding). 

Related Link:

• West Soy’s Soymilk Page

 But that being said, it all depends upon your logistics as well. For instance, you have a problem if you’re driving an hour every day to get fresh coffee right from your favorite roaster. So let’s try to make some sense of all this:

1. All coffee you drink should be certified organic. No if’s and’s or but’s about it. Think about it, we’re griding this stuff into a powder so that the boiling water we’ll be pouring over it can extract what is in there. .. You only want to be extracting good stuff. Trust me, your body and taste buds will thank you for it.
2. Only purchase whole beans and grind only what you’ll use right before you use it.
3. Buy from a local roaster and make sure that what you buy hasn’t been sitting around.
4. Only buy enough to last you a week.. max. Hey, you buy fresh food every week.. And coffee is one of those pleasures that simply should be as good as possible. It does make a difference.

 There you have it. Simple. Enjoy your coffee and your life. .. You know it only takes a little extra effort to bring things up to the next level, I think you deserve it.

Related Posts:

• Brewing Coffee
• Proper Storage for Fresh Organic Coffee
• Coffee Mugged