Halloween Coffee Beans in Vermont

Happy Halloween! Here in Vermont, children are getting ready to cover up their Halloween costumes with winter coats to combat the cold. It kind of takes away the fun doesn't it? Maybe they need to design over-the-coat costumes?

Or maybe I should stick to what I know best–gourmet coffee beans and the specialty coffee that we make here at Brown & Jenkins in Cambridge, Vermont. Although I have to say, I think parents would enjoy trick or treating a lot more if they got a cup of fresh roasted coffee whenever they knocked on someone's door! No worries–I'll brew the coffee, and I won't even make you don a costume. Unless you really want to!

So what about Halloween coffee beans? Do we really roast orange colored coffee beans? Maybe ones with a ghoulish scream at just the proper time to indicate they have attained the perfect roast? No, I'll leave that to J.K.Rowling for her next book.

What we do here is to roast some high quality gourmet coffee beans and then infuse them with seasonal flavors. How do we do this? According to our artisan roaster, Glenn, the secret to making flavored coffees that don't sacrifice great coffee characteristics for flavor is to use full bodied Brazilian beans. We start with a good grade coffee, and build from there.

I've know some snobby gourmet coffee aficionados who refuse to drink flavored coffees. Well, I think they are missing out on some great seasonal offerings like Apple Crisp Coffee, Pumpkin Spice Coffee and even something as simple as a Harvest Blend (not flavored, but great!). The Harvest Blend is a blend of Central and South American coffees.

Don't be afraid to try something new in your mug this season! Halloween requires a little bit of daring.

Until our next cup,
Sandy Riggen

Specialty Coffee Beans for your Business or Wedding

Welcome to the best smelling blog around! Hopefully, you've got a steaming mug of your favorite freshly brewed gourmet coffee in hand. Inhale the aroma, take a sip, and join me.

As a specialty coffee roaster tucked into this scenic corner of Vermont's Green Mountains, I get to see all the trends that accompany gourmet coffee beans and other specialty products. I think the most interesting incarnation of this that I see daily in our local roastery is the demand for gourmet coffee beans as both party favors and marketing tools.

In the last year, I've had local folks order and label fresh roasted coffee beans to give as party favors at their wedding and to advertise their businesses. For weddings, we put the coffee beans into small bags that we label with the standard "Melissa and John, 2009". For the business application, it's similar. Local businesses order the bags and labels and pass out bags of gourmet coffee rather than business cards. It's the business card they don't throw away. They say the response is impressive.

Well, of course! Would you rather get another business card to lose amidst the vast paperwork of your overflowing office (am I projecting here?), or a mouth-watering bag of Vermont gourmet coffee beans that you can enjoy over several cups of fresh brewed coffee? It's a no brainer.

Gourmet Coffee Industry Trends

The conventional wisdom among owners in the specialty coffee industry is that, during this economic downturn, consumers still drink their coffee, they just change some of their habits surrounding it. Some drink less $4 lattes and more plain coffee, some grind coffee beans and brew at home more often, and still others start to buy their gourmet coffee by the pound instead of by the cup to get the bargain of bulk. (Just remember to buy only what you can consume in a week or two at most, so it will remain fresh!)

Until our next cup,
Sandy Riggen

What is Gourmet Coffee?

Got a cup of your favorite gourmet coffee in hand? Then let's chat! Here in the mountains of Cambridge, Vermont, I run this gourmet coffee roaster and coffee shop with the help of my master roaster, Glenn, and my husband, Rich. As a former chef, I take the title of "gourmet" very seriously.

But let's be honest. Anyone can slap a label on something, and it doesn't make it true: "Gourmet." "Organic." "Healthy." Who says?

Well, here at Brown&Jenkins, I get to have the final say on great Vermont coffee and what does get to wear the gourmet label. There are some definite qualities I look for in the coffee beans we roast and each cup of coffee we sell. Stop by, we'll share a cup or two, enjoy the rapidly changing autumn view of the Green Mountains, and I can show you what I mean. For now, here are some of the criteria that make the difference between a truly masterful gourmet coffee, and inferior quality coffee beans.

Arabica Beans As opposed to the lesser quality Robusta beans, a gourmet coffee will be made from superior Arabica beans. Also, Arabica beans have less caffeine and may be easier on your digestive system.

Freshness Fresh and therefore recently roasted coffee beans are critical. Even a coffee bean with great flavor will lose its intensity and positive characteristics over time.

Quality of Roasting Roasting coffee beans is an art because the timing is so precise. Only an artisan roaster is able to use his or her skills and senses to time this perfectly.

Coffee Origins Where your coffee comes from will determine the characteristics too. In the end, if you love the flavor and aroma of your cup of coffee that is all that matters!

Until our next cup,
Sandy Riggen

Barn Dances and Vermont Gourmet Coffee

Yee-haw! I'm planning to brew a batch of our gourmet Harvest Blend coffee Friday night and head across the road to the big 'ole barn dance at the Boyden Farm on Routes 15 and 104. If you're a local Vermonter, you've probably been to a barn dance or two. If you've never been, I can tell you that there is no better way to enjoy and experience the atmosphere of life in the Green Mountains than this.

A barn dance is truly a celebration of local life. We are going to provide the gourmet coffee and there will be locally catered food and blue grass music. This shindig takes place Friday, October 23rd from 5 to 9 PM. You should definitely come on by. You'll get to party in the 1800s post and beam barn and get to know your friends and neighbors.

I love entertaining in any way. In my former life as a caterer making dinner for 200 was something I did daily. While I'm not hosting this event, I still love to participate. Besides, we've got our own events going on over at the roastery. I'll be hosting a group of about 50 for a local business meeting this month! These are the coffee connections that fuel this business, neighborhood and economy.

Thanks for taking time out of your day to share a cup of coffee, our coffee blog, and a moment of your time.

Until our next cup,
Sandy Riggen

Apple Crisp Coffee and the Coming Cold

The leaves are past their peak and we've had our first flakes of snow here in the Green Mountains of Vermont. But, warm and cozy here in the roastery, with a mug of Glenn's recent batch of Apple Crisp Coffee in hand, I can enjoy the coming cold. (Flavored coffee is perfect when there is a chill in the air.) The last couple of weekends offered perfect apple picking weather up here. Now, however, it's time for us northerners to turn our attention to our wood-stoves and sealing up those windows for the long winter ahead.

Along that line, local schools have children signed up for flu shots to try and keep our whole community healthy. What do you do to stay healthy during the long winter? Around here winter sports at Smuggler's Notch and Stowe ski resorts are popular. Then again, some of us just try to eat healthy despite the lack of those fresh local veggies we enjoyed in the warmer weather. (Take a look at the coffee health fact below for a java related health boost!)

However you approach this change of seasons, I hope you look at it as the start of something new and exciting: holidays and family time, a chance to hunker down and enjoy your home, or maybe to try some new activity for the first time. If nothing else, stop by our Vermont coffee roastery and you can try a new coffee flavored especially for this special time of the year.

Gourmet Coffee Health Fact

The antioxidants in coffee are directly related to the roast level. Medium roast coffee is proven to have the most antioxidant benefits. Dark coffee has less, even though it shows that deep rich color. Adding milk will not affect the antioxidant levels of your coffee which are higher than even a serving of blueberries!

Until our next cup,
Sandy Riggen

Cupping and Coffee Tasting

I had an interesting conversation with one of our local coffee drinkers the other day. She had read a recent blog where I talked about the 4 basic coffee characteristics of flavor, body, aroma and acidity and was certain that acidity was a bad thing. It's not.

When you're tasting coffee acidity isn't referring to a ph level; rather, it means that the coffee has a brightness to it, or a pleasing aftertaste. Flat coffee is completely lacking in acidity, and that is not a good thing.

Of course, you don't need to learn all these terms to enjoy a good cup of coffee. But, for those of you who do like to learn the terms you can consider going to a coffee tasting or a "cupping." A coffee cupping is just the fancy name for a tasting event. To hold a coffee cupping, you grind a bit of coffee into a small cup, pour hot water and let it sit until the grinds form a crusty surface. Then you evaluate the aroma, sip the liquid and spit it out.

What? You can' t stand the idea of spitting out your coffee? I can understand. Yet cupping is a great way to understand coffee terms, coffee flavors and coffee characteristics. Of course, a plain old meeting over coffee is good too. In fact, we've decided to host a Meet and Greet Coffee Tasting Event for those of you nearby the roastery. Watch the website for details.

Coffee Bean Tutorial: Indonesian Coffee Beans

Wikipedia lists Indonesia as the world's third largest exporter of coffee beans and the number one in producing washed Arabica beans, beaten only by Brazil and Vietnam. Coffee beans from Indonesia tend to be rich and full bodied Arabica beans, and sometimes are earthy tasting.

Until our next cup,
Sandy Riggen

Fresh, Local Flavor, Memories and My Coffee Connection

When I was a little girl, back when a cup of coffee sold for about 5 cents, I first learned what an incredible connection can be forged over a cup of coffee from my Grandfather. Whenever I'd visit him, we'd wake up early and head down to the local coffee shop for a coffee and a hot cocoa.

Grandpa was never a man of many words, and we didn't need them. He and I forged a deep relationship that stays with me to this day over coffee and cocoa at the local coffee shop. I wish he was here today to see our roastery, to people watch as locals and tourists wander in, to sit with me in companionable silence.

My husband Rich comments on the dichotomy between our online business that allows us to ship custom roasted coffee beans across the country, and the local business that lets us meet such a diverse group of real people every day. We ship all over the country. Yet, once a week, I get a delivery of freshly baked goods from Claire who grows and harvests produce on her three acre farm. She then brings me baked goods, homemade jams, jellies and relishes, and other mouth watering organic goods.

This is the coffee connection that means so much to me. Fresh roasted coffee beans and great tasting coffee is important to me as a former chef and a business owner. Building a community coffee connection based on the people I meet every day is important to me as a person.

I think Grandpa would be proud.

Until our next cup,
Sandy Riggen

Coffee Connection: Share a cup of coffee with friends

Join me for a cup of coffee? When was the last time you dropped into your neighborhood coffee shop to meet a friend? Or better yet, made a new one? OK- maybe not better, but still a good thing!

Remember how the local diner/coffeeshop used to be such a staple in small town American? Or if you're too young to remember, maybe you've seen a Norman Rockwell painting. If not, take it from me, it used to be more of an every day occurrence for local residents and friends to gather in a nearby establishment like diners and coffee shops.

I'm happy to say that we've got a little bit of that going on here in our Green Mountain roastery on Route 15. In rural areas like this, it's nice to have a place to touch base with others in the community. I'm seeing folks start to do that right here. Someone stops in for a cup of coffee, decides to enjoy the view, and before you know it they're chatting over local politics with a neighbor.

For me, that's always been one of the allures of good coffee: the connection. Yes, I also love the scent of a gourmet roast and the warm feel of the mug in my hands; but to follow that up with warm conversation is, truly, the cream in my coffee.

Now that it's autumn in Vermont and the fall foliage is picking up, we're also getting a lot of leaf peepers driving through on their way to admire the scenery. In fact, they come from all over the country. So if you're on your way up Route 15, swing by and stick a pin on the wall map to tell us where you’re from.

Coffee Bean Tutorial: Costa Rican Coffee Beans

In general, coffee beans from Central America are categorized as being mild in regards to acidity, and they sometimes convey tobacco flavors. Costa Rican coffee beans are grown at high altitudes that lead to better beans. There is an "executive order" in Costa Rica that bans production of anything but Arabica coffee beans, as the country works to keep its reputation as a quality producer.

Until our next cup,
Sandy Riggen

You take the Highland and I'll take the Lowland (Coffee Beans)

Atop my hill in the Green Mountains I am surrounded by cows roaming the local farmland, visitors to the winery across the way, and people driving by on their way to or from home or a destination. Here, it really doesn't matter if I offer you cup of coffee at the top of the hill (although I'm partial to the view) or at the base of the valley.

However, it does matter to the coffee bean that makes up your Cup 'o Joe. It matters a lot! Altitude is a determining factor of the quality of coffee beans. In fact, you can divide them into highland and lowland beans. In general, a higher altitude creates a better quality bean. Of course, this isn't always the case as other factors are involved, but it tends to be true.

That's why Arabica coffee beans are considered superior to Robusta coffee beans. Arabica beans are grown at a much higher altitude (600 to 1800 meters above sea level) than the Robusta beans (sea level to 600 meters). We only roast Arabica beans for this reason. But you and I could still share the steaming cup of coffee while sitting next to Lake Champlain or Lake Eden and it would taste just as good.

Coffee Bean Tutorial: African Coffee Beans

African coffee beans are known for a very distinctive flavor, medium body and medium acidity. Coffees from Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Yemen have a sharpness that coffee lovers will recognize when they revisit their favorite brew.

Note: The novel sounding Tanzanian Peaberry is a great tasting coffee. However, that is not because of its name. Every coffee bean can be referred to as a peaberry.

Until our next cup,
Sandy Riggen