Monday, April 21, 2014

Coyote Music Festival - The Coffee Club - Local Pop Music

Your Invited to sample some new Coffees plus talk about the coffee business and enjoy the afternoon of Music at Coyote Music Festival all ages free events so bring the family and a blanket or folding chairs. Please invite your family and friends to this Open event, Coffee Club at Cuyamaca College 900 Rancho San Diego Pkwy, El Cajon, CA 92019
All Ages Free Event If you have any questions email me or give me a call.
Dave Rodger 619 750-3355 coffeeclubca@gmail.com

Cuyamaca College and The Coffee Club invites you to join them at their sixth annual “Coyote Music Festival” which will take place on the campus Grand Lawn on Saturday, April 26 from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm.
The festival features seven bands of up-and-coming local young talent who will showcase their all-original music compositions. These home-grown singer-songwriters will perform a variety of genres including acoustic, rock, folk and pop. Enjoy an afternoon listening to some great music while relaxing under the sun or in the shade at this outdoor, casual and park-like setting. There is plenty of free parking. Come out and support the east county local music scene and cheer on the new groups. Someday you can say that you “knew them when. . .”
The event is all ages and Free and open to the public.

Visit us at 

www.facebook.com/cuyamacamusic
www.coyotemusicfest.com

For more information contact Cuyamaca Collage :
Annie Zuckerman
annie.zuckerman@gcccd.edu
619-450-3127

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

10 Best Coffee Houses across the USA 2014


It takes more than beans to serve a great cup of coffee. The country's best coffeehouses also specialize in hospitality, says David Heilbrunn, who runs Coffee Fest, a trade show that promotes specialty coffee: "They know their customers. You feel like family when you walk in the door." He works with industry expert Chris Deferio on an annual competition to find the country's top coffeehouses. They share some of their favorite spots with Larry Bleiberg for USA TODAY 2014.

Mudhouse Coffee
Charlottesville, Va.
It's not surprising to find a busy shop in a university town, but it's much rarer to find good coffee, Deferio says. "Mudhouse has both. It has the local art and the quintessential coffeehouse feel — and they have amazing coffee." 434-984-6833;mudhouse.com
 

Slate Coffee Bar
Seattle
Heilbrunn says this spot in Starbucks' hometown is unlike any other coffee shop he has visited. The staff avoids flavored syrups and complicated preparations, instead emphasizing the taste of the coffee. Although it started in an Airstream trailer, the company now has a brick-and-mortar location in the Ballard neighborhood and uses glassware, creating an atmosphere that's almost like wine service. "It's really done in a different way and really done well." 206-240-7174; slatecoffee.com
 

Heart Coffee Roasters
Portland, Ore.
In a java-crazed town like Portland, you can find great coffee shops on almost every corner. But Heart makes the cut because of its devotion to the product, which is roasted in-house. "They're very professional. Their shop is very sleek and clean, and they take their coffee very seriously," Deferio says. "Their approach to coffee is very pure." 503-206-6602; heartroasters.com
 

Peregrine Espresso
Washington, D.C.
Coffee choices can be overwhelming, but this tiny chain keeps things uncomplicated and laid-back. "They have a simple menu done very well by humble craftsmen," Deferio says. "D.C. is a city where humility is not a very common property, and I think their customers appreciate it." 202-629-4381; peregrineespresso.com

JP's Coffee
Holland, Mich.
Over the course of more than 20 years, this shop has become an integral part of this small town. Though the staff is young, it understands hospitality, Deferio says, and the owner emphasizes making sure the baristas are educated about their coffee. "There's no espresso machine that makes you the best coffee shop," he says. "Not only do they care for their customers, but they really care for each other, and it shows when you walk in there." 616-396-5465; jpscoffee.com

Klatch Coffee
Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
The two-time winner of the United States Barista Competition, Heather Perry works and now trains staff at this roaster, which is owned by her family. "It's big-time, and they're very proud of it," Heilbrunn says. And not only are the drinks well-prepared, but "they source and roast some of the best coffee on the planet." 909-944-5282;klatchroasting.com

Palace Coffee Co.
Canyon, Texas
Good coffee can now be found all over the country. Although just 3 years old, this town square shop on the West Texas plains already has made a name for itself. "They've mixed the feel of small-town America with the more contemporary style of big-city coffeehouse," Heilbrunn says. "Their mission is to be kind and serve great coffee." 806-476-0111; palacecoffee.co

Ipsento
Chicago
Given Chicago's winters, a successful coffee shop must have a warm, welcoming atmosphere. But this spot takes it to another level, Deferio says. "It's an energetic warm hospitality, a unique vibe of their passion for their customers and for the coffee and for their shop." 773-904-8177; ipsento.com
 

Dog River Coffee
Hood River, Ore.
This decade-old shop stands out for its staff's knowledge, speed and friendliness to regulars and newcomers alike. "It's a great place in a cool town, and the service is awesome," Heilbrunn says. "This could very well be America's best coffee shop." 541-386-4502; dogrivercoffee.net
 

Muggswigz Coffee & Tea Co.
Canton, Ohio
This decade-old shop keeps up with the latest coffee trends. "They're very community focused and they want to do high-quality coffee in a place where you wouldn't expect to find it," Deferio says. "It's one of those eclectic shops with chalk boards and lots of different flavors, run by high-energy young people." 330-452-6336; muggswigz.com

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

15 things you should know about Caffeine



15 Things Your Should Know about Caffeine

US roaster is helping make Cameroon coffee beans magic

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. — Mocha Joe’s roasting company founder Pierre Capy was not impressed the first time he tried a cup of coffee made with beans grown in Cameroon.
Capy has run his Main Street roasting facility in Brattleboro since 1994. He has traveled around the United States, and the world, educating others about what it takes to produce the highest grade of coffee. So when he tried that cup of Cameroon-grown coffee in 2008, he did not taste a coffee bean that could take its place with some of the best in the world.
But what Capy did taste that day was potential, and he has been working ever since to strengthen the specialty coffee market in Cameroon — and trying to convince the rest of the gourmet coffee community that the country should be able to produce excellent coffee.
Now Mocha Joe’s has started an online fund-raising effort to raise money for an expanding organic certification program in Cameroon. The money will also be used to register farmers in local credit unions and start a revolving loan fund to give coffee farmers access to capital.
“The challenge for me, from the start, was to try to create something from nothing,” he said. “Cameroon has the soil, it has the elevation, it has a rain and dry season and I thought we could produce incredible coffee there.”
Capy’s improbable introduction to Cameroon, a West African country that is mostly known for growing bulk, low-grade coffee beans for the European market, came when he hired Hamidou Yaya, then a student from the School for International Training in Brattleboro.
Yaya showed Capy some coffee that was grown in his homeland.
Capy looked through the bag of Cameroon coffee and the beans were dirty and unsorted. But among the ungraded beans Capy found large, well-formed beans that he thought could hold up to some of the best coffee in the world.
He had some coffee sent over and Capy pulled out the best beans and paid careful attention to the roasting process
“The coffee had a syrupy, caramel flavor. It was very good. You could compare it to Kona or Jamaican varietals, ” said Capy. “Cameroon had a clean slate. No one was importing Cameroon coffee to America, and I knew that if we could differentiate the beans and create a market we could sell some over here.”
In March 2009, Mocha Joe’s Roasting Company partnered with the Farmer’s Cooperative Initiative, a group of U.S. roasters and investors working with 31 farming families in the northwest of Cameroon. The collaborative imported the first container of specialty-grade Cameroon coffee to the U.S.
Later that year, Capy and another Mocha Joe’s employee traveled to Cameroon to oversee the harvest and sorting processes. Prior to the visit most of the coffee was dried and shipped for the commercial market. There was no awareness of growing and sorting specialty coffee, which Capy knew would bring a much higher price to the farmers. It took a while to convince area residents that sorting was an important part of the coffee growing process, and after a number of failed experiments Capy helped set up a communal sorting facility. It was the first step in improving the grade of coffee being shipped out of Cameroon.
In 2011 he spent another four months in the region with his wife and two children during the growing and harvest season. They lived in the village of Fongo Tongo with coffee farmers and, while there that year, Capy hired Philip Younyi, a local agronomist, to be his director of operations.
The quality of Cameroon coffee continued to improve, and Capy introduced it to other small roasters around New England. In 2012, Capy started working in the village of Oku, where farmers use traditional growing techniques that are close to international organic growing standards. Capy knew that if the farmers could get their USDA organic certification, their coffee would bring an even better price.
The certification is very expensive and Capy helped some of the farmers with no- and low-interest loans to go through the certification process. The following year 54 family farmers in Cameroon obtained their organic certification, and Mocha Joe’s imported the very first shipment of certified organic coffee from Cameroon.
Capy said the Cameroon project is now at a pivotal point. Working with other roasters this year, Mocha Joe’s and the other companies will import three tons of organic coffee and 16 tons of specialty coffee from Cameroon.
“Originally we were primarily focused on improving the quality of the coffee harvested, but as our familiarity with the coffee and our connection with the community have deepened, our goals for the project have expanded,” Capy said. “For the past two-and-a-half years we have been working on getting organic certification, and with the success of this pilot project we are ready to expand the project into a larger program.”
Mocha Joe’s is now trying to raise $5,500 to support the Cameroon coffee project. The contributions will be used to enroll farmers in a local credit union which allows them to borrow money at a low interest rate of 1.5 percent, instead of the up to 200 percent that local non-regulated money lenders charge.
Capy also said the funding would bring more farmers into the organic certification process, and would help ensure that organic coffee growing in Cameroon remains stable, even if Mocha Joe’s pulls out of the growing, sorting and certification processes. Capy said about 75 more farms need to get their organic certification to keep the project moving forward.
“We’re just a small Vermont business and this has only worked because we’ve done things step by step,” Capy said. “No bank will lend us money for this. We are trying to get more people interested in coffee from Cameroon, and have enough farmers growing quality coffee so that it is sustainable on its own. We’re really proud of how far we’ve come and we’re excited to see where we can take it.”
Original Articular  http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/lifestyle/20140311/us-roaster-is-helping-make-cameroon-coffee-beans-magic

Sunday, March 16, 2014

How to Roast Coffee with Definitions



Roasting coffee transforms the chemical and physical properties of green coffee beans into roasted coffee products. The roasting process is what produces the characteristic flavor of coffee by causing the green coffee beans to expand and to change in color, taste, smell, and density. Unroasted beans contain similar acids,protein, and caffeine as those that have been roasted, but lack the taste. Heat must be applied for the Maillard and other chemical reactions to occur. As green coffee is more stable than roasted, the roasting process tends to take place close to where it will be consumed. This reduces the time that roasted coffee spends in distribution, giving it a longer shelf life. The vast majority of coffee is roasted commercially on a large scale, but some coffee drinkers roast coffee at homein order to have more control over the freshness and flavor profile of the beans.

Process The coffee roasting process follows coffee processing and precedes coffee brewing. It consists essentially of sorting, roasting, cooling, and packaging but can also include grinding in larger scale roasting houses. In larger operations, bags of green coffee beans are hand or machine-opened, dumped into a hopper, and screened to remove debris. The green beans are then weighed and transferred by belt or pneumatic conveyor to storage hoppers. From the storage hoppers, the green beans are conveyed to the roaster. Initially, the process is endothermic (absorbing heat), but at around 175 °C (347 °F) it becomes exothermic (giving off heat).[1] For the roaster, this means that the beans are heating themselves and an adjustment of the roaster's heat source might be required. At the end of the roasting cycle, the roasted beans are dumped from the roasting chamber and cooled with forced air.

Equipment The most common roasting machines are of two basic types: drum and hot-air, although there are others including packed bed, tangential and centrifugal roasters. Roasters can operate in either batch or continuous modes. Home roasters are available but less common, and tend to be expensive and time consuming. Drum machines consist of horizontal rotating drums that tumble the green coffee beans in a heated environment. The heat source can be supplied by natural gas,liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), electricity, or even wood. The most common employ indirectly heated drums where the heat source is under the drum. Direct-fired roasters are roasters in which a flame contacts the beans inside the drum; very few of these machines are still in operation. Hot-air roasters force heated air through a screen or perforated plate under the coffee beans with sufficient force to lift the beans. Heat is transferred to the beans as they tumble and circulate within this fluidized bed.

Degree of roasting Coffee roasters use names for the various degrees of roast, such as City Roast and French Roast, for the internal bean temperatures found during roasting. Roastmasters often prefer to follow a "recipe" or "roast profile" to highlight certain flavor characteristics. Any number of factors may help a person determine the best profile to use, such as the coffee's origin, variety, processing method, or desired flavor characteristics. A roast profile can be presented as a graph showing time on one axis and temperature on the other, which can be recorded manually or using computer software and data loggers linked to temperature probes inside various parts of the roaster.

Determining degree of roasting The most popular, but probably the least accurate, method of determining the degree of roast is to judge the bean's color by eye (the exception to this is using a colorimeter to measure the ground coffee reflectance under infrared light and comparing it to standards such as the Agtron scale). As the beans absorb heat, the color shifts to yellow and then to increasingly darker shades of brown. During the later stages of roasting, oils appear on the surface of the bean. The roast will continue to darken until it is removed from the heat source. Beans will also darken as they age, making color alone a poor roast determinant. Most roasters use a combination of bean mass temperature, smell, color, and sound to monitor the roasting process.Sound is a good indicator of bean temperature during roasting. There are two temperature thresholds called "cracks" that roasters listen for. At about 200–202 °C (392–396 °F), beans will emit a cracking sound much like popcorn does when it pops, only much quieter. This point is called "first crack," marking the beginning of light roasts. When the beans are at about 224–226 °C (435–439 °F), they emit a "second crack." During first and second "crack" pressure inside the bean has increased to the point where the structure of the bean fractures, rapidly releasing gases, thus an audible sound is emitted.

Degree of roast pictorial These images depict samples taken from the same batch of a typical Brazilian green coffee at various bean temperatures with their subjective roast names and descriptions

22 °C (72 °F) Green Beans
Green coffee beans as they arrive at the dock. They can be stored for up to two years.







165 °C (329 °F) Drying Phase
During the drying phase the beans are undergoing an endothermic process until their moisture content is evaporated, signifying first crack.






196 °C (385 °F) Cinnamon Roast
A very light roast level, immediately at first crack. Light brown, toasted grain flavors with sharp acidity, almost tea-like in character.






205 °C (401 °F) New England Roast

Moderate light brown, but still mottled in appearance. A preferred roast for some specialty roasters, highlights origin characteristics as well as complex acidity.





210 °C (410 °F) American Roast
Medium light brown, developed during first crack. Origin character is still completely preserved.







219 °C (426 °F) City Roast
Medium brown, common for most specialty coffee. Good for tasting the varietal character of a bean, although roast character is noticeable






225 °C (437 °F) Full City Roast
Medium dark brown with occasional oil sheen, roast character is fairly prominent. At the beginning of second crack.







230 °C (446 °F) Vienna Roast
Moderate dark brown with light surface oil, more bittersweet, caramel-y flavor, acidity muted. In the middle of second crack. Origin characteristics become nearly eclipsed by roast at this level.





240 °C (464 °F) French Roast
Dark brown, shiny with oil, burnt undertones, acidity diminished. At the end of second crack. Roast character is dominant at this level. Little, if any, of the inherent flavors of the coffee remain.





245 °C (473 °F) Italian Roast
Very dark brown and shiny, burnt tones become more distinct, acidity almost gone, thin body.







250 °C (482 °F) Spanish Roast
Extremely dark brown, nearly black and very shiny, charcoal and tar tones dominate, flat, with thin body.








Caffeine content by roast level Caffeine content varies by roast level. Caffeine diminishes with increased roasting level: light roast, 1.37%; medium roast, 1.31%; and dark roast, 1.31%.[7] However, this does not remain constant in coffee brewed from different grinds and brewing methods. Because the density of coffee changes as it is roasted, different roast levels will contain respectively different caffeine levels when measured by volume or mass, though the bean will still have the same caffeine.

Roast flavors At lighter roasts, the bean will exhibit more of its "origin flavor"; the flavors created in the bean by its variety, the soil, altitude, and weather conditions in the location where it was grown. As the beans darken to a deep brown, the origin flavors of the bean are eclipsed by the flavors created by the roasting process itself. At darker roasts, the "roast flavor" is so dominant that it can be difficult to distinguish the origin of the beans used in the roast.Below, roast levels and their respective flavors are described. These are qualitative descriptions, and thus subjective. As a rule of thumb, the "shinier" the bean is, the more dominant the roasting flavors are.
Common Roast Names
Notes
Surface
Flavor
Light
Cinnamon, American, Half City, New England
After several minutes the beans “pop” or "crack" and visibly expand in size. This stage is called first crack.
Dry
Lighter-bodied, higher acidity, no obvious roast flavor. This level of roast is ideal for tasting the full origin character of the coffee.
Medium
City, City+, Full City
After being developed through first crack, the coffee reaches these roast levels.
Dry
Sugars have been further caramelized, and acidity has been muted. This results in coffee with higher body, but some roast flavor imposed.
Dark
Full City+, Viennese, French, Italian
After a few more minutes the beans begin popping again, and oils rise to the surface. This is called second crack.
Shiny. The level of oil correlates to how far the coffee is taken past second crack.
Bittersweet flavors are prominent, aromas and flavors of roast become clearly evident. Little, if any, origin character remains.

Home roasting Home roasting is the process of roasting small batches of green coffee beans for personal consumption. Even after the turn of the 20th century, it was more common for at-home coffee drinkers to roast their coffee in their residence than it was to buy pre-roasted coffee. Later, home roasting faded in popularity with the rise of the commercial coffee roasting companies. In recent years home roasting of coffee has seen a revival. In some cases there is an economic advantage, but primarily it is a means to achieve finer control over the quality and characteristics of the finished product.

Packaging Extending the shelflife of roasted coffee relies on maintaining an optimum environment to protect it from exposure to heat, oxygen, and light. Roasted coffee has an optimal typical shelf life of 2 weeks, and ground coffee about 15 minutes. Without some sort of preservation method, coffee becomes stale. The first large scale preservation technique was vacuum packing in cans. However, because coffee emitsCO2 after roasting, coffee to be vacuum packed must be allowed to de-gas for several days before it is sealed. To allow more immediate packaging, pressurized canisters or foil-lined bags with pressure-relief valves can be used. Refrigeration and freezing retards the staling process. Roasted whole beans can be considered fresh for up to one month if kept cool. Once coffee is ground it is best used immediately.

Emissions and control Particulate matter (PM), volatile organic compounds (VOC), organic acids, and combustion products are the principal emissions from coffee processing.[11] Several operations are sources of PM emissions, including the cleaning and destoning equipment, roaster, cooler, and instant coffee drying equipment. The roaster is the main source of gaseous pollutants, including alcohols, aldehydes, organic acids, andnitrogen and sulfur compounds. Because roasters are typically natural gas-fired, carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions result from fuel combustion. Decaffeination and instant coffeeextraction and drying operations may also be sources of small amounts of VOC. Emissions from the grinding and packaging operations typically are not vented to the atmosphere. Particulate matter emissions from the roasting and cooling operations are typically ducted to cyclones before being emitted to the atmosphere. Gaseous emissions from roasting operations are typically ducted to a thermal oxidiser or thermal catalytic oxidiser following PM removal by a cyclone. Some facilities use the burners that heat the roaster as thermal oxidisers. However, separate thermal oxidisers are more efficient because the desired operating temperature is typically between 650–816 °C (1,202–1,501 °F), which is 93–260 °C (199–500 °F) more than the maximum temperature of most roasters. Some facilities use thermal catalytic oxidizers, which require lower operating temperatures to achieve control efficiencies that are equivalent to standard thermal oxidisers. Catalysts are also used to improve the control efficiency of systems in which the roaster exhaust is ducted to the burners that heat the roaster. Emissions from spray dryers are typically controlled by a cyclone followed by a wet scrubber.

Award Winning Coffee Rosters




































Bird Rock Coffee Logo






2012 Roaster of the Year.
Roast Magazine, Award
Winner.
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Top Rated by Food &
Wine Magazine for their
Artisan Coffee.
Olympia Coffee Logo
2013 Roaster of the
Year Award Winner!
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Bon Appétit & Forbes
Magazine's Favorite
Gourmet Coffee.
Temple Coffee Logo
Finalist for 2013 Micro
Roaster Of The Year!
Roast Magazine.
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Located near Boston, Atomic's Coffee
Beans are Top Rated.
Chromatic Coffee Logo
New Breakout Artisan
Coffee Roastery!
Klatch Coffee Logo
2009 Roaster of the Year.
"World's Best Espresso."
MadCap Coffee Logo
2014 Good Food Award
Winner!
Dogwood Coffee Logo
Their gourmet coffee
beans are stellar and
spectacular!
Equator Coffees Logo
Top Chefs' Gourmet
Coffee Choice. 2010
Roaster of the Year.
Dallis Bros. Coffee Logo
Celebrating 100 Years Of
Excellence!






Barefoot Coffee Logo
Top Rated by Food &
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Johnson Brothers Logo
Top Rated Beans By
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Ritual Coffee Logo
2011 Top Rated by CNN &
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