COFFEE POUND

Buy Gourmet Coffee

Real Coffee Hounds Buy Gourmet Coffee

There is good coffee and then there is gourmet COFFEE! Most of us have experienced generic premium coffee from our local supermarket, made with the inferior Robusta beans. True coffee hounds have enjoyed the alternative: the coffee regularly termed Gourmet Coffee you buy direct from micro-roasters boutique coffee houses. Popular large volume roasters, like Starbucks as well as most of the smaller roasters dispersed about town, essentially utilize this far better grade, high altitude, shade grown Arabica bean.

Where would the world be without its morning, afternoon or evening cup of organic coffee? Most people would have to turn to energy drinks, teas or sodas in order to get the caffeine that their body craves. But did you also know that those special roasted gourmet coffee beans have always been regarded as a high commodity trading item? From the time their properties were first discovered, it has seemed that the world has developed an instant affection for the brewed beverage most people use to kickstart their day. But how can a real coffee hound distinguish the best gourmet coffee beans to purchase?

Coffee is all about the taste, so let's start there.

As an experienced coffee hound, you can begin to explore and experience the undertones of your favorite gourmet coffee's region. As you savor your freshly brewed beverage, taste the flavors and the subtle hints and nuances, as well as the qualities that identify your favorite coffee bean's birthplace. In other words, this type of gourmet coffee is made from beans of exceptional quality that are grown in the best of climates and normally have a unique and distinctive flavor that is due to the soil characteristics in which they are grown.

Defining Gourmet Coffee Flavors by "Coffee Cupping"

There are, a limited number of premium coffee roasters that independently test their organic coffee beans for taste observations and aromas. These organic beans are graded and assessed just like fine wine. This activity is called Coffee Cupping or Coffee Tasting. Professional coffee hounds also known as Master Tasters are the taste testers. Coffee cupping involves deeply sniffing a cup of brewed gourmet coffee, then loudly slurping the coffee so it draws in air, spreads to the back of the tongue, and maximizes flavor.

These Master Coffee Tasters, similar to wine tasters, then attempt to measure in detail, every aspect of the coffee's taste. This assessment includes measurement of the body (the texture or mouth-feel, such as oiliness), acidity (a sharp and tangy feeling, like when biting into an orange), and balance (the innuendo and the harmony of flavors working together). Since coffee beans embody telltale flavors from their region or continent of their origin, cuppers may also attempt to predict where the coffee was grown.

While there is an infinite range of coffee vocabulary that can used to describe the tastes found in gourmet coffee, some of the most common flavors are chocolaty or fruity, clean and vibrant. Unlike wine that tastes better with age, the key to a good gourmet coffee is freshness. All you should get with you while making your cup of gourmet coffee is the right coffee grinder for the right brewer. The best cup of gourmet coffee is brewed using the manual drip method, a French press pot, or a vacuum pot.

Key Characteristics of Gourmet Coffee Flavors

Acidity:
The brightness or sharpness of organic coffee: It is naturally the acidity that many of the most intriguing fruit and floral flavors are delivered, and is generally the most scrutinized characteristic of the coffee. Acidity can be strong or mild, round or edgy, elegant or wild, and everything in between. Usually the acidity is best evaluated once the coffee has cooled slightly to a warm/lukewarm temperature.

Body:
This is commonly referred to as how it feels in your mouth. The body is the sense of weight or heaviness that the coffee exerts in the mouth, and can be very difficult for beginning cuppers to identify. It is conducive to think about the viscosity or thickness of the coffee, and focus on the degree to which the premium coffee has a physical subsistence.

Sweetness:
One of the most important elements in gourmet coffee, sweetness often separates the great from the good. Even the most intensely acidic coffees are lush and refreshing when there is enough sweetness to provide balance and ease the finish. Think of lemonade, starting with just water and lemon juice, one can add sugar until the level of sweetness achieves harmony with the tart citric flavor. It is the same with premium coffee, the sweetness is critical to allowing the other tastes to flourish and be appreciated.

The Finish:
While first impressions are influential, it is often the last impression that has the most impact. With coffee the finish (or aftertaste) is of great importance to the overall quality of the tasting experience, as it will linger long after the coffee has been swallowed. Like a great story, a great cup of coffee needs a purposeful resolution. The best finish is one that is clean, and refreshing with enough permanence to hold the flavor for 10-15 seconds after swallowing. An elite finish will confirm with supreme clarity the primary flavor of the coffee, holding it above with grace and confidence.

Heads Up On Your Next Gourmet Coffee Purchase

Buying gourmet coffee simply by name instead of by taste from your favorite roaster has it's drawbacks! According to Coffee Review, "Next year's Clever-Name-Coffee Company's house blend may be radically different from this year's blend, despite bearing the same name and label. The particularly skillful coffee buyer or roaster who helped create the coffee you and I liked so much may have gotten hired elsewhere. Rain may have spoiled the crop of a key coffee in the blend. The exporter or importer of that key coffee may have gone out of business or gotten careless. And even if everyone (plus the weather) did exactly the same thing they (and it) did the year before, the retailer this time around may have spoiled everything by letting the coffee go stale before you got to it. Or you may have messed things up this year by keeping the coffee around too long, brewing it carelessly, or allowing a friend to pour hazelnut syrup into it."

A savvy coffee hound buying alternative is to look for coffee roasters who buy their beans in tiny lots of subtly distinctive specialty gourmet coffees. According to Coffee Review, "These coffee buyers buy small quantities of coffee from a single crop and single place, often a single hillside, and are sold not on the basis of consistency or brand, but as an opportunity to experience the flavor associated with a unique moment in time and space and the dedication of a single farmer or group of farmers."

Gourmet Coffee Ratings

Finally, look out for the very small community of fair trade coffee roasters that will submit their organic coffees to independent evaluators, and coffee competitions for independent analysis and ratings. Expert coffee hounds use cuppings of coffees and then report the reviewed coffees based on a scale of 50 to 100.

A great cup of gourmet coffee is one of the most sought after beverages today and is being consumed at record rates. There are many reputable companies on the internet that can custom roast your gourmet beans with a unique flavor.