Fresh Roasted Coffee

There's nothing better than a good cup of coffee in the morning. We like to brew coffee at home over buying it at a coffee shop. It's just more convenient. We grind the beans each morning and brew just enough to fill our two mugs with coffee for the ride to work.

When we were in Hawaii we took a tour of Kauaii Coffee Company and bought a bunch of coffee to bring home. Yum. We didn't buy enough, because it's all gone. We were thinking about ordering more, when we heard about another coffee roaster here in the Bay Area.

Blue Bottle Coffee Co. is based here in Oakland, Ca. All their coffee is organic. You can pick it up at the roasting plant or you can have it delivered. They ship the same day it's roasted. We just got our first delivery last week. I could smell it when I walked up to the front door.

Don bought two different types.

• Chapada Diamantina - from Brazil
• Bella Donovan - their most popular blend

We made the Chapada Diamantina this morning. Mmmm, mmmm.  It was rich with a lot of body.  Not bitter.  It's $18.75/lb - which is not cheap, but I've always found you get what you pay for something. Cheap coffee is not a good idea. 

I learned a LOT about coffee when I worked at Einstein Bros. The biggest lessons I learned: 

1. The brewing water has to be HOT. Many home coffee pots don't get the water hot enough
2. Don't store coffee in the freezer. Beans don't like moisture.  Store it in the pantry. 
3. Make sure you're using the right amount of coffee. Part of the reason people like Peet's and Starbucks is that they use the right amount of coffee.  Blue Bottle recommends 3-4 T per 8 oz of water. (We don't use quite that much.)
   

I would love to hear from other coffee lovers. What coffee do you like?