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Whole Foods Stores for Fresh Roasted Coffee Beans

February 18th, 2008 by Mark Harris

Whole Foods Market is a leading retailer of fresh, natural and organic foods, with over 265 stores in North America and the United Kingdom. And if you haven’t already discovered, Whole Foods Stores are a natural choice for premium fresh roasted coffee beans.

Whole Foods Market features Allegro Coffee, a prominent national specialty coffee importer, roaster and distributor. The Allegro Coffee Company, of Boulder Colorado, was founded by Jeffrey Cohn in 1985. Whole Foods was one of Allegro’s early customers, and in 1995, Whole Foods acquired the company.

Allegro continues to provide specialty premium coffee through wholesale distribution to many national accounts including coffeehouses, cafés and fine dining establishments. For retail to the consumer, Allegro coffee is now exclusively distributed through Whole Foods Markets, the parent company.

Allegro sources the highest quality coffee beans from around the world. As you would expect of Whole Foods, with a reputation for the best in natural and organic food products, Allegro partners with coffee growers who practice environmentally friendly and sustainable growing, harvesting and processing methods.

Allegro roasts the coffee beans in small batches to bring out the finest characteristics and flavors. At roast completion, coffees are vacuum packed in oxygen-impermeable bags. To preserve freshness, the residual oxygen is removed and replaced with nitrogen prior to heat sealing the bag.

These techniques maintain freshness for distribution to the Whole Foods Stores where the fresh roasted coffee is placed in bins for convenient display. Shoppers can easily choose from an enticing variety of single origin coffees and blends. The roasting date is clearly marked and displayed on each bin. Typically, in the stores that I visit, the roasted coffee beans in the bins are not older than one week.

Customers help themselves scooping the beans they wish to buy into the provided coffee bags, marking on the bag the PLU (product look up code), and other information such as description and roast date if desired.

Some of the Whole Foods Stores offer in-store roasted Allegro coffee. While perhaps enticing and a bit high-tech, in my experience, these smaller hot air roasting machines don’t produce a result that compares in taste and flavor to the coffees roasted by Allegro and packaged for distribution to the stores.

One of the conveniences I enjoy when buying coffee at Whole Foods is the opportunity to sample the variety. It’s easy to pickup a small quantity, say an 1/8 pound of beans. I take the sample home and if I like the coffee and favor the roast, I can pickup a full 1/2 pound or more the next time I’m in the store. We shop at Whole Foods frequently enough for other items, and it’s quick and easy to stop by the Allegro coffee section and see if there is something new to try, or pickup a recently roasted coffee that we already prefer.

For espresso, we’ve been enjoying the Organic Espresso Sierra. A medium-dark roast blend with origins from Latin America and the Pacific Rim. A nice, rich, full-bodied coffee with some chocolate and caramel tones. With the fresh beans, I get a nice and consistent crema most of the time.

For drip, the Sulawesi Toraja is a favorite Indonesian that we particularly enjoy. In my opinion, Indonesian coffees including Sulawesi and Sumatra are often over roasted. I prefer the lighter medium roast for this coffee to bring out the best inherant characteristics. A nice well-balanced acidity, rich body, and unique earthy overtones. And hints of a sweet, caramel finish lingers nicely on the pallete.

See if there are any Whole Foods Stores located in your area. Stop by and try some of the fresh roasted coffee. I think you’ll be pleased.

Posted in Coffee Beans | 12 Comments

Starbucks Tests the Clover in several Stores

February 14th, 2008 by Mark Harris

Starbucks is reputed to be testing the Clover coffee brewing system in several stores.

The Clover is described as an automated reverse French press. Although, at around $11,000 a pop, this innovative coffee brewing system is a bit more expensive than a typical coffee press.

The invention of Zander Nosler, co-founder and president of the Coffee Equipment Company which manufacturers the machines, the Clover was first introduced about four years ago. There are now about 200 in use at specialty coffee houses in the US and Canada.

Clover Coffee Machine Demonstration

The Clover is a single cup brewing system that automates the function of a French press, and gives the barista precise control over all four variables of the brewing process; water temperature, coffee grind, coffee to water ratio, and the brew time.

Intended for commercial use, the full cycle time to produce a cup of coffee is about 75 seconds. The result is a precisely controlled, near perfect coffee extraction, similar to a French press, but in much less time.

A French press will take, on average, about 4 to 5 minutes to steep and brew several cups of coffee, and is not a very practical method for a busy commercial establishment to produce a brewed-to-order single cup of coffee. Another important efficiency factor for a commercial operation, cleanup of the expelled coffee grounds after brewing with a Clover is much easier and faster than with a French press.

If you like to dump milk and sugar into your coffee, the refinement of the Clover brewing system is a nuance that will most likely escape your appreciation. And, at between $2.50 and $3.00 for a cup of coffee brewed with a Clover, you’re not likely to see the value in spending the extra money.

But for coffee drinkers that are refining their palates, the Clover is an effective and complimentary brewing method that can really bring out the unique and distinctive tastes and flavors of the more exotic specialty coffees increasing in popularity today.

Starbucks has an initiative underway to renew the higher-end quality coffee experience and attempt to recapture some of the customers who have begun to stray. An effort to refocus on the core business and make it “more about the coffee”.

Apparently, deploying the Clover coffee machines at several pilot stores, including a few stores in Seattle, is some of this current testing underway. Supposedly, the stores with a Clover will also offer more exclusive beans than what is normally available at a standard Starbucks store.

Of course, as we would expect from Starbucks, they have coined another Starbucks-ism and will refer to the Clover machines as a “Fresh Press”.

Whether or not the Clover will draw the customers in, good for Starbucks for making the effort to raise the bar.

I know I’ll be curious to try a cup from a Clover when it comes to a Starbucks in my neighborhood.

Posted in Starbucks | 46 Comments

Starbucks Barista Bashing

February 12th, 2008 by Mark Harris

Starbucks barista bashing, and Starbucks bashing in general, seems to be a popular activity lately. And I’m not talking about the Starbucks Barista espresso machines for sale. I’m referring to the human variety, the baristas preparing espresso drinks behind the counter.

There are some espresso aficionados not even willing to call these folks baristas. In defense of honorable and worthy baristas where ever we are lucky enough to find them, I concede that we’re not typically going to find highly skilled artisans behind the counter at Starbucks.

But let’s be fair. Preparing espresso drinks, for better or for worse, with automatic espresso machines, manual, semi-automatic or otherwise, takes some level of skill and training. And what these folks do at Starbucks, whether or not it matches the highest expression of blissful espresso, does fall under the role of a barista.

To keep this in perspective, Starbucks is not really about sublime straight shots of espresso. Truthfully, anyone who heads over to Starbucks for a nirvana shot of espresso is only setting themselves up for disappointment.

The espresso preparation at Starbucks is much more intended as the basis for the lattes, cappuccinos, macchiatos, and so forth. By the time you add the foam, the milk, and the syrup, the caliber of the espresso shot isn’t going to make nearly as much difference.

Whether the connoisseurs consider the drinks at Starbucks authentic or not, it’s not really the point. Starbucks delivers a style and version of espresso drinks that clearly satsifies the customer demand. That is key for any successful business. The proof is in the numbers. That’s millions of customers and billions of dollars. Hard to argue with numbers like that. True, Starbucks had a lot to do with shaping the customer demand for their style of drinks, but all the power to them.

As for my personal preference, I don’t go into a Starbucks for a shot of espresso. And I’m not a fan of all the milk, the foam, the syrup and the sugar. But neither do I despise Starbucks as many espresso connoisseurs seem to do. I’m fine with a cup of drip, and I generally enjoy stepping into a Starbucks and find it a pleasant experience.

Is there a higher barista calling than what we can expect to find at Starbucks? Of course. Let’s see, 15,000 Starbucks stores times 5 baristas per store is 75,000 baristas. We don’t honestly expect to encounter a legion of 75,000 master baristas at Starbucks? That would suggest that anyone can easily achieve black belt barista status. Which would diminish and dilute the true accomplishment that an expert barista achieves.

And there is always room for improvement. This year, in 2008, Starbucks is undertaking an initiative to improve the coffee experience at their stores. This includes upgrades to the Verismo machines (I know, there are those that will never forgive Starbucks for moving from the LaMarzocco machines to the Verismo Automatics) and barista retraining. At least Starbucks recognizes that there is need for improvement and I commend the effort. See the lively discussion at Starbucks Gossip.

So let’s give the baristas at Starbucks a break. Let’s lighten up on the Starbucks barista bashing. There’s a place for Starbucks in my world, and no need to disrespect the folks that are working hard at Starbucks to please the customers.

Yes, I will continue to enjoy my visits to Starbucks, and still remain free to seek out great espresso elsewhere. And honor the barista master whenever and wherever I can.

Posted in Starbucks | 33 Comments

Barista for a Day

February 10th, 2008 by Mark Harris

For the true coffee lover who has a keen passion for preparing great espresso, who wouldn’t jump at the chance to train for a day with a world class expert barista? Yep, “Barista for a Day”.

Well, if you’re lucky enough to live in the Columbus, Ohio area, premier coffee roaster CrimsonCup is offering just an opportunity. See the press release – Local Specialty Coffee Shop Offers Chance to Learn from Espresso Expert Armando.

And who is Armando? Armando Escobar is the CEO of CrimsonCup, but not the type of CEO you might be thinking. He is CrimsonCup’s Chief Espresso Officer. Now that’s a very respectable title! According to his bio, Armando Escobar has spent the last 28 years training over 500 coffee house owners across the country how how to open a successful coffee business.

And some lucky contest winner will get to spend a day with Armando and learn some of the tricks and techniques from a true master. What great fun!

This is exactly the kind of interaction and engagement with customers that is too often missing in the specialty coffee business. And I think premium coffee houses are missing an opportunity to expand business, attract customers and create some loyal fans.

How often do you find a local coffee house or specialty roaster that is willing to put on classes, conduct coffee tastings with the customers, put on coffee roasting seminars, offer barista training, … Coffee house proprietors that have true coffee passion and experience have much to give and share. And I jump at the chance to expand my knowledge this way. Unfortunately, the opportunity doesn’t come up very often.

I think CrimsonCup has the right idea and should get some good mileage out of this contest promotion. And some lucky coffee lover will have a lot of fun spending a day with Armando Escobar, I’m sure!

Posted in Coffee News | 34 Comments

Trader Joe’s Locations – Good Everyday Coffee Beans

February 9th, 2008 by Mark Harris

For coffee freshness, premium quality and some of our favorite artisan coffee roasters, we prefer to buy most of our coffee beans online. But when it comes to filling in our every day coffee supply with coffee beans from the local store, we like Trader Joe’s.

A unique, health oriented gourmet grocery store, there are now over 230 Trader Joe’s locations in more than 23 states in the US. For gourmet food lovers looking for a healthful range of interesting and tasty food products, shopping at Trader Joe’s is always a rewarding food adventure. And for your every day coffee supply, they have a respectable lineup of coffee beans. At very reasonable coffee prices.

Trader Joe’s most popular coffees are:

French Roast – number one seller, sweet-pungent taste, smoky aroma, medium body.

Bay Blend – ultra roast, a style of roasting that burns off the acid to bring out the sweetness with a smoky aroma.

House Blend – blend of Sumatra and Colombian beans, highly aromatic, a nice all around coffee at a full-city roast.

Colombian Supremo – rich aroma, full body, full-city roast, smoky overtones. One of the most popular coffee origins in the US.

Kona– 100% certified island grown Kona coffee (Kona, Hawaii), rich aroma, medium body and nice smooth flavor.

Moka Java – the classic blend of bright, chocolatey Ethiopian beans with sweet, smooth Java beans produces a smooth and balanced flavor. Mocha Java is one of the oldest and traditional blends of Arabian and Indonesian beans popular world wide for over 400 years.

Kauai Coffee – another popular Hawaiian grown coffee, slightly darker roast, sweet earthy aroma, delicate taste.

Organic Coffee Blend – 100% certified organic Peruvian coffee beans – a bit spicy, blended with more mild 100% certified Mexican beans, creates a complex aroma, medium body, good flavor

Italian Roast– blend of spicy Costa Rican beans, pungent New-Guinea beans and full-bodied Colombian Excelso beans, brought to a full dark Italian roast. Popular for making espresso, remember that the darkest roasts yield more a more carbonized bean that can over-shadow the underlying coffee characteristics and flavors. You are often tasting more of the roast flavor and less of the coffee bean flavor.

I always like to encourage everyone to reach a little, and expand your enjoyment of different coffees. While you’ll always gravitate toward your favorites and preferences, sample the variety of coffees out there. It’s part of the gourmet coffee adventure.

We were in a Trader Joe’s recently and found a fun little sample pack of four coffees. The package is called the “Coffee House Collection”. These little 2.5 oz packs of whole bean coffees are perfect for sampling the Trader Joes brand. 2.5 ounces of coffee beans is enough to brew about 4 to 8 cups of coffee, depending on the strength you prefer. The suggested 10 cup yield is probably on the weak side. Try them first and see if you like ’em before you buy the full can.

The Coffee House Collection includes:

French Roast– the standard Trader Joe’s dark French roast. (see notes above)

Colombian Peaberry – a tiny bean prized for it’s remarkable concentration of flavor. Normally, the coffee berry (the fruit as is picked from a coffee plant) yields two coffee beans, but the Peaberry yields only a single coffee bean per berry. A medium roast, smooth with a nutty, well-balanced taste.

Organic Peruvian Cafe Femenino – organic, fair-trade certified coffee, produced by an all women (femenino) group in Peru. Medium roast, nutty and slightly sweet, chocolate tones.

Bay Blend– combination of Colombian Excelso and Mexican Arabica beans, deeply roasted, one of Trader Joe’s darker roasts, medium body, full flavor. (see notes above)

If there’s a Trader Joe’s location in your area, give them a try. Not a bad choice at all for your everyday supply of coffee beans.

Here’s a current list of Trader Joe’s Locations. See if there’s one near you?

Posted in Coffee Beans | 51 Comments

Coffee Geek and Proud Of It

February 8th, 2008 by Mark Harris

You can definitely classify me as a coffee geek today. I’m not sure when it happened.

As a teenager I didn’t even drink coffee. And trust me, that was many, many years ago. At the time, I may have been mildly aware of the negative message from the medical community maligning daily coffee drinking. Of course, as a teenager, I don’t think I was particularly influenced by the medical community and the doctors, based on the other substances I was willing to put in my body.

No, back then it was more that I just didn’t care for the taste of coffee all that much. I do recall at about the age of sixteen or so, in our family household, we were just transitioning off of the electric percolator to a Mr. Coffee drip machine. OK, now I’m really dating myself. Does anyone even have a percolator anymore? Even with the drip coffee maker, I do remember we were still brewing mostly Yuban, and occasionally Folgers and Maxwell House ground coffee in a can. Maybe the Yuban coffee just wasn’t doing anything for me back then.

Remember Yuban with the Juan Valdez TV commercials? Had to be 100% Colombian grown coffee if Juan Valdez showed up in your bedroom with his burro (somehow, that doesn’t sound right). I seem to recall someone telling me Juan Valdez was actually from Puerto Rico, not Colombia. But hey, Americans won’t be able to tell the difference. Come on, its a marketing campaign.

Juan Valdez – 100% Colombian Coffee

Now, many years later, I’m an incorrigible coffee geek, a veritable coffee fanatic. I’m not sure when and how it happened exactly. And don’t worry, I’ll only bore you with a few of the tedious details of my life, step by step.

But quickly, I think it happened something like this …

Discovered the value of caffeine to survive the late night “finish the paper” cram sessions in college.
I admit, Starbucks had some influence along the way.
Purchased a blade grinder, started grinding my own beans. Switched to whole beans. It just felt right.
And then I discovered espresso. I’m pretty sure it was one of the local Italian restaurants. A double espresso with desert. Hey, this stuff is pretty good!
For years, it had to be dark French roast beans. Didn’t pay much attention to the coffee origin. Just had to be a dark roast. Then I discovered there are some other options, at least thirty different coffee origins from around the world. Wow, there are some different tasting coffees out there.
Someone gave me a French press. Now there’s a great way to brew coffee and get a full extraction. I’m starting to pay more attention to the coffee ritual and the experience, and I’m getting pulled in. It’s not just a cup of coffee anymore.
Don’t ask me when I started adding words like “extraction” to my coffee vocabulary. But I think these may be some of the telltale indicators of coffee geek-hood.
I suppose another coffee geek “right of passage” occurs the moment you decide you have to have an espresso machine at home. After all, wouldn’t it be great to crank out great espresso shots anytime you want. Then you find out it’s “pulling shots” not cranking out shots. More coffee geek vocabulary.
So now one of the clear dividing line emerges. Is it going to be a manual or piston style machine, a semi-automatic, or a super-automatic fully computerized, one-button espresso machine? Let’s see, anything computerized is pretty geeky, but what would a real barista choose? I’m afraid if you go for the fully computerized, super-automatic, push the easy button espresso machine, you’re probably not a true coffee geek. You may have the bucks, but come on, you didn’t think you can just buy your way into geek-hood?
When you do a little soul searching, and you find out you somehow identify with that barista inside, and you decide that there must be honor and valor in mastering the full technique and artistry of espresso coffee preparation, you’re probably a coffee geek.
And then it seems, you’re past the point of no return. This espresso thing’s a bit harder than it looks. So you study, and you learn, and you practice. And at least several hundred shots later, and an expensive burr grinder so you can finally get the grind right, you’re pulling pretty respectable shots.
You’ve arrived! There is no denying, you are a full-fledged coffee geek. And proud of it!

Now let me clarify something. Please don’t confuse a coffee geek with a coffee snob. I can’t speak for all coffee geeks, but I would never think I’m better than somebody just because I love everything about coffee. In fact, I think a coffee geek is much more of a coffee evangelist than a snob. You know, an obsession. Can’t stop talking about coffee, and has the desire to share with anyone who will listen.

For the many folks out there that don’t share the calling, I get it. Coffee is no big deal. Any regular cup of coffee in the morning is just fine.

But for a coffee geek like me, there’s a richer and more rewarding coffee experience out there, and I’m going to make it happen.

OK, I don’t expect this to make sense to everyone.

But if it does, maybe you’re a little bit of a coffee geek too?

Posted in Coffee Banter | 2 Comments

Ernesto Illy – The Passing of a Coffee Industry Legend

February 7th, 2008 by Mark Harris

Ernesto Illy, the legendary chairman of the Illy Caffe coffee company, died Sunday, Feb 3rd, at the age of 82 in his home town of Trieste, Italy.

If you have any interest in espresso coffee, you are most likely familiar with Illy. Perhaps you’re even a big fan of this world famous premium espresso coffee.

The familiar Illy coffee container and distinctive logo is a classic example of true Italian style.

For many first-time home baristas, Illy is the first coffee that you try out in your new espresso machine. When you struggle at the beginning trying to figure out how to get the grind right, a can of pre-ground Illy coffee beans saves the day and sets the reference point. Oh, so that’s what a fine grind is supposed to look like, as you discover your blade grinder isn’t going to get you there.

Ernesto Illy’s wonderful description of his favorite drink, “fine espresso paints the tongue …“, sums up his bigger than life passion for espresso coffee. He devoted his entire career to bringing the art and science of espresso to new levels.

Illy, formally a chemist by training, headed up the company between 1963 and 2004. The Illy company was originally founded in 1933 by his father, Francesco Illy. The senior Illy established the company in the port city of Trieste on the Adriatic sea which had become a strategic import hub to bring in coffee beans from Africa and South America. Trieste was a natural choice for Francesco Illy to setup shop.

By the early 1960’s, it was under Ernesto Illy’s leadership that the company grew in prominence as a premium espresso coffee brand. During his reign, leveraging his chemistry background, he merged the world of science and sophisticated technology with the traditional artisan craft of coffee selection and roasting to produce the highest quality premium coffee worthy of the Illy brand.

Today, every step of the manufacturing process is monitored by computers. There are 114 quality control check points from the time the raw beans arrive on the Illy docks to the time the finished roasted beans are packaged and ready to ship in the distinctive Illy sealed cans.

If you love espresso, you have to appreciate Illy’s commitment to the coffee’s purest expression. He was critical of standard sized coffee cups in favor of the espresso demitazza and was particularly disdainful of popular coffee additives such as milk and sugar which he viewed as mere cover-ups for inferior, poorly roasted coffee beans.

Ernesto Illy was truly a giant ambassador for premium espresso coffee. In a large way, Illy was influential in expanding the flourishing espresso coffee culture that is widespread and immensely popular throughout the world today.

Posted in Coffee News | 71 Comments

Welcome to the Gourmet Coffee Zone Daily Blog

February 6th, 2008 by Mark Harris

If you are a little bit crazy with passion about coffee, we hope you’ll join us here at the Gourmet Coffee Zone. We’re building a community of coffee enthusiasts with a focus and objective aimed at expanding and enhancing the coffee experience.

We love to talk about “all things coffee”. And we hope you’ll help us with your coffee experiences, opinions and knowledge. No snobs here, but maybe a few coffee fanatics.

The more we explore the world of coffee, the more depth we seem to find. In addition to the pure enjoyment of great coffee, the vast range of coffee subjects keeps this so interesting and always has us coming back for more!

Whether it’s about tasting coffee origins, comparing notes on the latest coffee bean harvest, talking about premium coffee roasters, chasing that elusive perfect shot of espresso, talking about some new amazing coffee gear, sharing coffee techniques and tutorials, delving into hundreds of years of fascinating coffee history, or gossiping about our favorite coffee houses …. there is an endless supply of great coffee subjects to discuss and explore.

We hope you’ll join us and help us build a great community here at the Gourmet Coffee Zone.

To your coffee enjoyment!

Mark Harris
Gourmet Coffee Zone – Website
Gourmet Coffee Zone – Daily Blog

Posted in Coffee Banter | No Comments

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