Custom Made Coffee: Does Freshness Escape You?

HOUSTON, TX – Thin crust with extra cheese, black olives, green pepper and sausage; delivered.

Once the order is placed, the pizza is prepared according to the customer's wishes, and than delivered hot and fresh only minutes out of the oven. "Why not order fine gourmet coffee the same way?" asks Jonathan Burdett, owner of Spencerbean Coffee.

Traditionally coffee is sold to consumers preroasted meaning that it is not at its freshest, not minutes out of the oven. Bound within the cell walls of unroasted coffee, also called green coffee, are aromatic oils responsible for coffee's delectable aroma and characteristic flavor. During roasting, the cell walls burst open and the aromatic oils are released to the surface of the beans. The longer coffee is roasted the more cell walls burst and the beans become coated with oil, changing in color, weight and flavor. A light roasted bean will appear dry, light brown, possibly with spots of oil on the surface, and one that is dark roasted will have a shiny dark brown surface. After the beans are roasted they are removed from the heat and exposed to the air to cool and degas. Degas is not the French painter, but rather the process of ridding the coffee of carbon dioxide that builds up during roasting. Once the carbon dioxide is emitted into the air, the coffee beans are vulnerable to oxygen. This is the beginning of oxidation that, along with light and heat, is an enemy of freshness.

There is no telling how long preroasted coffee has been exposed to light, heat and air. Many retailers of gourmet coffee store their beans in clear plastic dispensers. Customers who purchase coffee this way are not getting the freshest available.

Jonathan is a customer who wanted more control over his gourmet coffee. He searched out a master roaster, and found one with over three decades of experience. He then started Spencerbean Coffee, named after his 3-year-old son, Spencer, whom he nicknamed "Spencerbean". Jonathan's company takes custom orders on his website, Spencerbean.com. Presently this is the only way to order custom made Spencerbean coffee, roasted fresh and delivered free of charge. For example a customer can put in an order for Brazilian Santos, medium roast, whole bean, or Guatemalan Antigua, Swiss water decaffeinated, light roast and a medium grind for drip pot brewing. Following the order, the green coffee is roasted to specs and shipped fresh.

Spencerbean.com, located at http://www.spencerbean.com, opened for ebusiness on January 7, 2002.




This article courtesy of http://www.andrescoffee.com.
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