While waiting in line at one of the shops of Starbucks, we saw a display of beans. It said green roast, yellow roast, medium roast and dark roast. Cool! These were samples of the roasting results that they use for some of their blends. Curious about what a green roast was, it made sense to ask around and do some research and learn something new about our favorite cup of joe.
Roasting is one fo the most important steps in making coffee. Think of it as preparing grapes for wine. The roast helps bring out the flavor of the beans just as the pressing does for grapes. Fortunately we don’t have to wait as long as wine makers do in order to enjoy the drink.
Coffee, like most anything we consume, is best when it is fresh. It does not only taste best when it is freshly brewed. It tastes better if it is also freshly roasted. In fact, the beans must be made into coffee within 5 days of roasting. After 5 days, the beans are actually already stale. Surprise!
Fortunately, it is possible for you to buy green coffee or unroasted beans. It is available in some gourmet coffee shops and is also available online. You would of course need to have equipment for roasting them at home which is also available in shops and on the internet.
“Sounds like too much work”, you say?. For some it is. It will be a lot easier to go to your favorite cafe. Many coffee lovers will tell you though that it is worth the extra effort and saves you about half the cost of your cafe bought brew and has even better taste. Just don’t forget this advice from the merchants of green coffee:
For coffee to be fresh, and best, it should be consumed within 5 days of roasting, 3 hours of grinding and 15 minutes of brewing.
Enjoy your coffee today!
[tags]coffee,tips,coffee preparation,coffee beans[/tags]
Originally posted on July 27, 2006 @ 10:29 pm