Island Coffee®

Just got back from the New Orleans French Quarter festival and we had a great time. On the way from Charleston we stopped at several coffee shops to enjoy their offerings and chat with the owners and baristas. Mostly we stopped to meet new coffee people but I have to admit the my rear was a little sore and some off the bike time was mandatory.

 We (my wife and I) rode our Harley Davidson Road King classic for the 1600 mile or so round trip. Following the back roads we passed through many a small town,  some more delightful than others but overall it was refreshing to see. From the pecan trees to the cotton fields and the Mississippi delta to the Savannah river this is still one beautiful country. We traveled on highway 90 out of Biloxi, Mississippi to New Orleans and the devastation from Hurricane Katrina is still very evident 3 years later. I don’t know if that will ever go away. It is hard to imagine just how bad the damage was unless you see it first hand.

 We were in the 9th ward of New Orleans a few months after Katrina and I probably couldn’t communicate what I saw in terms that truly reflected the reality on the ground. The devastation was and still is beyond my comprehension.

 New Orleans has recovered from the hurricane disaster in the French Quarter, as it was for the most part spared by the flooding from Katrina, and the festival was spectacular. The organization of the events and quality of performers as well as cleanliness of the city as a whole was very impressive. I do believe that New Orleans will come back from the abyss better than ever.

 We had coffee in several shops in New Orleans and chicory is the rule of thumb unless you request otherwise. Of course you will get a look of what’s up with you? It’s true that coffee people for the most part are crazy! And I have to tell you that I like it that way.

Bean around the World

La Bella Luna

Hot Toddy Cafe

 We started barista training a few months ago and although it started out slowly with modest attendance it has really kicked in. We offer barista training at no charge to our current coffee customers to better enhance coffee awareness and to standardize drink preparation. We focus mainly of espresso and espresso based drinks. This is a 3 hour course that is intended to be a refresher course and not a substitute for an apprentice barista complete training program. Our introduction to coffee and the associated barista training is an 8 hour course with on-site job training under the direction of an experienced barista to follow. We also stress drip coffee preparation, golden cup standards and SCAA recommendations. Daily maintenance of equipment and maintenance scheduling is also covered.

 The most important aspect of the training is the on-hands experience of making espresso and milk based drinks. It is interesting to see what happens in front of the espresso machine and what habits have been developed, both good and not so good.

 If you don’t have a training program start one. It will be one of the most noteworthy aspects of increasing coffee awareness that you can do. It will also be appreciated by the coffee customers that get served a ”brew”by a well informed and trained barista. 

 Is global warming really due to increased global consumerism? If we cut down on what we consume will that reduce our carbon footprint? Will that hurt the economy? Do we need to make global warming a political issue or can we simply use some common sense? Do we need to wait for more evidence from scientific studies?

 At Island Coffee we think common sense should prevail because it’s so simple to be green or, at the least, make an effort.

 Here are some simple things we have done;

  -recycle our cardboard, office paper, plastic and glass

  -use a higher mileage vehicle for deliveries to our accounts

  -turn off major equipment during off season times

  -conduct as much business via the phone versus direct sales calls if appropriate

  -use florescent lighting

  -return grey water from cooling equipment and condensation lines to the ground without using the sanitary sewer system

  -reuse cardboard boxes and only recycle when unattractive for our business style

  -donate our burlap sacks to plant nuseries, oyster fisherman, and school usage

  -use our coffee chaff for soil enhancement

  -turn off lights when not being utilized

 -turn down the heat and up the air conditioning settings and change filters frequently

 Most of these items save use money and increase our employees awareness of our mission to do not harm in our country and coffee producing counties as well. Send us some more ideas and we’ll post them. It’s not hard to fight the possibility of global warming whether you believe in it or not!

 Since the “Bucket List”, staring Jack Nickelson and Morgan Freeman, used Kopi Luwak as an example of an exceptional coffee that if you were dying of cancer you should try as a “final” treat, awareness has increased and more people are getting a taste.

 Kopi Luwak is a coffee that is eaten as a coffee cherry by the Asian Palm Civet, otherwise known as the Luwak from Indonesia. It is stated that the Luwak has such discriminating tastes that they only eat the ripe cherries and leave the rest we assume for others less fortunate. The digested coffee beans are then excreted by the Luwak and processed as  coffee by the gatherer of the excrement.

 We cupped the Luwak coffee and were really not impressed. To say that this coffee is the finest in the world is at best subjective and at face value a load of crap(pardon the pun). The coffee tastes over fermented and has a fruity and tobacco finish. It is smooth with an absence of acidity and lacks good balance. It does have nice buttery notes but many coffees do that and cost much, much less.  

 If you want a coffee that meets and exceeds the taste profile of the Kopi Luwak then try a blend of Celebes Kalossi (Sulawesi Kalossi) and Sumatran Mandelhing. Make the blend one third CK and two thirds SM. Make sure that the SM and the CK are not past crop as Indonesian coffees have a tendency to be. 

 The defect profile for the Kopi Luwak and the roast level were questionable. There were so many defects in the coffee that it would not make an A grading. I assume the roast was dark in order to hide the fermentation defect as it is still apparent in the finished coffee.

 All in all, if you want to say you tried it then try it. If you want a great cup of coffee there are so many better choices and none of them, in my opinion, would include Kopi Luwak.

 Have you ever had a cup of coffee that wasn’t what you expected? Was it the coffee itself or the brewing process or the barista training that was the weak link in the gourmet taste chain? Is there any way to tell if your barista has had professional training?

Island Coffee® has always believed in selling the finest quality coffees that we can reasonably, and with good social conscience, provide our customers. You won’t see us representing coffees that are questionably sourced and of “status” quality only. But no matter what we do, if the coffee isn’t properly cared for and brewed and presented, our reputation suffers as well as the customer’s experience. A successful coffee triangle consists of proper farming and milling, roasting and storage, and delivery to the cup.  

 In order to confront this potential triangle of neglect, Island Coffee®is offering to our wholesale coffee customers barista training at no charge the last Friday of ever month. This will be a 3 hour refresher course designed to be a  supplement to ones already existing barista skills and not for beginning baristas with limited coffee knowledge and training. We offer a full day training program for the beginning barista that addresses more in depth the history, farming concepts and practices, roasting, and cupping of coffee. The barista then completes their on-the-job training under the guidance of an experienced professional barista.

 All baristas should participate in  training programs through professional associations so as to maintain and improve their skills and broaden their horizons and awareness. Without continuing barista education this part of the coffee triangle will always remain an obstacle to the perfect cup.  

 So join us for some free training! Class sizes are limited to eight baristas. First come basis with retraining after 6 months. Certificates will be issued for successful completion of the refresher course.

 Great coffee and good friends,

 Island Coffee®