How to choose the best gourmet specialty coffee

Once you enter the world of coffee, you will be starting an enjoyable and captivating journey that will last a lifetime. Images of far away places, with exotic sounding names, and smells to delight will all be yours. But the most rewarding part of your coffee education, for beginners and professionals alike, is chosing the beans that you will carefully store, lovingly grind and then carefully brew into a great cup of coffee that you can't wait to sip.

Of course, we know that everyone's taste is different. Like the old saying goes, its a good thing we all have different tastes or we would all want to marry the same person! The same thing goes with coffee...different people will like different coffees. When you find a coffee that you like, you will want to know more about it. You will also find your coffee journey much more enjoyable when you know more about the best coffees.

We suggest starting with knowing more about the beans that make coffee you like at your local coffee shop. Here are some guidelines that can hep you get the same flavors for the coffees you brew at home.

Look for Arabica coffee beans first

When you buy coffee at Starbucks or another shop selling premium coffee, or buy online from a reputable store like Green Mountain Coffee, [link] you are probably buying Arabica coffee beans.

But if you're buying from a deli, and particularly an Italian deli, the beans are less likely to be 100% Arabica and very likely include Robusta beans. Robusta beans can be good, and in fact Robusta blends are popular among the Italians and French, . They are cheaper beans that are often found in blends of stores that do not specialize in fine coffee.

Robusta Beans versus Arabica Beans

As you explore coffee, you will find that high quality blends consist of 100% Arabica beans. Robusta beans are found in lower quality, cheaper blends. Arabica beans provide superior taste being more flavorful and complex than their Robusta counterparts. Coffee brewed with Robusta beans tends to be more bitter, with a musty flavor and less body. This distinction being made, you probably wonder why anyone would buy Robusta beans or a blend with less than 100% Arabica beans.

So why drink coffee from Robusta beans? Well, Robusta beans are quite common because they cost less, and so people get used to them. Your grandparents probably drank Robusta brewed coffee and some people actually like the slightly bitter taste. And, if you're a real caffeine fiend, you know that Robusta beans have about twice as much caffeine as Arabica beans.

Second, buy whole coffee beans, not ground, properly packaged

There is no getting around it: if you want to brew the best tasting coffee, you need to buy the finest, freshest beans and grind them yourself. Why? Because fresh ground coffee is best. As soon as a bean is ground, the oils in the bean are exposed to the air and start to degrade. It is these oils (that you will notice on some beans, like dark dark roasted coffee beans) that give much of the complex coffee flavor that we like so much.

Also, be sure that the freshly roasted coffee is immediately placed into airtight packaging with a one-way valve. It may be romantic to scoop your own beans out of a bin, especially when you are savoring the just roasted smell as the beans go into an unsealed brown paper bag. But, the best roasters know that when the freshly roasted bean is exposed to air, the quality of the bean immediately declines. So I prefer to buy whole beans and make sure they are sealed in an airtight bag, preferably one that has a one-way valve.

Coffee Daydreams Tip: Think about those coffee beans in self-serve bins at the grocery store, that tempt you as you pass by.  Those bins are definitely not airtight. So no matter how perfectly those beans were first roasted and packged on the way to the store, now they have been exposed to air, perhaps for many days or weeks. The subtle flavors of those beans have quietly evaporated, the longer they sat in the bin waiting for some uneducated buyer to scoop them out and bag them. Have more respect for your coffee taste!

Third, for the freshest beans buy from a store that roasts its own beans if possible

Nothing beats the fragrence of a coffee shop that is roasting its own beans. Okay, maybe freshly baked chocolate chip cookies come close, but you know what I mean. If you have close by a coffee shop that does its own roasting, you should visit it regularly and count your blessings. It all has to to with freshness because like we said, coffee beans begin to lose their flavor from the moment they come out of the roaster. Their volatile oils immediately begin to break down and change.  So buy those freshly roasted (and properly packaged) beans before they lose their chemistry.

What if you like your coffee strong...or mild?

Describing taste is always difficult, even for something as simple as saying that the coffee is "strong" tasting. You often have to clarify what you mean when you say the coffee is "strong."

At the most basic level, "strong" coffee comes from using more ground coffee in the same amount of hot water. The high proportion of ground coffee you use, the stronger the results.

There are complexities that enter as you learn more about coffee and various coffee beans and blends. You will identify some beans with a “stronger” or perhaps "bolder" taste than others. In addition, the same coffee ground finer can instensify the flavor. So, the size of the ground coffee particles - whether the coffee is fine or course - can affect whether the coffee is trong or mild.

You can enjoy coffee without knowing much about coffee beans you buy. But don't shy away from educating yourself...you will enjoy discovering different tastes and knowing more about the history and culture of coffee around the world brought to your neighborhood roaster.

Your next step?

Learning about coffee beans is fun but be sure to read about choosing the best coffee makers. Using the wrong coffee maker...or using a great coffee maker in the wrong way...can never create the gourmet coffee flavor that you crave.

For help in finding the right site to order coffee online, we've give you some helpful tips at our Online Gourmet Speciality Coffee Store .

And if you want to discover more information about gourmet coffee and explore some of the world's major growing regions, we've given you more for links below to continue your coffee journey.

For more about what is the best coffee

For a great gift idea, consider a Home Gourmet Coffee Club

Robusta countries:

Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Angola, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Sumatra, Java, Bali, Timor, Borneo, Vietnam, and Celebes.

Arabica countries:

Columbia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Hawaii, Yemen, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Papua New Guinea.

Combination countries:

Brazil and India.

Help and advice on how to make great coffee, choose from the best coffee makers, and explore gourmet coffee beans

Can you think back to the best cup of coffee you've ever had? Actually, most people have several favorite coffees. That's because the coffee you drink is the end result of many factors. You can make a special cup of coffee every time, and it is really pretty simple.

Keurig B30 K-Cup Brewer

This mini brewer from Keurig is the ultimate in no mess, no fuss, single serve gourmet coffee makers. It is the least expensive K-Cup brewer, that you can plug in anywhere to brew a full cup of great coffee. Small enough for your home office, RV, boat, vacation home, or dorm room, this brewer is a great gift idea or treat for yourself.

Read more about Keurig B30 Mini Brewers.

It all starts with the coffee beans, which are grown in dozens of areas around the world. Each of these coffees has unique aroma, taste and characters. You could try them all...but most people find coffees they like and then experiment occasionally for variety.

When you start from scratch you actually get to handle the beans that were picked from far away places. You get to start from scratch and are in control. This isn't a processed beverage. In fact, you can even buy green beans and roast them yourself.

Next you grind the roasted beans. With many types of grinders to choose from, this is an important part of the process. You will find the ground texture you like best. A hand mill lets you actually feel the beans being ground as you turn the handle, giving you the most control.

Then you use the ground coffee to brew your own, fresh cup of coffee. Here there are a myriad of techniques and coffee makers. You can pour hot water through a five-dollar filter cone placed over your cup, or you can buy a high tech coffee maker for hundreds of dollars. It's your choice. Your coffee can taste just as good with the five-dollar cone. So if you can't afford the expensive coffee maker, that's okay. The extra investment is to buy more convenience, not a better cup of coffee. For many people starting with a coffee maker under $100 is a good investment.

So satisfy your coffee daydreams by exploring this site to discover what you need to know about the simple pleasures of making and enjoying gourmet coffee. It's important to know that you can start with the basics and get a great cup of coffee...and you can spend a lifetime of learning about coffee and its nearly infinite variations.

Coffee has a rich tradition and is a simple pleasure that anyone can enjoy. If you have any questions along your adventure, please send them to me through the Coffee Questions and Answers page.

Home delivery coffee clubs – gourmet coffee delivered to you

For something new, or as a gift idea for the coffee lover on your list, it pays to know more about coffee club.

Coffee clubs have been a tradition for quite a few years and there are some advantages. In case you're not familiar with home coffee clubs, I'll tell you bit more about how they work.

First, you will sign up (or sign up your friend or family member as a gift). Most include some sort of bonus when you sign up. Look for a coffee club that has options you'll enjoy. You will choose the coffees you want, tell them how often to deliver, and get it on auto pay for your credit card. Then wait for the coffees to be delivered to your door.

If you're not sure whether you'll use all of the coffee each month, you should look for a coffee club that allows you to change how often deliveries are made. Not everyone drinks the same amount of coffee, and a monthly delivery might be too frequent for you.

You should also be able to change the coffees you want. Your tastes may change, or you may decide that you're tired of the particular coffees you're to receive and want to try something different next month.

Choosing the right coffee club

The right coffee club is one that has the coffees you want and fits your budget. Look for a coffee club that offers a broad selection of quality gourmet coffees. Then look at the terms, to make sure that you understand what you're signing up for, and how you can stop the club if you want to do so.

I remember signing up for the old record clubs...and wondering how could I ever get out of that. OK, I'm dating myself. That was before itunes in case anyone doesn't know what a record club was.

Here are a couple of home coffee clubs that you may want to consider.

The Green Mountain Coffee Café EXPRESS Coffee Club

Green Mountain Coffee offers their Café EXPRESS Coffee Club. With Green Mountain, you can be assured of a great selection of coffees (including organic and fair trade) as whole beans, ground coffee or in K-Cups for the Keurig brewers.

Benefits listed for the Café EXPRESS Coffee Club include the following.

• Special Member Discounts: $2 off every box of K-Cups & 5% off all other items
• Free Gifts: Choose from 2 boxes of K-Cups, 3 bags of coffee, or other great gifts--just for signing up
• You can look forward to more FREE gifts and coffee samples throughout the year
• Flexible, automatic coffee delivery: choose every 1 to 12 weeks, depending on your needs, and change your order as often as you like
• Special member promotions
• FREE Earth-Friendly filters

You can visit the Green Mountain website for more information about Café EXPRESS.

Peet’s Coffee & Tea Peetniks Coffee Club

Peet's is where gourmet coffee brewing started in the USA. More people know about Starbucks than Peet’s, but the Starbucks owes much of its start to Alfred Peet, the immigrant from Amsterdam who decided that coffee in America had a lot of room for improvement and did something about it.  Peet's has an excellent reputation for roasting quality coffees, and was one of the first in Amercian to offer darker roasted coffee.

Here is information about the Peetniks club, which is what they call the Peet's coffee club.

• Your coffee is roasted and shipped on the day of your choosing - straight from Peet's artisan roastery. Your coffe is immediately packed and the bag flushed with nitrogen to lock in freshness
• A direct phone number of their own to call: Peetniks can call 1-888-PEETNIKS to schedule and change their orders
• Peetniks automatically get 50% off shipping on every recurring delivery shipment
• Manage your order online: Peetniks have online access to make any necessary changes to their order online.

Here is more about Peet’s Peetniks Coffee Club...

Community Coffee Coffee Club

Oneof the few coffee retailers that can challenge Peet's for the origin of gourmet coffee in America is Community Coffee. In fact, now that Peets has sold to a large corporation, Community Coffee is the largest family-owned retail coffee brand in the U.S. Founder "Cap" Saurage started in 1919 in a small country store in Baton Rouge.

Today, unless you live in or visit Louisiana, the best way to enjoy this distinctively rich coffee is through online purchases. Community Coffee Company starts with only quality, 100% Arabica beans selected by the Saurage family. Then they apply their generations of roasting experience, to acheive a full-bodied yet smooth flavor to showcase the extraordinary culinary traditions of Louisiana. Community® coffee is served in the best New Orleans restaurants and is shared in homes across the South.

When you become a member of the Community Coffee Coffee Club, here is what you can expect.

• Fresh coffee delivered right to your door, at your own shipment frequency.
• Periodic discounts, gifts and privileges offered only to Coffee Club customers.
• No membership fees and you may cancel at any time with no additional charge.
• Free gift with your first order -  past gifts have included your choice of a Premium Tumbler, Community Coffee-Fresh Canister or two packages of their Private Reserve® specialty coffees. Check for the current gift offerings.

For more about the Community Coffee's Coffee Club and to receive a free gift upon joining...

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