New Batch of Beans Arriving Week of May 12, 2014

Jack Rabbit Coffee is getting a new batch of beans May 12th. We’ve had some folks asking about decaf, so we want to deliver! Here is what we will be roasting the next few weeks:

Carmo de Minas, Brazil – Dry Processed, Estate Grade – Medium Intensity/Caramel-like sweetness, roasted nut, cocoa powder finish

Chiapas, Mexico – Organic Los Grapos CO2 Decaf – Mild intensity / Caramels, subtle fruits, malic

Llano Bonito de Naranjo, West Valley, Costa Rica – Wet Process Style Machine Washed – Mild-Medium intensity / Sweet fruits, sugar browning, layered chocolate, bodied

If you would like to order one of these fresh roasted coffees, please contact Jack Rabbit Coffee Co. —-
jackrabbitcoffee@gmail.com

Also, be sure to follow us on Twitter: @JackRabbitCC and Like us on Facebook: Jack Rabbit Coffee

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Brew Methods | The Press Pot

This week’s brewing method is the Press Pot/French Press.
A french press/press pot looks like this:

I recommend the Bodum (mainly because that’s the one I use.)
For this particular brewing method you will need the following:

A press pot, hot water, grinder, timer, scale, and of course — coffee! This method can be a simple one and make great coffee, but you have to follow the steps in order to yield a great brew!

You need to be sure you dial in a good grind for this method. The grind for french press is just as important as the grind for espresso. You don’t want too fine or too course. The coffee needs to be fine enough to extract all the grounds, but not too fine that it is passing through the screen. You also don’t want too course of a grind because you will get an under-extracted result. I know…so geeky!

Steps to making a great press pot:

Step 1: PRE HEAT THAT THANG! Fill your press with hot water to be sure the coffee is not getting shocked when you begin.

Step 2: Weigh coffee to desired strength (59-68 grams) and grind. You want a course grind for this brewing method.

Step 3: Place the french press on a scale, add coffee, shake to level the coffee bed, zero the scale.

Step 4: Start your timer and pour about 400g of water onto the grounds. Stir your coffee for about 5 to 10 seconds.

Step 5: At around 0:30, pour to 800g of water and stir for another 5 seconds.

Step 6: Place the plunger on top of the french press. Press down so the screen is just below the surface of the water.

Step 7: At 5:00, slowly press the plunger to the bottom over the course of 30 seconds. Serve immediately.

If you’d like to put the coffee into a decanter you can. Doing so will ensure the coffee will not be any stronger. I tend to just leave mine in the pot because it’s not in there very long! Be sure if you are going to transfer your coffee to another container that you pour HOT WATER into the container to pre-heat it. The last thing you want to do is pour hot coffee into a cold container. This will shock the coffee and it will taste like junk — it will also cause your coffee to cool way too fast! You also want to pre-warm your coffee cup as well. It will also help to not shock the coffee and will keep your coffee warm a little longer.

(see video below)

Happy Brewing!

How To Store Your Coffee

What is the best way to store your coffee? I have heard all kinds of opinions on this subject. I remember a time when I thought sticking my coffee in the freezer was the best way to keep it fresh… WRONG! Of course, you don’t always know how to do something the most efficient way until you do some research, right?

The Best Way To Store Coffee:
– You need an airtight container
– You need to keep the container in a dark & cool place.

That’s it! It’s that simple. I like to keep my freshly roasted coffee in a mason jar for freshness.

How should you store your ground coffee? You shouldn’t. You should always be starting with whole bean coffee. If you are buying pre-ground coffee, you are buying the wrong kind my friend!

TIP: Air and time is the enemy of coffee!

We will talk about freshness in my next post.

Brew Methods | The Pour Over

There are many different brew methods when it comes to extracting that amazing liquid we call coffee.
Here is one method that I am currently using:

Pour Over- A method of drip coffee developed in Japan in which the water is poured in a thin, steady, slow stream over a filter cone. One cup of coffee takes as long as three minutes to brew.

Items you will need:
A brewer, scale, grinder, kettle, filters, and of course coffee.

Here are the steps to making that great cup of coffee via the Pour Over method:

Step 1: Bring your water to a boil

Step 2: Weigh out your coffee (20 grams of whole beans)

Step 3: Once you have your hot water (just off boil) go ahead and pre-wet your filter. This is going to flush any paper taste out of the filter and also to warm your brewer and cup you are brewing into. *Don’t forget to dump your water before you start brewing…this will cause an under-extracted taste to your coffee.

Step 4: Grind your coffee and pour into the filter.

Step 5: Begin the brew process by pouring just enough water to cover the top of the grounds. You should see your grounds begin to raise up (this is called blooming). Allow this to happen for about 30 seconds before continuing the pour. This allows the gases to escape from the grounds into the air instead of into your coffee!

Step 6: Starting in the center and working your way out, begin to pour the hot water over the grounds in co-centric circles. This allows all of the coffee to get an even extracting instead of just one side or the other. Do this until you reach 300 grams of water.

(see video below)

Why I Don’t Like Starbucks

Starbucks Coffee is not the greatest coffee in the world. Before you freak out, let me explain myself.

I have been drinking coffee since I was a kid. I started drinking coffee because my father was drinking it. I started off with a ton of cream and sugar and then my dad told me, “real men drink it black.” Well, I wanted to be a man, so I started to drink mine black too! I don’t know what kind of coffee this was. Heck, I was only 8 or 10 years old at the time. I thought it tasted pretty bad, but I knew this is what adults drink, so I wanted to drink it.

It was not until I was around 18 or so that I had Starbucks. I honestly didn’t know what to order (I still don’t order correctly according to the Barristas. Another time, another story…) For me, coffee was a purposeful experience: caffeine, thirst, and something warm. I always assumed it was going to taste like burnt rubber. I started to order something different, something sweeter than just black coffee. I started ordering a Latte! Yep, a “girly drink.” My go-to drink to this day is a Vanilla Latte.

I have had Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, I have tried McDonalds coffee, I have even been a fan of Waffle House coffee at times. At the end of the day Starbucks was always better in my opinion. It did not taste near as burnt as the others. This all changed two years ago. I had this crazy idea that I wanted to open a coffee shop. Stupid I know, especially considering I had ZERO coffee business experience. Regardless, I started researching how to open this new coffee shop. The main thing: find the best coffee. I contacted dozens of roasters and finally met with one to try out their roast. I was blown away at the taste of this coffee. It had such an amazing flavor, aroma, and feel that I didn’t know what I was drinking. I could taste a fruitiness to it that I had never tasted before. Even the way the guy was preparing it was astounding to me; it was so involved and scientific. I have to be honest, I was a little intimated and knew I was in over my head already. I had a lot to learn.

Since then, I have been trying so many different coffees. Once you have had a tasty cup of coffee, it no longer has anything to do with caffeine, thirst, or warmth… it’s all about taste! When people tell me they aren’t a coffee drinker I tell them they haven’t had the right coffee. It’s true. Even my wife, who would always load the coffee with cream and sugar, is learning to drink her coffee black because it tastes better. If you are having to dilute your coffee with cream and sugar, you are drinking the WRONG coffee.

To sum it all up, that is why I don’t like Dunkin’, Starbucks, McDonalds, or any other major coffee chain. In case you are surprised, these companies are all about the money, not the product. It’s quantity over quality with these guys and it should be the other way around. Don’t get me wrong, I am all about capitalism and building your business. What I am against is selling a poor product and advertising it to be something much greater than it is. They have sold us the lie that the standard for coffee is THIER coffee. WRONG!

When I think back to when I first started drinking coffee I know that I didn’t have a clue what to expect. Over the years I just began to assume all coffee was about the same. Folgers, Maxwell House, Eight O’Clock, whatever… let’s get real — they all taste about the same. I am not settling for more of the same garbage coffee; I want something better.

I have included some links to some great coffees that I have tried below. Check them out and start experiencing some really good coffee:

La Colombe
Counter Culture Coffee
Intelligentsia
Cartel Coffee
PERC Coffee

Starbucks or Dunkin? Who has the best coffee?

This has been the debate for some time now. Who has the best coffee, Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts? Even McDonalds has gotten into this battle…who would have thought? According to the Dunkin’ website, they are the #1 preferred coffee in America. I guess Starbucks doesn’t care…they are too cool for that…

For coffee lovers like me, Dunkin’ coffee and even Starbucks can seem like a four-letter word when discussing good coffee. You want to know why Dunkin or Starbucks has better coffee than what you brew at home? It all starts with the beans they are using.

There are two types of coffee seeds/beans- Arabica and Robusta.
Arabica- This is your higher grade bean. This bean has a wide variety of taste ranging from sweet and fruity to caramel and chocolate. These are also grown at a higher elevation than robusta.

Robusta- This is a lower grade coffee bean. To be blunt…they will tend to taste bitter and down right burnt. These beans are much cheaper as well.

Most of the coffee you see for sale in your local grocery store is going to be a blend of Robusta coffee beans. What do I mean by blend? It means there are many beans from many different farms. When you see the term blend, that’s what it means. If you see the term single origin, it means these beans all came from the same farm and were processed the exact same way.

Your higher grade, Arabica coffees, are what you find in a specialty coffee shop (i.e. Starbucks, and Dunkin’ Donuts.) That’s why they ALWAYS advertise “Made with Arabica beans.” This is also why you can tell such a big difference in taste between your store bought can of coffee and what you will get at your local coffee chain. Beans matter.

Let me clarify- Robusta is not always bad and Arabica is not always good. The farming has a lot to do with the quality as well. There are many espresso blends that will include Robusta beans to add body and crema. There are also many Arabica beans that are just plain bad.  Robusta beans also have more caffeine than Arabica, so that can tip the scale in blending as well.

At the end of the day it comes down to taste preferences. Tomorrow I will be discussing why both of these chains are not the best place for coffee. I know… no one is surprised I feel that way! Remember, just because they have a commercial that says it’s the best doesn’t mean it’s true. Marketing plays a big role in coffee trading… we will get to that tomorrow.

What Makes Good Coffee?

It’s quite simple really, even though I tend to make it complicated. Good coffee is all about freshness. Think of your coffee as a fruit (it actually is the seed from a fruit). It really changes your perspective on freshness.

Let’s say you have just peeled a banana and took a bite. You lay the banana down for a few hours and come back to it. What does that banana look like now? Brown, mushy, and just plain gross… Or how about an apple. Once you bite into an apple and leave it exposed to air it goes brown and eventually will go bad much faster. Your coffee is the same once it has been roasted.

So, want to have a better tasting coffee tomorrow morning? Grind your beans right before you brew. I can guarantee you will notice a difference!

All About Coffee

If you know me, you know this is true: I am a coffee geek. You can use the term “snob” if you’d like, but I’m trying to pull away from that… It’s not that I think I am better than you because I drink a certain coffee. The reason I am a coffee geek is because I am passionate about GOOD coffee. Believe it or not, good coffee is hard to find.

This blog is going to be dedicated solely to coffee enthusiasts. From brewing methods to roasting, all coffee and only coffee. I have another blog for other stuff that rumbles through my think skull.

If you are a coffee fan like I am, this is the place for you. Join the conversation. Teach me something new because I am always up for learning new things about coffee.

to chasing that next bean, cheers!

—
Chase