Straight Up Coffee

I love coffee. Every morning, as the first sip of dark, rich liquid touches my lips, it sends a stream of happiness down my spine! I am not talking about the drinks some call coffee . The ones that are all sugar and milk masking the coffee taste. In my opinion, all of those drinks ruin coffee. They do have their avid followers, I just don't happen to be one. This post is not about my disdain for all of the frozen concoctions fattening up our society, but rather this is about the freshness and flavor of coffee.

Many people were raised with the scent of Maxwell House or Folgers floating through the kitchen every morning. Ground coffee that comes in a can. Who knew those grounds were once fresh roasted coffee before it was ground and put into a can, shelved until it was sold at the local grocery story - sold as coffee, even though it should be labeled as stale. Unlike stale bread which rapidly becomes dramatically inedible, stale coffee can be drunk and enjoyed. But what a difference a few days make! An absolutely fresh coffee, a day or two out of the roaster, explodes with perfume, an evanescent aroma that seems to resonate in the nervous system and vibrate around the head like a sort of coffee aura. The aftertaste of a truly fresh coffee can ring on the palate for an entire morning: the taste of a weak-old coffee will vanish in a few minutes.

Coffee is best about a day after it has been roasted. Once past that moment a rapid and relentless deterioration in flavor sets in as the protective envelope of carbon dioxide gas dissipates, allowing oxygen to penetrate the bean and stale the delicate flavor oils. There is nothing technology can do to stop this process even though many companies claim to freeze dry, or seal the coffee container to preserve its freshness. (The frustrations of false advertising) For someone who genuinely loves coffee, the bouquet of optimally fresh beans is without doubt the most tangible reasons to buy fresh roasted beans from a local roaster or roast coffee at home.

Reasonably fresh coffee can be purchased at specialty stores if the roasting is done on the premises or close by, but with the growth of mammoth regional and national specialty-coffee chains beans may be roasted hundreds or even thousands of miles from the store where you finally buy them. Coffee from these specialty chains will be infinitely better and fresher than the preground stuff that comes in cans and bricks, but it won't/can't be as fresh as the coffee from a local roaster or even the coffee you could be roasting in your home! (Home roasting? That is a whole different post so stay tuned.)

Let's hear it for freshly roasted coffee! Once you go fresh, you will never go back, I promise!