As if in reply to my post a while back (the Miraculous Coffee Entry), in which I stated that the greatest coffee I ever had was in Columbia and that I’ve never been able to duplicate that experience no matter what coffee I buy. Even the gourmet stuff doesn’t compare, and even with the gourmet stuff I have to hop it up with sugar, trying to get it right, but it never works. Anyway: today I found this on the Coffee Fool (disclaimer: they are sellers of coffee, but maybe, just maybe, they might be able to answer my plea):
Nearly all of the coffee out there is stale. The good news is that stale coffee is drinkable if you’ve never had truly fresh coffee. The bad news is that once you’ve tasted truly fresh coffee, you’ll be forever hooked. It will make you giddy every time you go to make a pot. Tingle right down to your toes. Reverberate around your head like a funky aura. That’s because coffee, just a few days out of the roaster, is nature’s most flavorful drink - more complex than even wine - containing well over 900 flavor compounds to dance on your taste buds. But after a few weeks, you’d be lucky to see half that number.
How do you know if coffee is stale? Simple test: If it’s bitter or flat, it’s too late. Coffee is actually known by connoisseurs as a ’sweet’ beverage. But shush… you’re not supposed to know that. And who doesn’t want you to know? Coffee companies who make their living on convenience. And yes, believing that freshness is as simple as ‘burping’ air out of a coffee container, is convenient.
Yes: they are describing exactly my situation. I feel like I have tasted good coffee (in Columbia) but the coffee in the US does not compare in any way. No matter how gourmet it is. You might buy gourmet yourself, or you may just buy Folgers or Maxwell House, but until you’ve had genuinely great coffee you’ll never know what you’re missing. Coffee, even the slush we slurp in the States, is a great experience, but great coffee is… sublime. It’s transcendent. A joy. I want it.
So, Coffee Fool, if indeed that is your name: I shall make a purchase of your coffees and make comparisons to coffee experiences past. If this is what you say it is, you’ll have a faithful, regular customer forevermore. If not, my rage will envelope you and destroy your…er, what I mean to say is I’ll dump on your product with my blog :-) Now, what to buy… of course, the Columbian Supremo. And if that works out alright I’ll move straight to the Arabica of Arabia.
Report forthcoming.
If you liked that post, then try these...
Coffee Fool on November 25th, 2007
The Miraculous Coffee Entry on October 16th, 2007
November 17th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
That’s interesting. I buy Starbucks Yucon blend in the whole bean and we grind it at home fresh. I always thought that was the good way to do it.
Let me know how you order turns out will ya Matt?
November 17th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
That’s my situation as well, in a nutshell: I buy from a local coffee importer who gets his directly from a roaster. And yet: It still doesn’t compare with the coffee I had in Columbia (circa 1992). Nothing I’ve had in the States comes close. If these folks are right maybe the freshness is the key, maybe everything we get here Stateside is stale. We’ll see. I’ll definitely let you know. I’m expecting my package Monday, and my new coffee might just help me survive the Monday morning blues.